Rap: Herbailiser, Very Mercenary
Once again, the system shines. Lots of bass, but with ju-uu-ust enough crispness that it doesn't get muddy on the low end. Again, a great high-range does an admirable job handling the group's trademark quirks and complications.
Classical: Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Handel's Water Music
This is where the biggest dynamic shift in the entire 5500 is revealed. Classical music has in general much more dynamic shifts than pop or electronic music: rock tends to pick a volume and stick to it, more or less, while classical ranges from ten minutes very very soft to roaring crests of triumph that can completely overwhelm your senses – and your stereo. The Z5500 is a champ with the roaring bits. It is spectacularly awesome with the roaring bits. The quiet bits – eh. Good fidelity, but again the midrange is less than incredible. When there's no bass driving the sound, some weaknesses come to the fore.
It might even be the strength of the bass and good fidelity on the high end makes the midrange thinner by comparison. Maybe on a weaker system, the overall sound would be richer, but it's hard to say.
As a whole, the Z-5500 is a good buy for even music enthusiasts who don't have much interest in action gaming. I'm not entirely fond of how it handles dynamic shifts, particularly in the middle ranges, but it's definitely acceptable. When you stack it against comparably priced amp-and-speaker combinations, it more than holds its own, and the woofer is worth the price of admission. Paired with a relatively inexpensive DJ mixer, you can suddenly get a pretty darn good 5.1 surround system with tons of flexibility.
Again, I would have loved to see more robust inputs – I find 1/8" inputs to be generally fiddly and to have shorter lifespans than their ¼" counterparts, and I'm especially not enthusastic about 1/8" headphone and aux jacks, which are going to see a lot of plugging and unplugging going on. Being a reliability freak, I'd also like to jack right into the amp, rather than into a control unit connected to the amp – more parts to break, you know? Minor concerns. Longevity, with computer stuff, is always a concern ... but I've had some old Koss speakers that I've gotten a good eight years out of, so I'll worry about that when the time comes.
A thumb up. Not a wholly enthusiastic thumb, but it's definitely up.
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