Logitech Z10 Interactive USB Speakers Review

Despite this, they take only slightly more space than your ordinary desktop speakers, with a footprint of 4.7" x 4.5". Cable management is also a non-issue here, as both channels only have 2 cables coming out the back - one to tether the two, a power cord, and the USB or analog audio cord. There's no unsightly wall wart either, as the power supply is built right into the left channel. A 3.5mm headphone jack also makes an appearance on the right speaker, great for listening to music without disturbing others.

Like many other modern devices on the market today, the Z-10 comes in black with a silver trim, and a glossy piano black front that really gives it character. As is typical with these glossy finishes, it's easily attracted to dust and smudged by fingerprints. This is easily taken care of however, as Logitech was kind enough to include a lint-free cloth for quick wipe-downs.

At 13lb., don't expect to lug this around like any USB speakers.

Audio Quality
The Z-10 handles music admirably well, and it's obvious that a lot of thought was put into their design. First and foremost, they're USB (why else would I review them?), and as such, they bypass the imperfections and noise linked to your onboard soundcard that would typically introduce hissing and electronic noise, such as how I can hear light clicks and squeaks from my video card and optical drive when using analog.

Second, it's pretty easy to see that the drivers are beefier than what you'd be accustomed to with typical single and dual-driver setups, pairing 1" tweeters with 3" mini woofers in a bi-amplified configuration. Yes, woofers. The blowholes are on the back, and they move quite a bit of air. Such a combination allows for clear highs and deep lows, deeper than I'd anticipated, although there's no "kick" to it much to the disappointment of my love for gaming since that's something only achievable with a dedicated subwoofer. No, the bass is much better suited for listening to the depths of an acoustic guitar (think Alice in Chains), the smooth bass of progressive trance, drums and bass guitar bits in rock music, or the piano and stringed instruments in classical music. For those actually trying to listen to the music and not feel it through their teeth, the Z-10 will do nicely.

Listening to music on the Z-10 was somewhat strange compared to my other sets of speakers, not because anything was wrong with the audio, but rather because it was flat, and I say that in a good way. Whereas most consumer speakers employ the "disco smile" to emphasize highs and lows, the Z-10 stayed relatively flat like a monitor set, true to the original mastering and leaving it up to the user to use an equalizer to fiddle with the sound if desired. Not once did a bass hit or guitar riff overpower the rest of the spectrum, no matter what genre of music I was listening to. No equalizer adjustments were necessary within iTunes, nor was there a need for changing the bass or treble settings on the speakers themselves to get a perfect harmony of sound. Quite an impressive feat, considering the wide variety of rock, metal, trance, classical, 8-bit, and nerdcore rap music I've been testing these with.

Another strange tidbit, because the Z-10 doesn't filter the USB audio before it hits the speakers, poorly encoded MP3s will sound terrible if there's any pre-amplification employed in the media player. That means the volume slider in iTunes should be at its default of around 85%, and Windows Media Player at 50% to avoid scratchy audio that's especially evident in guitar solos. You can consider it similar to how a cable box's internal volume adjustment has one tick mark labeled "best stereo".

At 30 watts RMS, they can get quite loud for your typical desktop setup, loud enough to actually enter the painful range (but not by much). Don't expect to overpower a 2.1 system in a contest of volume, but when it comes to maintaining clarity at high volumes, the Z-10 holds its own without distortion at max volume. Since they're actually weighted, they won't slide across the desk at high volumes either like Logitech's earlier USB speakers.

Information Overload
Underneath the right woofer is a gorgeous 160x43 LCD display, the same one used in Logitech's G15 gaming keyboard only with an amber tint and lighted touch sensitive buttons. The software powering the Z-10 display is also the same, only with a new version of LCD Manager that activates a few more features. Out of the box, the display can present you with current track information, your latest POP3 emails, the time and date, your current CPU and RAM utilization, a countdown timer, and a stopwatch.

Date & time come in handy.

My RAM & CPU usage.

This should be self-explanatory.

The Media Display module provides support for iTunes, MediaLife, MusicMatch, RealPlayer, Sonique, Winamp, and MediaPlayer. It's been slightly upgraded since the latest version for the G15, now showing a dotted trail to better identify the current track position, and supporting radio favorites.

This is the playback screen.

Similar to how you'd program a car stereo, simply start your favorite streaming radio station, then hold down one of the four buttons underneath to set that station as a favorite. The next time you press that button, it will automatically switch to the station. This has been especially handy for quickly changing the channel without pulling up my iTunes window whenever Nickleback invades my rock station. Unfortunately, the song the radio station's playing still isn't displayed.

My favorite radio station.

Because the LCD application is the same as the G15, this means that Z-10 users can share in the wealth of free applets created for the G15's display. Just spend some time on G15mods.com or G15forums.com and you'll find a huge assortment of RSS readers, displays for IRC chat rooms and various instant messenger programs, and other gaming tools such as statistics and TeamSpeak displays. There's even a Tamagotchi-esque pet that can live inside your display!

Tamagotchi...

Here's our RSS feed on Z10's LCD.

Users with no programming experience can also take part in customizing their display by using a program called LCD Studio, which allows you to create playlists of statistics or images for the LCD to cycle through. There's a ton of these already made that you can modify to your own liking on G15forums.com that provide a more colorful display (minus the controls) for WinAmp, and more advanced information such as your computer's internal temperatures, network speeds, and hard drive usage.

Modified CSOCSO.

Everything USB logo pixelized.

The touch sensitive controls are a far cry better than the stiff buttons found on Logitech's V20 speakers, although they're still a bit finicky. For instance, occasionally pressing a button will not register a "hit", and other times pressing a button that cycles information will activate only the first cycle before going back to the track information.

Slick touch-sensitive buttons.

In addition to the controls strictly designed for the LCD, standard controls for pausing and skipping through tracks exist, as well as volume, mute and power controls. There's also a level button for cycling through volume, bass, and treble adjustments. Unfortunately at this point there's no LCD or button support for Mac users, as Logitech still has yet to port their LCD Manager software to OS X. Unfortunately, Mac users or people hooking the speakers up to MP3 players and other analog devices through the 3.5mm jack won't have much to see outside of the level adjustments and a large "Z-10" text display during idle sessions. This eyesore can optionally be turned off by pressing the display button, although personally I'd rather see a graphic visualizer displayed to give the Z-10 a little more zest.

Recap
Logitech has put together a real exquisite set of speakers with the Z-10. Sound quality is phenomenal, with zero distortion and no overemphasized frequencies. Though there's no kick to the bass, the 3" mini woofers do an excellent job providing depth to a wide range of musical genres, and the 1" tweeters sound exceptionally crisp. The LCD taken from the G15 keyboard is also a treat, providing lots of useful information without taking up your monitor's real estate. Throw in the dozens of free applications such as virtual pets, RSS and chat readers written by the community for the display, and Logitech has a winner on their hands. Although I would have liked to see Mac support and more responsive controls, the Z-10 is highly recommended for any Windows users looking for a 2.0 desktop stereo system that reaks of quality.