Cheap Computer Speakers

Summary: Stunning sound and value in this sub-$100 5.1 system.

Disclaimer: Every user has a different setup and different expectations. Take their comments with a grain of salt and note that what they experience with the speakers do not apply to everyone.

Official Overview and Specifications

Professional Reviews (click links for more information)

¹ Good Value Award
² Best Buy

Average User Reviews (click links for more information)

Good

"The base, mids and highs either met or exceeded my expectations."

"The price is the main selling point, but the system has a lot of other things going for it. Users will find it has solid performance and appreciable power, enough to satisfy so long as they are not expecting an audiophile or enthusiast level product."

"These speakers should definitely be on the short list of affordable 5.1 speakers to consider. Overall, the sound reproduction was spot-on, if just a little soft at really high volumes. Fortunately, the amplification is very well-matched to the speakers, and it’s hard to overdrive them and add unnecessary distortion. For the money, these are the 5.1 speakers to beat."

"At full blast, I honestly felt like I was sitting front row at a Carlos Santana concert listening to him play some of the meanest guitar solos ever known to man. My gaming got elevated to a whole new level because I actually jumped when I got shot from behind because I heard the sound behind me and it just made the game more realistic. I felt as if I was getting shot at when Tony Montana went on his rampage and shot up his house. "

"For the price, this is pretty much a perfect 5.1 system for the PC, as an all-around PC Gaming, Music, and Movie-watching platform. I spent more than this on my headphones, for Pete sake."

Bad

"The system lacks a wireless remote, instead all adjustments have to be made on the remote that is tethered to the subwoofer. Another issue is the downward facing subwoofer’s cone is not protected, so transporting the unit or even putting it done on top of something could cause serious damage. These are the most important issues but consumers might also be perturbed by the all-plastic build of the speakers and the lack of removable speaker wire."

"… the very few issues I can find with the X-540s can be easily excused, given the modest pricepoint. For example, the remote is nicely executed, but I would have preferred a wireless solution. Another minor annoyance I had was that the volume controls couldn’t be used with headphones. However, addressing these relatively insignificant issues would have added to the overall cost."

"The speakers were severely lacking in range, both lows and highs. I plugged in my old generic speakers to the sub and got a fuller sound than with the logitech speakers."

"I don’t know if I just got a bad sub, but you can’t take it over 50 percent without the bass turning to mud. I almost have to turn the bass off or the sub sounds like it’s falling apart. The highs are very tinny. The stock Boston Acoustics set that came free with my Dell six years ago sound better than this."

"They’re simply-designed speakers, and there are other designs that look a lot better. Fortunately, it’s only an aesthetic shortcoming, as the satellites are built very well."

Personal Opinion

For once, this time there are a ton of professional reviews for this product, a testament to how popular it is. In fact, this is probably the default answer if you ask someone "in the know" which 5.1 system to get under $100 (the actual price is way below that by the way). Not only will these provide a great 5.1 surround sound to boost your gaming and movie experience, like all Logitech 5.1 sets it comes with a  "Matrix" mode that enhances 2-channel stereo sounds like from most music. Audio output is clear and balance, with the down-firing subwoofer supplying deep lows. It’s also built for convenience – the center channel can be clipped onto LCD screens, satellite speakers can be adjusted to be wall-mounted AND there’s a convenient wired control (for power, volume, bass, "Matrix" mode and headphone jack).

Honestly, it was hard to find negative reviews for these. Most were self-admitted insignificant issues and minor annoyances like its aesthetics or the ever-common short cable problem, or were uncommon problems experienced by few users on durability and faulty equipment.

Despite the low price point, these speakers have very little going against them, and it will be hard to be disappointed especially with the low monetary investment required.

Buy Now (click vendor to purchase)

Note: the link on TheNerds.net shows the wrong image, but the product is correct.

Vendor	Price
Amazon.com	$64.36
mwave.com	$79.99
TheNerds.net	$82.99
TigerDirect	$84.99
OnSale	$89.99
B&H Photo Video	$73.50
Buy.com	$84.50
eBay	See Below