Eliminate The Hassle Of Hiding Speaker Wires

Leave it to Logitech to once again raise the bar for computer speaker systems.  The Logitech Z-5450 provides high performance sound with the innovation of wireless rear surround satellite speakers.  The introduction of dual wireless rear speakers finally solves the common headache of having to run those long unsightly wires that run to your rear surround speakers.  I’ve run into this problem myself and in the past it has caused me to either string cables all over the place or sacrifice a true surround experience by placing the rear surrounds closer to the front speakers.

Logitech´s THX-certified, 315-watt Z-5450 is a Digital 5.1 speaker system with digital hardware decoder and dual wireless rear speakers. The Digital SoundTouch Control Center supports Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks, and includes digital and analog inputs for connecting DVD players, PCs, video game consoles, MP3 players, and more. Users can fine-tune their listening experience with a convenient wireless remote, and wall-mountable satellites help make installation easy in any room. The patented dual-chamber subwoofer enhances your games, music, and movies with distortion-free bass.

The Logitech Z-5450 carries a retail price of $499.99. However, a search of our price engine shows many stores selling the system from $349.00 to $360.00. Still that is a significant amount of money to pay for any speaker system.

At A Glance

Before we take an in-depth look at this speaker system, let’s take a look at what’s inside the box and all the features that are offered.

Included In Box:

• 2 x Wireless Rear Satellites
• 2 x Front Satellites
• 1 x Centre Channel
• 1 x Subwoofer
• 6-Channel Direct Cable
• Digital SoundTouch Control Center
• Wireless Remote Control
• Batteries & User's Manual

Features:

• THX certified
• Dolby Digital and DTS hardware decoding for pure 5.1 digital sound
• Dual wireless rear speakers for simple clutter-free installation
• Built-in hardware decoding for Dolby Digital & DTS - allowing true 5.1 digital sound from PlayStation2, Xbox
• Support for DTS 96/24

The beauty of these speakers is that it’ll work with pretty much every gadget you have in your household.  Here’s a look at the different inputs supported by the Logitech Z-5450:

• (2) Digital optical for DVD or CD players, PlayStation2, Xbox or PC sound cards (requires optical cable, sold separately)
• (1)Digital coaxial for DVD or CD players or PC sound cards (requires coaxial cable, sold separately)
• (1) 6-channel direct (3 stereo-mini connectors) for 2, 4 or 6-channel PC sound cards

OR

•  (3) stereo-mini connectors for 3 stereo analog audio sources, such as CD and DVD players, PlayStation2, Xbox, or 2 channel PC sound cards (some devices may require stereo mini to dual RCA adapter, sold separately)
• (1)Analog stereo-mini (on side panel of control center) for portable CD, MP3, or MiniDisc players

The ability to use these speakers with such a large number of devices should definitely entice those of you looking to upgrade your current set of speakers.

A Closer Look

After spending some quality time with the Logitech Z-5450, I was very impressed and would recommend them to all types of users.  The 5450s sound extremely clear, provide a multitude of input options, and are easy to setup.  Although the suggested retail price of $499.99 may scare some buyers away, you can easily find them for at less at many online retailers.  It’s important to keep it in perspective that these aren’t just ‘computer’ speakers, they are full-on multimedia speakers that will also work with iPods, MP3 players, DVD players, and videogame systems like the recently released Xbox 360.

The aesthetics of the 5450s don’t stray too far from previous Logitech designs, so they aren’t overly flashy or strange looking.  Each of the satellites houses a 2.5” aluminum phase plug driver.  Although they lack a dedicated tweeter, the treble is quite refined and the mid ranges come through sounding very natural.  Each of the satellites are wall mountable, while the center speaker has the ability to tilt up and down accordingly.

In the subwoofer arena, a 6.5” high-excursion driver runs 116 watts RMS to provide you with the rump-shaking lows that we all love.  For those of you that have kept up with Logitech’s speaker offerings, you will notice that this sub is quite small compared to the whopping 10” sub packaged with the Z-5500.  Despite its size, the 6.5” sub still does an admirable job of pumping out the bass.  This is largely due to Logitech’s patented dual-chamber subwoofer design.  According to Logitech, this design allows the sub to go lower and play louder for unbelievable bass.  I found this to be true for the most part when I was playing games or listening to music.  As for movies, I tried watching various action sequences from different movies and found that the subwoofer lacked the extra kick that you would get from a larger subwoofer.  The bass is there, but it is by no means earth-shaking.  Now this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  In fact, this may be exactly what you’re looking for if you’re currently living in an apartment, townhouse, or just renting somebody’s basement.  Considering its size, the 5450 provides enough bass to make your multimedia experience enjoyable without pissing off your tenants or neighbours.

As for overall power, the 5450s have more than enough to satisfy your audio senses.  The front satellites get 38 watts RMS; the center gets 42 watts RMS; rear satellites get 40 watts RMS; the sub takes up the remaining 116 watts.  This results in a total of 315 watts RMS with a peak power output of 630 watts!  With this amount of juice flowing, the Logitech Z-5450s will fill out any mid-sized to large room easily.

Setup

The setup of these speakers took under ten minutes with no real challenges.  Getting the wireless rear speakers to work was as simple as plugging in the power.  Depending on how many inputs you’ll be running, the setup time may vary.  For those of you that weren’t fans of the attached speaker wires on the Z-5500, you’ll be happy to hear that all the speaker wires on the Z-5450 are detachable.  This means that you’ll be able to switch to different lengths or grade of wiring if needed.

Dual Wireless Read Speakers

This is one of the major selling points of the Logitech Z-5450.  I have longed for a decent wireless solution for a while now and it is finally here!  Each of the rear satellites has a power cord running from it and that’s pretty much it.  Once they are plugged in, the built-in wireless receiver in the control center automatically recognizes them.  I ran the speaker test once and everything worked like a charm.  I guess it only makes sense that Logitech would be able to get this right the first time around, being that they have such extensive expertise in the area of wireless technologies. 

An important point to keep in mind is that Logitech’s wireless setup is unique from other advertised wireless speakers.  There have been some home theater systems introduced with wireless rear speakers, but they tend to come with an extra wireless receiver for the back of the room.  Each of the rear speakers must be connected to this additional receiver, which results in added clutter.  Logitech is able to circumvent this problem by designing wireless rear speakers that are completely self-contained audio systems.  They do not need a speaker cord to be operated and they do not need to be physically connected to a receiver.  The Logitech Z-5450s use advanced 2.4 GHz digital wireless technology, which result in very low latency, minimal interference, and virtually no lost signals.  I’m normally a little sketchy when it comes to wireless products because I believe some sort of sacrifice in performance is usually made.  In this case, I did not notice any degradation in the sound at all.  The freedom of being able to place my rear speakers anywhere in the room is great!

Digital SoundTouch Control Center & Wireless Remote

For those of you that are not familiar with the Digital SoundTouch Control Center, it is a handy device that acts as the brain of your speaker system.  This time around, it has been upgraded and redesigned to look even sleeker.  The backlit LCD display shows the current input used and the selected effect.  Within this unit, is also the wireless receiver that communicates with the wireless rear speakers.  Using the wireless remote, you are able to access a variety of the Z-5450s features.  Each parameter of the digital surround-sound effects can be adjusted, as well as the volume for the subwoofer and each satellite.  This is a great piece of equipment that will blend right into your PC or home theater setup.

Sound Testing

In order to truly test the versatility of the Z-5450s, I decided to try it with 3 major pastimes that we all love: watching movies, listening to music, and playing videogames.  I don’t believe in getting overly technical for this part because people generally just want to know one thing……does it sound good enough to warrant the price tag?  In short, yes it does.

In the movie department, I decided to watch select scenes from Batman Begins, Gladiator, and Armageddon.  I chose Batman for the solid musical score and the action sequences that would’ve tested the positional audio.  I was quite impressed at the responsiveness of the wireless rear speakers.  There was no delay whatsoever and it provided quite an immersive experience.  Although nothing is quite the same after you watch this movie in IMAX, the Logitech Z-5450s got the job done nicely.  Gladiator was picked for the crazy opening fight scene with the hoards of soldiers.  You can clearly hear the twang of swords on armor, arrows flying through the air, and the mean grunt of the catapults firing away.  Once again, the speakers passed with flying colors.  The last movie on the list was Armageddon.  This is the one movie where the speakers came up a little bit short, the subwoofer to be more exact.  I was expecting a little more thump in the bass during all the explosions and found that the low deep bass was a bit lacking.  I’m probably being a little too picky right now, but I think this is where the 6.5” subwoofer does not keep up with its predecessors.  The bass is definitely sufficient for the majority of users out there, but it may be a point of concern for those that love their stomach-churning deep bass.

For music, the Logitech Z-5450s provided excellent musical quality, regardless of the musical input.  The high sounds were clean and bright providing clarity that brings a smile to your face.  As for the bass, it was powerful without being obnoxious.  It’s not the deepest bass you’ll ever hear, but it’s good enough for most with the exception of those that have four 12” subs in their cars right now.  Whether you love listening to rock, rap, or even Enya….you’re in for a treat!  Being that listening to music was a pretty straightforward test, I decided to keep it short and devote more time to the next round of testing….videogames!

Sound Testing - Continued

I decided to try the Z-5450s with a few PC games and also with a few Xbox games.  On the PC side, I gave it a run with titles such as Half-Life 2, Doom 3, and Battlefield 2.  Gaming with these speakers was a delight to my audio senses.  The surround performed beautifully and the precision of the sounds coming through really enhanced the overall gaming experience.  The results were the same when I switched it over to the Xbox.  I only chose titles with support for Dolby Digital and ended up playing half of the games in my collection just to see how much better they would sound.  Before I knew it, half my day was gone and I didn’t regret it one bit.  Now I can’t wait to receive my Xbox 360 so that I can enjoy what next-gen gaming will sound like on these speakers!

Overall, I found that the Logitech Z-5450s were able to enhance my listening experience in all of the tests.  It doesn’t matter if you’ll only be watching movies, or playing games, or just plain listening to music…..these speakers will not disappoint.

Conclusion

I was quite impressed by the Logitech Z-5450s.  Installation was a very simple and the wireless rear speakers worked right away without a hitch.  These speakers offer great sound quality, practical design, and a wealth of input options.  Although they may be a bit more than you’d like to spend on speakers, I believe the value is there.  Being the first to provide a true wireless solution with no extra receivers, Logitech has put a product that should be seriously considered by all.  As for the price, I think every penny is worth it.  Prior to testing these speakers, I’ve been using the Spherex Xbox 5.1 Surround Speakers.  I had paid over $499 for those and they didn’t even have the luxury of wireless speakers.  In fact, I believe the Logitech Z-5450s offers overall superior sound over the more expensive offering from Spherex.  For all of you that are still buying Christmas gifts for your loved ones, Logitech’s latest offering should be at the top of the list for those looking for a speaker upgrade!

Good Points

• Powerful enough to fill most mid-sized to large rooms
• Solid craftsmanship. None of the satellites feel cheap and the sub is rock solid
• Wireless rear satellite speakers eliminate clutter of wires
• Sleek looking Digital SoundTouch Control Center that will complement your home theater setup
• 315 watts RMS power distributed all speakers, provides an immersive sound experience no matter what you are doing
• Satellite speaker wires are all detachable

Bad Points

• Suggested retail price is a little high, but it’s not hard to find them at a discounted price
• 6.5” subwoofer may not be enough for those that have a hunger for some deep heart-thumping bass
• No optical cable included