[speakers] Logitech x530

[Stark]

I've broken my last pair of dodgy Harvey Norman $15 headphones, and I've decided to get a set of speakers for my PCs for the first time in years. I've been poking, and the Logitech X530s seem to be okay for me: I can pick them up for AU$100, they've got enough grunt for a small space, etc etc. I haven't found anything bad to say about them, or anything comparable at a similar price. As much as I'd love to replace my stereo with a set of the better, half-wireless sets, I don't want to drop that much money. Does anyone have any Logitech-speaker related horror stories?

[Soontir C'boath]

My friend has it in his dorm room and it doesn't take too much space. The only complaint I can think of is the length of the cables connected to the speakers are not long enough to put around the room. I hazard a guess of maybe fifteen feet long.

Other than that it sounds good for the price and can pump a decent volume if you plan on partying.

[Chris OFarrell]

I have the 530's and they work fine for me. They aint Z680's or Z5500's, but as long as you don't leave them pumped up to the max 24/7 they'll last you.

I have heard that if you keep them >75% for the majority of the time (frankly I find them great at 25%) they will quite quickly run into problems a few months down the track. OTOH, I have a friend who has 530's and keeps them maxed out and has had them for over half a year.

[Stark]

Yeah, my desire for wireless control units is outweighed by my desire to not spend $500. I'm glad they're not famously dodgey.

[Colonel Olrik]

Not to hijack the thread, but since it's a similar product and I'm considering to buy it, what about the logitech Z-5450 wireless for my small living room? Anyone knows if it's good, or if there's better for the same or less $$ from other manufacturers? I'm seeing it for €320.

[Stark]

I like my speakers, the end. Thanks guys.

[Stark]

This ended up on the second page, but I'm worried about something.

When my speakers are idle, they occasionally make a 'popping' sound. This doesn't seem to happen when I'm gaming, since I've got it cranked pretty danm loud and I don't hear any huge speaker-shattering pops. However, my old motherboard made wierd poppy noises into my fully sick headphones and eventually destroyed them, so I'm curious if this is normal, if it happens to anyone else, and possible causes.

[Xon]

Blame the onboard sound.

The onboard sound on mine isnt very good when the output volumn is low.

[Stark]

Yeah? I'm only worried it'll hurt my precious, precious speakers. It's annoying when I get signal problems like that on a powered system, running through a battery filter. Bah!

[YT300000]

I got a new pair of speakers a few months ago. I had a 15 year old JBL set, and thought it was about time to replace it. The funny part is though, all the speakers I tried sounded worse than my JBLs. The Logitech x530 were among these. And then I tried the Klipsch Promedia.

They cost more (~$200) but they are absolutely amazing. I compared them to a bunch of really expensive ones, and I didn't notice any increase in quality until I hit the $1300 mark. These are ridiculously good value, the sound is as crisp as if there was an orchestra sitting in front of you, and they pump out 200 W for the 2.1 set alone. 305 W for the 5.1 set (since it uses the same 130 W subwoofer and 35 W satellites). None of that measly 70 W total from the x530.

Disclaimer: I have a Sound Blaster Audigy card, so my computer could actually take advantage of these speakers, hence the other ones sounding tinny. But if yours can take advantage of them, spend the extra money. Your ears will thank you.

EDIT: And don't go with wireless speakers. They're just... no. Enough static to drive you crazy.

[Soontir C'boath]

What's the model of the Klipsch Promedia are you referring to?

[Ypoknons]

You know for 2 channel audio the old Head-fi saying goes "Chaintech AV710". It's a good Envy-24 sound card for $30, and Envy, whilist lacking the positional audio abilities of EAX enabled Creatives, are pretty clear.

[phongn]

You know for 2 channel audio the old Head-fi saying goes "Chaintech AV710". It's a good Envy-24 sound card for $30, and Envy, whilist lacking the positional audio abilities of EAX enabled Creatives, are pretty clear.

I have that card - pretty decent.

[Stark]

How can there be static on wireless speakers... unless the signal is sent in the clear? Icky.

[Xon]

How can there be static on wireless speakers... unless the signal is sent in the clear? Icky.

The sound card is outputing static?

Seriously, this is likely a case of Garbage in, Garbage out. It doesnt matter how good the audio equipment is if you have a POS onboard sound card trying to drive it.

Or if you have a $4000 AUS car sound system and use 64kbps mp3s in it

[Rightous Fist Of Heaven]

Utterly, perfectly happy with my Z-5500's, the only problem is that my sound card creates a bottleneck.

[Chris OFarrell]

Utterly, perfectly happy with my Z-5500's, the only problem is that my sound card creates a bottleneck.

The problem my best friend has is that when he plugs his headphones into the jack, he naturaly turns the volume up quite a bit.

Then when he is finished, he pulls out the headphones without thinking....while winamp is playing heavy metal...at 1:00 in the morning...

Suffice to say, his neighbours complained the next morning

[YT300000]

What's the model of the Klipsch Promedia are you referring to?

The THX-Certified ones. link

Reading the reviews now, about one in a hundred people or so get a faulty one that dies after a time. Hasn't happened to me, but something to keep in mind.