When it comes to competition at the $200 price point the Z-560 satellites are excellent. Relative to the $200 or less list priced systems I have heard it is to my ears and tastes only surpassed in overall smoothness and detail, but not volume, by the Polk Audio AMR-150, a system with a much less powerful subwoofer. Behind the AMR-150 and Z-560 I would have picked Logitech?s Xtrusio DSR-100, the system replaced and surpassed by the Z-560 then the Boston Acoustics BA4800. The Z-560 satellites are even competitive with the more expensive Klipsch ProMedia 4.1 system, maintaining better clarity at high volume, particularly where there is a lot of bass. While they also surpass the upper bass extension of the Crossfire and MM2000 the overall satellite sound quality of those two systems is ahead of the Z-560.
When it comes to bass depth and dynamic range the Z-560 subwoofer blows the subwoofer of every other $200 or less 4.1 system I have heard right out of the water, going toe to toe and then some with the $300 ProMedia 4.1! In fact, I would go so far as to say that if deep powerful bass is your thing then the Z-560 is the best performing multimedia subwoofer I have heard for games and movies this side of the ProMedia 5.1. If you like to exaggerate bass for your music or just play bass loud you can add music to that list as well. From a pure quality, but not quantity, aspect, both the $300 Monsoon MM2000 and $450/£212 VideoLogic Sirocco Crossfire subs as well as the $400 ProMedia 5.1 sub get the nod over the Z-560. Even that is not cut and dry when you factor in the deep bass notes and port turbulence or lack thereof, but there is of course much more to subwoofer performance than just that deep bass quality. The very fact that I have to reference these higher priced systems speaks volumes for what Logitech has accomplished at the $200 price point.
To sum it up the Logitech Z-560?s major strengths are the impressive subwoofer, the very good quality on the satellites, the good upper bass extension of the satellites, the amplified headphone output, the excellent overall dynamic range of the system and the relatively low price. Even without factoring in the changes to the final retail unit the performance of the Z-560 is amazing. The main weak point ironically is also the subwoofer, or at least the subwoofer control, which does not offer sufficient attenuation for neutral bass response in typical room placements or below neutral bass in any placement. Another minor knock is the low volume channel imbalance and the general feel of the bass and surround controls. However, these knocks are for me not enough to not consider the Z-560 to be overall an outstanding product, one of those rare beasts that leaves you scratching your head asking again and again "how do they sell this system for just $200?" That?s more than enough to earn our Gold Medal of Excellence to go along with our 3DsoundSurge Surge of Approval.