Sony Speakers (1 Viewer)

[AllanN]

Im beginning to plan out a home entertainment system. Im going with a Sony TV, AMP, DVD player because I know somebody that works for sony and gets a good discount and i've seen good reviews on all the components. I was also going to purchase Sony speakers because of the price. But I have not seen anyone recommend of review the sony line of speakers. I've set my budget and don’t want to spend any more money that what I have already set. Im looking at spending about $330 on the following speakers:
Front full rage speakers model# SSM-F600H.
Center and surroung spearkers model# SSC-R505H
Self powered sub model#SA-WM40
All the speakrs will be hooked up to a STR-V444ES reciever.
Does anyone know of another brand of speakers that will be of better quality for the same price?
On a personal note, I hope that anybody reading this post does not get the impression that im bragging about being able to get a discount on sony products. Im just looking to find the best HT equipment for my money, which unfortunately is not a unlimited resource im sorry to say.

 

[ColinM]

My buddy has that center, and he likes it a lot. He's impressed by my NHT setup, but honestly his is fun to listen to. Just a bit sizzly on the vocals, not as solid and tight.

You may want to save some bucks and just get bookshelf's for the fronts, and let the sub do all of the work, but the towers will have the cool factor.

For the money, this is a great set-up. Get them and enjoy, and you can get the money out of them on the used market if you decide to upgrade later. That AVR deserves higher-end speakers.

Have fun!

 

[Mark Hobbs]

You don't see many people recommending Sony speakers because they don't have a reputation for delivering great sound for the price (except the WM40 sub) .
However, if you can get all 6 of those speakers for $330, that is a nice discount (60% off MSRP by my calculations). The brands commonly recommended here (Klipsch, Paradigm, NHT, Energy, B&W, Swan, etc, etc) don't offer a 5.1 setup for less than $330.
If you were paying MSRP for those Sony's ($800), then you would have more options. But at that price there just isn't much available.
Like Colin said, you can resell them later WHEN you decide to upgrade.

 

[Ted Lee]

at that price, it's hard to beat.
but...
i do recommend that (at some point) you go listen to some other speakers by dedicated companies. typicall they'll make better speakers.
then you can decide for yourself what sounds better. speaker sound is one of the most subjective things in ht.
also, try to read the 'what every newbie should know' thread at the top of this forum...there's some good advice on how to audition speakers.

 

[Brian E]

I was looking at Sony's. Went and listened to some B&W's and there was a big difference. Of course I was looking at paying retail for the Sony's. The SA-WM40 sub has a rep as being the best sub in the $200 or less range. The Sony ES line of components also have a good rep. The lower end receivers don't have as good a rep at their respective price points.

 

[Chuck_C]

I have those towers and the sub. If you can get them at that price, it's not a bad deal. I improved the towers by instlling new 3 way crossovers from Parts Express for $14 each. The original crossovers are a joke- just 2 capaciators in each tower. While I had it open, I added some polyfill batting. Polyfill batting also went into the sub along with a set of spikes on it's bottom. They may not be top of the line but they sound great now.

 

[Vasanth B]

On a personal note, I hope that anybody reading this post does not get the impression that im bragging about being able to get a discount on sony products. Im just looking to find the best HT equipment for my money, which unfortunately is not a unlimited resource im sorry to say.

I think no one will get that impression from your post. However, I would urge you to get a better quality speaker. I will even go far as to say you should get good quality entry-level bookshelfs and go with a modest mass-market receiver. You will find that speakers do not really become obsolete while you can always upgrade to a better quality receiver later which will have all the latest bells and whistles. I would suggest entry-level models from PSB, Paradigm, NHT, Energy.
Cheap Home Theater is a Godsend website for someone like you getting into entry-level HT.