For $100 you dont get any better , good sound, look cool

not for the bass addicted. not very loud.

I've had these for about 6 months now. They are excellent for $100. they cannot take much more than half of my 100w per channel reciever, but you get what you pay for. bass is punchy but not that low, a sub is a must. my klh 12"200w does the job if you turn the crossover all the way down. i plan to get better speakers soon and move these back to the rear channels, i think they should excel in that position.
for a 100per pair sony speakers they are quite amazing. reccomended for the casual listener that doesnt need deafening sound levels

Similar Products Used:

Philips shelf system 2&3 ways, Aiwa shelf 3 ways

Great sound, good mids and highs, awesome value!

Cannot be tossed around the room like a football

These speakers are a fantastic value and they sound great.
While I have not done a side by side comparison with the Infinity RS-3's, I can honestly say that these speakers produce a wonderful sound that fills our large family room with a warm and accurate sound. And, I am going to usher out my urge for a "better" speaker until I figure out what more I could possibly want. They are half the cost of most speakers with their specifications. I am using them with a Denon DRA-375RD receiver and I am even happy with the
bass as well. THIS IS THE PREFECT SPEAKER FOR ANYONE ON A TIGHT BUDGET who likes good sound! Buy them!*****

Similar Products Used:

Infinity RS-3 Bookshelf Speakers

high performance/price ratio, great plastic woofer

thin cabinet panels, very slighty bloated lower midrange

Wards had them on sale for $40 each, but even at the regular price these little bookshelfs are extraordinary. Normally I would recommend that people stay well away from cheap 3-ways, but this one's an exception. If you're tempted to try the floorstanding ported-box Sony 3-ways, consider that the MB215 has tighter bass and a smoother overall sound, but won't play as loud. I'll take the tighter bass and the lower price. One advantage of the floorstanders is that their cabinets' panels aren't as wide and so don't flex so much. The price you pay for affordability in the case of the MB215 is a cabinet with thin, lightweight walls, which has an effect on midbass/lower midrange. The MB215 will not pass the "knuckle" test-- it sounds hollow and cheap when you knock on the cabinet (ideally, it should sound like knocking on a granite boulder), so if you're a DIYer with woodworking skills, get out those cleats and braces. Despite this, it has a very satisfying sound indeed.

Much of the Cool Factor of the MB215 resides in the woofer, whose cone is made from a very high-density plastic and is stiff and self-damping. I'm tempted to rip these things apart and put the drivers in a decent box. Even the tweeter is sweet-sounding, and that's quite a feat in this price range.

Similar Products Used:

in the low-price range: KLH 911B, Sony U-3033, Optimus LX5

Web Page for crossover mods.

I now have a web page for the SS-MB215 "Crossover" modifications. A bit updated information as well.

DaveZ

http://members.fortunecity.com/swradios/mb215.html

(main page: http://members.fortunecity.com/swradios)

sweet highs, tight lows, well constructed box.. and looks good too... and all at a great price

none i have seen... it's made buy sony.. but the sony logo is removable without ripping it off :)

Very good speakers.. i have 4 of them in 12x13 room and they produce very tight bass... i listen to a lot of rap and techno music and the woofers have not bottomed out yet... great if your on a budget!

Similar Products Used:

yamaha, bose

Here is the bit more on the capacitor mods

I have had quite a few request on this..so will pass along a bit more on the capacitor changes here...

First let me say if you are not good with a soldering iron.....you may wish to pass on this. I guess there might be another way to "jump" the crossover capacitors across the existing ones (this is what has to be done), but my
way of doing things on this sort of thing is to "solder" wires. And of course this will VOID the warranty !!! I hope I don't get too simple here ?? But please understand......I will NOT be held responsble for anything what I have listed here......THIS IS DONE AT YOUR OWN RISK
!!!!!!

Amp off and , I would disconnect the speaker wires off the units.First thing is of course remove the "Speaker Grills" (just pull off)...Duh.

The real hard part of this job is removing and replacing all 8 screws in each speaker, 4 tweeter and 4 midrange screws. Of course, Be VERY careful not to damage or poke any holes in the speaker elements. They are in there pretty tight.

Might want to just lay the speaker on it's back
before starting.

You should now see the existing capacitors hanging on the back of each speaker at this point. We will NOT be removing any of this, just adding another capacitor ACROSS these.

You need 4 non-polarized electroytic capacitors from Radio Shack. (2) 2.2 uf value/ cat number 272-997 for the tweeters and (2) 4.7 uf value/ cat number 272-998 for the midranges. They will look a bit smaller than the chinese
ones used by Sony.....but the Japanese Radio Shack ones are actually the same "working" voltage.

Sony may have (may not be on all versions??) a small little nylon "zip tie" around each capacitor and the + lead. You will want to cut this with a pair of small electronic cutters (careful NOT to cut any wires !!). Otherwise the
heat from the soldering iron might (wire wrapped around it) damage the outer plastic coating of the existing capacitor.

Now it gets real easy. All you have to do now is to bridge a Radio Shack capacitor (2.2 uf for the Tweeter's and a 4.7 uf for the Midranges) ACROSS the existing capacitors already in the set. Wrap the Radio Capacitor wires
(be sure you don't short anything out).. ACROSS the existing capacitors, avoid twisting near the tiny "brass colored" wire connectors (solder will not stick on these). As we are working with nonpolarized type of capacitor,
these is no + or - ,so no worry about which end goes . Solder the wires up.

Make sure that nothing touches or shorts together as you re-assemble all. Make sure that all screws are back in place TIGHT. If not this will affect the sound quality of the speaker.

Now sit back and enjoy the vastly improved mid and high end frequency responce . It took ME alot of work experminting to find the correct values but still use Radio Shack parts.

Still no problems from doing the mods either. The only warning I can convey is that the power handling might be more sensitive...that is will be eaiser to blow them...so watch the volume. Good Luck..

Dave Z

Powerfull, yet very tight bass. Nice upper mids thanx to dedicated mid speaker, laminate dome sounds very open.

None

I've auditioned so many speakers for omparison before choosing to get these. I listened to them at Sear's (the nicest set up i've seen for parrallel comparison, computer controlled!) including thousand dollar AR, Boses, Kenwood Exec. Series etc. towers and bookshelf speakers.

The sony sounded better than the full sized AR s! Surprised the crap outta me! Compared on par with the bose towers. But who wants to spend that kinda cash?? (I'm a teen looking for the best system for my leisure time. Despite my age, i can teach salestaff things they didn't even know about their products in audio stores!)

Oh, and these speakers are not "bookshelf". 22" high, 11 wide and 9 deep isn't bookshelf, it's small floorstanding!

The dedicated midrange (actually only upper mid) filld the gap of breathiness often left to fall in the abscence of compatibility between woofer and tweeter in a two way speaker.

Highs aren't "shiny", but nor are they overdampened like many lower level tweeters which can't seem to balance that equation.

I agree whole-heartidly with Ben, nice tight, sufficient bass... and if you say not enough, buy an EQ before asub, cuz these twin eights can really hammer out the lows if you want that.

Short and sweet, best i found in 200-700 dollar range... wait a minute, they only cost me 160!



I'm using a technics surround receiver, i moved the videoton bookshelfs to the rear now, SONYs in front.

Similar Products Used:

Videoton (hungarian), Infinity (my comparison benchmark for power 250WRMS, 500Peak! and accuracy 40-32k flat-line)

Price, Midrange, Brand

None for the price

I paid 75 bucks for a pair of these Sony bookshelf speakers at BestBuy. I used to own a small pro logic surround sound speaker system by phillip magnovox and dang what a difference. I am on a budget like many others but I still crave a dynamic sound for a reasonable price and I am lucky to have found these. Watching the matrix on this brings it to a whole new dimension. I highly recommend these speakers....awesome sound and quality.

Bass, Imaging, Value

Cabinet construction

I bought these for a secondary stereo, along with a stereo sony reciever. The combination works well. The bass, the volume, the clarity, its all there. Of course the very lowest octave is pretty much inaudible, but bass down to about 40 hz is still strong. For less then a 100$, I am very happy with this purchase. I recommend good speakers wire for these, it makes ahuge difference(as it does in most cases).

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch, Infinity, JBL

Good looks, cool looking tweeter, good deal

My parent's cheap bookshelf system from Philips Magnavox has better bass. Seems to have a metallic sound

These speakers are rated to 140 W, but I managed to blow a woofer with no bass boost or anything with my 100 W receiver. Either the midrange or tweeter is bright. . They are good enough for a casual listener, although I think the Bass could definitely be better. At any level, it is easy to get the woofers to bottom out using tone controls and bass boost. Might work good for a rear channel Pro Logic setup also, and a good deal.