Who Says These Can Only Be Used For PCs? (Logitech X 540)

Member Name: jupiter28

Product:	Logitech X 540
Date:	24/01/09 (733 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quality Surround Sound At A Great Price

Disadvantages: A Hard-Wired Remote Control

~~~ SURROUND SOUND ~~~

The product is a 5.1 surround sound speaker system. I have never actually fully understood the definition of 5.1 but after a bit of research I learn that 5.1 is actually a version of surround sound. 5.1 is also a standard and the most widely used surround sound configuration.

Essentially this means that the sound system provides sound from 3 devices in front of you and 2 devices behind you. Being surrounded by speakers is where the term originates.



~~~ LOGITECH X-540 ~~~

Logitech is a well established computer peripheral manufacturer and produces high quality and reliable devices. My choice for this product was driven mainly by price. I have just bought a new TV and want to get the effect of surround without having to pay the high price of a TV sound system.

The speakers on my TV are only 5 watts each and I had read that high volume could burst the speakers, not wanting to take a chance I opted for the Logitech sound system. I found this system on the internet for about £50 which is very reasonable for what I was looking for and the total was a whopping 70 Watts. Not a lot I hear you say, but far better than the built-in TV speakers.

After researching many computer sound systems, it was confirmed that the sound system would need some adapting to use with a TV. However, I quickly discovered that you only need to be able plug this into the headphone jack of the TV.

The difficulty here is that your TV needs to provide 3 connections and usually there is only 1 headphone jack. So 2 headphone jack doublers were required. 1 to plug into the TV directly and the second plugged into it. This would provide 3 headphone jack connections. 1 connection for the front speakers, 1 for the rear speakers and 1 for the central/sub speakers.


~~~ OUT OF THE BOX ~~~


There is not a lot things to describe with this product. It is your standard 5.1 sound system with the following:

- 1 centre speaker
- 1 sub-woofer
- 2 front speakers (left and right)
- 2 rear speakers (left and right)

The sub-woofer also has a remote control connected, which is a contradiction. The remote control is hard-wired to the sub-woofer and the cable is no longer than 75cm making operation further than that impossible.

The control provides an on/off button and allows you to control the volume with a dial.

The satellite speakers (those that you place around the room) are rectangular in design with a wire mesh covering the 2 circles. The center speaker is designed such that it allows you to place the speaker horizontally on the top of a flat screen TV with a flap that holds the TV in place.

The remaining 4 speakers for front and rear can be wall-mounted or left free-standing. The base is flat allowing you to stand them up or you can spin the base to wall mount them.


~~~ CONNECTING IT UP ~~~

The sub-woofer controls the output and on the rear of the device is a plate with all the connections. Each connection is clearly labelled as well as colour coded so there is no confusion as to where to connect the cables between the sub-woofer, the speakers and the TV.

So on the back of the sub-woofer you have the following connections/colours from top to bottom and the speakers have the same coloured cable so you know where to place and connect each speaker.

Output
- Front (green)
- Rear (black)
- Center/Sub (yellow)

Input
- Front Left (green)
- Front Right (red)
- Center (yellow)
- Rear Left (black)
- Rear Right (white)

Ordinarily, the output would match the PC sound card, but on a TV they plug into the headphone jack (using 2 doublers).

As mentioned the speakers are very easy to connect to the sub-woofer by matching up the cables to the coloured audio ports on the rear of the sub-woofer.

The sound system is mains powered and is ready to use once connected up.


~~~ CONCLUSION ~~~

Even though I am not using the device in its intended configuration, in my configuration the quality of the sound system is really good. When I first used the built-in speakers on my TV I was disappointed. When I turned up the volume on the TV, the sound did not increase in line with the volume increase. Once I had connected up the sound system to the TV, the difference in sound quality was immensely noticeable. You can still use the TV volume to control the sound. The sound has more oomph to it and a single point increase in TV volume has a great impact on the sound being produced.

Technically this is a PC sound system, but I have proved that it can be used with a TV and for the price this provides a great sound. The only disappointment is the hard-wired remote control. It is hard-wired into the sub-woofer so you can't even extend it and for the sake of avoiding the hassle I wouldn't try. The product is excellent specification for the price and I have been using this for over 2 years now, so reliability is also good.

I've just bought the same system for the main TV, although I have needed audio/phono extension cables to place the speakers further away from the TV and sub-woofer.

Product Website http://www.logitech.com/

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© jupiter28 2008

Summary: Not Just For PCs

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