Logitech Z680 5.1 Computer Speakers (5-Speaker, Silver)

Bought this new back in, what, 2002??? Not sure, but it STILL never fails to impress, whether I push it up, or just let it whisper in the background. I have had to do some light maintenance on the control head, over the years, including re-soldering the headphone jack, and replacing a capacitor for the LCD display. Very minor items, in the grand scheme of things. The speaker build quality is excellent, for all units.Biggest complaint is that LCD display. Very dim, and VERY low contrast, blue backlight makes it difficult to read, in the best circumstances, almost impossible, in others. Only other less-than-perfect issue, is the apparent lack of a proper capacitor across the power supply. If the mains power is cut, with the unit "On", you get a heart-stopping *T H U M P* out of the sub, as it's cone excursions full travel from the coil magnetism collapsing. If you have trouble paying your electric bill on time, this "feature" will incentivise you to keep it up to date!In any case, 15+ years going strong, I am still very happy with my purchase.

These things will outlast us all. They still work. All five speakers and sub. I have moved with them three times, put them through the wringer, dropped them, blasted music, and they're still going. Finally, I didn't have the heart to toss them and I didn't have time to sell them so I gifted them to a friend. Two years later, I came back to visit and said friend had purchased a house. These little f@#$ers were set up in his garage! All five of them and they were filling the space with sound like never before.I miss when company's would build things that wouldn't fail on purpose. Thanks Logitech.

I have wanted to go digital for long time. My Logitech Z-5300 was an amazing set of speakers, however its lack of digital inputs/outputs isolated its potential to the home PC. Finally, the price of the Logitech Z-680 dropped to an affordable price.I sold my Z-5300s to another student in my dorm, and purchased the Z-680 from Amazon.com. Amazingly, I received the set within 2 business days via UPS Ground. Needless to say, I am immensely satisfied with Amazon.com.Thankfully, I had recently purchased a Philips DVP642 player as well, and after reading that the video coaxial RCA cable was the same as the digital audio coaxial, I was all set and ready to go.So far, I have tested the DVDs Matrix: Revolutions and Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King. I was amazed by the quality of the sound. However, I agreed with the other reviewers that the bass was a bit boomy, especially in Matrix Revolutions. This can be easily remedied by lowering the level of the subwoofer.When playing my DivX encoded AC3 movies, I saw that changing to Dolby Movie Mode 2 was almost the same as having true Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. It did an excellent job of separating the audio tracks among the voice, music, and sound effects.Edit 9/25/04: Please read my latest update which explains the difference between Dolby Prologic Decoding and Dolby Digital 5.1. Knowledge is Power!I have yet to hook my Z-680s to my home PC, but there was very little hiss while my set was hooked up to my DVD player. The hiss was certainly not loud enough to warrant annoyance or disturbance.Update 9/06/04:I hooked the system up to my PC via coaxial s/pdif. There is no hiss at all. However, when using the analog connections, there was a very noticeable hiss. I could even hear it 3-4 feet away, which became very irritating.Trust me, if you buy the Z-680s, do yourself a favor and use the coaxial connection. You won't regret it. I have decided to leave the Z-680s as my personal home theatre system as opposed to hooking them up to my PC.Last note: the Philips DVP642 is the perfect complement to the Logitech Z-680s. You cannot go wrong with them. Having the two items has been a blast.Update 9/16/04:Still loving the Z-680s. I have it hooked up to my suitemate's Xbox, TV, and the Philips DVP 642. Since the Xbox and TV both use analog inputs, I used the handy RCA to 1/8 converter included with the Z-680s. I also purchased a 1/8 splitter. I am considering purchasing the Xbox Advanced AV Pack to utilize the optical connection on the Z-680.Warning: the subwoofer has become ridiculous...after breaking in the speakers for two weeks, normal levels of bass not only shake my whole 5th floor, but the 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 7th floors-no kidding! Surprisingly, the 4th and 6th floors received the most impact--those vibrations go a loooong way! Remember, if you buy this unit, keep the bass at 20%, unless you are watching Star Wars...then pump it up!Update 9/25/04:There have been claims that Logitech has been falsely advertising their product as having true Dolby Digital 5.1 when allegedly, they only had Dolby Prologic II decoding.Now, there is a big difference between the two. The Dolby Prologic decoding technology has been around for a looooong time; I can remember it since 1991 when my family purchased our first home audio set. Dolby Prologic takes stereo channels and converts them into a surround sound environment--to good effect, but nonetheless hardly comparable to true Dolby Digital 5.1, a more recent technology which directs its sound with far greater accuracy to all six channels, frequency, clear separation of effects and dialog, and clarity than Dolby Prologic.I too, became a concerned consumer after hearing these rumors on forums and consumer reviews on Newegg and here on Amazon. My product box did not dictate clearly whether it had one decoder or the other or both, so I decided to call a Logitech technician. Thankfully, the the Z-680s came equipped with the ability to decode both Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Prologic II.So when you are playing a DVD you should see "Dolby Digital" appear on the LCD screen of the Digital SoundTouch Control Center. The Dolby Music/Movie Mode that you see when you are playing mp3s or watching a DivX movie is the Dolby Prologic II decoder at work and works very well to its credit.In a side note, screw Dolby Digital and stick to DTS, the other digital surround sound option the Logitech Z-680 offers, when playing DVDs if the option is available. I have had a greater experience with DTS 5.1 decoding with the Z-680s in the 10 movies I have watched in comparison to Dolby Digital 5.1. DTS makes great use of the surround sound even in movies such as Zoolander [which otherwise makes very little directional use of the rear speakers]. Even my five suitemates agree that DTS has a richer, fuller sound and because of the variety of DVDs we watch during the weekends, it is difficult to say that we are influenced by placebo. There IS a difference :-).New Setup:Analog Input - from T.V. & Playstation 2 with stereo splitterOptical Digital Input - from XboxCoaxial Digital Input- from Philips DVP642 DVD PlayerUpdate 10/05/04:Here is a brief comparison between Dolby Pro-Logic II and Dolby Digital 5.1 using two selected movies:Dolby Movie Mode with DivX encoded movie Man on Fire:Voice/Dialogue - mostly center channel with slight residual sound from front left/right speakers.Music/Score - Evenly divided among front and rear left/right speakersSound Effects - Non-directional, evenly distributed. During the gun fight scene when the girl is kidnapped, Pro-Logic II simulates a surround sound effect of gun-fire, making it multi-directional.Dolby Digital 5.1 for Man on Fire DVD collector's edition:Voice/Dialogue - Isolated to center channelMusic/Score - Directional music: fades from front to rear speakers or vice versa, varying from scene to scene.Sound Effects - Directional. Isolated use of rear speakers from rear left to rear right when cars drive by. During the gun scene mentioned above, distinct sounds of bullets "whizzed by" from front right to rear left speakers.Dolby Movie Mode with DivX encoded movie Star Wars Phantom Menace:Voice/Dialogue - mostly center channel with slight residual sound from front left/right speakers.Music/Score - Evenly divided among front and rear left/right speakersSound Effects - Non-directional, evenly distributed. Surround sound lightsaber effects can be overpowering as a "large hum" especially with the Z-680's powerful subwoofer.Dolby Digital 5.1 for Star Wars Phantom Menace DVD:Voice/Dialogue - Isolated to center channel except in large rooms, echoes can be heard in surround speakers.Music/Score - Directional music: fades from front to rear speakers and vice versa varying in scenes.Sound Effects - Directional. Spaceship travel from rear left to front right. Close-up light saber swings begin from rear left and travel to front left, front right, and ends with the rear right speaker.Update 10-24-05:OMG! I finally got AC3 to work-but I don't know how! Well, I was playing the Casshern DVD back-up encoded with XVID and AC3. I didn't expect the AC3 to work, so I set the audio effect to Movie Mode. However, I suddenly was hearing discrete audio from my surround sound channels. Bewildered, I went up and listened closely to the center channel, and then the front left channel. Hmmm, either I was having a really good Prologic decode or this was playing in Dolby Digital! I glanced at my control pod and I couldn't believe my eyes--it stated it was decoding in Dolby Digital! Wow! Now I am going to check on all of my AC3 encodes...this is too cool.

These have worked great their entire life. I still have them and purchased them back in 2005. They are loud and offer many different ways to hook up to your home setup. I wish I would have waited and bought the Logitech z5500D which was the successor to this model. That model fixed all the little gripes I had with these.Pros: Several different interface technologies. Loud. PrettyCons: Sub-woofer is over-powered even at lowest setting, it bumps. The newer model introduced a bigger sub that lessened the output and distortion. The control unit has an LCD screen that can only be viewed from a narrow viewing angle. The newer model introduced a screen with much better contrast and viewing angle. The volume knob does not work correctly if turned too quickly. The speakers all produce a very subtle white noise when not in use. Seems to be louder on analog hookup vs digital. The satellite speakers have only 2 different ways to mount as the legs are fixed. The legs can be taken off and put on reverse to allow for wall mounting. Again, the z5500Ds allow for omni-directional mounting of the speaker...