[aineiasm]

Hi everyone,
 
This topic lead me to become a member of this community.
Regards to everyone who contribute in growing knowledge by sharing it.
Recently I got as scrap a Z-5500 with the following problem: Power button on the pod is lightning red when I turn the main switch on the subwoofer "On" and when I press the power button on the pod,it comes "On" only for a sec displaying "Input : Direct   Effect: Detecting... " and then goes back "off" again. I have checked the voltage coming out of the LM217T and is steady 8V. Checked the if it reaches the pod connector and its ok. Also removed from the board and checked C11 4700uF/25V and it was ok. By pressing "Input"+"Effect" buttons on the pod for 5sec, I get the screen turn on and "Diagnostic Mode - On" message for 5sec and tuns off again. Pressing "Input"+"Settings" buttons,I get the firmware version(v2.1.0) and turns off again. I can turn on the 2nd skin also but again it turns off right after I get the confirmation message. 
 
Anyone any idea what to check next?

 

[ramachandra]

Connect the Pod, leave the Sub open and measure, if you get less than around +8V you may have faulty bridge rectifier, check what the regulator get, it has to be few volts more.
If the +8V change when the Pod turn on/off maybe the LM217T getting old and need to be replaced.
You need to measure ESR for the 4700uF/25V cap to be absolutely sure.
Other possibility is a short circuit in the Pod, what can draw to much energy to quick and the regulator's heat protection kick in
Maybe the regulator need more thermal paste, still 5 sec seems a bit short time for the overheat to happen.

 

[aineiasm]

Ok,some update...
 
I was lucky enough to find an owner of a working Z-5500 and ask him to test my pod on his system and unfortunately had the same results.
So the problem is located on my pod. There are 3 LM317D2 that I am suspecting for the moment.
Any other chip that controls the power supply on the pod? Any input or output ports that might cause this kind of behaviour?

 

[ramachandra]

Open up the Pod and use a hair dryer to keep it cold and wait to see what happen. If it keeping longer in business you may get away with a cooler what jayjayuk made. It is on the 6. page.
 
If it doesn't work and you still have the Pods that can speed up the process to find the fault. You need to write down what you measure and compare. Some components maybe getting hot fast, that can lead you to the source the problem.
 
"Any other chip that controls the power supply on the pod?" That is all i remember.

 

[aineiasm]

Unfortunately I could check only if my works or not. Don't have the luxury to take it to my lab and compare measurements...
Everything I have read until now leads me to the Cirrus CS494003-CQZ (€15) replacement if I will use the Pod.
My other solution is creating a 15pin to 3 stereo jacks and bypass the Pod.

 

[StevieG]

Hi Guys
 
Briliant thread and aswome feedback here. Let me tell you guys what my problem is with my Z5500 set.
 
I have a buzz/hiss noise on all speakers and sub, except the centre speakers. when i turn the volume knob on the control pod there is no increase or decrease on the volume and the buzz stay the same. power off control pod, noise goes away. when i plug in optical and no sound is playing i hear the buzz. nothing plugged in digital coaxial and no buzz. nothing plugged in direct, but noise is still there.
 
I suspect it could be on the sub/amp perhaps, maybe the big caps. i have not opened it up yet, but just wanted to know by the gurus what the [problem can be before i open it.
 
Any advice please.
 
Sub PID is R751
Pod PID is R028
 
Dunno if it's 1st, 2nd or 3rd generation.

 

[ramachandra]

Probably you need to resolder or replace the two 10 000uF 50V capacitors. The other possibility is a faulty Diode rectifier bridge, but I think better leave it for later. Ageing filter capacitors are more likely the cuase.
Your Pod and Sub is from the third generation.

 

[maxxximatoze]

Hi all,
 
Like I said in my previous message some time ago ( http://www.head-fi.org/t/657715/almis-logitech-z-5500-mod-high-end-upgrade-for-the-speaker-system/180#post_11097465 )
 
- all the logic management in the pod is handled by the Z8 chip
- the input/ouput is handled by the CS42526 (6 dac and 2 adc completed by the 2 CS5351 and spdif in/out)
- all the digital audio processing is handled by the CS49400 (for information, when you are not in headphone mode this one is responsible of a digital EQ curve applied on all 5 channels to correct the 5 statellites speakers response to have final almost flat frequency response, so the amp does not have a flat frequency response when used with the pod, and so you cannot use another speaker set than the original one, unless you don't bother to not have a flat frequency response from the amp)
 
Here is a link to my collection of data about the Z5500, that I have deeply modified from 2006 to 2012, that containing a lot of informations about all the chips like datasheets of all Cirrus logic chips, including CS49400, and reference design (almost the same used by logitech), Z8 datasheet and some software and source code, additionnal datasheets for components I've replaced, there is also the truth table of the mute fonction... So a lot of valuable informations for who wants to know more, especially for who wants go deeper inside the software stack to change the DSP setup or modyfing the core logic or whatever.
 
If you want to go deep in the Z5500 electronic and software analysis it could be a good starting point !
 
http://maxime.pierron79.free.fr/z5500
 
Enjoy !
 
If you want to know what I have modified on my 10 years old set (and always in good shape not bad for a 300$ set) just ask.

 

[Nycalex]

dang, i have a old logitech z5500 system that i haven't used for over a year. maybe i should try to mod it.
 
are there no other multimedia speakers that are better than these? and i mean multimedia as in PC specific, not the bookshelf monitors.

 

[Alketi]

Glad I found this board -- hoping someone can point me in the right direction to troubleshoot:
 
My z5500 symptoms:
 
1.  Worked fine for years with no troubles.
 
2.  Just last week, the speakers began making a LOUD popping sound.  At first the pops were hours or days apart.  The first one was actually in the middle of the night while the computer was in Sleep mode.  
 
The popping wasn't localized to one speaker, but would move around to different ones. Over the next few days it got worse.  Sometimes it would go minutes or hours between pops, sometimes it would pop 5 times in a row.
 
3.  This popping degenerated into losing audio, which I could regain by cycling the power button on the control pod.
 
4.  Finally, the audio stopped working.  The control pod still lights up and sometimes appears normal, but if I cycle it a number of times it reads:
 
Error Loadingt       96--24
DSPABT:      Detecting....
 
5.  Turning the control pod ON sometimes results in it shutting itself off (back to standby) after about 30 seconds.
 
A visual inspection of the capacitors in the sub doesn't reveal any that are blown.  And, there's no smell of burnt electronics in either the pod or sub.
 
I've seen others with the same error code, but no solution.
 
Any ideas on how to bring this system back to life?

 

[gogusrl]

Found this thread by mistake, spent the next hour reading everything, amazing work guys.
 
I have a 0451 R / 115395 model (at least that's was it says on the pod label) and always had a problem with a popping noise every time I start/stop playback if it's a 24 bit pcm signal or DD/DTS. This doesn't happen if it's set on 16bit. Using an optical connection with different sources over the years (currently a Asus U7 external soundcard).
 
This hasn't bothered me over the years because I don't watch many movies and I can't say I notice the difference in quality between 16/24 bits but I plan to move the system to the bedroom for movie watching and I'd like to fix this before they end up there.

 

[Brain-D]

Hello Everyone!
 
I found this amazing thread while I was looking for a way to fix my Z-5500. First of all, I have to admit that I have been really impressed by the knowledge and the help that many of you are sharing!
 
 
I bought a  set of Z-5500 three days ago (second hand), they have been working fine for 2 days... As you can guess, I was expecting them to work fine for more than 2 days!
 
Now, let me expain my problem: 
 
 

1. The front-right speaker is crackling and popping very loud on a constant basis.
2. The center speaker is fine
3. All the other speakers and the sub are crackling and popping on a constant basis but not as loud as the front-right speaker.

 
 
This video shows exactly the problem that I have: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plZXLAwgSFk 
 
PID: R550
 
If any of you could give me advice, it would be highly appreciated.
 
Thanks a lot!
 
Brain-D

 

[JesseA]

Wish I still had my Z's around to try this.

 

[Brain-D]

  Hello Everyone!
 
I found this amazing thread while I was looking for a way to fix my Z-5500. First of all, I have to admit that I have been really impressed by the knowledge and the help that many of you are sharing!
 
 
I bought a  set of Z-5500 three days ago (second hand), they have been working fine for 2 days... As you can guess, I was expecting them to work fine for more than 2 days!
 
Now, let me expain my problem: 
 
 

1. The front-right speaker is crackling and popping very loud on a constant basis.
2. The center speaker is fine
3. All the other speakers and the sub are crackling and popping on a constant basis but not as loud as the front-right speaker.

 
 
This video shows exactly the problem that I have: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plZXLAwgSFk 
 
PID: R550
 
If any of you could give me advice, it would be highly appreciated.
 
Thanks a lot!
 
Brain-D

 
Update 1 
 
I have opened the Pod and the Sub to verify the capacitors, they all look in good condition and I did not find anything else so I put back together the Pod and the Sub.
 
Then when I tested the system again, everyting was working fine. I have no idea what happened.
 
Brain-D

 

[Brain-D]

Update 2:
 
The system was working fine yesterday but when I turned it on this morning, the crackling/popping noise is back.
 
Any advice would be really appreciated!
 
Thanks,
 
 
Brain-D