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6 out of 6 people found this review helpful
3.5 stars
"Excellent Value!"
Pros: Sold Bass, Clear Mids and Highs, Good Price!
Cons: Weaker Mids, Short Wires, Kinds Ugly...
Summary: So I decided to build an HTPC (Home Theatre PC).
My old RCA Receiver was dying, I had a new 32" LCD, and I decided to go the HTPC route.
That meant I needed speakers.
Now as I had just purchasesd the aformentioned LCD, as well as a wireless keyboard, tuner card and a few other components, I didn't have a large ammount of cash left.
Enter the Logitech X-540's.
Now, these are not in the same league as Z-5500's. If you want the best, these are not for you.
If you need solid speakers on a budget, however, the X-540's merit serious consideration.
Firstly, they have one big advantage over most other value 5.1 systems.
Generally, value speakers have all the controls located on the right channel speaker. While this may not be a problem for anyone using speakers on a desktop PC, in an HTPC set-up, the speakers are usually a fair distance from the user, and are often wall or ceiling mounted. The X-540 ships with a seperate wired remote. It's not fancy, but it does have a good set of controls and a headphone port.
It includes volume, bass (subwoofer), power and matrix (upmix).
The sub is a fairly compact bottom firing ducted design. It produces tight accurate sounds at a much higher volume than any sane person would need.
The satellites produce crisp clear mids and highs although the mids are a bit quiet and can get a bit lost.
The satelites also have hard-wired cables, which are a bit short for an HTPC system, but they can be easily extended with RCA extention cables.
The four corner speakers all have bases that can be swiveled for wall mounting, while the centre speaker is designed to be able to mount on the top of a flat screen TV/Monitor; a big plus in the HTPC system.
One last comment about the satelites, and it's purely a matter of taste, but I find them kind of ugly.
Not oh-my-god-I've-gone-blind ugly, bot not really somthing you'd want to show off.
Now, I'm not a hard-core audiophile, but I am pickier than any of my friends or family when it comes to sound quality.
I tried these with a variety of music from my collection, including hard rock, jazz, pop, and classical. As I mentioned before, the mids tend to get lost a bit, but overall, very clean accurate sound. I'd actually rate the sound quality a fair bit better than my old RCA 2250 reciever.
I also tried Gran Turismo 3 for PS2, Mechwarrior 4 for PC, and Warcraft III. All three came through wonderfully, with the positional audio working beautifully.
Lastly, I watched Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, and Casino Royal, all on DVD. Here's where the sub really got a chance to shine. It held up perfectly with no complaints.
All around, solid performers for a solid price.
Updated on Jan 21, 200921 Months Later
Well, it's been well over a year since my original review, so I though it was about time for an update.
In the intervening time, I've replaced my 32" LCD with a 42", upgraded my HTPC, replaced my PS2 with a PS3, and added a Wii to the mix, but the X-540's are still alive and kicking!
With the PS3 came Blu-Rays and HD Audio, but the X-540's still hold up great!
I've watched Dark Knight, Hellboy and 5th Element to name a few, and they sound AWESOME!
The mid-range is still a bit quiet when watching movies, but I've added an equalizer on the HTPC side of things which has allowed me to tweak the sound and has helped MP3's and and games a lot.
All in all, I'm still happy with my speakers, and my original verdict still stands.
Great Speakers for Little Money!
- 1 reply to this review
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I love this review! I too, am on a tight budget and saw this speaker as a good alternative for an HTPC for my new 32" LCD TV. But all the reviews I checked focused on it as PC speaker or Gaming Speaker. Your setup is exactly what I want to do with my TV and PC (since they are just a few feet apart). Ive been looking for a review on how it performs in DVD watching and yours just gave me the justification to go out and buy it.. thanks! :-)
Quick question.. did the RCAextension affect the sound at all? how long did you have to extend the rear speakers? Thats the part I think i'll find cumbersome setting up.. Rear Speakers all the way around the room (having to cross a door so cables tucked at the sides of the floor isnt an option). From PC to TV Cabinet no problem I can just wire it behind a couple of closets..
Where to buy
Logitech X-540 5.1 Powered Speaker System:
$49.99 - $99.99
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
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$99.99 | Yes |
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$78.99 | Yes |
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$84.99 | Yes |
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$84.99 | Yes |
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$78.95 | Yes |
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