Customer Ratings & Reviews

Incredulously, I came across these speakers while attempting to upgrade the sound of my system. I felt adding a pair of high quality speakers might feel the voids I noticed in the present system. So, these speakers were purchased as an addition to my system. I did not anticipate the magnitude of improvement. I have been using a pair of Polk Audio T15s and a pair of off brand bass reflect speakers from years past. I was pretty sure I could do better. I put the Sony’s on the top shelf of my stereo stand and repositioned the Polks to the bottom shelf. They are just a few inches above the floor. To describe the sound with one word: Heavenly. The Polks had an immediate improvement especially with the bass. It was do much better, it was staggering. The base was clear and loud, without breaking up or drowning out the rest of the sound. But what amazed me the most, was the performance of the Sony’s. They provided excellent sound all along the frequency range. The bass was strong without being booming. It was easy to notice an individual bass guitar. And, the same could be said about the high range. Cymbals crashed without distortion. High end guitar cords were wonderfully reproduced. In wide orchestra pieces, I could swear I could pick up individual instruments. A good example is the drums booming over thenother instruments without overwhelming the music. I am sure they benefit from the 3 way speaker layout. They look really nice though not spectacular. They are boxed in an unimpressive non wood enclosure. It resembles smooth particle board. However the speakers look great as do the grills. One area that could concern me is that the speakers are not magnetically shielded as and this could effect sound from such items as a TV screen. But in all, these are excellent speakers. Highly recommend

These speakers blew me away! I didn’t think Sony was capable of creating such a good speaker, and was kind of a snob when I read all the positive reviews on these. I was like “ha!, Sony, they don’t make good speakers”. Boy was I wrong! These are not just amazing for the price, but amazing period! I bought these for my dad because he wanted a bookshelf speaker for his room. After browsing the BB site, these Sony’s were half off and had many glowing reviews, so I headed down to my local BB to have a listen. Sony had these bookshelfs, a floor standing tower, and subwoofer in one display. Unfortunately, it was not possible to just listen to one type of speaker by itself. All three played at the same time. I asked the sales associate if it was possible to unhook the towers and sub so I could just listen to the bookshelfs. His reply was “sorry, no”. I know it was possible and what he meant was “I can, but I’m to lazy to do it”. Wherever. So I just bought it and went home, with the thought I’d just be coming back for a refund because they sound junk. After getting home, I unboxed it and set it up next to my Elac debut 6.2’s that I recently bought (I left a review on those if you are interested in great 6-1/2” bookshelf). Hooked it up next to the Elac’s with my Yamaha A/V receiver that has a/b switching to do side-by-side comparisons. This is so that I have a reference to a quality speaker to compare it to. I put on some music I know well, and to say that I was surprised how good these Sony’s sounded is an understatement. The Sony’s sounded just as good as the Elac’s! How can this be?! These are $75!!! ($150 msrp). The soundstage is wide and the quality of the sound is just as good as the Elac’s. Mids are smooth and warm. Highs are detailed without being harsh. And has good bass for the size. Of course, the Sony’s can’t go as low as the Elac’s. 5” vs 6-1/2” driver. Physics. But the bass is tight and has punch. I don’t think a subwoofer is necessary for music listening unless you like a lot of bass. I think the bass it puts out is adequate. And quite amazing considering the size. I may just pick up a pair for myself if it ever goes half off again!

I purchased these nice small bookshelf speakers as my main speakers to replace my 19 y/old Panasonic 2-way set and pair them with my TEAC AG-V1050 Stereo Receiver and they sounds amazing! I got them for $74.99 (Holiday's Specials) even better! I'm an old school audiophile and I wanted to keep my music system pretty simple without spending a lot of money and after some research I found the Sony SSCS5 a perfect option. I play CDs, Vinyls and some mp3 tracks and all formats sounds great on the speakers. The highs are so crisp and the mids are pretty clear, the bass is NOT heavy but neither weak, it just required me to find the right positioning, about 2 feet from the floor and away from the wall so the air port in the back of the speakers have enough room to breathe, plus some eq adjustments to my amp to find the right balance and wow, I was surprised with the amazing sound of these little boys, they're pretty loud and clear and the bass is just perfect for my taste. Just keep in mind that if you're a shaking-booming bass lover, you will definitely need an extra powered subwoofer, not in my case. Another thing that I noticed is that the sound improves after a few days (a month) of use, probably needed to develop their maximum potential and performance. I'm so happy with my new Sony SSCS5 speakers!!

I decided to get back into listening to music with speakers instead of headphones or earbuds for a change. After picking up a new receiver from Best Buy, I started researching bookshelf speakers, limiting my budget to under $500. I soon ran across several videos with online reviewers raving about these cheap speakers from Sony. So off I go to my local Best Buy and to my surprise, I found a pair of Sony SS-CS5 3-Way Bookshelf Speakers in Open Box-Excellent condition for under $100. Still a bit skeptical of speakers at such a low price. what I found inside the box was a pair of speakers that appeared absolutely new. I could tell by the foam wrap that the box had been opened at one point, otherwise everything was pristine and even the small rubber footpads were still in their wrap. I still needed speaker cables and quickly ordered some mid-range priced cables with banana plugs. Amazingly, the cables actually cost more than these speakers! The speakers themselves are the perfect size for my desktop and the build and feel is very solid. The design is simple but still attractive and clean. With the pads installed, they feel anchored solidly to the desk. I was pretty sure I would need a small 10" subwoofer to get some bottom end, but surprised to find these speakers have pretty decent bass. I am still glad I added the subwoofer, but honestly think these alone would have been absolutely fine. These are ported in the back which could be why they are capable of boosting some of the bass. The tweeter and super tweeter handle the higher frequencies and I was excited to hear how good the sound of guitar strings, brass, and cymbals comes across from these amazing speakers. The sound is crazy good and it only seems to get better as I wear them in. So, for well under $500, I was able to round out my desktop stereo with a pair of bookshelf speakers, a 10" subwoofer and good cables, and still have $100 left over. I have no desire to ever replace these speakers anytime soon, as I feel these can compete with speakers costing much more. As a person who appreciates listening to music but on a budget, I am more than satisfied with these Sony speakers, even if I had paid full price. Getting them on sale or even open-box only made the deal sweeter.

My wife suggested we bring our turntable out of storage and start playing our albums. I had kept everything necessary to get up and running except decent speakers. I purchased a pair of these to keep my costs down. Wow! was i pleasantly surprised. These speakers have a sound comparable to much larger speakers with a much larger price tag. Nice solid bass and crisp highs without being brassy or tinny. They are rated at 100w/channel. I am running 60w/channel through them and the volume is more than enough for our living room. I would recommend these to anyone looking for a small set of bookshelf speakers, especially if they are on a budget.

I am definitely in love with these speakers. I use them in a 2.0 setup for movies and music. They do a great job in a near field setup. Prior to this, I was using a pair of mackie mr5mkii powered monitors. Those were about the same size but weighed a lot more and they occupied a separate outlet for each speaker. These sonys are great for a fraction of the price. I am powering them through a 15 year old harman kardon receiver and they sound great. Again for my near field setup, they have enough bass to fill a room without rattling and shaking it. They sound great for music and movies. I was really surprised by this entry level speaker and its abilities. The value of these are extremely high considering its entry level price.

These are impressive - especially at this price point. I bought these for my daughter but connected to a reference system to see how they sounded. After a few minutes of breaking in, I was impressed at the sound these produced. First though, the upstream equipment was a McIntosh C2700 pre-amp, McIntosh MC8207 amplifier, playing tracks from Tidal streaming. The sound was dynamic, the bass was tight and noticeable, but not overwhelming or boomy. The mid range really shined - particularly when there is an isolated instrument like a guitar solo - the clarity and replication is vivid. The soundstage was good - I did need to bring the speakers in closer than I normally listen for a sweet spot. I enjoyed listening to these. They were tight, clear, dynamic, with a broad spectrum of sound. They require some power to really push - they will keep up and shine if you provide quality upstream equipment. I was in a 17' x 30' room. The speakers were about 3 feet from the rear wall, about 5' apart, and 8' away from ear. I

I purchased this pair to add to my existing ceiling surround system and to assign two ceiling speakers for Dolby Atmos. The Sony speakers sounded great with my Marantz N1608. I was very impressed with the highs and mids these speakers put out for the price. Unfortunately, it did not work out for my Dolby Atmos theory with my existing surround sound. I returned the product to find another solution for my Dolby Atmos dilemma. I would definitely recommend these speakers for anybody who is on a budget looking for a nice sounding set of bookshelf speakers.

Yeah, yeah, yeah... I know... "Get the Klipsch! Get the Polk Audio!" Well, those brands have some pretty darned tough competition with these Sony's. I listened to all of them in the store, and between that and the online reviews, I went with the Sony's. I have not been disappointed in the least. The 3 way design gives crisp, clean highs and the midrange speaker gives a decent amount of bass for every day listening. I will be adding a small subwoofer to the set up (I have them in my office and do not need anything to get crazy loud or window shaking) to round things out, but I am quite satisfied with just these two speakers hooked up to a 20 year old Sony 5.1 system. I think my favorite thing about them is the rich, warm sound. The Polks and Klipsch bookshelf speakers, to my ears (and everyone is different), were a little hollow and sometimes almost too one dimensional for me. These speakers are fantastic for what I listen to, which is not death metal or rap. LOL Put in some Bob Marley, Xavier Rudd, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Miles Davis, or even Cody Jinks and you will find a nice, balanced, rich sound with plenty of top end clarity and just enough bass to make yourself question whether you need a subwoofer or not. For the money, I seriously doubt you can find a better set of quality bookshelf speakers than these!

We bought a $600 pair of Elac DCB41 speakers based on great online reviews for bookshelf speakers. But... they just didn't cut it for bass tones and high end. They are 2-way 12" active speakers w no ability to adjust treble and a dinky bass boost feature. We realized that our ears needed more depth and breadth. We needed it to go through our old Pioneer receiver SX636. So we researched passive 3-way 12-16" bookshelf speakers. All reviews pointed us to these Sony SSCS5 speakers for $200. We checked Best Buy and they had one unit at our local store. I ordered online, picked it up and had them hooked up within an hour. They sound amazing! We saved $400, supported local retail, and got the sound we were searching for.

Bought a set this summer to try out and I was fully expecting to hate them...but I can't. For the money ($150), these are hard to beat until you get into speakers costing way more ($350+). Even then, they could give a few $500 speakers a decent fight. When they go on the deep sale (~$75-$80), there really isn't a good reason not to own a set. I'd stay clear of the towers, but the bookshelves are definitely worth grabbing. Are they perfect, no. They're a bit power hungry/inefficient by the specs, but even running on a 37w class AB hybrid they still sound great. Low end can be a bit lacking, not surprising given the small woofers. They definitely need a small sub, but even without they roll off well and handle some difficult songs (Intergalactic) very well.

I saw the Sony speakers in the store and loved their look and sound. I wanted to purchase them there but they were more than I wanted to spend. I found the same speakers thru the Best Buy app that were advertised as "open box" . The description options were "good" or "excellent". I chose the excellent option and received the speakers and they were just like new and sound great! I liked the so much I went back and bought an Onkyo receiver to go with them. Both work great together !

First things first. I would recommend these speakers for several uses: 1. A stereo setup for music 2. Main speakers in a more moderately sized home theater 3 Surround speakers in a larger home theater setup I’m using them in the last case. On to the review You can say a lot of great things about these speakers. 1. Very detailed highs without being harsh. 2. Midrange clarity for vocals and instruments. 3. Good enough bass but need a decent sub for home theater. 4. They sound better than speakers costing twice as much or more in some cases. I bought them on sale but they are worth it at regular retail price as well. If you need a good set of stereo speakers don’t hesitate to pick these up. They sound fantastic. You will have to spend a lot more money to do better.

Can take living with a cat if that matters to you. I have it in front of a window my cat thinks is its bed while looking out. Solid sound. Base is good. Are there better speakers…yes. For this price level I would say these a great.

I had some old AR speakers that died. These give out amazing sound, especially for their size. I was a little concerned about the bass but it came through loud and clear. Great separation too.

I have to admit i was hesitant in purchasing these speakers because I love B&W speakers. However, I needed to outfit my dining room with some new speakers and I didn't want to fork out too much cash. My current setup was using a couple of speakers from my very first 5.1 speaker setup which were the klipsch quintets from eons ago. My online searching revolved around a great budget speaker for 100 bucks. Low and behold, I found these Sony core series and they are awesome! I would have never thought that Sony could design speakers that sound this good. I've always thought of them putting together speakers made for a HTIB setup but this totally blew my mind. The amount of base these bookshelves create amaze me. They are clean sounding and open. These are 6 ohm speakers so make sure your receiver can pump them. I have them paired with a yamaha adventage series receiver. The best part is I found a pair of these as open box and got another discount when BB had their special discount off of open box. I'm recommending these now for those who ask me about speakers at this price point.

Great shelf speaker. Perfect size, great sound, great power. Great speaker especially for the price. As usual, you can count on Sony for a quality product.

For as cheap as these speakers are, they sound great. I do wish that they had come with some optional pre-cut speaker wire, but on the other hand, it was nice not being restricted by pre-cut cable, and overall they were incredibly easy to set up out of the box. The construction of these speakers is great and they look like they would be significantly more expensive than they are. I noticed no issues with the audio quality, and they easily reach the highs without having muffling in the mids or bass. The bass is punchy and is a lot better than I expected out of these. Overall, great price, great build and great sound.

I'm using four of these as my rear surrounds and Atmos height speakers. Keep in mind these are really large bookshelf speakers, but they sound oh so good. They match my Sony CS3's and CS8 in timbre. I can really hear my rear channels and Atmos effects better than my tiny Athena satellites they replaced. For $75 a pair, they were an absolute steal. For speakers in that price range, finding 3 ways are a rarity. Speakers are heavy, but with some ingenuity you can ceiling mount them like I did.

These speakers were hooked up to an old Technics record player. The size of the speakers fit perfectly, easy to hookup and the sound is great! Just in time for Christmas - listened to Nat King Cole and Johnny Mathis!