Logitech Z-2300 THX-Certified 2.1 Speaker System with Subwoofer

I'd read a LOT of reviews here and elsewhere before I finally decided on and purchased the Logitech Z-2300 speaker system for my computer. After putting the speakers through their paces for a couple weeks after I received them, I must say I am fairly impressed.I have tried many, many different computer speaker systems over the years, and most have been seriously lacking. When I first got into using home computers, computer speaker systems didn't exist. If you wanted to get sound out of your computer, you had to run it through your home stereo system, and you were lucky if your computer system had stereo outputs. Sound was often an afterthought in those days, but as computer technology evolved it became more and more important. (Just FYI - I purchased my first home computer in 1986... so I've been working with them for a while. :))Nowadays a lot of people consider computer technology synonymous with audio technology: MP3's, iTunes, FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, etc. - but until the mid to late 90's this technology was still being developed or didn't even exist; and even while it was being developed most of us didn't have computers powerful enough to use it, or hard drives large enough to store the music files. iTunes didn't even exist until 2001: that's only nine years ago boys and girls.It makes me wonder after all the years of development and evolution of computer audio technology why so many computer speaker systems still SUCK!! I'm not certain if it was just an acceptance of the initial audio formats, or that the flooding of the market of really cheap headphones, earphones and speaker systems just caused people to become used to sub-par sound being the norm. Whatever the reason, sadly there are many that have never experienced what their computer is truly capable of audio-wise. The best computer speaker system I've heard was one I built myself - It consisted of a Linear Power 652 car stereo amplifier running off of a very large 12V power supply and was powering a pair of the legendary Realistic Minimus 7 speakers (a 4" midbass/midrange driver coupled with a 1" fabric dome tweeter in a cast aluminum speaker enclosure; they were one of the best small "bookshelf" speakers of their era, and are still considered so...even though it was sold through Radio Shack - I guess even they got it right once in a while) and a Kicker 8" car stereo subwoofer in a custom enclosure - the satellites were getting 30 watts RMS per channel and the sub was getting 65 watts RMS... the first time I played the video game Descent: Freespace (circa 1998) with them and picked up the Vulcan cannon, the sub was playing so loudly (without distortion I might I add) it was vibrating my filing cabinet so much my next door neighbors came over to find out what all the gunfire was about!That being said, I am not going to endorse the Logitech Z-2300 speakers as the best system I have ever heard on my computer - but they are pretty decent. The bass is solid and not over-empowering, despite what a few people have reported; it all depends on how much you adjust the bass control on the speakers vs. your computer audio out vs. how loud you play your speakers overall and how you adjust your music apps and/or audio card's EQ settings. A lot of people have their EQ settings for their favorite music player cranked up for bass and high end because their headphones/earphones lack this response, but then when they connect a decent set of speakers to their computer it sounds bad or the music is distorted; turn off those EQ settings!I've read some comments that the Z-2300 speakers lack mid-response. Personally I think they have a bit too MUCH mid-response and they sound a bit nasal and/or hollow as a result: I mean, essentially the speaker is one big mid-driver with an aluminum "bullet" center (or "phase plug" as Logitech calls it) to give better high-end response. I've found that adjusting the EQ down a bit in your sound card's settings or your music app in the 1K, 2K and 4K ranges helps... you'll have to play around with a bit to adjust it to your own taste. I have also personally found the satellite speakers sound better without the grills as they are not very acoustically transparent. For those of you that already own these speakers try this simple experiment - gently blow on the palm of your hand from a few inches away and then move the grill in between your hand and mouth and you'll see how much air flow they are blocking. If they are blocking the movement of air from the speakers, then they are blocking sound! This usually affects the high frequencies and upper midrange the most. Regardless of that, these satellite speakers actually image halfway decently.Overall I recommend this speaker system... for the price of around a hundred bucks you are getting a very solid 8" subwoofer that is powered from a 120 watt RMS amplifier, while the two satellite speakers are getting 40 watts RMS each (if you don't know what the difference between Peak and RMS audio power is, look here for an explanation: [...] The speaker system actually does sound pretty decent.If you look around you can find very good powered home subwoofers for less that you could attempt to build a speaker system out of. The problem with this is that while most of these subs have gain (volume) and adjustable crossover controls, they are simply an add-on subwoofer... they have no amplified outputs that you can hook up decent pair of satellite speakers to. For that you'd have to have a separate amplifier to hook up some satellite speakers and that means more money and complexity. (Or you could just use your original pair of wimpy and substandard powered computer speakers along with the sub, but that would pretty much negate the whole point of upgrading, wouldn't it?) So, if you don't like the sound of the included satellite speakers, you're not stuck with them. Simply replace them with whatever small (typically bookshelf-type) speakers you'd like - Boston, Bose, Polk, etc. You'll have to create or buy a pair of custom speaker wires, but that's no big deal. I simply used an old pair of RCA audio cables, cut the RCA connectors off one end and stripped the wires to plug them into the speakers and plugged the RCA jacks on the other end into the Z-2300 speaker output RCA connectors. If you can't handle that, stick with the original speakers that came with the set...or get a friend to help.Either way, you are getting an exceptional powered sub that happens to have a built-in power amp to run a set of external speakers, as well as an external wired remote/adapter that controls power (on/off), volume and sub-woofer level. You can't buy ANY decent home audio subwoofer for around a hundred - hundred-twenty bucks that can even come close to this in terms of power, performance and/or features. And you get a pair of satellite speaker thrown in for free. They have a fair amount of power handling and don't image too bad. I can honestly say this is one of the best computer audio systems I've heard in about the past 20 or so years I've been working with computers and it would probably rival a lot of people's home audio systems.. this is no typical wimpy "boom-box" sound. If you want some serious audio output from your computer, look no further!

For reference, I will compare these with Bose Companion 3 and Klipsch ProMedia, all of which I have owned or currently ownAMAZING bass. Just amazing. It doesn't annoyingly pop the way the ProMedia does and is just as powerful, and just blows the Companion 3 out of the water in power. The lows aren't quite as full as with the Companion 3, but who cares about that when each beat makes your house shake? Definitely a great fit if you like watching movies on your computer, you'll feel the explosions more than Bruce Willis when you're watching Die Hard.Highs are very good. Not quite as good as neither the ProMedia or Companion 3, but unless you're listening to classical music it wont particularly matter too much, it's not a huge difference. With some tweaking on your sound card you'll get great clarity on the highs, and that'll make the difference very minimal.Mids take lots of tweaking, but after messing with your sound card they can get perfect. This is where you see the difference between these and the ProMedia, I'd say the ProMedia has bad mids if it had any. Compared to the Companion 3, mids aren't nearly as full out of the box. Companion 3 are also about $150 more, so if you have a good sound card and don't mind spending some time messing with your sound card the savings are definitely worth it.Also, they're loud. Very loud. Like your neighbors will hate you loud. I never went over half volume, and I listen to music extremely loud. I've put my Companion 3 to full volume before, never dared to do it with these out of fear that my ears would explode.Like the ProMedia, these are a slightly more movie oriented set of speakers. If you're an audiophile and want TOP music quality (like you own 4 sets of headphones just because they have different strengths for different kinds of music, and you've tried all the best computer speakers minus the Creative T4, and have about 80GB of music in lossless formats plus about 100GB in 320kb/s mp3's...like me), I'd put down the extra money for the Companion 3. Or look for a good deal on the Companion 3 like I did for both my sets of them :). Otherwise, it's probably a waste of money to get anything more expensive than these. If you're looking at the ProMedia, stop. These will outperform them in every way (except highs, but not in a noticeable way).Now that sound quality is covered, here's some things I liked/didn't like about the design:The control pod is great. It doesn't look as nice as the Companion 3 pod, but is definitely more functional. Volume and bass control is extremely useful, especially if you live in an apartment and have an odd sleep schedule. Unlike most computer speakers that have bass controls on the back of the subwoofer, this one has it on the pod. HUGE thumbs up on that. You may notice I didn't mention the ProMedia control pod...er, there isn't one. But to be fair, the ProMedia does have the bass control on one of the satellite speakers, so my criticism on it falters...oh well. The point is, control pods look cool and you want one!The satellite speakers are big. Not quite as big as the ProMedia satellites, but still huge compared to anything else. Make sure you clear space on your deskBig con for me, just because of durability...the audio cable is internal. You can't just grab your own audio cable and plug it in. If this one breaks, oops, you need a new woofer. Also, you cant have an awesome setup like I do with my Companion 3 in my room, with a 25ft audio cable that reaches my bed. Although you could just get an extension cable. I don't like it though, modular is always better in my opinion. Cable breaks, get new cable, you're good. But that's just me.Subwoofer looks impressive. Unlike the incredibly compact Companion 3 woofer, this one is approximately the size of a small house. It looks very imposing. And it makes a great footrest!In conclusion...highly recommended for anyone with any kind of budget. Best bang for your buck you'll find. And you can make it just as good as anything more expensive if you have a decent sound card.