Just got my Z523's today. Quick shipment from Amazon, despite my using super saving shipment. First impressions: nice attention to detail: velcro wraps for all the cords. Sound is good, but VERY heavy on the base. Had to adjust it way down to sound good. The sub seems well put together. Watch out for the down firing speaker though. It is unprotected, and you could easily put your finger through it taking it out of the box. They should put a grill of some sort over it to protect it.
The biggest reason i bought these is that it was a good price, and it offered a seperate line in, so i could hook up an ipod without having to un-plug it from the computer. You would be surprised how hard this feature is to find in a ~$100 2.1 system.
Hopefully it will last a lot longer than my Klipsch Pro-Media's, which sounded great but needed to be repaired every year. I could have bought 3 sets of Z523s for the money I spent repairing my Promedias. Enough was enough.
Z523's = thumbs up! Logitech Speaker System Z523 with Subwoofer
I ordered these based on the generally positive reviews and had great expectations for them. I was replacing a pair of Cyber Acoustics speakers that cost much less than these, so surely these would sound better! In my opinion, they don't. In fact, I think they sound so bad that I was starting to wonder if I had done something wrong installing them, but it's pretty idiot-proof. I listened to numerous favorite songs, and was unable to find a comfortable bass level using the bass control knob. It's either waaaaay too much and rattles nearby items with the vibration, or nothing (same is true of the volume knob, by the way). The bass is not at all to my liking (and I do like bass), I suppose it may be good for explosions on games and movies and that sort of thing, but it's horrible for music and you'd be constantly adjusting the knob for different types of music. I also found the treble very poor, and the sound generally muddied and unbalanced. I tried to like these, I really did, especially since I hate the hassle of sending things back. These are going back. I reconnected my Cyber Acoustics. They're not great, but I like them much better than these. I may be the only one who thinks so here, but these are awful. Listen to them first before buying (and not just on explosions) and see if you agree
I will keep this short. If you like a lot of bass then you can't go wrong with this system.
The subwoofer delivers in this regard. The problem comes in the mid-range and non-existant high end.
This system do not have a tweeter only one small speaker for both mid-range and highs. And while
it does an acceptable job for mid-range it doesn't have any highs.
I tried using the software EQ to boost the highs but then mid-range got messed up...I couldn't get
it right. I eventually returned these for the Z520s. And while the bass is not there the sound
is much more balanced across a wide range of different material.
In summary, if you want a lot of bass get these. If you want an overall good sounding speaker
get the Z520.
There are several lengthy reviews on these speakers already, so I'll keep this short. I think the four and five star rated reviews are pretty much spot on. Yes, the woofer can easily overpower the desk speakers. That's why there's a separate volume control marked "bass". Look, this is not a home stereo system. It's a set of good quality computer speakers with a woofer footrest. By any measure, they're better than whatever came with your computer, and most likely better than whatever came with your TV. This is the 5th or 6th set of computer speakers I've bought over the last 25 years. They're the best thus far.
I didn't want to spend the extra coin for the z2300 set (which are amazing). When I compared the z523 to the z2300, I found the z523 has a slight dropoff in sound quality, but were still very good. The bass output is really strong. Highs are excellent. The midrange is where it's just a bit weak, and the only reason I give them 4 stars instead of 5. After listening to them for a couple of hours and using the RealTek mixer equalizing software that came with my motherboard, along with some tweaking of the positioning on my desk, I am completely satisfied with the speaker performance. The left/right desktop units are position sensitive because they have rear and front firing drivers. The good news is that this adds another possibility for adjustment.
Other pros: Speakers are a reasonable size. Controls are easy to use (power, volume, bass, line in and headphone jack all on right speaker). Subwoofer is really nice looking. RCA and DB9 cable connections, making it possible to extend the distance between the speakers and the subwoofer.
These are a great value when on sale. High quality 2.1 sound from your PC. - Speakers - Pc Speakers - Logitech - Subwoofer'
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