Logitech Speaker System Z520

• Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 1 review
• My rating: 0 stars

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• 7 stars

  Above average 2.0 speakers that require patience.

  by Critique24 on June 7, 2011

  Pros: Tonally accurate speakers with monitor-like qualities from the upper bass through to the upper treble. Easy setup. Solid feeling with very clean lines. Two year warranty.

  Cons: Underpowered. Bass, although present, lacks oomph. Long break-in period.

  Summary: The Z520 is an acoustic suspension design which is very unusual for this class of speaker. Most are ported designs. An acoustic suspension design does not lend well to deep ...

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  Summary: The Z520 is an acoustic suspension design which is very unusual for this class of speaker. Most are ported designs. An acoustic suspension design does not lend well to deep bass but the roll off is gentler than a ported design. The cables were particularly easy to hook up. The cable running from the left speaker & connects to the right speaker is particularly robust & the connection is tight & secure.
  
  Let me start by saying that I'm a big fan of 2.0 speakers. I got a really great deal on these & originally bought them for my wife. I told her not to judge them until they had a chance to break in but she decided to take possession of my Creative T10's (Great bang for the buck!) instead.
  
  I hooked them up to my desktop pc & immediately recognized what she didn't like about them. They sounded a bit disjointed. The tweeters & woofers sounded like they were not working together. The sound was slightly on the forward side & the quality of the tweeters sounded much better than that of the woofers. Initially I thought there was a design flaw but thankfully, I turned out to be wrong. I've never had a set of speakers go through such a metamorphosis!
  
  I began the break-in process with some acoustic jazz. The midrange was especially clear & there was plenty of air in the treble region. The bass was there but at recessed levels with no real articulation. Dynamics were also supressed. Vocals were a revelation & the Z520's had the qualities of a studio monitor in that region.
  
  After about 10 hours in, the woofers started to loosen up & the disjointedness began to go away. The speakers had a much more coherent character to them. I began to introduce other types of music. They handled most acoutic music very well but did not do well on heavily processed music. The bass, although present, continued to be somewhat recessed & although tonally accurate, there was not a lot of articulation between notes.
  
  At about 25 hours in, the drivers were almost totally coherent. The speakers still had a slightly forward sound but I attributed that to the speaker angle & the positioning of the tweeters towards your ears when sitting. I did notice that the tonal balance & soundstage was almost perfect if I lowered my head position to be more in line with the woofers as opposed to the tweeters.
  
  Somewhere around the 30th hour the bass took a turn for the better. It became a bit deeper & elevated in volume. Dynamics also increased. I am now at 40+ hours & the drivers are totally coherent with each other. They no longer exhibit any forward sounding characteristics unless it's present in the source material. They really do have a lot in common with a good studio monitor. They are very revealing of source material & excel at music playback. As I approach hour number 50, they seem to be leveling off. No more improvements has been taking place although I am holding out for more detail in the bass.
  
  The weaknesses of these speakers are dynamics & ultimate bass articulation. The bass is tonally accurate & you hear the notes but you just don't hear the pluck of the strings very well (if at all.....) & the speakers seem to run out of juice before they can give you any real dynamics. They are very power hungry & in fact, the first 60 degrees of movement on the volume dial is almost totally useless. They get loud enough to fill a moderate size room with sound but at no point do they lose their cool. This means that the drivers are operating well within their power range. I'd love to see these drives operate at 20W per channel instead of 13W.
  
  The bottom line for me is that I consider the Z520's to be very good near field monitors for music listening. They create a credible soundstage, are accurate & excell with acoustic music. Vocals are particularly well represented! These are not speakers for the gaming crowd or anyone who wants booming bass & large dynamics.
  
  Are these speakers worth the asking price of $130? Debatable........ I can think of several speakers in the $100 range that they are better than but I can also think of some sub $100 speakers that come awfully close. I would say that if you can find them under that price level (definitely possible!), they belong on your short list if looking for a 2.0 setup. Just be ready for an extended break-in period.
  
  Updated on Jun 16, 2011

  Approaching approximately 70 hours on these speakers now. To my surprise, they've continued to improve in the areas of dynamics to the point where the 13 watts sounds like enough. The bass depth has also improve without being monotone, although detail is still a problem area. I guess that it's just too much too ask from a woofer & design of this size. The overall sound has also smoothed out. The slight forwardness is all but gone. i can honestly say that I do not miss the lack of tone controls. I trust the tonal accuracy of this speaker that much.
  
  I've tried to push this speakers hard in an effort to get them to distort. They just won't do it. They just get louder & hold themselves together very well. Ultimately, I think that this is what you're paying for with these speakers. Quality components that operate well within their range, offer a credible presentation & are not likely to fail anytime soon.
  
  I can't agree with CNET's rating. Too low.....

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