Logitech THX Z-5300e 280 Watts RMS 5.1 Speaker

Pros: ok, so, a lot of 'audiophiles' complain the high end of this system is weak, lies, i actually run a recording studio out of my garage, and these speakers compare to the monitors i use for my work. the range is full and even, all frequency spectrums are clean and well balanced. 280w is an amazing amount of power for a system this price and the THX certification is well deserved

Cons: if you don't put the sub behind your TV or entertainment stand (like thx specifications recommend) it can be over whelming. it also gets kinda warm, so if it is put behind/under something, give it room to breath (that goes for the bass breath hole, as it will push a lot of air). not good for night or apartment use

Overall Review: id like to point out, the THX certification indicates that this system is rated for the best MOVIE viewing experience, this means movies will sound amazing, games will also sound amazing if they too are THX supported or at least support Dolby surround sound playback, music on the other hand will take adjustments to make work. as THX is for movies...not music. dont get me wrong, these are AMAZING for music, of all styles, i listen to everything from Trance to big band jazz, metal to oldies, and they all sound amazing. Heavy sub and hefty speakers only mean a better magnet coil. and 280w is amazing for a standard room size, unless you are buying for a rather large room (larger than 15x15 with lots of people) 280w is plenty.

Pros: Lots of speakers, loud sound, LOTS of bass (if you're into tons of wall-shaking bass). Good cooling radiator on the bass box.

Earphone jack on control unit is nice touch.

Cons: WAY TOO MUCH BASS, even turned all the way down with the control unit dial. Unacceptable for listening to music as frequency response across most music frequencies is WAY out of balance.

Relatively short rear speaker cables, but you can always buy RCA cable extenders from any common electronics store (no soldering required).

Bass box is very large-better have lots of room under your desk!

Overall Review: I really wanted to like these relatively cheap speakers. I have a set of 2.1 lower powered Logitech Z3 speakers that I like a lot, but was looking for a bigger set such as these for a bigger room.

I was expecting a lot more from the Z-5300e, but knowing the price was low, I wasn't expecting perfection.

Yes, the bass is loud, and many people are "awed" by that. I am awed by that too, but being over 25 years old, I also appreciate relatively faithful music reproduction too after the awe wears away (I'm NOT expecting perfection here folks).

My feeling is that these speakers are so far unbalanced-- way too much bass that you CAN'T dial down with the controller enough, and the mid-range frequencies are very weak also.

To try to balance, you have to have a good 8-10 band graphic equalizer (such as came with the Cre*ative X-Fi I bought) and have to tweak many of the low frequency bands way down (-10db) and the mid frequencies higher(+3db) to get it anywhere near normal soundi