Logitech Z515 Wireless Speakers: Because Your Laptop Speakers Suck
by Dustin Sklavos on October 14, 2010 2:00 AM ESTConclusion
If we're grading strictly on sound quality, the Logitech Z515 is a tough sell. If you're planning on paying $99 for a pair of speakers that will spend their useful life sitting at your desk, you can do a lot better. The Z515's an improvement on notebook speakers in any capacity, but if it's just going to be stationary throughout most of its life, you can do better with a pair of conventional computer speakers. Fortunately, we aren't grading strictly on sound quality.
The Z515 is clearly designed to be as portable as humanly possible, an effort to strike a balance between sound quality and mobility, and on that front they feel like much more of a success. Playback over the Z515 was perfectly fine for casual use, and with the volume cranked up it can definitely fill a room (and it does sound much better at higher volumes.) But it was meant to be on the move, as aptly demonstrated by the space for the receiver in the back and the black zipper case it comes with. Supporting three different methods of connectivity—wireless dongle, Bluetooth, and 3.5mm minijack—makes it as flexible as you could ask for, and the wireless range is outstanding.
Something else to consider is that with the USB wireless adapter, you're not saddled with the built-in audio on your laptop, and you don't need to use the headphone jack. We've encountered quite a few laptops over the years where the internal speakers and audio jacks both have a lot of electrical noise/interference. By going the USB audio route, Logitech eliminates that concern.
That's where you're really going to have to decide whether or not the $99 MSRP is worth it to you. If the flexibility and wireless range are attractive, I'm not sure where you can expect to find better on the market. As a strictly stationary speaker the pricetag is onerous, but under those circumstances you aren't using the Z515 as it was intended. I've been in situations where a pair of speakers like the Z515 (because it is essentially a pair of stereo speakers) would've been incredibly useful and worth their weight in gold, but it's going to be up to you to determine whether or not the Z515's mobility and flexibility are going to be relevant enough to make up for the $99 pricetag.
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7Enigma - Thursday, October 14, 2010 - link
Because when I think of portable laptop speakers, I think of nearly 20lbs and cubic foot a piece hardware. Seriously man did you even look at what the review unit's goal is?kmmatney - Thursday, October 14, 2010 - link
Um... These are wireless speakers, with a built-in battery pack...They serve a different puspose then you studio sound system...ShortyZ - Thursday, October 14, 2010 - link
Headphones anyone? Why bother with this?JarredWalton - Thursday, October 14, 2010 - link
Headphones rely on your built-in sound system as well as the audio jack. I've encountered so many laptops where the audio jack gets a TON of static, and it's only worse on better quality headphones that accurately reproduce highs and lows.SyndromeOCZ - Friday, October 15, 2010 - link
The quality of the headphones don't really have anything to do with how much static noise you will hear from most notebook's headphone jack. Its dependent on the impedance and sensitivity of the headphones. This means that most IEM's will suffer from it more than full sized headphones will.And about the Wharfedales, I've got some EVO2-10's and they sound amazing, but they are anything but portable. ;)
kmmatney - Thursday, October 14, 2010 - link
Needs an iPod/IPhone dock...anactoraaron - Thursday, October 14, 2010 - link
but I was online at Best Buy last night and they claim to have a 40GB X25M... It's $10 more than an X25V 40GB... any review or other info upcoming?Aikouka - Thursday, October 14, 2010 - link
That could just be a mistake on Best Buy's part. There is a newer model of the 40GB SSD out...http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8... <-- original
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8... <-- newer K-series
The price difference is only $5 at NewEgg, but it's still most likely the same.
dacipher - Thursday, October 14, 2010 - link
You cant go wrong with krk monitor speakers. Bass is really top notch on my set of Rokit 6's.Ptaltaica - Thursday, October 14, 2010 - link
I got to " the Companion II's produce excellent bass and dynamic range provided they're connected to a good sound card."Seriously?
If you're satisfied with Bose speakers-particularly ones that weigh less than 2lbs apiece, appear to have a plastic case, and come with a <b>power brick</b> , audio equipment reviews definitely aren't your forte. Those things probably have a single 3.5"-4" full range driver and some fancy port work. What a joke.
And "this is after going through a lot of different speaker sets"? You're buying the wrong speaker sets. Short of some of the studio monitors (M-Audio's bigger units aren't too bad), there are NO speakers available in the US right now, that are marketed specifically as computer speakers, that I am aware of, that qualify as "good". THX certification means nothing, even the Logitech Z-5500s only sound good under three circumstances: the listener is either tone deaf or extremely inebriated, or they've never heard a decent audio system.
And what do you consider a "good" sound card? Please tell me it's not some POS from Creative or M-Audio or one of the low-end Asus Xonars or something. Those Blows speakers are analog only and if we're not talking about cards with socketed opamps running something like AD843s or OPA639s, the card is garbage. Even the M-Audio Revolutions, which I otherwise like just fine, use JRC5532s-and while they're an improvement over the crap Creative is/was putting on their cards, calling any card that uses them "good" is being far too generous.
Not even worth reading the rest of the article. If you think your Companion IIs have "excellent" bass and dynamic range, you're probably not qualified to have an opinion on the sound quality of anything this side of a tin can telephone.