Being a former Logitech fanatic, I'm hoping you'll hear both sides of the story from me. I also hope that the following unneccessarily-long-for-an-MM-audio-forum essay will make you reconsider your decision.
A long time ago, I met a new friend who changed my life completely. I had just been your average gamer before, but then I met him. He was the first true audiophile I met. He had a massive stereo system at the time, and introduced me to the world of music outside classical. Up until that point, I had Aiwa HP-A091 (YES! I still remember the model LOL) headphones and mainly listened to quiet classical stuff while I did my homework. When he kicked on come classic rock, all of a sudden the inner audiophile within me I never knew about broke loose. Holy crap! I never knew music could be this great! He gave me CD's with which gave me a jump-start into the worl of music. From that day forth, I have had a powerful desire for GOOD SOUND.
For my birthday, I needed some gear, so I got a set of Z-540 speakers and KSC-50 earphones. I was impressed with the sound of the earphones, and by comparing them to my speakers and the speakers of my friend I was able to get a general grasp of what things SHOULD sound like. About 3 months passed and I was a full-blown audiophile. I had installed Kazaa Lite on my computer and had gotten some excellent songs on my own, and I had a decent grasp of what GOOD SOUND was. I had purchased an
MZ-S1 walkman which I used to listen to music in school whenever I had the chance. My KSC-50 earphones and this minidisc player are an excellent combo BTW. At this point, I used my earphones for music listening ALL THE TIME. I never used my speakers for anything but games because at this point they sounded like crap compared to everything else including my earphones. Pretty muddy. Then one day I decided to play a game and <holy crap> my rear speakers were gone. I checked the settings and everything, the signal itself was gone (I switched the speakers to check). I called up Logitech and my suspisions were correct--the fader control was dead. Got my RMA and sent them to Logitech. Hmmmm, what s shame, the speakers I despised and hated and sucked badly died...this was the time to act. I was going to get new speakers if it killed me. I ended getting the promedia 4.1's, but the events leading up to that decision are what's really important in this whole thing.
<intermission> (download the song, it's the "intermission" song from Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail)
Well, I had obviously been looking at speakers for a while despite owning a pair, mainly out of curiosity. Anyway, one day CompUSA added a Z-680 set to their setup of various speakers. They had placed them alongside an old (although I didn't know it at the time) set of Klipsch ProMedia 5.1 speakers. I had been browsing TechIMO for a while and had been observing the various Logitech vs. Klipsch debates. Well, I hopped on over to the setups and fortunately CompUSA has a good speaker test set up. It runs through sequences from games, music, and DVD's, do you ca hear how they sound in all areas. Turning them on, I immediately noticed the clarity in the 680's was superior. Literally, I was completely baffled. The 680's sounded so much better than the promedia's, there wasn't even a comparison. The promedias sounded muffled and muddy in comparison, and had no bass whatsoever, even with the sub turned up all the way. Off I went to TechIMO, making my claim that the 680's were better than the pm's. I was met with fierce resistance, they wouldn't even believe me, and soon, I began to lose belief in myself. I remember outpatient getting all famby with me and claiming I was insulting him, that's how angry we were. About 2 weeks after my speakers broke, CompUSA got a NEW set of PM5.1's, which were difference than the last ones because they were tan instead of black. The old ones were so old they had a black finish! Just for the heck of it, I turned them on. Uh oh...uh oh.......damn! A huge error in judgement had been made on my part--I had forgotten that test speakers have a tendency to break! In fact, the old ones must have had at least 3 tweeters blown, and one woofer blown. The new ones far surpassed the 680's, and had better highs, better clarity, and unbelievable low, clean, and loud bass. Damn. Anyway, fast forward.
I was nearing the time in which I would buy my new speakers. A new set of speakers from Logitech had arrived, and they made a slight error and sent me the Z-640's instead of the Z-540's. Awww, what a shame. I sold them on e-bay with the help of a friend for 50 bucks. I went to Best Buy and was prepared to do some serious judgement, because Best Buy had the PM2.1's and the Z-560's set up. At this point, my two remaining candidates were the 560's and the PM4.1's. Turning on the PM2.1's, I found it hard to judge them because one of the satts was completely blown out and it was hard to hear them through the crackling. Going over to the 560's, I was basically relying on my sound memory of the PM5.1's in CompUSA, and more recently, Circuit City. Well, right off the bat I didn't like the 560's sub. I was expecting it to sound better than my 540 sub, but it had very similar characteristics, it was just more powerful. I didn't like it. The thing was WAY too boomy. Besides being boomy, it was also unbalanced, and I noticed that same thing in my 540's where some frequencies that go through the sub are louder than others, without adjustment. I didn't like the satts too much either. They had a very "blended" sound and the highs weren't as prominent as I wanted them to be. I compltely threw them out when I went home and saw reviews that the 560's commonly break.
Spurred by past expirience, and the Klipschers on TechIMO as well as the Klipsch forum which I had recently joined, I bought the PM4.1's from Circuit City for 200 bucks of my own money. I still had a nagging feeling that they weren't going to sound good. Home I went after I picked them up, and trying to keep myself calm, I set them up. Immediately after unpacking them I noticed how sexy these speakers really look. The satts are huge and if you remove the grilles (shown in attachment) they really look nice. I loved the look of the sub with its dual 6.5" 70 watt woofers in a black finished ported bass reflex enclosure, adorned by "Klipsch THX" and "BASH" (BASH is the amp it uses, which stands for Bridged Amplified Switching Hybrid. It's a good amp, and kicks in fast). Setting them up, I liked the control pod a lot. It had a line-in so I could connect my minidisc player with my new male-male line cable, and a headphones jack which I used until I got my new soundcard about 3 days ago. Controls were SMOOTH. Very precise, and so much easier to use than that stiff tapered THING on the 540's console. Well, dragging my mom into my room, I kicked them off with Benny Goodman's "Sing Sing Sing"...uhhh dragging my mom into my room, I kicked them off with Benny Goodman's "Sing Sing Sing"......DARN IT!! They didn't work! It turned out to be another "D'oh!" moment because I had my headphones plugged into my headphones jack in the front of my computer, which turns off the front and rear jacks. I then fired it up for real. Hi, I'm in love. My mom's face had the same look of disbelief mine did--these things were CRAZY! They were AWESOME! Words cannot describe the beautiful, balanced, clear, sound that came out of my speakers. The sound is very balanced first of all, no frequency or anything sticks out. Everything is put out exactly how the recording is supposed to sound. The subwoofer is mega-powerful, and once I corner-loaded it, I was able to enjoy some seriously good bass. It hits surprisingly low compared to other subs, and can get loud. The thing never distorts, and will actually bang on its stand once you crank it up enough. You really don't need to turn it up past 1/3, though. The highs are what amazed me the most, and still amaze me. JEEZ...YOU'VE GOT DETAIL! Some people say they're "harsh", but I love pronunciated highs like this. Mids are smooth and sound great, and are supposed to be even better with upgraded wire. The bottom line is these are basically the best MM speakers I've ever heard, and only their bigger brother, the PM5.1's, can outdo them.
I hope you reconsider your desicion. The DD-5.1's cost mor, but their quality is worth it. Besides, I've heard nasty things about the 680's in that they hiss when in digital mode (especially the center channel) and their control pods often fail. The PM5.1's also tend to break, but the new 2003 models don't, so if you get a new one, it will be fine and should last you a long time. If it breaks within 2 years, you can call them up an get a free replacement set. They'll even pay for shipping if you ask them to. Give the DD-5.1's a go, and be amazed.
Time to get a life. I'm writing an essay for a message board.
Linear Mode
