Hi Everyone.

I've read many threads all over the net about people wanting to use a broken (cables cut off) Z-5500 speaker set with another receiver.
My situation is a bit different. Let me explain.

I wanted more punch/bass from my front speakers so I upgraded them to a pair of inexpensive bookshelves. (XTZ 80 Satelites). The sound improved a bit, but the bass didn't change much as the Z-5500 has a high cutoff frequency. (I suspected this). So I then bought an inexpensive receiver (Panasonic SA-HE40). I tried to connect the Z-5500 to the subwoofer out. Nothing happened. So I tried to connect it to the ONLY lineout of my receiver. Still nothing. So I opened the receiver manual. It only outputs analogoue sources to the lineout. hm.... That just won't do.

So I tinkered a bit until i finally figured it out.
You see the first attempt at hooking the Z-5500 to the sub output was made with a stereo RCA to stereo minijack where I connected just one of the RCA to the sub out. The problem is that while most receivers will accept the "left" signal as mono the z-5500 just blinked. It did nothing. So I then cut a single RCA cabel in halv, and with some electricians tape I connected it to both "Left" and "Right" of a stereo minijack (also cut in halv). When I then connected this to Z-5500 (stereo3) and subout of my receiver the Z-5500 jumped into action.

It works great :-) I'm happy with the result, and since I have replaced the front satelites the sound is pretty awesome.

The sub can now be as boomy (or not) as I like and I can set the cutoff anywhere (well not anywhere but) between 80 and 200 Hz.

So it is possible to upgrade the z-5500 and get good results as long as your receiver has sub-out. (for active subs).

And remember: you need a MONO splitter on the RCA (stereo splitters have different colors on the splitted RCA's) and a stereo minijack that you can connect to the monosplitter. Or you can cut the cables like I did.

To do it properly: Cable-1 is RCA MALE to RCA FEMALE MONO splitter. and cable-2 is STEREO MALE MINIJACK to MALE STEREO RCA.

Hope this is of use to someone :-)

-Christian

Hi

I forgot to mention the price.
Second hand receiver: $195
Front speakers: $195

A little about the speakers:
80 Satellite

Try to find something better at the same price!

XTZ 80 SATELLITE is a part of the XTZ 80 system.

Cabinet design
The cabinet is built from strong MDF, which provides good sonic qualities.
The front has 2 layers of 15 mm MDF.
The baffle is only a few millimeters wider than the woofer driver, which effectively provides dampening of unwanted resonances.

Tweeter driver
For the tweeter we have choosen a silk-made soft dome driver. This driver has good qualities, such as fast transient response and a very smooth frequency response. In addition it has a very high power durability.

Midrange/woofer driver
For the midrange we have chosen a 5 1/4 ” driver for the best compromise between power durability, frequency response and transient response for this cabinet size.

The driver is a coated paper and glassfibre type which ensures good sonic qualities, high strength and low weight. The low weight of the membrane together with the powerful magnet ensures a very high efficiency. The rubber suspensions along with the quality damp provides good sonic properties and a long life.

Crossover
We have chosen a –12 dB crossover filter with good transient response and minimum phase shiftings. Only high quality capacitors and low impedance coils are used.

Room-Tuning
Unfortunately normal rooms are often not perfect from a sonic point of view. This can be heard in the appearance of "standing waves" which creates an uneven balance in the tone. This means that the bass may sound very different from one room to another.

By using the supplied bass plug in the bass reflex port, you can alter the sonic characteristics of the loudspeaker. This way you can compansate for the room as well as for your personal preferences.

And about the receiver:
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Continious Power Output (both ch. driven)
DIN/RMS -/150W x 2
20Hz-20kHz -
Power Output a 1kHz (each ch. driven (DIN)
Front (L/R) 150W x 2 (6ohm)
Center 80W (6ohm)
Surround/L/R/Back 80W x 2/-
Power Bandwidth -
T.H.D. (Rated power at 20-20kHz, 6ohm) 0.5% (6ohms)
Frequency Response -
S/N Ratio at Rated Power (60ohm)
Input -
Digital Input 75dB (85dB, IHF 66)
Frequency Range FM Tuner 87.50-108.00 MHz
AM Tuner (9kHz/10kHz steps) 522-1611 kHz/530-1620 kHz
Dolby Digital Decoder Yes
Dolby Surround Pro-Logic II Yes (IIx)
DTS® Decoder Yes
DTS 96/24® Decoder -
HDMI Inputs/Outputs / HDAVI Control -/-
Component Video Inputs/Outputs -/-
S-Video Inputs/Outputs -/-
Video Inputs/Outputs -/-
Digital Inputs/Outputs 3 (2-optical, 1-coaxial)
6 Channel Discrete Inputs -
Audio Inputs/Outputs 3-in/out
Subwoofer Output Yes
HDMI -
DIMENSIONS
Weight (kg) 3,8
Dimensions (W x H x D) (mm) 430 x 105 x 385

Hi Christian,

Thanks for figuring this out. I'm currently in the same situation (trying to figure out how to make this work) but am finding myself a little unclear in the details as to which splitter connects to what (or if cable cutting is necessary).

Would you be able to clarify a little?

Thanks!