Get surrounded: 5.1-channel speakers for everyone | ||||
![]() Rich Brown, associate editor | With PCs taking on more and more home-entertainment duties, the need for PC speakers to integrate seamlessly with your existing electronics is more important than ever. Fortunately, speaker vendors have been paying attention. Logitech's outstanding (and admittedly expensive) Z-5500 Digital is a perfect example: the sound quality rocks, but the control module includes three different digital decoders and digital inputs, which means you can plug in a game console or a DVD player directly without having to go through a separate receiver. If you're willing to sacrifice a bit of audio quality, RWTI's Sicuro 670-XLs also come with console-friendly digital inputs, and what they lack in pure sound, they make up for in visual flash. Whether you're looking with budget in mind (try Logitech's sub-$100 X-530s) or you're hoping to chop through the speaker-wire jungle (see Altec Lansing's GT5051s), chances are someone has a 5.1-channel speaker set to fit in with the rest of your home-entertainment gear. | |||
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| Product name |
Altec Lansing GT5051 |
Creative GigaWorks ProGamer G500 |
Logitech X-530 |
Logitech Z-5300e |
Logitech Z-5500 Digital |
RWTI Sicuro 670-XL (black) |
| Review date | March 28, 2005 | March 31, 2005 | November 22, 2004 | April 12, 2005 | November 22, 2004 | April 12, 2005 |
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| Buying choices |
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| Review summary | Altec Lansing's GT5051 delivers discrete 5.1-channel surround sound with just two satellites speakers, a center speaker, and a subwoofer, but you sacrifice performance for the sake of compact design. | The relatively affordable Creative GigaWorks ProGamer G500 5.1-channel multimedia speaker system delivers excellent performance across the board. We only wish it had a digital audio input. | Although it lacks the power and the clarity of some speakers, the X-530 set provides a cheap way to add respectable 5.1-channel surround sound to your computer. | If you're looking to add straightforward surround sound to your PC, Logitech's Z-5300e 5.1 speaker set delivers respectable but unexceptional performance for a reasonable price. | A versatile set of high-end 5.1 speakers, Logitech's newest flagship will handle with near-perfect quality as many audio sources as you can throw at it. | RWTI's Sicuro 670-XL 5.1-channel multimedia speaker system lights up like a discotheque, but it has some issues. |
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| User comments | 8.4 Excellent (from 11 users) | 7.3 Very good (from 6 users) | 7.8 Very good (from 73 users) | 8.3 Excellent (from 24 users) | 8.5 Excellent (from 125 users) | Be one of the first to rate this product! |
| Basic Specs | ||||||
| Product Type | PC multimedia home theater speaker system | PC multimedia speaker system | PC multimedia home theater speaker system | PC multimedia home theater speaker system | PC multimedia home theater speaker system | Info unavailable |
| System Components | Subwoofer , 5 speakers | Subwoofer , 5 speakers | Subwoofer , 5 speakers | Subwoofer , 5 speakers | Subwoofer , 5 speakers , Control unit | Info unavailable |
| Response Bandwidth | Info unavailable | 35 - 20000 Hz | 40 - 20000 Hz | 35 - 20000 Hz | 33 - 20000 Hz | Info unavailable |
| Input Impedance | Info unavailable | Info unavailable | Info unavailable | Info unavailable | 8 KOhm | Info unavailable |
| Audio Amplifier | Integrated | Integrated | Info unavailable | Integrated | Integrated | Info unavailable |
| Built-in Decoders | Info unavailable | Info unavailable | Info unavailable | Info unavailable | Dolby Pro Logic II , Dolby Digital , DTS decoder , DTS 96/24 | Info unavailable |
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| Product name | Altec Lansing GT5051 | Creative GigaWorks ProGamer G500 | Logitech X-530 | Logitech Z-5300e | Logitech Z-5500 Digital | RWTI Sicuro 670-XL (black) |
| Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications |
| Price range | Email me when this product is available | Email me when this product is available |
$73-$149 from 2 stores |
$229 from 1 store |
$232-$305 from 20 stores | Email me when this product is available |