Logitech Z5450 review

Just like its rivals, Logitech's Z5450s have wireless rear speakers, but they go a few steps further than Creative's effort.

The first difference is that Logitech's wireless rear speakers are a far neater design than Creative's inelegant attempt. The Z5450 rear speakers each have a mains cable sprouting from the back - plug this into a mains socket and that's it. Sound is then sent to each rear satellite via the little wireless antenna on its rear. It's still not the magical truly wireless solution that we'd hope for - there are still the power cables - but it's as close as you're going to get!

The control unit does far more than just send sound to the rear speakers, though. Unlike Creative's G550Ws, the Z5450s have a built-in Dolby Digital and DTS decoder for deciphering DVD movie soundtracks. This means you're not limited to connecting them to a PC in order to hear proper surround sound. Instead, you can connect the Z5450s to any digital source such as a PC, standalone DVD player or compatible games console via the three digital inputs, and they'll fill your PC room or lounge with glorious surround sound.

Aural firestorm

And 'glorious' is the only way to describe the sound that these speakers are capable of. They are ridiculously loud, but even at chest- thumping levels, they retain composure and the substantial subwoofer rarely sounded short of breath. When compared against the GigaWorks G550Ws, the Logitechs sounded much clearer and more crisply defined. Whether it was drums, vocals, gunfire or huge explosions, the Z5450s reproduced everything we threw at them deftly and without any exaggeration.

This level of performance and versatility comes at a price, but its still substantially less than that of the Creative G550Ws. When you consider that the Logitech Z5450s will work as well with a PC as with a games console or DVD player in your lounge, these speakers become an even more tempting proposition.

Now we just need to find somewhere to plug in those rear speakers in.