Logitech Z-10: Touch Your Music A Little Early

Walk into an Apple Retail store and look at the speakers on display. JBL, Soundsticks, Altec Lansing, and similar brands appear on the shelves. However, none of these speakers are truly user-centric. They plug into your computer and that’s it. The speakers fade away and simply become part of your iTunes habits. Since the speakers are a prominent part of the music experience, the user should be able to interact with the speakers as if they were the iTunes control buttons themselves. Logitech has solved this problem with the Z-10 Speakers, a two piece interactive speaker set.

The Logitech Z-10’s aren’t your typical speaker. They’re rigged up with an LCD screen and touch sensitive controls. You can control your iTunes with the touch sensitive buttons, and see what track is playing using the LCD. One can also set up hotkeys or actions using the buttons labeled one through five on the speaker’s control panel.

But wait, how does a Z-10 work on a Mac? Technically, these speakers are Windows only. However, Marc Liyanage over at Entropy put together an app that fixes this, LogitechLCDTool. The app simply sends over HTML and Javascript to the LCD, as well as images. This allows the user to display almost anything on the LCD. LLT comes with a couple of templates, including an iTunes controller and a Stock Ticker.

Sound on these babies are impressive. I was weary about the Z-10’s having built in subwoofers, but they’re pretty decent. Bass was perfect and treble needed to be raised a bit. With a good 30W, these speakers will pump out great and powerful sound.

Pros: Great sound, USB, Backlit LCD and touch sensitive controls, sleek glossy look, auxiliary port for use with iPods, CD Players, etc.

Cons: LCD isn’t truly OS X compatible, expensive.

Price: The Logitech Z-10’s go for $150. It’s expensive, but it’s worth having the great sound, touch sensitive controls, and LCD. I don’t have to pop open iTunes as much if I want to pause or skip a song. Instead, I use the controls on the Z-10, which allow me to touch my music, well before the iPhone.