Klipsch Promedia vs Logitech z-2300

September 13, 2007 11:32 PM

Logitech Z-2300 or Klipsch Promedia 2.1?

I'm a freshman in college and looking for a 2.1 system for my desk that I could use n my dorm this year and hopefully in an apartment or house next year. I've essentially narrowed it down to these two choices but having trouble deciding. The Klipsch supposedly have better overall sound quality (except I've read the logitech has nicer low end) but have some problems with build quality and also in my opinion look lame. What I'm wondering is, will I even notice the difference when listening to 128-192 kbps mp3's or aac's? I know I'm not going to get a truly great system in the $100-200 price range but I at least want something that sounds reasonably full and satisfying. If anyone has any other suggestions in this price range that would also be appreciated.

posted by bigspoon to computers & internet (11 comments total)

I can't speak about the Logitechs but I have the Klipsch speakers you mention on my desk. I think they're very nice speakers, the subwoofer sounds great and the whole system has a nice sound to it. Good bass, medium mids, good highs. No trouble with build quality although after a year the cheap cables they came with were a bit scratchy, so I replaced them.

Listening to 128K MP3s, which I consider criminal, I doubt you'd notice the difference. In fact, when I bought my Klipsch speakers I had to re-encode several albums as they really bring out the tinny quality of a low-bitrate file. 192K or so sounds great.

The Klipsch speakers sound like toys when I switch over to my KRKs, but they're good on their own and I prefer them for watching movies on the computer.
posted by mmoncur at 12:11 AM on September 14, 2007

Logitech speakers, in my opinion, are ridiculously over-bassed. They START at 'way too much' and go up from there. The Z-680s I owned briefly were absolutely terrible. In addition to the bass problems, they had dreadful, awful midrange and trreble, to the point of being unlistenable if you have any experience at all with decent sound. And I mean that literally; I shuddered and gave up in disgust.

In general, the Promedia speeakers tend to be competent. They won't knock you over with any particular feature, but they aren't really terrible at anything, which in a small, cheap speaker, is really very good engineering. It's hard to reproduce good sound in a small speaker; it's really hard to do it cheaply. The fact that Promedias don't suck too badly at anything is high praise for that price range.

If you want genuinely good sound on a budget, get a good pair of headphones and, optionally, a headphone amp. You can treat your ears to amazing quality relatively cheaply. A set of Sennheiser HD-580s, driven by a Total Bithead USB DAC and headphone amp from Headroom, will stand up with multi-thousand-dollar stereo stacks, and will cost you around $400 total. The 580s are built like tanks and last forever, and you can order any individual piece you break from the Sennheiser website. You should be able to keep and use the 580s for decades. Note that 580s need the amp to sound their best, and you really want to replace your computer's DAC with something decent... the Total Bithead does both things at once. It's a very nice little unit.

The downside, of course, is that only you can listen to them, but if you want GREAT sound and stuff you can keep forever, go with headphones.

If you really do want speakers, the Klipsch will probably last you longer. You would probably like the Logitechs more at first, because the big boom is usually popular with people who haven't yet learned how to evaluate speakers. The Klipsch won't wow you up front the same way, but unlike the Logitechs, they won't become irritating as you understand, later, just how terrible they are. :)
posted by Malor at 1:45 AM on September 14, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Malor is right. Logitech speakers are optimized for gaming or movies or something, but it is nearly impossible to get a balanced frequency response with any amount of tweaking. The bass is overwhelming or it is not there. I don't know the Klipsch set. But I am not a big Logitech fan.
posted by fourcheesemac at 3:14 AM on September 14, 2007

Ive had both of these speaker systems.

its no contest.. Logitech all the way.

they are far superior, and the klipsch speaks eventually blew after a few months had to chuck them.

THX-Certified doesnt really mean a thing.. who cares what that George Lucas thinks...
posted by complience at 4:09 AM on September 14, 2007

Do yourself a favor and forget the Klipsch fancy pants stuff for the moment. Get the cheapest, largest Logitech or Altec speakers you can find on sale online. Don't pay more than $50 bucks for them so when one of your roommates decides your subwoofer is the toilet after a night of hard drinking, you're not too mad at the poor chap.
posted by zackola at 6:19 AM on September 14, 2007

I like my Klipsches until I forget that there's a cell phone in my pocket. plus, they hiss. (this is the ProMedia GMX A-2.1 system, fwiw, and they seem to pick up GSM noise a lot more than other speakers I've had.) they sound real nice though. the sub can get pretty loud if you want it to. then, I have a set of Logitechs that were $50 and sound pretty good too. they're the Z-320s or whatever. I'd actually consider spending up to $50 on a name-brand set of Logitechs or Altec Lansing speakers and blowing the rest of your budget on good headphones - I keep around a set of Sennheiser eh350s and Grado SR-80s; both are in the $75-$150 range and sound great and won't annoy your neighbors when you crank 'em up. they're also not expensive like real awesome cans are (though now that I have the SR-80s, I'm eyeing the Grado Reference Series line). or, just do headphones and save the remainder for when you actually do move into the apartment or house - you could save up and get a nice theater-in-a-box setup (Onkyo makes a decent one).
posted by mrg at 7:18 AM on September 14, 2007

I got the Klipsches my sophmore year, and I've never for a minute regretted the purchase. Never heard the Logitech ones, though.

That said, depending on your roommate(s), you may not get a chance to hear them much - my freshman year I was stuck with a guy who always wanted silence to study, or else had ESPN on. So a good set of headphones may be a better investment.
posted by Tomorrowful at 9:45 AM on September 14, 2007

nth'ing the headphones. Your roommate(s) will thank you for it.
posted by junesix at 10:45 AM on September 14, 2007

Get some Grado headphones.
posted by chunking express at 11:07 AM on September 14, 2007

I have Logitech speakers myself and have recommended them many times to friends and relatives. The X-240 got a positive mention in the latest issue of PC magazine.
posted by aerotive at 2:33 PM on September 14, 2007

I had the Klipsches and was happy with them. The left channel broke recently on them, however.
posted by kindall at 3:23 PM on September 14, 2007