Which provides better sound - Logitech 5450 or Logitech 5500?

talk random
1

By the naming convention, it would seem the Logitech 5500 is better. Pricewise, though, the 5450 is more expensive, and it is featured first in the list of 5.1 speaker products on Logitech’s website.

The 5500 provides more watts compared to the 5450’s 310W output. I don’t listen to music loudly, so this doesn’t really matter. Anyhoo, the 5450’s replaced the Logitech Z-680’s, and the 680’s were the top-of-their-line speakers Logitech sold a while ago.

So, basically, which would provide better sound quality? I might pick up an X-Fi also to go along with these, so I want the quality to be good enough to make the glass in my room shatter when listening to the Bee Gees :wink:

:rock:

2

off the top of my head, I would say that you pay for wireless technology in the z5450. Plus, it’s newer, thus it appears first.

I don’t think they replaced the z680… did they? I always thought the 5300 did that.

quality-wise, unless you’re a expertly trained audiophile, I think they are the same.

(my bro has the z5500… and personally, that’s all I’ll ever need. I have the 5300e, good enough for a college student who can’t blast stuff too loud ;))

edit: upon brief inspection of the product page, it seems that the 5500 indeed produces equivalent or better quality. definitely more maximum outage, slightly larger frequency range. I can’t seem to find the signal to noise ratio on the 5450, but I would imagine the 5500 to be equal or better.

it also seems that the added price for the 5450 is the enhanced/bonus functions. Better design (at least, I think it’s supposed to be better), the remote that controls more than just your speakers, and that nifty “digital soundtouch control center” are the main things the 5500 lacks.

These don’t affect sound quality, though… so it still holds that the 5500 gives better quality.
I still think that the difference will be negligible, but that’s because I can’t really tell good speakers from really good speakers :stuck_out_tongue: (audio-wise). Again, probably would only make a difference if you’re an expertly trained audiophile.

best way to find out is still to go into a store and give both a listen :wink:

edit edit: was interested to know what happened to the z680. Comparing specs, it seems the 5500 replaced it.

3

I agree with hsadan, these seem to be similar enough that you wouldn’t easily be able to tell the difference. Since the rear channels are wireless, it might be a little bit easier for interference to interfere with your listening; the site mentions that ‘96kHz audio streams are re-sampled to 48kHz in the rear channels only’, so that might be something to consider. I’ve had the Z-5500s paired with an Audigy 2 ZS for more than a year now (the Z-5450s weren’t out to consider yet), and I haven’t noticed any lack of clarity in the sound.

4

Ah thanks for the info! I’ll go with the 5500 then. School ends in about a month-ish, so I’ll set these up when I get back after the summer :geek:

5

have you bought these yet? If you’re on a budget, maybe you could consider the z5450 because of this:

Source: Slickdeals: The Best Deals, Coupons, Promo Codes & Discounts

but if you’re not on a budget… then stick with the 5500 :stuck_out_tongue:
or, if you’re planning to only get them after summer… then disregard this too :-/

6

I am planning on getting them when I get back this summer. If were to buy them now, they would be packed up and stashed in storage for the 3 month Summer break, and I have no plans to carry them around to wherever I go either hehe.

:inc: