8 in. woofers for the price of the 515's!!

--Has anyone else tried out a pair of these new speakers with the dual 8 in. woofers? How do they compare to the MF515's??

Also, has anyone attempted the 515 crossover mod on these new speakers? I know the woofers are larger (8in.) and the tweeter has been changed (improved maybe??), so I wonder if the crossover is even needed, or would it still cause a great improvement in the performance of the speaker?

Searches for this speaker on the net have proved futile, so any info. would be appreciated. In fact the only dealer I have seen that carries them is etronics.com.

I apologize for asking a question on here, but I am quite interested about these new speakers, and as far as I can tell there is virtually NO information for them anywhere on the net.

Thanks for any information/ experiences you can provide.

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--The new Sony SSM-F600H.....Has anyone has any experience with these speakers??

Cheap

You get what you pay for, still they are better than most other speakers in that price range

I bought them because of some of the over-enthusiastic reviews here.

I was looking for a good speaker set at an affordable price. I guess there is no such thing.

Your taste for good speakers would be inversely proportional to the number of hours you spent chainsawing without your earmuffs. Which means there are different tastes for musical quality and I shall respect them all.

Read on

Read on

Here's the deal: The 515's are being phased out. Sony released the 600's a month ago or so, I picked up a pair at etronics/supreme video for $169/pr. Improvements over the 515's are awesome, woofers size has been bumped to 8" each (huge improvement in bass, volume and accuracy). Also, the finish looks somewhat better quality, you cannot see through the grill like you can on the 515's.

My Verdict: A great, great speaker for the price, there is none out there as good. Hands down. But, for $169, why not go for the dual 8" 600's?

My $0.02.

Denis Goldman

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Read on

Sound great to me

None

I am going to be doing the xover change this weekend. For anyone that is interested, I put up all the info Bob was nice enough to provide at www.aracnet.com/~johnjudy/speaker.html.

Anyway, I like the sound now, but I am always in search of a way to make my toys better.

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None

Good sound for the cash

Distortion of music 2 speaker stereo mode

I bought these speakers about 5 months ago, and at first i couldn't believe how great they sounded for the cash. I still enjoy them a lot, but of course now im craving more sound and more quality. What's the deal w/ this mod that everyones talking about? I'm completely ignorant about this. Can someone send me an email to tell me how i can perform the modification. I'd love to give that a shot, then submit a real review about the speakers.
Thanks so much everybody.

Nice look, OK sound for their class

Factory crossover

This is a great forum, and I thank everyone for good input. Reading these reviews is how I made my decision to get the SS-MF515 speakers. It’s also how I made a clear plan in advance to do the recommended upgrade before even actually getting them. I also picked up an SS-CN490 center speaker and a pair of SS-MB215s to provide matching home theater pieces (modified the 215’s also, same as the 515’s described here).

First, the factory speaker review: They look great and have great finish quality; they also perform pretty reasonable well. When listening for high detail, like cymbals, strings, or little soundtrack effects, they can sound a bit smeared or rough. I think others here have mentioned muddy midrange too. For what it’s worth, it doesn’t matter; as factory speakers for less than $300, they sound great.

Mike Roontz deserves an award for two things: 1) Taking his new speakers apart because they didn’t sound right, and 2) Posting what he did about it here (see 8/6/00 below). All of you who added followups helped a lot too. So, here’s my $.02 worth:

1. Instead of using the 260-210 (www.partsexpress.com) crossover ($14) that Mike suggests, I spent $25 more for the 260-156. It’s a Dayton crossover with metallized poly caps and higher grade coils.

2. I did a quick A / B comparison before changing out the second speaker ---It is amazing, just as many others have described here. Simply replacing the cheap factory crossover provides cleaner midrange and brings out very clear detail in cymbals and strings.

3. I mounted the crossover with standoffs improvised from hard plastic tubing; the length worked out to put the screws about half deep in the speaker back panel.

4. It’s overkill, but I soldered bits of Monster Cable between the crossover and the speaker terminals. Any stranded 18-gauge wire would do. It could be argued that solder is better than a terminal connector, but it really doesn’t matter, either will work.

5. To aid cabinet panel damping: While the cabinet was empty, I put in strips of door threshold / roof patch material. It’s like a big roll of double-sided tape that is really, really sticky. No real pattern, just enough to get three or four layers thick in different spots in the panels (wear latex gloves or you’ll be wearing it for a while).

6. To aid bass reflex damping: I also added 12 oz of poly fill (craft shop, pillow stuff); there’s not much factory damping material.

This is supposed to be a medium-grade, low-cost factory speaker with a nice look, OK sound, and the SONY name. It’s not supposed to be a kit speaker, but if you do the crossover upgrade and add some meat to the panels and damping fill, they’ll perform well enough to compete in at least the next class up.

Nice crisp sound, good value, small footprint.

little weak on the bass but nothing a sub can't fix.

Best buy isn't exactly what i would call the best place to buy speakers, but they had these for $260/pair and they sounded nice in the store so i decided to purchase them. I think they sound very well in the high and midranges, but in the bass they are a little weak, but still there and crisp. Nothing a separate sub couldn't fix. Got these hooked up to a pioneer d607s receiver and they sound pretty nice in my bedroom. They fit perfect in those snug places between a bed and the wall, which you thought nothing could fit in. I have only listened to music on them, no dvd or anything in my bedroom, but they sound great for the rock and alternative i listen to. At the pricerange there really isn't anything that can compete with them. Sure you can get speakers with more sound but not nearly as crisp of sound as these for anywhere near the cost. Oh yeah and unlike some lower ended speakers, they look great. Great value,great sound, good looks, and all this in a small package, gotta give it a 5.

Lots of Bass and very clear sound. Very high value and incredibly inexpensive.

Very cheap crossover and speaker wiring, boomy bass (in a bad way).

Part One, before the crossover.
I got these speakers as a christmas present after wanting them for many months. I hooked them up and was somewhat disappointed. The sound was good but lacking something (I found out later that it was clarity and better highs + lows). The bass was house shaking but very boomy and annoying. I decided to perform the crossover operation to enhance the enjoyment of these speakers.

Part Two, after the crossover.
Wow! I'm very glad I performed the crossover modification. There are now excellent highs and lows. There are no more bass problems. The speakers now have nice clean and clear bass without being boomy and overbearing. I can't believe they are the same speakers. These speakers can really perform. They sound awesome with music or movies and decent with tv shows. The bass is very deep and can be felt outside of the house. I'm very happy with these speakers and would recommend the speakers with or without new crossovers.

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20 year old 4-way 10" Optimus (Radio Shack) speakers.

Very affordable, high quality sound after crossover mod

None now. Bass was pretty Boomy prior to crossover mod.

First off I want to thank Joel Jaro, Will, and Bob P.(instructions on how to connect wires to crossover) for your input. I listened to these speakers for 2hours using cd's, dvd's, and regular cable broadcast before performing the mod. The speakers sounded pretty decent for the $259.00 that I paid but the bass was far from being tight. Now with the new crossovers installed it sounds like a totally different set of speakers. The high's, mid's, and low's are much tighter. These badboys sound better than the JBL's which are $120.00 more. Shame on Sony for using cheap equipment, these speakers should sound this good without the customer having to tinker with them. My speakers are connected to a Sony STR-DE845 receiver, a 36 inch Sony Kv-36FV16, Sony dvd changer DVP-C600D, and two Sony vcrs a SLV-N70 and a 11 year old SLV-393(still works like a champ). The rest of my speakers are a Sony SS-v130(rear) and a SS-CN130(center). I highly recommend these speakers but only if you do the crossover mod, it makes a world of a difference.

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JBL

price; great highs; nice bass

a little sharp; sounds not so soft

Like most of you, I had a tight budget. That's why I got these Sony's. I listened to several floor-standing speakers at Best Buy and I admit these 515s aren't even in par with the more expensive JBL speakers. But, in the price range, they sounded MUCH better than the YAMAHAs (that cost even more). I've had these speakers for about 4 months now. So far, I haven't noticed any problems with the tweeters or feel the cross overs need to be replaced. My primary use is to watch movies; I have a six speakers surround sys. and these 515s serve as my main speakers. I use a power-sub, so bass isn't much a concern for me. But the bass these 515s put out isn't bad. It's not "boomy" like other cheap speakers. These speakers sound fine playing music, as well. It's not as "rich" or "warm" as more expensive speakers; I feel these speakers sound a bit un-naturally sharp." But if you haven't had a taste of hearing better speakers these speakers should be great--it's like Natty Light (beer) tasted fine back in college, but, you know it tastes like crap now. I'm not saying these Sony's are crappy. Anyway, if you're looking good budget speakers for a home theater, these will be fine. If your main usage is to listen to music and you have no other speakers (such as a sub-woofer) you might want to get better speakers.