The Prediciment
Over the years I’ve found myself using a combination of various audio equipment in my office including both basic home theatre speakers and large 1980s-ish Cerwin-Vega’s – basically I was spoiled. As you can imagine when it came time for me to downsize to a regular set of 2.1 computer speakers I was going to be a hard customer to please. For the past few months I’ve been making do with some hand-me-down speakers but nothing that I was happy with. I’ve spent a lot of time going out to a variety of stores listening to speakers from $40 up to $400. Although I really liked some of the Bose Companion speakers the reality was that unless I wanted a divorce they were too far out of my price point (and lets face it – that wasn’t an option either as my wife would probably end up with them anyway).

The Decision
I ended up just focusing on $100 to $200 speakers and while I really enjoyed the sound of the THX certified Logitech z623 speakers I didn’t think that when they were compared to the Logitech z523s that they were worth double the price. I settled on the Logitech z523 speakers but as a good husband I decided that I’d wait to buy speakers until after Christmas – seeing as I’ve ruined gifts in the past with pre-christmas purchases. As it turns out I wouldn’t have caused any anger as I didn’t end up getting any speakers for Christmas. Although a little sad at first, I found the next day that this subsided pretty quick when I saw that Future Shop had the Logitech Z623 speakers on sale for the same price as the Z523. I went out and purchased them, came home and set them up. I was happy with the sound.

The Sound
Given the price that I paid for the Logitech Z623 speakers I do really feel that they are a great bang for the buck. The speakers produce a very full range and so far I have been very impressed with the sound that I’ve experienced of the last couple weeks. The only real weak area in the range is that when listening to hi-hat heavy songs they do fall a little flat; however, many computer speakers are of this flaw. I find that the Logitech Z623s also really excel in the lower and mid-range being extremely flexible for each listeners taste. While I prefer to leave this range a little bit lower (maybe I’m getting old), I find there is plenty of power even running the Bass control under halfway. That being said, if I were more hip (see what I mean? I just used the word hip) and wanted to really crank the bass I do have the ability to do so. It’s also important to note that there is plenty of volume flexibility behind these speakers and that most of that time I run these speakers under the halfway mark which means that there’s plenty of room to go louder if I wish.

Now for the negative part – while I personally feel that the range on the Logitech Z623s are very comparable to some of the Bose speakers I previously mentioned, where I find the Bose speakers really excel is “filling the room.” I’m not sure how Bose does it but in all of their products they have found a way to make the sound feel like it’s beyond 2.1. Don’t get me wrong – these speakers do sound great, but I feel like I’m listening to 2.1 speakers – unlike the Bose systems. On the flip side I suppose I could play with the location of the speakers to improve this issue, but the fact is that I wouldn’t need to with the Bose Companions.

Summary
Overall I’m extremely impressed with the Logitech Z623 speakers, especially given the price I paid for them. It should be noted though that I had to exchange my first set because of a rattle in the right speaker, but the second set has had no issues at all. The subwoofer is a decent size too and is definitely capable of disturbing your tenants should you wish, but conversely it is also capable of just adding the little Bass needed to make a song sound full. Although I’m happy with my purchase, had these speakers not been on sale I think I probably would have settled on the Logitech Z523 for half the price. If you have the money though – I say go with the Logitech Z623 – they just have a bit more range and the subwoofer is a little better balanced too.