Product Description

Demanding gamers require high power, THX performance, and true surround sound. The Logitech Z-5300e delivers on all counts, with a sleek new look featuring silver speaker accents and removable black cloth grilles.Its patented dual chamber subwoofer pounds out twice the bass of conventional designs to deliver deep, loud and powerful bass. Polished aluminum phase plug satellite drivers project superb high-end and rich mid-range tones for balanced sound. Its full-featured SoundTouch wired remote provides convenient controls for quick adjustments. Rotating pedestals allow easy installation on wall or desktop.Got a Sony PlayStation 2, Microsoft Xbox, or Nintendo GameCube? Just plug in the Z-5300e using the convenient video game console adapter and immerse yourself in the explosions, music, and dialog of your favorite games.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24962 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Logitech
• Model: 970102-1403
• Platform: Windows XP
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 8.00" h x 4.00" w x 4.00" l, 45.00 pounds

Features

• 5.1 surround sound speaker system designed for PC or game console use
• Includes 4 satellite speakers, center speaker, subwoofer, and color-coded audio cables
• Wired SoundTouch remote controls volume and power
• Matrix mode creates surround sound from stereo, 4-channel, and 5.1 sources
• 280 watts system power (35.25 watts x 4, plus 39-watt center and 100-watt subwoofer)

Amazon.com Product Description
Demanding gamers require high power, THX performance, and true surround sound. The Logitech Z-5300e delivers on all counts, with a sleek new look featuring silver speaker accents and removable black cloth grilles.

Its patented dual chamber subwoofer pounds out twice the bass of conventional designs to deliver deep, loud and powerful bass. Polished aluminum phase plug satellite drivers project superb high-end and rich mid-range tones for balanced sound. Its full-featured SoundTouch™ wired remote provides convenient controls for quick adjustments. Rotating pedestals allow easy installation on wall or desktop.

Package Contents

• Speakers: 4 satellites & 1 subwoofer & 1 center Channel speaker
• Power cord
• Color coded audio cables
• Two-year limited warranty
• Owner's Manual
• SoundTouch remote control
• Video game console adapter

Customer Reviews

My experience of upgrading to this system.
Well, my last review (question really) about how long the rear speaker wires were wasn't very helpful to most folks. (0 out of 10). Well, I've answered my own question by finally getting the set. For those who also want to know, the wires are about 16 feet I think, going by the ol' finger tip to finger tip test (I'm 6', and it spanned the distance twice and then another 4' or so.)

Anyway, here's what happened when I finally got the system. I was upgrading from a Logitech Z-640 5.1 set to the Z-5300e. The 640 set was decent, but had very little mid-range, if at all, and the 25w sub just didn't have the punch it needed to sound good for DVD playback and music. Oh, the reason I brought this up is because I had my sub sitting on a shelf about 6" above my monitor. It was fine. Didn't affect anything. And so I get the Z-5300e set, and for those who have it, know the sub is HUGE. (11.5"w x 12"h x 14.25"d <- and that's without the wires hooked up (add another 4" minimum with the wires). Anyway, I tried setting the sub back up on the shelf where my old one was. It pulled the color out of my monitor! Not all of it, but damn near all of it. Damn big magnet in that thing. I told the clerk at Radio Shack about it (more on this later) and she said hitting the monitor's "Degauss" function may have fixed the problem, but I didn't want to have to worry about it. So I decided to put the sub on the floor as Logitech suggests. By doing so, I required rear wire extensions, because I lost about 6' of length that I needed. So that's where the trip to Radio Shack comes in. Bought two 6' extensions for $6.

Anyway, so I get it hooked up and WOW! Major sound coming out of these relatively small satellite and center speakers. Of course the sub handles most of the low end. This system sounds better than what I've got for my main TV.

Many people complain about the over punchiness of the sub. I agree, it's a bit strong and overpowering if your only control over it is the provided remote control. However, if you have good soundcard software, as which comes with most Creative Labs high-end surround sound sound cars, there are several bass level adjustments in it that you can back off the bass level to a point where you can practically minimize the bass. For example, for the Audigy 2 card series, there's a bass cross-over control and by sliding the control to the right, you can take almost all bass out of the sound. I ususally set my slider at a quarter of the way across from the left (bass side) and it's adequate. And then if you have separate bass/trebble controls too, you can lower the bass there as well.

But if you like bass, this 100w baby can do some serious thumpin'. It has a dual-chambered construction where the cone is inside the box mounted on a center divider which allowed the bass to resonate better than if the cone was mounted on the outside.

Some people also say that there's no on-system cross-over from the sub to the satellites. Well, duh? The satellites are not woofers. They're basically mid-range speakers that can duplicate tweeters as well due to their dual drivers.

Break-down:
Pros:
Awesome sound for an affordable price.
Well-constructed speakers.
Enough wattage for your PC or console game system.

Cons:
Relatively short speaker wires.
Wired remote control.
Inadequate on-board control of bass level.

But with that last one, you can tailor it better if you have good software with your soundcard.

Also had I not had to put the sub on the floor, I wouldn't have had to buy cord extensions.

Best bang for the buck
The only drawback is the cords on the rear speakers aren't long enough. Even running across the bare floor, they barely reached the back wall in a 10'x10' room. Since they have RCA plugs, it was a simple matter of buying some longer cables and a pair of adapters to daisy-chain them with. Once the cables were run through the ceiling, I pivoted the stands around to use the built-in wall mount holes. All the plugs are color coded, so you can't hook it up wrong and the entire job took less than 15 minutes. Plugged into a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 sound card, they produce high quality surround sound.

There are many 5.1 speakers systems designed for use with a computer sound card. None of the lower priced speaker systems have a large enough sub to produce enough bass. Although there are many higher priced speaker systems as well, I feel these represent the best value. They are only marginally more expensive than the cheapest 5.1 speaker systems, but far less than the systems advertised for high-end sound quality. I wasn't looking to replicate my home theater system, and these speakers are more than enough for my office.

Logitech Z-5300e - Great for the money!
These speakers are an excellent buy! You'll want a Creative Audigy2 ZS Sound Card to go with them, to give you true 6-channel sound. Also, you need the Creative software to tweak the tone.

You'll calibrate the speakers for 5.1 sound. Then turn the bass all the way down on the Logitech control, & you'll also want to turn it down to 20% on the Surround Mixer. On the Graphic Equalizer you can turn up the 4k to around +4.5db & the 8k up to +12db. Once you make these adjustments, you have an amazing system with the sound of your artist playing loud & clear right in your room! I bought mine directly from Amazon, & I'm very happy with them!