Home > Consumer Reviews > Logitech Z-5400 Digital Speakers

After considering the more powerful set of Logitech Z-5500's, I decided to opt for these 5400's - they showed a lot potential. And boy, was I right! It does take a while to set them up correctly, and you must be careful not to mess anything up. However, the tinned wire connections mean that the sound quality is top notch.

The hardware decoder on the SoundCenter does nearly everything, from Dolby Digital, DTS, and ProLogic II. Furthermore, each set of speakers can be tweaked to perfection, if your rear speakers are on the floor, you can turn the rear speakers up to compensate - everything is well thought out.

The sound quality considering the price is amazing, but you may feel a bit disappointed if you are moving from an older set such as the Z-680 speakers. The sub does its job very well, but I found it creates too much bass, and so a crossover frequency is turned on. Considering the age of the Audigy 2 ZS, these speakers make the most of them. And before I forget, make sure your neighbours are deaf because these speakers go dangerously loud on top of a volume boost function at the highest volume. :)

I read every review on these before making my purchase and have to agree with all others on how good these are regardless of price.
I have a Media Center setup in my living room, this is the main hub of our house's entertainment so I did not want to make do with poor quality sound reproduction.
Watching films with these is awesum in 5.1, (Pirates of the Caribbean 2 shook the room and the underwater thuds were something else!!!)
Music is very pleasent listening too with the pseudo dolby 5.1 sounding very good indeed.
Digital TV in movie mode (2 channel to 5.1) works very well too (Very clever indeed logitech!) I'm afraid it does not make all the soaps that my partner watch any more bareable for me though!

Make sure you get yourself a good soundcard(I have an audigy 4) to match these and you will be more than happy. You will not see the benefit with most onboard sound.

These are my first surround sound speakers I wanted them for use with my xbox360 so I thought I would go the whole hog and get digital. These are the best surround speakers I have ever heard, the bass is low but never looses clarity. Speakers themselves are small but heavy, you can tell they are quality just by picking them up, they feel solid. playing games is a new experience, watching DVD's through the Xbox is amazing, and it feels as if you are right there. You find yourself thinking that its raining outside or that a motorbike has just gone by the house, but no it's just the surround sound. It took me ages to choose these speakers and i have never regretted it since I've got them. I was thinking of getting the older brothers of these the z 5500 but these are loud enough I have only taken them up to full volume twice, I now have two ASBO's. £139 = absolute bargain, these speakers are amazing don't think just buy.

awesome sound amazing volume and bass wich (no jokes) cracked the plaster on my bedroom wall!!
dont event think! jus buy! you wont regret it!

If you are expecting full hi-fi reproduction you AREN'T going to get it with these speakers.A mini bookshelf system would probably give you better music reproduction than these. Mainly because the satellites use a single full range driver in a small box. Midrange is lacking. They are very loud though...

I bought these for a few reasons:

1) wasn't happy with my onboard sound. The Z-5400s contain 3x SPDIF inputs and most AC97 based mobos have SPDIF out (mine didn't though -- I had to solder posts onto my mobo!).

2) Something smaller than a bookshelf system. Well, the satellites are -- the subwoofer is enormous but can be hidden.

3) Watching movies via the PC.If you have a DVD with a 5.1 soundtrack it's like a mini HT system (the speakers have a builtin DTS/Dolby digital decoder).

Apparently its great for games but I don't play too many of them anymore....

If you want a home theatre system or you're a perfectionist you may be disappointed in spending $300 on something that doesn't sound great for music and is only satisfactory for HT in a smaller room. Although, a decent entry level HT system is likely to cost you at 2-3x as much though (but I wouldn't know).

In summary if you're a fifteen yo boy who plays heaps of games, this is so cool. If you've got too much money to spend on computer speakers, this is cool (although you probably bought the z-5500s). Otherwise, if you want hi-fi music reproduction, you might be better off starting with a 2.1 system.

This system does expose you to audio technologies like DTS/optical/SPDIF etc so if you're a geek you might get a bit of a thrill over this.

I really can't decide whether to keep these or not. I have put them on eBay, but I'll probably cancel the auction and keep them.