There's a new love in my life. It's not a lover, nor a child, or a pet. It's something that takes me back to adolescence. It rejuvenates. It invigorates. It taps into the very essence of life.
What is it?
It's Logitech's awesomely loud Z-5500 speakers.
Logitech's brand-new Z-5500 is a magnificently muscular speaker set for computers, game consoles and home theaters.
Costing about $300, the 500-watt system features five satellite speakers and a subwoofer with a huge 10-inch speaker. One of the largest on the market, the subwoofer really pumps it out. Put your hand next to it when it's cranking, and you can feel the wind.
After years of enduring weedy multimedia speaker systems, the Z-5500 is the first system I've had in my hands that is spectacularly loud.
When cranked to the max, the system literally rocks the house. The neighbors have complained. The kids clamp their hands over their ears. Wifey thinks it's juvenile to listen to music at such volumes.
But I'm in headbanger heaven. The system puts out 115 decibels, according to the specs. OSHA recommends ear protection if exposed to such noise levels for more than 15 minutes.
In fact, the Z-5500 goes to 11. No kidding. When you reach the top of the volume dial, keep turning. The system goes into a boost mode, numbered 1 to 11.
It's an undocumented feature; a little Easter egg for juvenile fans of loud music -- like me.
Even at 11, there's no distortion, and there's no annoying buzz when the speakers are not in use.
Admittedly, the Z-5500 is played at sub-ear-splitting level most of the time, and it produces satisfyingly deep, rich and detailed sound. Thanks to the giant, house-shaking subwoofer, the system rumbles, even at low volumes.
The Z-5500 is one of the few systems that is LucasArts THX-certified, a guarantee it accurately re-creates the sound of a movie theater.
The system has a variety of inputs, including digital optical, which hooks into my Power Mac G5's digital optical-out port for flawless six-channel sound. Many DVD players, home theater systems and game consoles also have digital optical-out.
The system also has three stereo mini-jack connectors. Hook it to an iPod and you have the loudest iPod speaker system in the known universe.
The mini-jacks can be plugged into a PC sound card, individually or in combination, to deliver two, four or six channels. Otherwise, they can be plugged into three separate sources -- a CD player, game console and DVD.
The system has an indispensable control panel that I put on my desk in front of the computer monitor. The console houses all the input jacks, which makes it easy to plug in an iPod or a set of headphones. It also has buttons for selecting various sound effects and settings, and a big volume dial.
The volume dial is a fantastic feature: so much easier than software volume controls. The Z-5500 also has a remote control.
When I was a teenager, I worked all summer in a hellhole factory to buy an expensive, 300-watt stereo with a pair of 4-foot-tall speakers. That first stereo meant a lot to me, but the Z-5500 beats the old system in volume, looks and use.
For a music nut like me, the Z-5500 is a delightful product: a source of genuine teenage kicks. It rivals, maybe even trumps, the joy of the iPod. After all, what can beat sharing some thumping, late-night techno with a few of your closest neighbors?
