Great sound and value.

A little low on bass, but workable

A bought these based on the reviews here, and I have not be disappointed. Even without a sub they do a great job. I use them for music and home theater. They make movies come alive. They also look great.

UMMM let me think none that is know oh

Um where do i start they have crappy bass um the highs are unclear when you turn them up, and the break need more, they are made of cheap materials ? ? ? ?

If you are looking for good sound and a cheap price dont even consider these ! ! ! ! !

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha (Which dont even compair to these SONYS), JBL, AWIA, some older sonys which are terrible also, POLK, CERWIN VEGA, BOSE which are second to none

Big sound, clean look.

Speakers are pretty big. Don't buy them if you want small
speakers.

These speakers are spectacular for the price. Supremevideo is selling them for $169 for a pair! I had to call them to believe that it was for the pair...

I did not like buying from Supremevideo as much as I liked Crutchfield, but the product did get here and was fine.

These are big, rich speakers, and although I am not an expert, I highly recommend them if you are on a budget.

They match the CR490 speaker set from Sony, and if you are buying your first surround system, this is the set for you. You can always save your money for expensive speakers as you enjoy these.

Similar Products Used:

None.

great sound

its very good

Similar Products Used:

jamo,b&w

Price and sound

None for me

I actually paid $225 for these once shipping was included, but that was still cheaper than anywhere else. Anyway, I live in a dorm suite. I have these 2 speakers hooked up to a Pioneer VSX-D509S and they KNOCK!! I haven't turned it up past 3/4 volume because at that level, my ears start hurting and the bass is still not distorted. These speakers shake my room. I also have my Playstation 2 hooked up to the system. Turned up, you can literally feel the hits on Madden 2001 football. I'm definitely pleased with my purchase. I gave it 5 stars for value and 4 stars for overall because I'm sure there are some higher end speakers that can far outdo these.

Similar Products Used:

none

Imaging-Dispersion-Warmth-smoothness-detail-clean highs

None, At this price

This speaker is very good for the price.
It offers performance only available for thousands of dollars ten years ago!
It is NOT the speaker to crank Metallica, TECHNO, or RAP.
If you like this kind of stuff, buy a cerwin vega and see god!
If you like imaging, music, warmth, with decent dynamic range, read on.
The 515 uses two 6.5 inch drivers up to 2000hz, crosses over to a 3 inch cone up to 5000hz, and the super sweet dome tweeter takes over from there.
This insures tremendous dispersion allowing a broad and deep soundstage extending well beyond the speakers physical plane.
The high 5000 hz tweeter crossover gives a sweet high end because the tweeter isnt being taken too low down in frequency to cause intermodulation distorsion.
The 515 has excellent high frequency detail, without being bright.
The speaker is voiced on the warm side.
I have them 16 inches out from the rear wall, and 8.5 feet apart.
I sit 10 feet away.
They do an ok job of trying to disappear.
The image stretches almost wall to wall, and the sound is BIG.
I have at my disposal several pairs of true high end speakers to compare em with.
They sound the most like the Vandersteens.
See above similar products used.
They want to be pointed straight ahead in my room, do not angle them in.
Angling them in compromises image width!
I believe for the money there isnt anything close!
To fault them, there is some male voice coloration, and a tizzyness to the highs that will go away as the tweeter breaks in.
The grill is cheap and wants to work its way loose, but who cares?
If you LISTEN to your speakers with grills on, you arent really an audiophile, just a wannabe!
Honest to god, these are really audiophile speakers.
I seldom use tone or loudness controls, and in my room these dont need em.
What is AMAZING is how close they are in overall performance to what I own!
Now for the second part of this review!

DONT MESS WITH THE CROSSOVER-
Someone posted that the crossover in these looked cheap, and recommended replacing it with an off the shelf crossover!
What a mistake!
The overall slope of a crossover is determined not by the apparent complexity and number of its parts, but by the inherent roll off of the drivers themselves!
When you are a HUGE company like SONY, you can MAKE drivers that do what you want withn a MINIMUM of power robbing, phase shifting parts!
I have run computer analysis on the 515 crossover, and it is a work of art!
It appears cheap and simple, but theres a LOT more going on than meets the eye.
Remember, the 515 was designed by the SAME design team that did the Somy M-9!
That speaker was or still is on STereophile magazines recommended list!
An off the shelf crossover has as much chance of working better as a fart does in the wind!
LEAVE IT ALONE.
The Internet is almost in total agreement that this is a GREAT speaker.
I had some well known Canadien speakers here, and the Sonys were better.
You can spend more, LOTS more, and not get better.
Unless you know what you are doing, and are really into it.
Highly recommended!!!!!

Similar Products Used:

Quad 63, Celestion SL-6, KEF 107, Vandersteen 2b,Etc

Imaging-Dispersion-Warmth-smoothness-detail-clean highs

None, At this price

This speaker is very good for the price.
It offers performance only available for thousands of dollars ten years ago!
It is NOT the speaker to crank Metallica, TECHNO, or RAP.
If you like this kind of stuff, buy a cerwin vega and see god!
If you like imaging, music, warmth, with decent dynamic range, read on.
The 515 uses two 6.5 inch drivers up to 2000hz, crosses over to a 3 inch cone up to 5000hz, and the super sweet dome tweeter takes over from there.
This insures tremendous dispersion allowing a broad and deep soundstage extending well beyond the speakers physical plane.
The high 5000 hz tweeter crossover gives a sweet high end because the tweeter isnt being taken too low down in frequency to cause intermodulation distorsion.
The 515 has excellent high frequency detail, without being bright.
The speaker is voiced on the warm side.
I have them 16 inches out from the rear wall, and 8.5 feet apart.
I sit 10 feet away.
They do an ok job of trying to disappear.
The image stretches almost wall to wall, and the sound is BIG.
I have at my disposal several pairs of true high end speakers to compare em with.
They sound the most like the Vandersteens.
See above similar products used.
They want to be pointed straight ahead in my room, do not angle them in.
Angling them in compromises image width!
I believe for the money there isnt anything close!
To fault them, there is some male voice coloration, and a tizzyness to the highs that will go away as the tweeter breaks in.
The grill is cheap and wants to work its way loose, but who cares?
If you LISTEN to your speakers with grills on, you arent really an audiophile, just a wannabe!
Honest to god, these are really audiophile speakers.
I seldom use tone or loudness controls, and in my room these dont need em.
What is AMAZING is how close they are in overall performance to what I own!
Now for the second part of this review!

DONT MESS WITH THE CROSSOVER-
Someone posted that the crossover in these looked cheap, and recommended replacing it with an off the shelf crossover!
What a mistake!
The overall slope of a crossover is determined not by the apparent complexity and number of its parts, but by the inherent roll off of the drivers themselves!
When you are a HUGE company like SONY, you can MAKE drivers that do what you want withn a MINIMUM of power robbing, phase shifting parts!
I have run computer analysis on the 515 crossover, and it is a work of art!
It appears cheap and simple, but theres a LOT more going on than meets the eye.
Remember, the 515 was designed by the SAME design team that did the Somy M-9!
That speaker was or still is on STereophile magazines recommended list!
An off the shelf crossover has as much chance of working better as a fart does in the wind!
LEAVE IT ALONE.
The Internet is almost in total agreement that this is a GREAT speaker.
I had some well known Canadien speakers here, and the Sonys were better.
You can spend more, LOTS more, and not get better.
Unless you know what you are doing, and are really into it.
Highly recommended!!!!!

Similar Products Used:

Quad 63, Celestion SL-6, KEF 107, Vandersteen 2b,Etc

Price! Overall great sound.

None after the mod.

Well I used these speakers for about 2 months before I did the crossover mod. I performed the mod on only 1 speaker first and A/B tested it with the other. It's safe to say the mod does make a noticable improvment. It seemed to tighten the bass up and it drastically improves the midrange. I listened to The National Anthem by Radiohead as a test song and when the horns came in it was extremely noticable that the modified speaker imaged much better. It just has a more seperated feel to it. I was very happy with speakers before I did the mod, and now I'm even happier.
These speakers are a great bargain, and you'd probably need to spend 1000+ to match the output of these babies. They are just vastly superior to anything in it's price range and the next price range up. Most audiophiles would probably dimiss them because of the price and/or the manufactorer, but I'd say you owe it to yourself to give them a listen. Hell at this price I'm thinking of buying a pair for rear surrounds! Nuff said...

Similar Products Used:

Acoustic Research, JBL, Altec Lansing

Great after the mod

OK,

I admit I'm not a professional audiophile. I'm just a
regular guy who did the original modification. I have only built or modified 8 different speakers systems since then.

I don't use fancy computerized testing equipment to test my latest projects. I just know what sounds good to me. My philosophy is that nothing ventured is nothing gained. I'm not afraid make improvements to my equipment.

My opinion is that the original Sony crossovers that I replaced were crap. The new crossovers sound much better than the old ones and I have not had any trouble with the new ones.

Thanks to all of you who have commented and requested info from me. I have not heard any complaints about the modification yet.

My email address has changed. I will post a new message to this board when I get my new address for those who would like info on the modification.

Until then, If you are interested in speaker building check out the tech talk board over on www.partsexpress.com. A friendly place where many REAL experts post there.

Also, I won't have to post this review 4-5 times to get my message across.


Good luck and have fun.

Mike Rootz

Looks, price, number of speakers in each box, the b2b ratio

BOXY, BOOMY, UGLY basses - very typical for "inexpensive" speakers

I just bought them from Bestbuy because of these reviews. They are hooked up to an Onkyo Integra receiver. I had ordered the crossovers to replace. I hope the tweak does the trick... or else the boys will go back to where they come from.
The b2b (buck to bang) ratio is acceptable. They also look nice. But, for the sound; I'd rather spend my $200 on second hand higher quality speakers than keep the 515's. I listened in the past to good old old speakers that sounded like a million bucks, and their owner would give them away, or sell for next to nothing, or even trash them. I am not nutty enough or rich enough to spend $2000 on new speakers.
Will let you know my impressions after the mod.