# Logitech z5500 - Time for a front stage upgrade



## Allan74 (Jun 17, 2010)

Although I spend thousands of dollars on both Car and Home Audio as well as hours on end.....the reality of it all is, I spend more time listening to my *Logitech z5500's* (at my PC) than I do my Car system(s) and my Home System combined.....and I am certain that I am not alone.

I have owned this system for about 3 years now and it has never let me down. Tons of power, good sound (for the most part) and onboard decoding.......*and here is why it's time for an upgrade*.

I find myself listening to much more Multi-Channel Audio as of late (DTS & AC3 encoded) and unfortunately, using the passthrough on my Soundcard, I do not have the ability to EQ the sound at all, which the front stage needs so very little of.....but some EQing none the less.

The 3" drivers that the Logitech z5500 system uses are said to e the following by Tangband:
DISCONTINUED Tang Band W3-871SC 3" Driver | Parts-Express.com

Now, rather than just giving up and going to a newer replacement 3" Full Range driver, I am considering building new matching fronts & center using a 2-way setup this time around.....and build some more SOLID cabinets for them.

The system has *62w RMS @ 8ohms available to EACH Front Satellite*, as wll as *69w RMS to the Center, @ 8ohms*.

*Can anyone reccomend a nice matching 1" tweeter and 3-4" Mid from Parts-Exrpress that might suit my build ?*

Cheers,
Allan


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## generalkorrd (Jan 10, 2009)

I dont really have any driver tips for you, but I do want to point out that 62 watts is @1khz @10% thd(very high). Real world prolly more like 30-40 rms at full bandwidth at or near 1% thd(inaudible to most). That should make selection easier on the wallet. I was thinking to build my own pc setup as well, I did see a nice looking 3or 4 inch coax by Dayton or someone like that on PE. Look at the ex. range mids, it should be there. I was thinking to make some enclosures out of FG. I have a pair of Polk monitor 40(6.5/1 MTM) BS speakers on my table right now. They make for one hell of a viewing tunnel, but the sound so nice, I cant bring myself to get rid of them! When you find something that works, that isnt too pricey, let me know.


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## Cruzer (Jul 16, 2010)

this is interesting because, i mostly use headphones because of the gf. but i would love to have a sweet sounding system right where i spend 90% of my time.

i have the logitech z2300 2.1. u will have to let me know how it turns out so maybe i can do the same.


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## Allan74 (Jun 17, 2010)

Well, the driver search is officially over and was easy to say the least.

What did I find ? *MarkAudio CHR70's *http://www.creativesound.ca/pdf/CHR70SI.pdf ....or.... CHR-70 Driver | Markaudio

$36/each. Work well in pairs, even without filtering (as they are 4ohm each anyways) with plans for a dual-driver enclosure on the CreativeSound.ca website.
http://www.creativesound.ca/pdf/Till-2_BR.pdf

It doesn't get much easier than this.....and from what I have read, they have been well received by the masses.










(6) of these drivers will make up my new L/C/R to hook up to the Logitech z5500 system, using (2) drivers per cabinet and the dual-driver plans from the site above.

It's just too bad that Parts-Express doesn't have any suitable 'skinny' boxes that I could use for this project, as I think an 8" wide box to house 3" drivers is a bit much, asthetics-wise.


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## WLDock (Sep 27, 2005)

Interesting....When I read the OP I thought that you were after a small 2-way setup? The two 3" full range drivers need a pretty large enclosure in that design. Why not just run a larger 2-way with a 5-1/4" or 6" midwoofer? Maybe the Zaph ZA5 project or a Dayton RS150 driver? Could still use the low budget high performing Vifa DQ25SC05-04 tweeter.


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## Allan74 (Jun 17, 2010)

WLDock said:


> Interesting....When I read the OP I thought that you were after a small 2-way setup? The two 3" full range drivers need a pretty large enclosure in that design. Why not just run a larger 2-way with a 5-1/4" or 6" midwoofer? Maybe the Zaph ZA5 project or a Dayton RS150 driver? Could still use the low budget high performing Vifa DQ25SC05-04 tweeter.


First off, I am a huge fan of over-powered-in-control-small-punchy drivers. I don't like big, underpowered, sloppy drivers.

For instance, given the choice, I will choose the 1,000w powered 10" Subwoofer over the 250w powered 15" on principal alone, any day of the week......same goes for the rest.

This will be a pseudo 2-way setup with the 2 drivers wired in series with a coil in between them so that the second driver on the positive chain will always be the one there to reinforce the bottom end......regardless of polarity.....both running open bottom ends.

With frequency response like shown above, it's simply a matter of correcting impedance to achive 8 ohms and add a little more bottom end for quiet 'in your face' listening.


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## stangman67 (Apr 8, 2009)

z5500 is a pretty sweet setup, I had the z2300 and was fairly happy with it, Bass output was phenomenal but I felt midrange was severely lacking.


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## SVOEO (Nov 2, 2009)

I came to the same conclusion a couple years ago- went the SQ route rather than multi-ch. Magnepan MMG-Ws, Hsu ST-8 (using high level inputs & built in crossover), Parasound Zamp, Zero pre-amp/DAC/Headphone amp via Ebay (best deal in audio?). SQ is astounding and the nearfield arrangement and single seat get around all the negatives of planar drivers. Food for thought...


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