wow. just.... "wow."

Between Epinions.com and Consumer Reports (as well as some other online sources), I do a pretty obsessive-compulsive kinda job researching stuff that I buy before I buy it these days. It's worked for coffee makers, cameras, tires, resort hotels and a bunch of other things I've laid out hard-earned cash on, and I'm pleased to report now that it's worked for my latest buy, a new set of computer multimedia speakers... the Logitech Z-2300s, which I've had now for a couple of days. I've also not slept very much the last couple of days putting them through their paces, just DESPERATE to find the sound or sounds that will make me go "yuck!" and run back to the electronics specialty store from which I bought them demanding a refund. No success on that last point yet, and I have the feeling I've met my match in multimedia speakers. The Z-2300s, in summary, have handled everything I've thrown at them and performed much, much better than I expected... and far better than the repetitively-demoed Bose Companion 3 speakers that my stupid "pay more for a snotty brand name just for the heck of it" brain cell convinced the rest of my head sounded pretty good for 2.5 times the price of the Logitechs.

In short, here's a summary of what I read that made me take a chance on them: powerful, booming bass, great frequency response, good software bundle, crisp treble, well-made, outstanding price point. And here's the stuff that made my eternal skeptic ready to pull out the receipt for a refund if necessary: big subwoofer (which is correct... it's HUGE comparatively, with a heat sink and everything. But then I started thinking... you can destroy small island nations with the bass from a subwoofer that needs this size of a heat sink...!), there are better speakers out there (probably so, but the ones that got "audiophile recommended" ratings are all $800-$3000, which is just STUPID for computer speakers), and the most concerning thing... which I read on a computer magazine review site... "no midrange, save your money." Weeeeellll... as it turns out... someone later posted a comment that the guy who said "no midrange" might well have plugged his Z-2300s into the headphone jack on his sound card (haaaa!), and after my experience with my set, I think the comment author may be right.

I should also note that I went whole-hog for myself on Father's Day, also buying a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty Professional XtremeGamer card to replace the on-board sound chip on my Gateway with Windows Media Center. I probably paid more than I needed to for the sound card, but that's a forgivable sin given that I do a lot of audio-intensive tasks on my computer. But FIRST we tried the speakers on the OLD integrated (Realtek AC 97) sound chip. The difference from my old, cheaper Logitech 2.1s (and before that, my Sonigistix 2.1s) was immediately noticeable. Definitely better bass... CONSIDERABLE improvement in treble... and while I couldn't make up my mind one way or the other about the improvement in midrange, I finally decided that it was indeed better and that perhaps I was just psyched out too much, LOOKING for something to complain about. The power was knee-shaking, and the overall sound quality at both high and low volumes from every corner of the room suddenly made the price seem even better than it did after comparing the Logitech to the Bose system in-store. Success. :)

THEN... ta-daaah.... I installed the new sound card. And then I plugged in the speakers. And then I started my favorite internet radio station (my own...chuckle) and promptly sailed right through Dimensions 4 and 5 and into somewhere deep in #6! The card made worlds of additional difference, and the bundled control software that came with it has a remarkable EQ that allowed me to "tweak" the speakers to sound hands-down magnificent.

Overall, this is a well-built 2.1 system that's easy to put together, ample cords to run speakers to optimal positioning (but don't count on running them all the way across your computer room or anything), and the frequency response across the spectrum starts out at "really good" (so much for "Mr. Midrange Curmudgeon" and his older review) if you only have integrated audio and runs all the way up to "eye-poppingly fantastic" if you have a decent sound card and/or a good software-based EQ. Bass is killer... midrange is very, very good.... highs are crisp, clear, happy.

And all of this for just a little over a hundred bucks. That makes it a no-brainer. I've bought my share of $30-70 multimedia speakers over time, and was willing to go to several hundred to get the sound quality I thought my computer deserved. Trust me... if you spend too much, you're probably throwing away extra dough on a rapidly-declining price-to-performance curve's back end, and if you spend too little but expect really value-for-money performance, that extra $20-50 you save on price may come back to bite you in the butt when you get your speakers hooked up. Doubtless there are other contenders out there that faithful users will be happy to throw in the "outstanding performance for the dough" category, but from my position, the Logitech Z-2300s deserve every single accolade they've gotten from the computer press in the past... and are now my #1 pick in the performance-to-price-ratio multimedia computer speaker market.

In fact, save up a little extra and go nuts on a new sound card for them while you're at it. You won't be disappointed. :)