Z-5500's bad mids? I am pretty worried about buying them.

thehyecircus

New Member
I am worried for a handful of reasons. I don't plan on them being anywhere close to "Loud", I like my music quiet for the most part. I am also worried about the "unshielded subwoofer" mumbo jumbo. And the last one is the fact everyone says that they have a bad midrange, but some people blame the midrange on a "disconnect" between the woofer and the speakers.

My subwoofer is going to be soft. I am attracted to the Z-5500's because of the look of the speakers, the favorable reviews for the speakers, and the control pod. But part of me says that they're a bad choice for me.

Can anyone here advise me? Thanks.
 

PunterCam

Active Member
They're good. The mid is a bit shit, they naturally scoop out a lot of the mid, just like most entertainment speakers do these days (most music is really just bass and high stuff, in the charts anyway, and it's hard to do good mid so people just don't bother), but for day to day listening they're pretty fine. The mids shitness has absolutely nothing to do with a connection problem, thats bull.

When it comes to the ultimate test of any speakers, the playing back of a good classical cd, it comes accross less well.

I'd only worry about the sub being close to your actual computer, magnets wiping hard drives n all that, but screens and everything else will be fine I imagine - it's just a speaker, they're covering their asses knowing most people will be buying them for computers.

The control unit is nice to use, I use an optical in from my computer, it's all worked well so far.

I have the sub at just under a third volume, and it is nicely balanced to the satalites. Positioning of the sub can be a bit tricky - you get only 1 meter of cable to the control pod thing. With it being a sub you also get the low frequencies appearing at different volumes throughout the room - I've got a nice pool at my desk, so I can have the sub volume low which keeps the neighbours happy. At other points in the room you'll find virtually no bass, so if you do get them, play around with the positioning.

I don't regret buying them, for entertainment uses they're great, films are lovely, and the individual volumes for the sub, the centre and the rears can help you bring out the speach in some muddy sounding movies. For music they aren't a patch on 'real' speakers, so I guess you have to decide what you want them for. Games and films with music you just want to sound 'nice', go for it.
 

thehyecircus

New Member
I'm not an audiophile. The speakers I have now are some old Labtecs. I assume they have good mids, but I don't even know how to define that. I do know I have no bass (which explains why I don't know what to expect from a sub) nor do I have a sound card (I have an X-Fi Xtreme Gamer coming at the start of the week.)

So I don't know what is "good" and what is "bad". I do know there is "better.", and while I'd like the "best" option, when it comes to audiophiles you start getting into seven 4,000 dollar active monitors and three 16 inch subwoofers as the base set. I don't really want that. I do want it to sound significantly better then what I have now.

Are the Z-5500's problems really that noticable, or are they only noticable to audiophiles who have lots of experience with sound and all.

Also, do they come with software that lets you tell them where they are positioned in real life? I think my cousin's Audigy 2 has that option, I'd like it.

Also, do you think the XtremeGamer is too much for what I need? I saw you reply in an older topic of mine. It was 50 dollars after rebate.
 
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PunterCam

Active Member
What kind of stuff are you gonna use them for? Pop, rock, drum n bass, dance, techno, anything modern infact will sound great (not accurate great, it will sound quite different to how it really should, but pleasant).

The mid i'm sure you know is the bit between the bass and the treble (well duh, that's aimed at me not you, I can't stop writing shit today), scooping it out makes it much easier to make speakers sound 'good'.

These speakers will be a big step up from any other computer entertainment speakers, I guarentee you'll like them.

BUT, I own what is effectively the late 1980's version of these http://images.google.com/imgres?img...ev=/images?q=pmc+tb1&um=1&hl=en&safe=off&sa=N
They sound so natural in comparison, even hooked up to some cheap £30 amp off ebay. You can pick these speakers up occasionally from ebay for £80, or $160, and they're actually really really nice. If you just want good sound get them or something similar, if you want the hassel free 5.1 thing with the big sub then z5500's are great.

I don't quite understand your question about the software; these speakers come with no software. Perhaps it's a program that comes with the sound card? I can use my soundcard software to drag a dot around a virtual room on the screen and the speakers reflect it if thats what you mean.
 

thehyecircus

New Member
I don't even know how to use those big things or what they'd do or how I'd fit them on. I think it's overkill, but thanks for the thoughts.

Can you give me some advice on what to do with my subwoofer? This system sounds good without it being extremely outrageously loud, right? I don't plan on it being up very loud.

Thank you for all your help so far. And as for the software I did mean the sound card. I'm sure mine will have something.
 

PunterCam

Active Member
The sub will sound different in every room, you just need to make sure it isn't near your computer or external hard drives. My desk is kinda sitting in the middle of my room, so it's not the typical setup. I have my sub on the floor about 6 inches directly to my left, my satalites are then out in the corners and against the wall, so it's hard to know how it will sound if (I assume) your desk is against a wall. You'll just have to experiment, you will be able to make it sound good. To set up I'd turn the sub volume down to about 1/4, then physically move it around until you get plenty of bass at your seat.

I rarely have it loud, it's very pleasent at low volumes, and unlike many speakers the bass is still nicely balanced against the rest of the sound. You don't need to have it loud to enjoy it, but it does go really loud so for parties or just when you want to rock out(!) it's handy to have the headroom.

Go for it man, you'll like em'. Make sure your sound card has either 5.1 minijack outputs or an optical/coax digital output (bare in mind the digital and coax cables don't come with the set, you only get the 3 minijack cables).

Also, logitech say you can't extend the cable between the control unit and the sub; it is possible but I don't think anything is currently available with the correct wiring over the counter, you'd have to go to an electrical shop and get one made up. I don't know if this could cause problems with the unit itself with time, but apparently it does work, so if you really can't have the sub within 1m of the control unit there's a solution.
 

thehyecircus

New Member
Alright I'm gonna put money in my account today to order them, but walk me through this.

http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=209&subcategory=669&product=15853

I bought that card. What cables will I need to plug my system into it? I plug all my speakers into the subwoofer, right?

The subwoofer-control pod cable is really only 3 feet? Thats not long at all. Thats barely comfortably from my desk to the floor. Are you sure it's only 3 feet? I was hoping for, say 6 feet. I mean I can make it work I just need to rethink everything.
 

PunterCam

Active Member
sorry, 1m isn't right, dunno where I got that from. its closer to 2m now i've roughly measured it, search for it on google, i'm sure it'll be mentioned accurately somewhere. All the speakers plug into the sub, which contains all the amps etc... The control unit connects to the sub through a cable similar to a monitor cable (the 2m one). All those cables are provided.

That sound card has one of those minijack shaped optical plugs, which I guess is this: http://www.amazon.com/6ft-Toslink-M...4?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1204488417&sr=1-4 actually I'm pretty much certain that's what it needs.

That's all you need.
 

thehyecircus

New Member
You really think the subwoofer could wipe a drive? I mean I'm not putting mine next to my tower, but I heard it's just a precaution.
 

PunterCam

Active Member
You really think the subwoofer could wipe a drive? I mean I'm not putting mine next to my tower, but I heard it's just a precaution.

10¨ speaker, that's bigger than most. I really don't know if it could damage a drive but I see no point in taking any risks. It will just be a precaution on their part, but big magnets do damage hard drives so why invite disaster
 
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