After 8 years, these low cost Logitech audio system are nonetheless my favourites By Erlingur Einarsson revealed 9 Might 23 This was $50 properly spent.

5 months ago 5 min read

for the final eight years, my audio system of selection have been the identical compact Logitech Z213 2.1 speaker system (opens in new tab) that at the moment retails at $50/£55. That should imply I do not care that a lot about sound, proper? Flawed. Like many individuals in both publishing or artistic work, I take heed to audio for almost all of each day, be it streaming music to assist me focus, podcasts or radio, or watching films and TV within the evenings.

I have been obsessive about digital music particularly since I used to be an impressionable teenager, the place repeat viewings of VHS recordings of The Prodigy’s ‘No Good (Begin The Dance)’ or The Chemical Brothers’ ‘Life Is Candy’ off the telly within the 90s set me up for a lifetime of pursuing every part electronica for many years since. And it is significantly by way of that (to not make mild of my love for different genres, from psychedelic grunge rock to spiky girlboss pop) the place I’ve developed robust opinions in terms of audio system and headphones.

You have to have good, stable, deep bass. If that is lacking, what’s even the purpose? And you must have a great vary to the sound too. Cannot miss these wealthy synths, hi-hats and room-filling beats if you wish to correctly get right into a groove. And so my go-to for filling stated room is the dinky little Logitech Z213 (opens in new tab)? Absolutely that is unnecessary.

Hear me out.

Spot the most cost effective factor on my desk. It is also my favorite factor on it. (Picture credit score: Future / Erlingur Einarsson)

Whether or not it has been roaming by way of the perilous worlds of The Witcher, racing round meticulously recreated real-world tracks in Venture Automobiles, having Jóhann Jóhannsson’s searing Arrival rating assist me focus by way of the final two hours of the workday, or feeling immersed within the bone-crunching gore of the newest season of The Boys whereas one thing moderately extra family-friendly is enjoying on the TV downstairs, my dinky little Logitech audio system have greater than completed the job.

So if I actually love good sound a lot, why do not I’m going for a set of the KEF LS50 Meta (opens in new tab)? In any case, they’re stunning bookshelf audio system with wealthy, deep sound utilising new Metamaterial know-how, so handing over the £1,000 or in order that they value is definitely value it for the orgasmic expertise of listening to them. Or if I am moderately extra budget-conscious however nonetheless need one thing that reveals off my audiophile credentials to anybody unlucky sufficient to begin a dialog about Orbital’s acid-house immortality with me, why have not I put down £499 for the basic and fashionable Wharfedale Diamond 12.3 (opens in new tab) but?

With wires that inexplicably get tangled whereas simply sitting there, an ungainly subwoofer field I am nonetheless looking for the precise dwelling for in my desk setup and a design that was clearly, let’s be diplomatic and say, ‘of secondary significance’ to its makers, my Logitech Z213s have saved me blissful since Might 2015, once I bundled them in on a budget as a part of a brand new gaming PC setup as a result of I might run out of price range for all the opposite issues in it. Every time I activate the pc, I’ve to shortly swap them on and off once more to get them to ship sound to me, and I like them.

Black Logitech Z213 speakers sitting on a wooden desk

That ungainly subwoofer field has now outlived a number of laptops and two gaming PCs. (Picture credit score: Future / Erlingur Einarsson)

I’ve eyed up my fair proportion of Sonos soundbars and five-speaker Bose surround-sound programs within the years since, after all, however then I take a look at the discombobulating worth tags for these flashy flagship merchandise and assume to myself ‘are they actually that a lot better than what I’ve acquired already?’ Every time, after some in-store analysis, the reply is ‘not by sufficient to justify the impression on my checking account’.

A giant a part of my job is testing laptops, and certainly one of my first go-to stops is checking the sound. I am unable to work in silence. These laptops vary from price range notebooks to $3,000+ gaming behemoths, with all of the variations that include that. However one factor unites all of them, in addition to each built-in monitor speaker I’ve ever used: all of them, each single one, bar none, get completely pummelled by the 7 almighty watts (occasions two) of my trusty outdated Logitechs in terms of sound efficiency.

I’ve edited work-related movies, newbie brief movies, faculty tasks for my son and extra utilizing these low cost audio system, and may’t think about what I’d have gained by spending 4 figures on one thing designed to inside an inch of its life that I do not get already for the 50 quid I spent virtually a decade in the past now.

Longevity can be value a lot within the cost-of-living disaster all of us discover ourselves in, and I can attest that other than wanting slightly dustier than they did in 2015, the Z213s have misplaced none of their oomph because the day of buy.

Black Logitech Z213 speakers sitting on a wooden desk

That wire is at full stretch to succeed in the far nook of my desk (Picture credit score: Future / Erlingur Einarsson)

Sure, I admit that for high-quality element I do flip to my headphones, however that is one thing I might do anyway even when I had a flashy soundbar that I needed to promote my firstborn to afford. Presently I am utilizing the 1More Sonoflows I reviewed (opens in new tab) a short time again, and in one other budget-conscious stroke of excellent fortune, these are a pair of energetic noise-cancelling sub-£100 lids that carry out like headphones 3 times their price range.

However for every part else, gaming with my boy, video-conferencing, chair-dancing like nobody’s watching (besides the cat, judgingly), my ugly, low cost little Logitech audio system, with the fantastic and needlessly cumbersome subwoofer field will likely be my audio system of selection. Till a kind of endlessly tangled wires lastly rips, that’s.