Home > Consumer Reviews > Logitech X-540 Multimedia Speaker System (5.1)

I was fretting around the internet searching for a surround system that was affordable and good quality (im a musician). But i only have a laptop with one headphone output, so i bought these because of the matrix button that changes all stereo signals into 5.1 surround sound. When i got it home and tested it with matrix mode on the back speakers were crackly and quiet BUT!!! I FOUND A CHEAP WAY OF MAKING STEREO INTO SURROUND.

All you have to do is buy 2 headphone splitters (you can get them from maplin very cheap, or even on amazon) and simply plug one into your headphone output and the other into one of the outputs on the first headphone splitter. Stick the three colour coded headphone jacks in and your off! SURROUND SOUND, NOISE COMING FROM EACH SPEAKER!!

the sound itself is immense! The speakers are clear, audible and of very high quality, even at a low volume. Arrange all of them in a box shape facing towards you and put the middle chanel speaker on top of or near the middle of the screen. The subwoofer is absolutely amazing and pumps out even the lowest of bass. the small desktop control is extremely useful for adjusting bass volume when you dont want to load up the on screen version (i keep the bass at around 40 percent).

Amazing speakers, amazing cost and also brilliant find!

remember laptopers use the headphone splitter method, you dont even have to buy an external sound card!!

These really are excellent value for money - and if all you really want to do is play games, in 5.1, watch the odd DVD and hear Windows warbles - then for this price you really cannot go wrong - and you do NOT need to read the rest of this review.

However - for music they are not so hot.
They do go loud without much distortion and the bass (from the subwoofer), is more than adequate - but they are lacking in the mid range.
The sound, when playing music soon becomes harsh to listen to and Vocals/Guitars/Strings lack presence.
All the satellite speakers (including the centre speaker), only have 2 small tweeters - really the left, right and centre speakers could do with having 1 tweeter (2") plus 1 squawker (3 to 4") to achieve a balanced sound.
Having said the above, it must be noted that I am a Music Teacher - so maybe I'm a bit hypercritical - but my previous speakers (Philips USB 350) were much better balanced, albeit somewhat unreliable and in the end died.
Note that you have to switch on 'Matrix' mode to listen to music - or it will just come through the front speakers only.
Also, if you use MSN Messenger it will not work in 5.1 mode, necessitating going into 'Control Panel' to switch to Stereo mode (a fault of Messenger's - not the speakers - but annoying none the less).
Yes, the cables are too short - but easily extended.

In conclusion:

"Good - but not that good",
(but - probably the best you'll get at this price).

Pros:

Great value for money,
Look good,
Very little distortion,
Good bass,
5.1 really adds to your gaming experience.

Cons:

Weak mid-range,
Not ideal for music,
Problematic with MSN Messenger (damn Microsoft).

Awesome speakers etc etc. It has all been said here in previous reviews. I am posting this review for anyone who would like to know exactly how long the rear speaker cables are, so that they will know if they need to include an RCA (phono) extension cable with their order and if so how long that extension cable needs to be. I have just measured the cables and they are 14.5 feet (4.42 metres) long. Personally, I think that if you need longer cables than this, you are placing the rear speakers too far behind you and you won't be able to hear them properly in the mix. I hope this is helpful.

OK firstly i just want to express the quality of this sound system, nice clear treble and mid and very nice rumbly booming bass, especially for £50!

Now about PS3, the downside is that you will not get 5.1 surround sound, if you are after 5.1 you will need to buy a surround sound system with an optical cable in socket as the PS3 only has an optical out socket and nothing else (obviously when you connect the PS3 to the tv you will get sound from tv) but if you want to get sound out of this system here is what you need to do.

Connect up your PS3 to the tv as normal (if you have a HDTV then i definately recommend you buy a HD cable which you can get in any decent electrical store for about £20)

Next you connect the sound system to the TV using the green jack, you get a lead with a green, a black and an orange jack all on one which connects into the FRONT socket at the back of the sub, you then need to connect the green jack at the other end of the lead into the headphone jack of your TV. At this point i had to mute my TV for the sound to come out of the speakers but you may not have to (i have a Philips 37" HDTV)

Now you should be playing your PS3 with the sound coming out of your nice loud sound system and turning your front room into a warzone when you are shooting down bad guys on GTA4!!!

Hope this helps :)

I finally gave in and bought a 5.1 surround system.
This X-540 was cheap, and my Logitech X-230 Multimedia Speaker System - 32 Watt (Total) (2.1) is brilliant; so what had I got to lose?
On balance, I'll keep the X-540 for now because the 5.1 surround synthesis works so well on much of the TV - its main use, but the bass unit could be a lot better. So I'll keep using the hi-fi for music and the radio, and listen out for a replacement for the X-540.

Positive points first.
1. Two channel working. The synthesis of 5.1 from a two channel surround encoded source, such as from many TV programs, works amazingly well. The impression of sitting amidst the audience while watching the Championship Darts' and hearing the arrows thud into the screen in front of you is stunning, similarly with 'Live at the Apollo' and other `live' shows. Also, several feature films and music programs have come to wide-awake reality in a way I would not have believed from just a TV broadcast.
2. Watching true six channel 5.1 from an assortment of DVDs gave a very good cinematic surround experience, we were there right in the heart of the action!
3. The wired 'remote control.' This allows the synthesis to be turned off, for reversion to two channel stereo/mono (i.e. also six channel 5.1), essential for a decent sound if the two channel source does not have surround information, and also if you wish to listen to true six channel 5.1 from the DVD player.
4. Bass balance knob seems to be best midway round, and for my various sources, DVD/CD, TV, Tape the mid position on the volume control is about right.
5. Careful speaker positioning helps a lot, as does using low loss audio cables for the inputs.

Negative points.
1. The bass unit had lost the port tube on delivery - the hot-melt glue had cracked away from the cardboard tube and the bits of plastic, all of which were rattling around inside. Fortunately some left-over silicone gloop remedied the situation, access to the insides through the driver hole was easy.
2. It is essential to switch the 5.1 synthesis off for simple stereo or mono, otherwise the synthesis wrecks the sound, with too much centre speaker and holes in the frequency response. Exercise is good for me - the `remote control' lead is too short.
3. The bass response is not brilliant, peaky with no really low bass, not as good as the X230 when playing music from a CD or the radio, and nowhere near as good as the hi-fi. So I borrowed another X540 bass unit to see if the loose bits had damaged mine - no difference. Oh well.
4. Mechanical hum, even when `switched off'. The bass unit now sits on a towel on a small paving-slab on the rest of the towel, to stop the transformer hum from buzzing the floor. I should not have to do this!
5. The rear speaker leads are too short. So I got an ebinary RCA 5m extension lead from Binarymagics, quick and efficient even though it was during New Year breaks.
6. It may have more watts than the X-230, but they must be getting lost somewhere because the X-540 runs into distortion much sooner.