Logitech z623 2.1 Speakers

These THX certified speakers first came on the market in 2010 and are stilled being offered to the public today. I’ve had my own pair of these speakers since around 2015, and so this is a review based on an unusually long testing time.

Sitting forwards in my chair, I let the sound wash over me. Not only can I easily hear the light, bright sound of the violin, I can also clearly make out the deeper tones of the cellos, and even the double-bass. What’s more, try as I might, I cannot make out any noticeable additive qualities. Whatever distortions the speakers are adding (and speakers always will add their own distortion) is not enough to throw the music off. Moving away from the lofty and exciting world of Saint-Saens Violin Concerto No. 3, I turn to more modern fare, everything ranging from Bruno Mars to Meghan Trainor. Just as in the classical music, I have no complaints. The lyrics are clear, the bass punchy, and the treble crisp.

Let’s face it. No matter how clever the sonic engineer, or what novel tricks they can contrive with specialised driver technology and custom designed housings, when it comes to speakers, size does matter. And while there’s no real upper limit on what you can spend in pursuit of auditory perfection, Logitech’s Z623 speakers are a surprisingly good 2.1 speaker system which won’t break the bank. Whether it’s listening to your favourite music, or your favourite games, it delivers a consistently good experience – provided you set the bass levels correctly. Get it right, and all is fine. Add too much, and you’ll find dialogue becomes increasingly hard to make out. (Just like toasters which include a setting guaranteed to char any slice of bread to a blackened husk, the Z623 includes the ability to up the bass to a similarly self-defeating level.)

My only real complaint about the Z623 relates to its build quality (which is perhaps not surprising given its price point, and this is a problem I’ve encountered with every low-end set of Logitech speakers I’ve used). After about a year of use, the volume knobs result in a crackling sound, as does the power button. While this is annoying, if you have a keyboard with media controls, it’s not an issue. More serious is the quality of the sound, which, after more than 5 years of hard use, seems to have lost something of its clarity (though still better than your standard PC stereo system). These issues are not too bad given the price point, but are something prospective buyers – and those to whom the quality of sound is paramount – should be aware of.

While there are issues of build quality and longevity, given the cost and how much use you will get out of them before sound quality becomes an issue, these are less of a black mark, and just more something to be aware of. All up, if you’re looking for a good set of 2.1 speakers which deliver good sound regardless of what you throw at them, won’t break the bank, and you have the room (the subwoofer will take up a fair amount of desk space), then based on my own experience, these are easy to recommend. ■