Could this be it? Could the Logitech Z5450 package finally be the moment where a set of wireless 5.1 speakers leaps off the drawing board and becomes reality? Could this be the moment that audiophiles across the country, fed up with a streaming spaghetti of speaker cables, get a proper, rounded wireless solution?

No.

But credit where credit's due. For Logitech's noisemakers come closer than any before, save for Saitek's more limited A-250. And while they're not perfect, the Z5450s offer a salivating taste of what's round the corner, combined with a healthy dose of fine audio work that's of quite brilliant quality.

So let's backtrack. These 5.1 speakers are 'sort of' wireless. To explain: the front two satellite speakers, the centre speaker and the control box are all connected by - you guessed it - a wire, to the meaty subwoofer. That's the front of the soundstage accounted for.

But the control box has an antenna on it, and that means it can wirelessly communicate with the two rear satellites, which no longer need a cable stretching right across your room to connect them up to the subwoofer.

Yet there's a catch. While the signal to these satellites is transmitted wirelessly, both still have a wire; in this case, leading to a mains plug. Because to use the Z5450s, you're going to need three mains sockets; two for the rear satellites and one for the main subwoofer. So if you don't have conveniently located power sockets in your room, then the Z5450 system has just ruled itself out of the running.

If you do, though, and you're willing to accept that this is a bit of a fudged solution, then there's an awful lot Logitech has got right here. The sheer meat of the subwoofer for starters, which emits a controlled growl that any system in this price bracket would struggle to better. The quality of the satellites too is commendable, as is the central control box, which happily decodes Dolby Digital and DTS signals.

And because the input from your playback device of choice - be it DVD player, satellite box or PC - goes into this control box rather than the subwoofer itself, it's far easier to change what you choose to hook up to the Z5450s. A proper remote control also means you don't have to get off your backside if you want to fiddle with the various levels.

One more downer before we go for the big finish. With a slowly increasing number of DVDs now supporting 6.1 audio, and PCs outputting up to 7.1, we can't help feeling that the Logitech Z5450 is at least one speaker short, and we hope that the next generation of wireless audio will remedy this.

Yet for now, once we'd got over our initial disappointment at the slight compromises that have been made, we're loud fans of the Logitech Z5450 package. Because in spite of everything we've said, when you switch them on and start belting audio through them, their performance is excellent. From the subtlety of an intricate DTS track to the all-out mayhem of a tense Far Cry level, they hit our buttons every time.

So whilst the price tag is higher than we'd have liked, and the wireless isn't as wireless as we'd prefer, the Logitech Z5450s work really rather well. And, while leaving room for some obvious improvements, they're setting the standard for wireless surround sound audio.

They cheat, they're a little compromised and they're probably not quite what you're after. Yet if you're anything like us, you'll grow to like the Logitech Z5450s. A lot.