I’m looking at two different set ups… the Logitech G51 Surround Sound Speaker system or the Logitech Z-5300e surround sound system… They are both about the same price, so I just want to know what you guys think. What I want to do is hook the speakers up to both my computer AND the Xbox 360 that I’ll be getting soon as well. Which would be better for that?

Thanks in advance guys!

One sec, gotta upgrade my server to handle the post that Greg is about to make.

FROGBLAST THE VENTCORE!

I’m just waiting patiently to hear the ultimate verdict.

I’ve yet to hear any of the upper Logitechs are are worth the plastic they’re molded from. I bought a pair of Logitech Z-2300 for my office to which I returned and got a pair of Klipsch Promedias. Even my roomate wasn’t fond of the logitechs.

Honestly the only PC speakers worth a damn are the Klipsch now that EV is gone. The 5.1s are harder to come by but they’ll rival most cheap box sets. I say this and I mean it, they’re they’re the only PC speakers that don’t offend me. That’s as close as I come to elating over PC speakers.

The 5.1 Promedias have been discontinued a couple years now so good luck finding any new stock.

Not quite what I expected… but whatever.

I prefer hooking up everything to a real stereo over computer speakers… most logitech speakers I’ve heard has a serious lack of midrange which can’t be made up for by rather (relatively the size) impressing subwoofers. Some of their speakers have really clear sound, but that doesn’t help that there’s a big hole in the sound from 200Hz and up a ways. I would not mind their speakers as satellites for a surround set… but they lack a real set of main speakers.

It’s all down to personal taste and ears though, so listem them out and if you can’t hear the lack of midrange (Darth Vader sounding rather girlish and so) go for whatever sounds the best to you. But it could be an idea to actually look at cheap complete “home theatre” packages too to ee if you don’t like the sound from those better. Could be hard to find one in the same price range with sound input though.

I have to say that I have absolutely 0 experience with the G51s, and from the pure look of them it looks like they’ve actually changed the elements in the satellites… so maybe they’ve improved the midrage. Pure speculation… but worth checking out.

Important enough note to warrant its own post:

I don’t think either of those speakers set has a digital input, and I’m not sure the Xbox 360 can deliver multi-channel analogue surround sound. So you’d be stuck with Stereo and Pro Logic.

Yeah, Whale’s right. The 360 doesn’t do analog sound input. I don’t remember where you live SG, but I noticed the Logitech Z-5300e system is going for $179.99 CDN this week at FS.

I googled both sets and found both for about the same price. Don’t remember the sites though… Don’t really care about having surround for the 360, just really want it for my computer since I’ve never had it before… the speakers I have now are the JBL Creatures… they sound decent.. but I want more than that. and I really don’t have a whole lot of room for a huge set. If I only knew who had one of the 2 sets on display or something I would check them out… but from what I’ve seen and remember, not many places are carrying 5.1 surround sound speaker systems for the computer nowadays… I mean, I’ve been in the market for quite awhile now… just been too lazy to really go out and buy a set… I’ll probably just end up ordering one of them though… sometime…

There are SPDIF source splitters so you can jam two things into your speakers, PC and Xbox 360. Its a poor man’s receiver but it’d work.

That would require the speakers to have SPDIF in, which they do not.

Also, I would personally take surround on the 360 over a PC… everything supports it there while PC support is more patchy and Mac support almost unheard of.

Wait, why are we looking at 5.1 speakers without SPDIF? You can always buy a SPDIF to Analog convertor box like the Soundblaster thingies but that’d cost as much as buying a set with SPDIF.

I have 5.1 on my Mac which rarely gets used, except to watch HD rips of TV shows and the rare occasion my Xbox 360 is connected to one of my monitors. I used to have my Revolution going to the 6 Channel input on my Denon but I eventually did away with the excess cable mess seeing as I never play any games with surround on my Mac.

As Whale has been saying all along, cheapo HT sets are the way to go. I’d recommend like the Onkyo HT-SR600, for about $270 you have two Optical inputs and they’re not assy horrid Logitech shitbags. Logitech speakers are great for deaf people and landfills.

The only reason I want a 5.1 system is for movies… don’t care about surround sound for games… it’d be nice, but I rarely play any high-end games… plus I really can’t on this aging machine of mine. I’m going to end up hooking up the 360 to my computer monitor so speakers that I can hook up to both my mac and the 360 would be really nice. If you saw what my room looks like, you’d see I don’t have room for big speakers… so that’s another reason why I’m looking at the 2…. wait a minute…

The inexpensive HT idea sounds intriguing… hmm..

Oh… and did I mention that I do have the M-Audio Revolution 7.1 card?

Really, Onkyo makes okay boxed sets and considering most are shit, that’s something to brag about. Onkyo is more known for making damn fine HT receivers and the like, Onkyo making a boxed set is like when Klipsch steps down and makes PC speakers, when they specialize in quality (though horn driven) speakers.

The SR800 is the one to get but 7.1 really isn’t the most useful thing ever and its more spendy. Onkyo I’d call the measuring block for small boxed sets. When I played with a SR800 I recall thinking they were about on par with the Promedia Ultras were but without as much growl. 

Onkyo just makes much better stuff than the PC speaker makers, save Klipsch.  The bonus of the Onkyos is they’re a little more versatile, and if you ever buy a full fledged Receiver, you can just unplug the speakers from the receiver it comes with and stick them on your new receiver. That way you can upgrade as you go. Plus the receiver it comes with has 3 SPDIF inputs, two Optical, one Coax which means you could have your Mac, 360 and perhaps a PS2 connected all at once.  Its the smartest thing to do. Most of the PC speaker makes have back pedaled away from 5.1 sets as its hard to compete at the same price range with something like this.

I’ll see if I can find something on clearance or an open boxed item somewhere… TIME TO GO SHOPPING AFTER WORK!