I'm in the market for some new speakers for Doom3. At the moment I've got my eye on either the Logitech Z-5300 or the Logitech Z-680. I can get the Z-5300 for $240 and the Z-680 for $455. Is the Z-680 worth the extra $200 or is there something better someone can suggest? I had in mind a $200-$300 price tag, at the moment the Z-5300 is looking like the way to go.

Having heard the Z-680s, I don't think the extra $200 is a matter for concern. Very nice bass, and accepts Dolby input.

And keep in mind, these speakers, if cared for, will last a long time.

Not like say, the video card you'll need to run Doom 3, which will be outdated in a year or so :)

last edited by StopShootingMe at 16:33:45 20/Jul/04

erm hook me up with the $240 buck ones dude, where u get them from??

mm z-680's are superb. even the 640's are good and freakishly cheap.

At work we had a journo come in for a game review and we used the Logitech Z-680s for that, worked perfectly.

z-640 all u need.

Z-640's have gay inputs.


The z5300's are $265 at Umart.
They are $249.00 at GameDude.

We sell them at work, but I think they're more... We pricematch though, if they have them in stock... and you get a 30 day return policy, so if they suck, you can bring them back (ps. officeworks)

last edited by mongie at 17:37:53 20/Jul/04

i have 640's they go hard.

i have 640s, but they suk wang without a good soundcard (i have onboard 6.1 crap which has cruddy outputs)

Any opinions on Altec Lansing 5100's?

I've been happy with AL's quality - I've been using a quad set of their speakers for years now... but I agree: 51. for Doom.

i have 640s, but they suk wang without a good soundcard (i have onboard 6.1 crap which has cruddy outputs)

Yep, that is exactly the situation I'm in (I wouldn't say "suk wang" quite so much though). I was running the 640s through an old SBLive value and they sounded pretty good. I've gone back to my onboard 6 channel sound (ASUS P4C800 onboard) and they aren't as good, but they are still fairly decent. I'm (hopefully) getting an audigy tomorrow, so if you are interested I'll yet you know how much difference it makes.

I have the Logitech Z-5300 f***ing sick 5.1 set up and still not that much. The only downside i can see with them is it doesn't ahve an on board amp so you can only connect them to your computer (though does have a game console port) and not your dvd player. But the sound quality is superb and the bass you'll love it :D. They vibrate my walls at about half way - 3 quaters of the volume. Get these if your only really going to be using it for your computer or if you have an amp already :).

Overall - Sick f***ing speakers :D

My only complaint with the logitech speakers is the inability to completely turn off the sub and still use the speakers (not that I really wanna do that very often, but hey it comes up on the odd occasion)

how could they not have an onboard amp?

erm hook me up with the $240 buck ones dude, where u get them from??

http://www.msy.com.au/

There's no QLD branch yet but it says on the site that there will be one soon. There about the cheapest place I've been able to find for hardware. Some stuff they sell is even below the cost price of other computer shops stock.

I may end up aiming for the Z-680's but it just depends how much money i've got left after buying an X800pro, MSY are advertising them for $815 but i wanted to get it from EB because you can get a free copy of Doom3 if you buy the card from them but EB are selling the same card for $899 so hopefully they do pricematches on hardware since they already do on software.

Read this in a review at Tom's Hardware about the Logitech Z-680's:

As regards quality, the Z-680 has a slight defect, which nevertheless ought to be mentioned. You will notice it immediately once you attach the speakers to the sector. The central channel has a fairly noticeable continuous hiss that does not change in relation to the volume, not even when the Mute function is activated. The hiss is irritating, since it means you can't leave the Z-680 on permanently when using the PC, or you will have to put up with a permanent accompaniment of "white noise." The hiss is heard faintly when listening to music or a DVD, and in some cases, it can reduce the general quality of the reproduction.

Full article here. Quote taken from two pages further into article.

Those of you who have the Logitech Z-680, have you noticed the hiss they mention? And if so, on the scale of "who cares" to "argh! that s***s me!!" would you rate it's impact?

Yeah I have a set of these speakers...
The hiss was not an issue when i had a noisier cpu fan but i can notice it now that i have a stock amd fan on my machine.

That said, i only really notice it when im going to sleep, as the rears are directly above my bed (the hiss is from all channels), so I just turn them off when going to bed.

Scale of 1-10 when actually using the pc = 1.

im looking at getting logitech 640's myself, saw them for 109$, wonder if they'd work with my soundblaster live value ?

yes they work but to get sound out of your centre speaker you have to use the "matrix" function which outputs a combination of what is played through the left and the right front speakers. I have run my 640s of a SBLive value and they sound pretty good. Just keep in mind that it won't be true 5.1

That's only if your sound outputs don't have a center channel.

Eu4ia;

Im pretty sure you can get some upgrade to fix this, i've read about it a while back, cbf looking for it.

iirc (which i probably don't) that was a problem with the old 680 control panel thingo, i think it was fixed with later models.

I read a few reviews today on them and yeah, seems there was a fix to that hiss problem. Only other complaint mentioned is that the sub is too "boomy" - which works okay for games and dvd's but sucks for normal music. A few people posting on forums said that even when they turned the sub volume to the lowest setting (before off), the bass was too much for general listening.

Even though I primarily listen to music on my system downstairs, I do spend a fair amount of time listening to mp3s while working.

Right now I'm leaning towards the Logitech Z-5300's as better value-for-my-dollar option.

I'm going to disagree with the sub being "too boomy". Granted if you have the sub too close to you it is a bit loud, but strategically placed (as all good subs should be) there is absolutely no problem.

Anyone know if these speakers are being sold in Australia?

Klipsch ProMedia ultra 5.1 Personal Audio System
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=36-119-106&depa=0

I had a quick hunt around and couldn't find anything.

Aus Prices don't seem to have any listings for Klipsch speakers at all.