Home > Consumer Reviews > Logitech R-20 2.1 Speaker System

The bass sounds very hollow and boomy. The woofer is also too loud compared to the left and right speakers. Since there's no way to adjust the volume of the woofer separately, I ended up not being able to turn the speakers up as much as I wanted to -- the bass would overpower the rest of the sound when I did.

The volume control is deceptive. When you turn the volume up 50%, you get about 90% of the maximum sound output. The remaining half of the volume control is pretty much useless.

The cord connecting the left and right speakers is permanently attached to both of them, which can be annoying. It's about 6 feet long -- too short for my desk. The input cord and the cord to the woofer are also permanently attached to the right speaker.

I'm a Creative fan so these are the first Logitech speakers I ever bought and I was pleasantly surprised. I was looking for a set of speakers for my laptop but since the portable models are more expensive (and probably will not sound as good since being portable means no sub-woofer) I decided for this not-as-portable model.
Well, these are perfect to keep on your desktop (though the ideal placement of any sub-woofer is on the floor close to a corner), as it has a small sized sub-woofer all controls in one the speakers.

These speakers sound really nice, slightly superior sound to Creative's corresponding model (SBS 350) but with less output power (Creative's SBS 350 sub-woofer is larger and more powerful)

Pros:

- Headphone jack and POWER button in the left speaker
- No "wired remote" (which adds more clutter to your desktop)
- Nice design for the price
- Even cheaper than Creative's SBS 350


Cons:

- Small sub-woofer
- No "wired remote" which means you have to keep one of the speakers close.
- No bass control (which usually means too much bass if your audio source has no equalization control)

I have an aging computer and because of the looming Vista update issues any update has to be cost efficient. My Klipsch Promedia Ultra system let me down (again) and with the subwoofer alone filling half a room any repair shipping is out of the question. This product proves again that Logitech produces true quality at an amazing price. The sound is great with deep and warm bass range, it is great for both gaming and music, you can even hook up the system to your iPod. Highly recommend it.

I like to sometimes play my music a little loud and these speakers handle it just fine, even with a song that has major bass to it. The design is nice too.... I really appreciate the headphone jack located on the front of the speaker it makes it easier than trying to fool around in the back of the computer to plug headphones in. Also the sub woofer is not so big that you have no place to go with it. I was worried about the quality because the low price but Logitech has come through again!

I was looking for an inexpensive replacement for my Logitech Z340 speakers(an excellent 3 piece speaker set, but that's another review) which gave up the ghost after about 5 years. I didn't want to spend more than about $25 because I don't listen to that much music on my home computer system. I did want something with more sound than just a couple of desktop speakers; I wanted a sub-woofer as well.

After reading the reviews, I selected the R-20 speaker set. Although the reviews were mixed, I figured for less than $20, I'd take a chance.

The short answer is, good speakers for the money.

While they don't have the clarity and depth of the Z340 system they replaced, they are more than adequate for basic desktop use and occasional listening to music.

At first, the tweeter-midrange speakers sounded a bit tinny and were missing the midrange that I had come to expect from a decent set of speakers. The sub-woofer (a very small and light unit for a sub) was also muddy and sounded like it was over powering the smaller speakers. As it turned out, I was over-driving the speakers, trying to play them louder than they were designed to be played.

Once I turned the volume down a bit, they sounded much better. I subsequently balanced the frequency bands with the graphic equalizer in Windows Media Player and brought out the missing midrange frequency. Much better.

Placement is also important with these speakers. They are not made for whole-room-sound. They are made for the immediate computer area, not 5 or more feet away. Place the subwoofer on the floor near your feet, under a desk if you have one. The small (and delicate feeling, I might add) desktop speakers should go to the immediate left and right of your monitor, right in front of you. Put them anywhere further away and you will not get the best sound from these speakers.

In summary, these speakers are not designed to be played at high volume. A little adjustment is required to bring out the midranges and balance the high and low frequency. Easy to do; it's not rocket science. They have a nice balance of sound once they are setup correctly. You will get very good sound for very little money.