Centre and Rear Speakers, Testing and Conclusions
Z800SRC Centre and Rear Speakers:
The Z800SRC centre and rear speakers are sold as a set, to add surround capability to the Z800F (or any other) front speakers.
 
The centre speaker uses two 5¼" aluminium drivers, one each side of a 1" soft dome tweeter. It's also a bass-reflex design, the same as the front speakers, so has two bass ports on the back.
Having two mid/bass drivers, one each side of the tweeter, creates the impression that the lower frequency sound is coming from the same point in space as the higher frequency sound from the tweeter, which is important for a centre speaker, carrying most of the dialog in a movie.
 
The rear speakers each feature one 5¼" aluminium driver (the same as used in the centre speaker) and again, a 1" soft dome tweeter. As with the front and centre speakers, they're a bass-reflex design and have one bass port on the back.
Because the front, centre and rear speakers all use the same aluminium cone drivers (albeit different sizes) and the same 1" soft dome tweeter, they should be well tonally balanced, meaning that the sound should not change in tone as it moves from one speaker to another. Again, this is what you want in a home theatre speaker set.
To get a better idea of the physical size of the speakers, here we can see the front and centre speakers along with the subwoofer, next to my ancient 68cm Panasonic TV. Jurassic Park was playing when this photo was taken, and if you look closely you may be able to see my cat, moving at high speed (check the motion blur), escaping from an invisible velociraptor. As an aside, that TV has moved house with me five times now, and has been across Australia twice. I keep waiting for a removalist to drop it so I can get a new TV, but it just won't die. It may well be the world's strongest TV.
Listening to the Z800s:
To test out the Z800 speaker package I hooked them up to my amplifier and TV, listened to a bit of music, and watched some movies. Yep, it was a tough job, but hey - it was all for OCAU.
Test Setup:- Amplifier: Yamaha DSP-A1
- DVD Player: Kenwood DVF-5010M connected with Monster Cable coaxial digital and s-video
- Speaker cable: Tara Labs Prism Omni, with banana plugs
- Subwoofer cable: Monster Cable THX subwoofer interconnect
- TV: 68cm Panasonic "The One" fishbowl (living up to it's name by being impossible to kill), circa 1992.
I grabbed some assorted CDs and DVDs and hit the couch. Wondering how the front speakers alone would handle music, I warmed up with a bit of Powderfinger, Spiderbait, Eels and Norah Jones. Musically, the Z800F front speakers are quite good. When I first started listening, they sounded a bit boomy, with too much bass, but moving the speakers further away from the wall behind them resolved that problem. Placement near walls can cause issues with any bass-reflex speakers that have rear-firing bass ports, so it's something to be aware of.
The Z800F front speakers have a punchy sound, with good tight bass. In fact, it's a very punchy sound, probably more suited to home theatre than music. This is an observation, not really a criticism, as the Z800s are primarily home theatre speakers. I personally find really punchy sound such as delivered by the Z800F speakers to be a little tiring after a while for music, but it suits home theatre well, where you want a dynamic, up in your face kind of sound.
Their imaging is quite good, the sound was definitely three dimensional and sounded very lively. A female voice is one of the best ways to test speakers, and the Z800Fs didn't disappoint, Norah's voice was smooth and seductive, as always. Ahhhh.
Spiderbait was played at ummm, fairly high volume - and was excellent. The Z800Fs are great for energetic music. I could feel the bass drum hitting me. After listening to a number of CDs, I can say that the Z800F speakers handle music well.
Time for some movies. After "working" my way through Jurassic Park, Mission Impossible, Apollo 13, Snatch, two of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the amazing Das Boot (in German of course), I'm very impressed (and a bit movied out).
The solid, punchy bass and good imaging from the front speakers carried through into home theatre, and the centre speaker (which carries much of the signal in home theatre) handled dialog very well. Nice and clear, and matched well to the front speakers.
The rear speakers in a home theatre don't need to be large, as they generally only carry effects, and I've always found that finding somewhere to put them is more of an issue than anything else. The Z800 rear speakers are small enough to be unobtrusive, but having a 5¼" driver, they still produce a big enough sound. In Das Boot, there's a scene (which I'm sure anyone who's seen it will remember) where rivets pop out of a submarine's bulkheads and bounce around hitting steel panels behind the camera. The Z800 rear speakers recreated the effects well.
Jurassic Park was also great. There's a particular scene where a velociraptor snorts into the window in a door to the kitchen. That particular snort is a good test for a home theatre setup, and I swear that raptor was in the room with me. My cat agreed.
The Z800SW subwoofer handled the vast majority of the movies I watched well, but it did get a little messed up during the launch scene in Apollo 13. There was a lot of bass, but it wasn't really tight. Apart from that scene, the subwoofer delivered good low bass (a 12" driver can get nice and low). I mentioned earlier that I live in an apartment, and my neighbours probably hate me now, because I did crank it up a bit (all in the name of testing of course). At high levels (higher than most people would prefer), the subwoofer did get a little sloppy, but it still wasn't what I'd call bad.
One improvement I could suggest for the subwoofer would be to have the crossover frequency printed around the dial. As it is, it's a bit of guesswork, as there's no indication of where the dial is set. The Z800F front speakers have a frequency response down to 38Hz, so I wanted to set the subwoofer crossover just above that, so they didn't overlap too much (better to be hearing the bass from the front speakers rather than the subwoofer when you can). Using the test tones on my amplifier (which tells you the frequency of the tone, and is adjustable), I set it to what I think was around 45Hz ... or something close.
After subjecting myself to the arduous task of watching movies while reclining on my couch, I have to say that the Zensonic Z800 home theatre speakers are a very capable 5.1 speaker set indeed. To be honest, they've taken me a little by surprise, exceeding my expectations by a long way. But here's the kicker: the full Z800 set, including the subwoofer, retails for $999. Yep, that's a full 5.1 home theatre speaker setup, and a good one at that, for under a thousand dollars. Amazing.
I have a 5.1 speaker set that I bought some years ago which cost around five times the price of the Z800 set (in fact my subwoofer cost twice the price of the entire Z800 set), and throughout the testing process I was mentally comparing. The Z800s stack up quite well. The front, centre and rear speakers aren't as smooth or refined, but they're not too far off, and for one fifth the price, they're extremely impressive. Perhaps the subwoofer could have a bit more composure under extreme conditions, but it's certainly still a decent subwoofer.
I'm stunned at just how good the Z800 home theatre speakers are for the price. Really.
Conclusion:
There's a hell of a lot to like about the Zensonic Z800 home theatre speakers. They look pretty good, they're very solid and well built, but most importantly they sound great. For the price, you'd have a lot of trouble finding a better 5.1 package.
The Zensonic Z800 home theatre speakers (full 5.1 set) retail for $999. For more information, please refer to the Zensonic website. Thanks to Zensonic for providing a set for review.
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