Logitech X-540 70 watts 5.1 Speakers

Pros: Sound quality is excellent. Lots of power at reasonable volumes. Center speaker "clips" on to your monitor - it's made for an LCD, but unscrewing the base and putting it on backwards lets me balance it on my CRT. Remote, while wired, has a decently long cord (5') with all the right things on it - power, volume, bass, auto-bypass headphone jack, and matrix mode. Matrix mode is a nice one-touch solution for listening to music through all channels (Remember to turn it off when gaming with EAX)

Cons: This set definitely has a "sweet spot" - these are NOT meant to be maxed out and will distort at higher volumes. Leave the bass and volume knobs somewhere in the middle, and you'll get great sound. If you absolutely have to have your already-half-deaf ears blown out, buy a higher wattage. Still, this set is sufficient to cheese off your neighbors, if you live in an apartment.

Overall Review: Don't listen to the review that says they're small and cheap - they're sturdy and just the right size. As always, shipped so fast my head spun (though, I gotta stop ordering on weekends.. why's my paycheck gotta come on Fridays?)

Pros: Bottom Line: If you're looking at these, you're obviously not looking for "AudioPhile" gear, so my gut instinct is to tell you that you've hit the nail on the head. This set performance is a couple notches beyond my expectations. For the price, this is pretty much a perfect 5.1 system for the PC, as an all-around PC Gaming, Music, and Movie-watching platform. I spent more than this on my headphones, for Pete sake. The looks are pleasingly subdued in black / charcoal grey with sturdy grilles. The mounting system while simple, is sturdy and versatile as both wall and desk top options. The center-channel top monitor "clip" is a smart design, quick, sturdy, adjustable or just set it on the desk below the monitor, it works fine either in front of or behind the screen if you want it out of sight. The set is pre-wired for a small (typical PC desk) set-up, with sufficient wire length for that application. Everything is color-coded making proper set-up idiot proof. Sound is su

Cons: Cons: This is just nit-picking, really. The rear speaker wires may be short if you want to ceiling-mount them and be able to hide the wires effectively. They are standard RCA plugs. No big deal to add the length you need. The wired remote feels very sturdy, but is very light. It could have been weighted so it would more easily stay put. As others have stated, the sub driver is NOT protected in any way, so watch your fingers while you're handling the unit, or you'll put a finger right through the driver. If you're looking for bone-jarring, blow-the-windows-out performance, you better check your budget, and plan on spending about 3x this much.

Overall Review: Other Thoughts: As with any speaker system, regardless of budget, the performance will vary enormously depending on your installation. You will get the most out of this system if you read a little bit about proper 5.1 set-up, and take the time to get your speaker locations and sound adjustments really dialed-in. This set can perform well enough to be deserving of a carefully tuned installation, and you'll be rewarded for taking extra time to do so. Optimizing sound for sitting at a desk in front of a monitor is far different from standing 15 feet away. So what may sound perfect while playing a game, will NOT sound the same while you're say, listening go MP3's while working elsewhere in a large room. Small drivers are directional, bass is not, you need to keep that in mind while setting things up.

Pros: Great sound quality Pretty Easy set up (see other thoughts as well) Compact. Ish. I think they're compact, maybe not for others though

Cons: Satellite speakers don't seem to add much BUT that's mainly my set up. I don't have room to place them behind me (not that they're too big, just my room).

Overall Review: When I first got this about a year ago I was impressed. After a while, I noticed that the center piece and sub woofer weren't really working. It took a while, but it turns out that Windows 7 doesn't like the 5.1 channel set up or something. I checked my wiring countless times over and had it right. Windows would even individually send sounds to the proper speakers, but it wouldn't work outside of the sound setup. Anyway, setting Windows 7 to 7.1 instead of 5.1 surround sound made everything work and then I was REALLY blown away. tl;dr? Try setting sound scheme/setup to 7.1 surround instead of 5.1 if it's not all you expected to be. I've owned these speakers for approximately 11 months now, approaching 12

Pros: This speaker set is the best one i've ever bought. It sounds like the action is right in the room with me. Lows have a kick to them but not at all overwhelming. Highs are rich and crisp not muffled like some speaker sets. Remote is a great thing to have so you don't have to climb behind desk to adjust bass. Built durable and sub is somewhat heavy.

Cons: The only let down is cables are not that long , but nothing a couple $4.00 rca extentions can't fix.

Overall Review: Cable length is Front speakers = 5 feet Center speaker = 5 feet Rear speakers = 12 feet

Pros: Not that anyone cares, or to sound pretentious (which I'm sure I will anyway), but I'm an 'audiophile' and have about $50k worth of tube analog tub equipment in my basement as my primary sound system, so I wasn't expecting much (and didn't need much) quality for PC speakers, but for the money, was pleasantly surprised. Had to upgrade because my old A-L speakers weren't compatible with this brand new PC (w/Win 7 Ult.). Well packed, Sub is about 1/2 the size of the old A-L's, but sounds better. Remote is separate, as opposed the controls which were on the right front speaker of the A-L's. Easy to setup. Am using it with Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium, which is fine for what *I* use it for. (The reader may need/want something more esoteric, if used as their primary sound system). If you're on a tight budget or don't need a million dollar sound system, you can't beat the sound for the price and so far, I haven't had any problems whatsoever (*fingers crossed*!)...

Cons: Rear speaker wires are adequately long, as is the center speaker wire, but the left front and right front wires are about a foot too short. With some clever spacing, I was able to *just* make it fit where I wanted, with less than an inch to spare. Remote is hard-wired, as opposed to modular. Had to reroute the wire to keep it out of the way. Speaker stands are packed in reverse angle to save space. Get a phillips, loosen, flip them around and tighten - minor inconvenience. Sub woofer has NO cover/grill for the driver. It is down-firing, but still should come with at least a cheap grill.

Overall Review: The next upgrade (for Logitech) was the Z-5500, which was $300+ more, but even that set doesn't have a grill for the sub woofer (and that one is front-firing, which would make it a lot easier to damage). I know there are a LOT more expensive PC speakers sets out there, but as I said, these are more than fine for what *I* need for my PC. When I want true sound, I play vinyl on my equipment in the basement. (Yeah, I know - I guess I'm 'old' now!) Trust me - analog beats digital by so many orders of magnitude - and I also have one of the best (and unfortunately, highest priced CDPs, along with the rest of my equipment), when I *have* to play my CDs. I researched this for a week or two and read hundreds of reviews and I've noticed that everybody says Logitech's customer service stinks. I haven't needed them for these speakers (yet!), but I have all kinds of other Logitech peripherals and the one time I did have to use them (to replace a mic), they were fine. (Maybe they got worse?)

Pros: The sound quality is fabulous! I'm amazed that such a set of wonderful speakers sells for so little! You can jack these things up incredibly high; if I set them to 75% volume, I can hear them one whole floor level away, and they still sound crisp, clear, and beautiful. The bass is powerful! When I play Crysis, I max the bass and turn the volume to 50%, and when a nuclear explosion occurs, it sounds devastating (in a good way)!

Cons: The cables are decent in terms of length, but not quite where I'd have liked them to be. In my rather small room, the wires from the rear speakers hang somewhat in mid air. I would have preferred to wire them along the ground. Of course, this kind of set up gets the cats excited... They love to destroy wires and such things that are suspended a short distance above their faces. Front wires are very short. I have them wall mounted, and they only reach about 6 ft. or so (I think).

Overall Review: Bah, unless you REALLY care about the wiring problem (that is, if you have cats and what not), I'd buy these right away. I use built-in Realtek HD audio, and it seems to work just fine. I upgraded from a small pair of sony portable speakers, and I DO NOT regret it. xDD

Pros: Nice sound and pretty inexpensive

Cons: The center speaker blew out the second day. I never turned up the sound past half way and now there is an annoying rattle sound coming from the center speaker most of the time.

Overall Review: I unplugged the center speaker and the sound is still decent enough. I wish I could have the full 5.1 experience though.

Pros: Quality 5.1 sound for less than 100 bux. While the power ratings and such are almost exactly the same as the x-530's I just retired, the improvements over the older set make them well worth the cost/effort of upgrading. This newer revision adds real faceplates (not cloth), a control pod with power, volume, bass volume, a matrix switch, and a headphone jack, a down firing sub, and a center channel speaker that clips to an LCD screen. I had my center speaker perched on top of my LCD with the 530's too, but the 540's are easier to do this with. Matrix mode is a common feature in many mp3 player apps, but it's nice to have a button for it on the speakers themselves.

Cons: none

Overall Review: While this isn't an earth shaking system, it is more than enough for gaming or multimedia in an average size room. From a sound quality standpoint, these sound almost exactly like the Logitech x-530's, except for the fact that the improved sub design eliminates dead spots. I paired these up with a Xonar DS, and the sound quality is better than most of the competitor's offerings in this price range.