Hey everybody! The measurement showing around the 7:00 mark is the stock response. The corrected response is better. This was an editing mistake and we apologize for the trouble! See all the measurements here! www.gr-research.com/store/p90/Sony_SS-CS5_Upgrade.html
Hi DANNY, I called you months ago and you really helped me with the Sony SS-CS5 speakers kit. I really liked the kit. What I'm asking is, what is the status on time of shipping, how long is the waiting time for another kit, for the SS-CS5? Thanks Danny
Hello let me start by saying what a great video. I have a question maybe you can help me. I watched a video recently on TH-cam byTech Ingredients on do it yourself flat panel speakers using an audio Exciter. I always like to do fun little projects, but I've never done anything like building a speaker before. Anyway I am a total Laman in this area. I really don't want it to turn out to be a disaster. Because I don't have a lot of money to play around with. But anyway I don't know if you're familiar with their video on how to build a flat panel speaker but I was hoping maybe you were familiar and could give me maybe some pointers that they've missed. And what would be a cheap but a pretty good quality Bluetooth audio amp and receiver you know bang for your buck that I can buy from Amazon. A 2-channel would be great, but a 4 channel may be better. I am looking at pushing a small subwoofer. I would like to use this for a home theater system when I watch movies to hear over a annoying loud air conditioner. Removing the air conditioner is not an option Lol not as long as I live in Oklahoma. Other than movies I will probably use it to listen to podcast ,TH-cam videos and play music streaming from my phone. For the time being all I have is my TV speakers which is a Samsung 65 Q-LED and some cheap headphones, Not ideal. Anyway thank you for your time have a great day will be subscribing to your videos.
Hi Danny. Thanks for great content. I’ve tried to solder I suck. That said is this a project I should undertake or would it be better to send you my speakers for this upgrade. Thanks again.
So, I bought a set of these speakers on clearance ($70!!!!) a few months ago. I also bought the GR Research upgrade kit. I am not sharing photos, because its not pretty to look at (completely my fault!) but it is a night and day difference on sound! Please understand that this is completely my subjective view. Original listening setup: Luxman R-117 --> SVS Soudnpath cables -->Energy ESM-2 monitors I was using this setup for years then I switched to these Sony SS-CS5 speakers. Straight out the box they are genuinely impressive. A bit too much treble though, slightly fatiguing to the ears. I listened to them for about 4 months on a daily basis in my home office. I keep the music going all day while I work. Finally built the GR Research circuit and dampener. DUDE!!!! They sounded pretty "big" for a small bookshelf speaker in stock form. Now they sound ridiculously HUGE! The depth and soundstage is just mind blowing. You can push the snot out of these and really keep the integrity of the sound across the frequencies. I am just mad that I waited this long. This combination is so good that I am going to buy another set and do the same thing for my workshop. To anyone that doubts this gentleman's claims.... Don't knock it til you try it! The results are legit and can be duplicated repeatedly (the science works). I know that my setup isn't 100% audiophile techy insanity. I have had a system like that, great for analytical listening but I didn't like it for general listening. Cheers everyone! THANK YOU Gr Research for turning me on to this combo!
What kind of r3tarded logic is to basically destroy a speaker for $480 just for it to compete with speakers in the $500 price range, y'all really want to feel like engineers 😂
I have just finished the upgrade. The sound clarity is OMG astounding. I took my time on this and enjoyed every bit of the upgrade. It was challenging trying to fit all components into that tiny box and at the same time applying the inductor layout principle that Danny went over in one of his cable videos. I ended up building two boards for the crossover, one for the two tweeters and one for the woofer. I did run out of the wire provided for making the additional runs. I built one speaker first and compared it to the original. The original sounded pretty good until I put the upgraded speaker next to it. It made it sounds like a tin can with a muffled sound. Well, not to that degree but it was a night and day difference. I finished the second speaker last night and now enjoying them. The voices and string instruments are so clear. The bass seems less but I think because it is now clearer and not chuffing like before. I'm very happy with my work! Not Danny's. lol. This will satisfy my crave for the new Dynaudio Heritage Limited speakers which listed for $7000.
Audiomac Audiomac do you need to be an engineer to translate the drawing to a finished product? I don't see any indication in the drawing of stacking components which creates one hell of a space issue with the woofer portion.
you can`t really equally compare the sonys with expensive speakers. the driver quality difference is too great, particularly if the volume gets turned up a little
@@hanzen5174 Really? You can hear all that without the speakers? That is amazing. For me, I am sticking with judging speakers that I do have and could verify. I played these next to my Dynaudio Contour 3.3 and my family and friends thought that the sound was coming from my Dyn.
Budget audio is how I roll. 🤩 I own a pair of these speakers and played them yesterday against a pair of Fluance Signature HIFI 2 way and a pair of Jamo S 803. I used a simple 70 watt Rockville BluTube LED stereo receiver/amplifier. Hands down, the Sony’s sound much better to my ears than the other two brands. I don’t know anything about the scientific measurements or numbers and really don’t care. I go on what my ears can actually hear and discern. The CS5’s have great bass, midrange and highs. I can clearly hear all the instruments and vocals on tracks. My receiver has treble and bass settings,so I tune the sound to my liking depending on the style of music and audio track. Jazz, Rock, Blues, Oldies, Reggae, Soul, R&B, Pop, Classical, Country, etc all sound great! Some song files sound better using the wireless Bluetooth setting than others. I’m betting any audio device plugged direct line into my receiver would sound excellent as well. These are a very affordable, great sounding, pair of bookshelf speakers for the money. Stupid cheap (in my humble opinion). Thinking of buying a used or refurbished pair to modify and see if there’s a noticeable difference. But “as is” and straight factory stock, they sound fine.
I believe that the shimmering cone is a foamed paper-mica blend. It's a neat material; the mica flake immobilizes the paper fibers and makes the paper more rigid without being much heavier.
I have a set of these Sony speakers that sounded way too bassy and lacking in the midrange. So I went inside for a look. The woofer was getting far too much low end and not enough of the lower midrange where I could hear the silence. The super tweeter on both speakers was wired backwards! Fixed that problem. Took the notch filter at the woofer out. Took two layers of wire off the iron-core inductor and put them back together. Now they sound fantastic.! And that super tweeter can be heard now. The mids are there. The bass is still there. The highs are all there. And they don't sound soft and muffled by all that bass!
Sony used to be the firm that gave their technicians a free card to design. V-Fet, Flamingo, APM square speakers etc. As it turns out here they still produce gems now and then.
Hi Danny! I just received my upgrade kit for these little giant killers. It's my first time upgrading speakers and I'm really looking forward to doing this. Thank you for your efforts and sharing your passion for great audio with us. Cheers!👍🙂
Very nice video Mr Ritchie.. Nice call on using the larger dome as a notch (filler) driver!! Impressive filter design.. More meat, less snake oil! Thank you very much!
Hi Danny, Thank you for your help with the installation of the upgraded parts for the small Sony speakers. This was an inexpensive foray into DIY, and it was a blast, with a few frustrations along the way! I wanted to comment on how the kit worked for me. I liked the sound of the Sony’s out-of-the-box, especially for a $100 pair of speakers. They were a bit “bright” and pushy in the mid and upper regions but acceptable and overall pleasant. After completing the upgrade for one speaker, I plugged it in and listened to it side by side with the remaining stock box. I was expecting a difference, but a subtle one. After all, how much can you tweak a small speaker like this? The differences were much larger than I would have imagined, and I went to work immediately on updating the second speaker. After completing that one, I have to say I was blown away. I purposely loaded up one of my favorite CDs that has always been fatiguing to listen to on any system I have used (INXS - Welcome to Wherever You Are). I have listened to this CD on some pretty decent hardware before, but at the higher volumes, it gets a bit overwhelming. With your kit in place, this was no longer the case. Details I had NEVER heard before were now evident, including some ghost notes by the drummer (I dabble in drumming) that were astounding. The sound was strong yet not muddled or overwhelming in any way. A remarkable difference. Further listening just strengthened this observation with other musical sources. Some of the things you and others discuss now make perfect sense; I heard what you talk about on your channel. Separation, speed, non-smearing of music, spatial cues, it was all there. Some music even sounded holographic in spots. It was a very strange yet extremely enjoyable experience! All this and the parts and the speakers are not even broken in yet. I truly could go on with how much difference there is with this upgrade kit, but I don’t want to make this too long. Suffice it to say I am impressed, very impressed, and extremely pleased with the result. You will certainly be getting more of my business in the future. Thank you, Danny.
@@robvermeulen Just to take your time and pay special attention to the twisting of wires when they go up from the board vs when they are parallel to the board. I couldn't for the life of me put it together just reading the diagram given. It was upside down in comparison to the board he showed on his video and don't know if I could put it together looking at the diagram even if it wasn't. What was helpful was thinking about the connections going from speaker to terminal vs terminal to speakers. It seemed more clear that way for me. I haven't put them in yet and unfortunately, there is no finished layout photograph in which you can inspect to make sure you connected everything properly.
My first speakers were Sony bookshelf 2ways, with a 1 inch tweeter and 5.25" woofer. They were $40 a pair. Paired to my entry level Denon back then, they sounded pretty damn good. I always told people Sony is thr value champion i speakers under $500, glad to see others giving them some love too.
@Reid James Of course ultimate value is DIY, though I've never completed a full pair before, just mono setups. The Partsexpress forum and store is a great place to start if you ever want to go that route. Winisd is also a good box dimensioning program.
Two years in a row Amazon has had the SS-CS5 for $73/pair between late Nov. and early Jan. I picked up a pair two years ago and then picked up a second pair about 5 months ago. Really love them. I used Equalizer APO the free parametric equalizer on my computer and fixed the peak and dip in response.. Thanks for posting the curves!
@@19fenderman60 actually, there was a small mixup and I got the wrong caps sent to me. I emailed Danny who immediately responded and sent me the correct ones and I'm about to try and do it tonight. My only question is I'm not sure how to connect tube to speaker wires. LOL Also, I'll be pluging them into a completely restored and upgraded Dynaco tube amplifier. I'm very excited to see this all come together. Next up the speaker kit with the upgraded birch before wood spices go nuts. I have a set of Hivi Swan 3 way bookshelves as well to get to and dying to see what upgrades we could accomplish with them too.
@@ynstyne Just bought a pair tonight. Going to order the upgrade. How were the instructions? I've upgraded a couple Fender amps. The instructions were always clear & easy, hoping this upgrade is something I can handle.
This would be a great first time speaker upgrade path for many of us. When I say many of us, those of us who have not used a solder iron in years, or the first time doing anything like this to anything kind of guy. Call it the "Confidence Kit", do one of these to the inexpensive Sony pairs and then say upgrade those SVS Ultra speakers you love so much, or order one of Danny's kits and build your own. I might just do this myself, it looks like a very fun and inexpensive project!
@@summerforever6736 I don't buy that for a minute, parts do matter. And having worked around manufacturing for years, I have witnessed it one too many times. Look at the crap cars we get today, over engineered with cheesy parts. I rest my case.
@@michaelwright1602 unless you have 100% hearing most people cant tell the difference !! he is showing a graph means very little ! People fall for the gimmicks! And this guy is taking advantage of it !! He is a SNAKE OIL SALES MAN !!
I'd love to see a pair of these updated pairs sent out to the other youtube reviewers to A / B .. .. guys like Jay Iyagi ... and over to Erin to run the Klippel on the before & After versions. Very interesting. HEY SONY !! .. Redesign these & make a v2
I always get a feeling that some Sony engineers just build the stuff they want, and let the marketing and/or accounting figure out how to sell the thing... Not all of them of course, but enough to make life interesting...
Danny. How about a shootout video of these modded Sonys and popular stock KEF LS50, LS3/5a or comparable, with commentary?! See how close it gets. If it gets anywhere close, ...
@NeilBlanchard 1 year ago "The woofer trim ring is tricky to remove, but it can be done. After the 4 screws are removed, there are 4 posts that are hot glued into shallow holes - at the top, bottom, left and right. Basically the midpoints between the screws. With a thin pry tool, you can get it out, with care to move the tool as close to each post as you can."
Nice! Japanese engineers really know what they're doing. The insignia bookies of this decade?! I applied your upgrade kit to my pair of those and it's a huge improvement. I've had a pair of the floorstanding version of these (SS-CS3) for about a year and a half now and they're amazing for the money IMO. I got them on sale at $198 for the pair. I'd be interested in your thoughts on that version, and if you come out with an upgrade kit for it, I'd definitely be interested.
I still have the Sony despite owning speakers that cost much much more. It’s cheap but it truly punches well above its weight. Just find that it lacks some weight in the sound but what can you say for that sort of price?
Nice work on the Sony! I do have one general question. Why would you put a big and heavy inductor in the notch filter? Why not use a dental floss gauge inductor with high resistance and decrease the value of the actual resistor to get the same end result? Big air core inductors don't come cheap.
I feel like these Sony's would make great value and very sensible as surround speakers for a theatre setup. Particularly when their off axis response is so good after the upgrade.
This morning Amazon finally confirmed a delivery date of these Sony's (which took them about 11 weeks). So I just placed the order for the upgrade. Looking forward to my first speaker upgrade (a practice run really). If I like it, who knows I will upgrade my Klipsch'es. Hope you can ship soon Danny!
I am from beyond the hifi world, I'm from the music production, mixing and mastering world, though I have fairly profound hearing loss/damage, so I'm no golden ear, I figure more in the tin range, but pleased to meat you. TH-cam doesn't have high enough quality encoding/streaming to hear what is, in my world, fairly large distinctions. I've A/B'ed certain effects/theories/techniques with certain tools from TH-cam, and despite repeated listening, could not discern even the slightest difference, as revealed by blind A/B testing... I couldn't hear any difference. But in my studio, using identical effects/theories/techniques... the distinction was night and day, no need to even blind A/B test, I couldn't possibly not hear the difference (not a double negative). This is frustrating. Much of what I care about is the production of audio, and most of the TH-cam content I consume is centered on that subject (perhaps less so these days, with WW Three unfolding like all of the histories of the first two, supposedly, world wars [this world war is truly global with kinetic, and other conflict, involving nations in North America, most nations of South America, almost every nation in every region of Africa, NE, NW, SE, SW Africa, all European nations, the entire Middle East, the Asiatic Steps, and finally, all of the East, Asian nations from the Siberian Pacific North, all the way down the continent, into the Pacific Islands... Unlike the two prior supposedly World Wars, this is not just a conflict between a few global powers, polarizing the global community of nations, without those nations really participating in kinetic conflict, no, this is kinetic, and other, conflict involving the participation of nearly every nation on the planet] I've read, except this time in high definition...), but 75% of what is important in that domain is lost to TH-cam, and also, admittedly, the playback system I use while on TH-cam. I've seen paid for levels of higher audio fidelity on TH-cam, but I'm not going to pay a primary tool of the One World intelligence services a dime for better quality audio on their mass surveillance tool. Also, think about what would be required of this channel to attempt to represent the changes to audio from speaker mods in audio... they'd have to record using a Neuman binaural head shaped microphone, in a consistent space, with that mic located in various repeatable on and off axis positions, and then half of what you're hearing is that mic's frequency response/transient response... and then do you process the audio from that mic? Do you eq to fix mic issues, do you compress, limit in an attempt to reproduce as best as possible the in room experience, all of that effort then sent into the encoding / streaming blender that cuts everything above 10khz, and smushes everything below... Still, I feel you, I'd like to hear it. OR an attempt at it. Haha, its crazy time!
I have my SONY SSCS5s connected to my Denon RCD-N10 streamer and a huge Behringer 2092A dual 8" subwoofer. I also use the SONY 7506 cans in studio and at home. Audio NIrvana...all on the cheap.
yay! Back to speaker measurements and upgrades!! Just finished putting the rp600m XO together. Gonna listen to the speakers for a week before switching them out
Great stuff! I love seeing people look more into the deep specs. I am currently upgrading to Arendal 1723s... BUT my current speakers are Paradigm monitor (3000F, 2000C, and Atoms for the rear, with a Defiance V10) which in my opinion is a steal for how they perform (I do have them hooked up to a NAD T758V3 with dirac which definitely helps). My point is people don't have to spend thousands for good sound. I have listened to the sony line you are using and I agree they are a great bang for the buck! Inexpensive doesn't always mean a "cheap" speaker. My monitor series didn't sound that much off at comfortable listening volumes from the step up "premiere" series at less than half the price! No doubt that the more you spend the more you will get, but is a fraction of sound better worth doubling or tripling the cost!?!? Then cost will get so high at some point you are just paying for Aesthetics and not Leaps and Bounds better sound quality. Just wish people would do more research about things instead of jumping into the first thing the salesman wants to throw at them.
Man I got those Sony's from Amazon a couple of months ago for $73.00. I have been very impressed. I have the new Elacs and the Klipsch 600's ...These Sony's can compete! I love them. 73 bucks!
@@jackfalco5351 Well...I also have some JSE Infinite Slope Model 2's....They weigh 125 lbs each...5 drivers. I love them too!!! Check em out...Look em up! I have two stereo systems. One in my man cave and one in the living room. Same preamps and same amps. Dude it's like guitars...and I have about 20 of them. They all sound different and they all have a place for certain sounds. I'm telling ya...Those Sony's do not sound bad. Get some. For 73 bucks, what do you have to lose? They aint bad.
They currently sell on Amazon (the Dutch version) for about 200 euros. Ordered them on the spot but they take two weeks to arrive. So not that cheap helas. I am gonna order Dannys kit as soon as the speakers arrive. Can't wait!
Hell yea. I got em for $73. I could not believe how great they sound. There's speakers for $600 that don't sound like the Sony's. For $73 bucks...It's just something to have. I swap out my speakers once a week with a different set. These still impress me and I crank em with an Adcom GFA-555 amp.
I bought a cheap($130?) Sony receiver from BB to power my computer speakers. I was frankly astonished at how good it sounded.Open up the cabinet and you see one reason why. Actual discrete poser transistors....not chips. And a fairly beefy linear PS. Biggest issue on quality was the crappy spring loaded speaker terminals, which I eventually broke try do shove the pins on Reality Cables in. I ordered real binding post from parts express, but have never gotten around to doing the work to install. So yeah.....Sony makes surprisingly good but inexpensive gear. Sorry if a bit off topic.
I got these Sony speakers on sale for 73 dollars for the pair on Amazon about a year ago. Best Buy puts them on sale for 75 dollars a pair fairly regularly. Usually Amazon and Best Buy put them on sale at the same time. They sound excellent.
It's funny. That little sony reminds me of a very cheap "realistic" brand pair of speakers I had as a kid. I removed the thick as lead plastic mesh cloth grills, braced and sealed the sh!t out of the flimsy leaky press-board cabinets, upgraded the single electrolytic cap on the tweeter and they were some of the best sounding speakers I had ever heard. I didn't fully appreciate how good they were till I finally bought an expensive pair of other speakers and they didn't sound as good as my modified cheapos.
These CS5's with the GR Research upgrades would make a fantastic budget surround sound system with matching speakers all around you. You could do a 9-speaker base layer with LCR, Wides, Sides, and Rears for less than $4k and only have to add a couple decent subwoofers and some inexpensive Atmos ceiling speakers...I bet a complete 9.2.4 speaker system could be done for under $7k.
Sony makes some great audio equipment at a low price. I put their MDR-7506 headphones in the same category as the CS5. Great sound, and often less than $100! The 7506 are marketed as studio monitors, but I think they actually sound really good for everyday use, and funnily enough, they have a similar sound signature to what I’ve heard out of CS5s in other channels’ sound tests. I also use GarageBand fairly often, and the 7506 are definitely suitable as monitors! Not heard their cs5 speakers outside of Best Buy where they sound horrible due to the placement and loud noise, and I think that Best Buy often skews the Polk demos to sound the best. I want a pair someday though. On the other hand, their “Extra Bass” line of Bluetooth speakers and headphones is mostly trash. They speakers are muffled, and even boomy in some cases. The headphones’ bass is just a loud tone with no real sense of what instrument is actually being played.
I have my SSCS5s connected to my Denon RCD-N10 streamer and a huge Behringer 2092A dual 8" subwoofer. I also use the SONY 7506 in studio and at home. Audio NIrvana...all on the cheap.
Glad to see another speaker upgrade! This little guy has some pretty good bones, and I know Randy at CheepAudioMan has been quite positive about them, esp for their base price. I wonder what he'd think about the upgrades? 👀
Everything CheapAudoMan does is 100% subjective to his ears and tastes. No measurements of any kind. I doubt he would understand measurements like spectral decay or FR curves.
@@indridcold4210 Actually, I think Randy would understand. I believe he has talked about doing measurements in at least one of his videos, he just doesn't show them or talk about them a lot in his speaker reviews, which is far more subjective as you say. But audio is very subjective anyway, just because a speaker measures better doesn't necessarily mean it will sound better, let alone the fact that everyone's preferred sound signature is different.
I actually listened to the Sony speakers and holy crap, they actually sound really good! I prefer them over Polk speakers twice the price of the Sony’s!
Would also really like to see how the SS-CS3 compares as it is almost identical but is floor standing and has two woofers. It is also larger so may resolve some of the cabinet space issues.
The white speaker on the far left looks like a miniature washing machine! 😁 I am thinking of buying the Sony SS-SC5s a speakers for my 5.1 system. Nice and cheap.
I have KEF, ONKYO,JBL AND BOWER WILKINS speakers.. Bought some sony speakers for $15.00 at a flea market.. Blew my Onkyos and Jbl out of the water. Sony is way underrated.
I picked up several pairs, only the 1st did I pay $118! Got pair with wire and banana plugs included for $99 through Worldwide! $68 were the cheapest, well worth that price! Prepandemic prices were real good.
Per your review I actually bought a set of these. They look like ants sitting on my LaScallas “you love so much” lol. Haven’t had anything but Klipsch Heritage in years. I was impressed!
I was given a pair of new KEF Uni-Q's (Black with front ports) as a gift from a Client and They fit right under my TV Lying down instead of a SoundBar and I am amazed at how they project sounds around the Bedroom. Using SP/DIF Optical from TV to a DAC to a Rotel 9030A that I have had forever. The Bass is Lovely and I Like the Idea of a concentric Tweeter.
How would you compare this set up to the Elac‘s Unifi 2.0, since they’re both around the $500 ballpark? By the way thanks for the videos absolutely love watching and absorbing your knowledge.
It's a classic 3 way, and he describes it as a 2 way with mid-dome being a dip filler? Just some mindboggling linguistical gymnastics to describe something very common in speakers (or electronics in general).
It would be interesting to see how you could improve the emotiva line of speakers, the b1+ are praised for their clarity and I just got a pair, and I am blown away. Wondering if there's a plan to test these in the future?
I'm not a fan of speakers that requires the help of subwoofers or other separate "woofers" for a full range sound. That's why i'll never stop using floorspeakers. Maybe they don't dig down to 20Hz , but as long as they can make my livingroom table vibrate, i'm pleased.
I'm the same way. Unless it's space related why buy bookshelf speakers that you have to still push with a subwoofer. I miss the mini refridge style speakers like I have from the 90's Sansui. Can't remember the model number rigjt now but they still work great. I'm looking to modernize my setup with some new speakers but I prefer towers because I'm just not sold on the budget bookshelves.
How about a kit for the SSCS 3 towers? I know they haven't received the accolades the bookshelves have, but I think they have similar components and may have some hope. I bought a set for rear surrounds, but occasionally hook them up for hi fi for a change of pace. I like the sound when teamed up with a good amp and a sub, but can see room for improvement. Some no rez for sure. I just think it would be cool to make them right.
I've wanted cheapaudioman to review a pair after the upgrade to see what they compare to...... But since Danny raised the price it's looking less appealing. It's unfortunate.
I'd love to see your take on a 3-way bookshelf speaker with the Silver Flute brand of woofer as the starting point. It's such a good and reasonably inexpensive driver. They have 5, 6.5 and 8 inch versions, but the 8-inch one is the ideal for 3-way designs since it can play low enough to essentially negate the typically required subwoofer that most bookshelf setups need to sound right.
S O N Y used to make some really high end stuff back in the day, especially car audio.. I'm running the carbon woven looking GS 12's, other than them being manufactured in China instead of Japan those beotch's flat out get it..i have each sub wired to a separate Sony 1K ZX amp @ a final 8 ohm load for dampening reasons and after about 3 tracks my ears and head are done.. however i swaped my Infinity components with Focal...a lot of backbreaking work for a lack luster result. So glad customers got their money's worth out of these speakers.
Oh dear...."The price of Sonicaps have just gone up and it caused a slight increase in the cost of this upgrade." $285 as per this vid has now increased to $480, this "slight" increase in cost of upgrade coupled with the price of the speaker itself increasing due to popularity unfortunately means it has priced itself completely out of the market :(
I commented on your wharfedale vs Paradigm segment. I should also added that I picked the Wharfedale 225 over the Sony you presented in this segment. While the Sony is a steal for the price $88 at Amazon at the moment, the Wharfedale do have the looks and better base and a less fatigue high and mid is warmer. So after a day or more deliberation in my head (between Elec, KEF, JBL, Sony) I decided on the Wharfedale 225. BTW, I have a pair of Klipsch KG 2.2 and it needs some updates on the crossover since the high is showing the age and getting flat. Any suggestions on how I should go about on it? Got 2 KSC 10 ohm J 10W; 2 KSC 25 MFD 100 VDC 10%; 1 KSC 8K 100V and 1 KSC 4K 100V on the XOver board
Great Danny , wonder if inductance should be placed horizontal or vertical , or may be combined, is it any issue that one inductance magnetic field mix with other one .
Nothing wrong with upgrading a crossover topography, but the price of those crossover components is just throwing money out the window. Your crossover component costs should never exceed the value of the drivers used.
I wish I had found this yyoutube channel sooner. I purchased the new Polk Audio Reserve R700 speaker and I also own KEF R series speakers. To be honest, I have not found the speakers I love.
Bookshelf speakers are always inadequate...always...which is why you always have to buy another set to see if the next ones are better. Thanks for keeping the economy going.
Good, back to the good stuff. I own the ATCs and can't wait. ASR forum says they measure particularly bad. They have low bass, but i really like the detail they have in the mids and highs. Is there a measurement that hints at the amount of details a speaker can deliver?
Detail resolution, damn, essentially that's everything. A speaker's perceived level of "detail" is multiple important factors combined. Perceptual masking is a contributing element so assuring a smooth or slightly elevated response thru the upper mids/highs. Most importantly however would likely be driver/loudspeaker settling time. A CSD (cumulative spectral decay) measurement would help expose loudspeaker cabinet coloration and ringing, as well as driver settling times. Time alignment and the ability of the loudspeaker to recreate the recorded event with phase uniformity across the spectrum is important. Other factors include; re-radiated rearwave energy from inside the cabinet back thru the driver ... certainly unwanted and negatively impacts detail perception. Thermal compression and the magnetic nonlinearities (Bl uniformity) associated with the individual drivers is vital. Crossover design and parts quality is also an important part. Iron core inductors can blurr the signal via stored energy. Playback of a recording, thru a loudspeaker system ... and relying upon those speakers to recreate that recorded event via revolving "detail" ... or simply tracking the input signal and launching that recreated image into the room... is a monumental ask! Essentially everything impacts detail, some elements perhaps more than others. Also it's important to note it's not just avoiding distortion or nonlinearities. There's also errors of omission. Once that particular detail is lost, no amount of high end listening room treatment can resolve it back. Everything matters.
It appears you used the stock frequency response graph (~1:44 in the video) for the upgraded frequency response graph (~7:10). I assume the composite frequency response graph (~6:20) red line is the correct upgraded one?
I'd also love to see him take a look at two others: 1. Presonus Sceptre S8 or S6. 2. Dynaudio BM6a. Classics. Curious how impressed he'll be by #1 and how the response looks on #2. For a third I'd love to see him get a Focal 6be or Twin be. These are the top speakers in my book.
Hey everybody! The measurement showing around the 7:00 mark is the stock response. The corrected response is better. This was an editing mistake and we apologize for the trouble! See all the measurements here! www.gr-research.com/store/p90/Sony_SS-CS5_Upgrade.html
Fixed. Thank you
Hi DANNY, I called you months ago and you really helped me with the Sony SS-CS5 speakers kit. I really liked the kit. What I'm asking is, what is the status on time of shipping, how long is the waiting time for another kit, for the SS-CS5? Thanks Danny
Just discovered your channel, so glad I did. Any chance of you having a look at a pair of Jamo D830's. Would be awesome.
Hello let me start by saying what a great video. I have a question maybe you can help me. I watched a video recently on TH-cam byTech Ingredients on do it yourself flat panel speakers using an audio Exciter. I always like to do fun little projects, but I've never done anything like building a speaker before. Anyway I am a total Laman in this area. I really don't want it to turn out to be a disaster. Because I don't have a lot of money to play around with. But anyway I don't know if you're familiar with their video on how to build a flat panel speaker but I was hoping maybe you were familiar and could give me maybe some pointers that they've missed. And what would be a cheap but a pretty good quality Bluetooth audio amp and receiver you know bang for your buck that I can buy from Amazon. A 2-channel would be great, but a 4 channel may be better. I am looking at pushing a small subwoofer. I would like to use this for a home theater system when I watch movies to hear over a annoying loud air conditioner. Removing the air conditioner is not an option Lol not as long as I live in Oklahoma. Other than movies I will probably use it to listen to podcast ,TH-cam videos and play music streaming from my phone. For the time being all I have is my TV speakers which is a Samsung 65 Q-LED and some cheap headphones, Not ideal. Anyway thank you for your time have a great day will be subscribing to your videos.
Hi Danny. Thanks for great content. I’ve tried to solder I suck. That said is this a project I should undertake or would it be better to send you my speakers for this upgrade. Thanks again.
So, I bought a set of these speakers on clearance ($70!!!!) a few months ago. I also bought the GR Research upgrade kit. I am not sharing photos, because its not pretty to look at (completely my fault!) but it is a night and day difference on sound!
Please understand that this is completely my subjective view.
Original listening setup: Luxman R-117 --> SVS Soudnpath cables -->Energy ESM-2 monitors
I was using this setup for years then I switched to these Sony SS-CS5 speakers.
Straight out the box they are genuinely impressive. A bit too much treble though, slightly fatiguing to the ears.
I listened to them for about 4 months on a daily basis in my home office. I keep the music going all day while I work.
Finally built the GR Research circuit and dampener.
DUDE!!!! They sounded pretty "big" for a small bookshelf speaker in stock form. Now they sound ridiculously HUGE!
The depth and soundstage is just mind blowing. You can push the snot out of these and really keep the integrity of the sound across the frequencies. I am just mad that I waited this long.
This combination is so good that I am going to buy another set and do the same thing for my workshop.
To anyone that doubts this gentleman's claims.... Don't knock it til you try it! The results are legit and can be duplicated repeatedly (the science works).
I know that my setup isn't 100% audiophile techy insanity. I have had a system like that, great for analytical listening but I didn't like it for general listening.
Cheers everyone!
THANK YOU Gr Research for turning me on to this combo!
What kind of r3tarded logic is to basically destroy a speaker for $480 just for it to compete with speakers in the $500 price range, y'all really want to feel like engineers 😂
I have just finished the upgrade. The sound clarity is OMG astounding. I took my time on this and enjoyed every bit of the upgrade. It was challenging trying to fit all components into that tiny box and at the same time applying the inductor layout principle that Danny went over in one of his cable videos. I ended up building two boards for the crossover, one for the two tweeters and one for the woofer. I did run out of the wire provided for making the additional runs. I built one speaker first and compared it to the original. The original sounded pretty good until I put the upgraded speaker next to it. It made it sounds like a tin can with a muffled sound. Well, not to that degree but it was a night and day difference. I finished the second speaker last night and now enjoying them. The voices and string instruments are so clear. The bass seems less but I think because it is now clearer and not chuffing like before. I'm very happy with my work! Not Danny's. lol. This will satisfy my crave for the new Dynaudio Heritage Limited speakers which listed for $7000.
This or the Encore or the other pop diy speakers?
Audiomac Audiomac do you need to be an engineer to translate the drawing to a finished product? I don't see any indication in the drawing of stacking components which creates one hell of a space issue with the woofer portion.
@@flyingjeff1984 no but if u have questions, call Danny. He is really quick on answering you.
you can`t really equally compare the sonys with expensive speakers. the driver quality difference is too great, particularly if the volume gets turned up a little
@@hanzen5174 Really? You can hear all that without the speakers? That is amazing. For me, I am sticking with judging speakers that I do have and could verify. I played these next to my Dynaudio Contour 3.3 and my family and friends thought that the sound was coming from my Dyn.
Budget audio is how I roll. 🤩 I own a pair of these speakers and played them yesterday against a pair of Fluance Signature HIFI 2 way and a pair of Jamo S 803. I used a simple 70 watt Rockville BluTube LED stereo receiver/amplifier. Hands down, the Sony’s sound much better to my ears than the other two brands. I don’t know anything about the scientific measurements or numbers and really don’t care. I go on what my ears can actually hear and discern. The CS5’s have great bass, midrange and highs. I can clearly hear all the instruments and vocals on tracks. My receiver has treble and bass settings,so I tune the sound to my liking depending on the style of music and audio track. Jazz, Rock, Blues, Oldies, Reggae, Soul, R&B, Pop, Classical, Country, etc all sound great! Some song files sound better using the wireless Bluetooth setting than others. I’m betting any audio device plugged direct line into my receiver would sound excellent as well. These are a very affordable, great sounding, pair of bookshelf speakers for the money. Stupid cheap (in my humble opinion). Thinking of buying a used or refurbished pair to modify and see if there’s a noticeable difference. But “as is” and straight factory stock, they sound fine.
I believe that the shimmering cone is a foamed paper-mica blend. It's a neat material; the mica flake immobilizes the paper fibers and makes the paper more rigid without being much heavier.
I have a set of these Sony speakers that sounded way too bassy and lacking in the midrange. So I went inside for a look. The woofer was getting far too much low end and not enough of the lower midrange where I could hear the silence. The super tweeter on both speakers was wired backwards! Fixed that problem. Took the notch filter at the woofer out. Took two layers of wire off the iron-core inductor and put them back together. Now they sound fantastic.! And that super tweeter can be heard now. The mids are there. The bass is still there. The highs are all there. And they don't sound soft and muffled by all that bass!
Sony used to be the firm that gave their technicians a free card to design. V-Fet, Flamingo, APM square speakers etc. As it turns out here they still produce gems now and then.
Hi Danny! I just received my upgrade kit for these little giant killers. It's my first time upgrading speakers and I'm really looking forward to doing this. Thank you for your efforts and sharing your passion for great audio with us. Cheers!👍🙂
OH HELL YEAH! Mine were just delivered - looking forward to adding this kit.
Very nice video Mr Ritchie.. Nice call on using the larger dome as a notch (filler) driver!! Impressive filter design.. More meat, less snake oil! Thank you very much!
Hi Danny,
Thank you for your help with the installation of the upgraded parts for the small Sony speakers. This was an inexpensive foray into DIY, and it was a blast, with a few frustrations along the way!
I wanted to comment on how the kit worked for me. I liked the sound of the Sony’s out-of-the-box, especially for a $100 pair of speakers. They were a bit “bright” and pushy in the mid and upper regions but acceptable and overall pleasant. After completing the upgrade for one speaker, I plugged it in and listened to it side by side with the remaining stock box. I was expecting a difference, but a subtle one. After all, how much can you tweak a small speaker like this? The differences were much larger than I would have imagined, and I went to work immediately on updating the second speaker. After completing that one, I have to say I was blown away.
I purposely loaded up one of my favorite CDs that has always been fatiguing to listen to on any system I have used (INXS - Welcome to Wherever You Are). I have listened to this CD on some pretty decent hardware before, but at the higher volumes, it gets a bit overwhelming. With your kit in place, this was no longer the case. Details I had NEVER heard before were now evident, including some ghost notes by the drummer (I dabble in drumming) that were astounding. The sound was strong yet not muddled or overwhelming in any way. A remarkable difference. Further listening just strengthened this observation with other musical sources. Some of the things you and others discuss now make perfect sense; I heard what you talk about on your channel. Separation, speed, non-smearing of music, spatial cues, it was all there. Some music even sounded holographic in spots. It was a very strange yet extremely enjoyable experience!
All this and the parts and the speakers are not even broken in yet. I truly could go on with how much difference there is with this upgrade kit, but I don’t want to make this too long. Suffice it to say I am impressed, very impressed, and extremely pleased with the result. You will certainly be getting more of my business in the future.
Thank you, Danny.
Danny, Keep up the great work! And thank you for all of your hard work and finding/building the unicorn products for us.
This might just sound as my next DIY project. Cheap enough to practice my soldering before doing the Klipsch upgrade I kept postponing 😉
which Klipsch upgrade? I'm done building the RP600m XO but haven't taken the speakers apart to do the rest yet.
@@NakeanWickliffI was indeed referring to the RP600m's. Any tips? 😀
@@robvermeulen Just to take your time and pay special attention to the twisting of wires when they go up from the board vs when they are parallel to the board. I couldn't for the life of me put it together just reading the diagram given. It was upside down in comparison to the board he showed on his video and don't know if I could put it together looking at the diagram even if it wasn't. What was helpful was thinking about the connections going from speaker to terminal vs terminal to speakers. It seemed more clear that way for me.
I haven't put them in yet and unfortunately, there is no finished layout photograph in which you can inspect to make sure you connected everything properly.
My first speakers were Sony bookshelf 2ways, with a 1 inch tweeter and 5.25" woofer. They were $40 a pair. Paired to my entry level Denon back then, they sounded pretty damn good. I always told people Sony is thr value champion i speakers under $500, glad to see others giving them some love too.
@Reid James Of course ultimate value is DIY, though I've never completed a full pair before, just mono setups. The Partsexpress forum and store is a great place to start if you ever want to go that route. Winisd is also a good box dimensioning program.
Two years in a row Amazon has had the SS-CS5 for $73/pair between late Nov. and early Jan. I picked up a pair two years ago and then picked up a second pair about 5 months ago. Really love them. I used Equalizer APO the free parametric equalizer on my computer and fixed the peak and dip in response.. Thanks for posting the curves!
Equalizer APO is a great tool to clean up so many speakers!
This is the kind of content I came here for. Great work 👍
first time here and that frequency analysis review sold me.
Wow, discovering this channel is very fortunate. Thank you!
danny this was a real shock to see this cheap speaker do that well
it takes a master to extract that performance
great job
I love to see a collab with cheapaudioman. That is a pretty big upgrade to the Sony’s! Thanks Danny!
This guy and cheapaudioman are entirely different. Which one of them is TRYING to sell you parts? Which one listens?
I am glad I found this channel.
Just picked the last pair they had at Best Buy and ordered your upgrade. Now to learn how to solder stuff...
Windgardium Leviosa?
I just bought a pair. Going to order the upgrade. How’d you make out with the upgrade?
@@19fenderman60 actually, there was a small mixup and I got the wrong caps sent to me. I emailed Danny who immediately responded and sent me the correct ones and I'm about to try and do it tonight. My only question is I'm not sure how to connect tube to speaker wires. LOL
Also, I'll be pluging them into a completely restored and upgraded Dynaco tube amplifier. I'm very excited to see this all come together. Next up the speaker kit with the upgraded birch before wood spices go nuts. I have a set of Hivi Swan 3 way bookshelves as well to get to and dying to see what upgrades we could accomplish with them too.
@@ynstyne Just bought a pair tonight. Going to order the upgrade.
How were the instructions? I've upgraded a couple Fender amps. The instructions were always clear & easy, hoping this upgrade is something I can handle.
This would be a great first time speaker upgrade path for many of us. When I say many of us, those of us who have not used a solder iron in years, or the first time doing anything like this to anything kind of guy. Call it the "Confidence Kit", do one of these to the inexpensive Sony pairs and then say upgrade those SVS Ultra speakers you love so much, or order one of Danny's kits and build your own. I might just do this myself, it looks like a very fun and inexpensive project!
YES IF YOU ARE A FOOL
@@summerforever6736 I bet you are a lot of fun at parties. Ha Ha!
@@michaelwright1602 this guy is taking advantage of people who easily fall for some graph improvment you may cannot even hear listening to!!
@@summerforever6736 I don't buy that for a minute, parts do matter. And having worked around manufacturing for years, I have witnessed it one too many times. Look at the crap cars we get today, over engineered with cheesy parts. I rest my case.
@@michaelwright1602 unless you have 100% hearing most people cant tell the difference !!
he is showing a graph means very little !
People fall for the gimmicks!
And this guy is taking advantage of it !!
He is a SNAKE OIL SALES MAN !!
I'd love to see a pair of these updated pairs sent out to the other youtube reviewers to A / B .. .. guys like Jay Iyagi ... and over to Erin to run the Klippel on the before & After versions. Very interesting. HEY SONY !! .. Redesign these & make a v2
Just ordered the upgrade kit! Love the original CS5. It does everything very well. I cant wait to get my soldering iron out to improve it!
Hi 👋🏻 How did the upgrade go? How does it sound? I’m really eager to know your experience with the kit. Thanks 🙏🏻
I always get a feeling that some Sony engineers just build the stuff they want, and let the marketing and/or accounting figure out how to sell the thing... Not all of them of course, but enough to make life interesting...
Ive always thought Sony was underrated in their speakers and headphones. Really good sound for amazingly low prices
Are they? I thought they were always considered best bang for buck and best innovation... For decades.
Sony took world championship in car audio back in the day for Hi-Fi, shucks thier amps the chick was using lists for 3k today and she had 2 of em
Their modern stuff isn’t horrible. Especially for the incredibly low prices they’re available for
Danny. How about a shootout video of these modded Sonys and popular stock KEF LS50, LS3/5a or comparable, with commentary?! See how close it gets. If it gets anywhere close, ...
@NeilBlanchard
1 year ago
"The woofer trim ring is tricky to remove, but it can be done. After the 4 screws are removed, there are 4 posts that are hot glued into shallow holes - at the top, bottom, left and right. Basically the midpoints between the screws. With a thin pry tool, you can get it out, with care to move the tool as close to each post as you can."
Nice! Japanese engineers really know what they're doing.
The insignia bookies of this decade?! I applied your upgrade kit to my pair of those and it's a huge improvement.
I've had a pair of the floorstanding version of these (SS-CS3) for about a year and a half now and they're amazing for the money IMO. I got them on sale at $198 for the pair. I'd be interested in your thoughts on that version, and if you come out with an upgrade kit for it, I'd definitely be interested.
I still have the Sony despite owning speakers that cost much much more. It’s cheap but it truly punches well above its weight. Just find that it lacks some weight in the sound but what can you say for that sort of price?
What a great vid! I love finding these little DOODS with just a little love can punch waaaay up and above the belt
God bless Sony & Danny!
Nice work on the Sony! I do have one general question. Why would you put a big and heavy inductor in the notch filter? Why not use a dental floss gauge inductor with high resistance and decrease the value of the actual resistor to get the same end result? Big air core inductors don't come cheap.
Because in the audiophile world, expensive always = better 🤣
I feel like these Sony's would make great value and very sensible as surround speakers for a theatre setup. Particularly when their off axis response is so good after the upgrade.
The off axis is ridiculously good with these. Love mine. They can really fill a smaller to midsize room with great sound!
This morning Amazon finally confirmed a delivery date of these Sony's (which took them about 11 weeks). So I just placed the order for the upgrade. Looking forward to my first speaker upgrade (a practice run really). If I like it, who knows I will upgrade my Klipsch'es. Hope you can ship soon Danny!
How did it turn out?
Yeah let us know please
Great work and channel. Would be fantastic to have a sound demo before and after alterations.
I am from beyond the hifi world, I'm from the music production, mixing and mastering world, though I have fairly profound hearing loss/damage, so I'm no golden ear, I figure more in the tin range, but pleased to meat you.
TH-cam doesn't have high enough quality encoding/streaming to hear what is, in my world, fairly large distinctions. I've A/B'ed certain effects/theories/techniques with certain tools from TH-cam, and despite repeated listening, could not discern even the slightest difference, as revealed by blind A/B testing... I couldn't hear any difference. But in my studio, using identical effects/theories/techniques... the distinction was night and day, no need to even blind A/B test, I couldn't possibly not hear the difference (not a double negative).
This is frustrating. Much of what I care about is the production of audio, and most of the TH-cam content I consume is centered on that subject (perhaps less so these days, with WW Three unfolding like all of the histories of the first two, supposedly, world wars [this world war is truly global with kinetic, and other conflict, involving nations in North America, most nations of South America, almost every nation in every region of Africa, NE, NW, SE, SW Africa, all European nations, the entire Middle East, the Asiatic Steps, and finally, all of the East, Asian nations from the Siberian Pacific North, all the way down the continent, into the Pacific Islands... Unlike the two prior supposedly World Wars, this is not just a conflict between a few global powers, polarizing the global community of nations, without those nations really participating in kinetic conflict, no, this is kinetic, and other, conflict involving the participation of nearly every nation on the planet] I've read, except this time in high definition...), but 75% of what is important in that domain is lost to TH-cam, and also, admittedly, the playback system I use while on TH-cam. I've seen paid for levels of higher audio fidelity on TH-cam, but I'm not going to pay a primary tool of the One World intelligence services a dime for better quality audio on their mass surveillance tool.
Also, think about what would be required of this channel to attempt to represent the changes to audio from speaker mods in audio... they'd have to record using a Neuman binaural head shaped microphone, in a consistent space, with that mic located in various repeatable on and off axis positions, and then half of what you're hearing is that mic's frequency response/transient response... and then do you process the audio from that mic? Do you eq to fix mic issues, do you compress, limit in an attempt to reproduce as best as possible the in room experience, all of that effort then sent into the encoding / streaming blender that cuts everything above 10khz, and smushes everything below...
Still, I feel you, I'd like to hear it. OR an attempt at it. Haha, its crazy time!
I have my SONY SSCS5s connected to my Denon RCD-N10 streamer and a huge Behringer 2092A dual 8" subwoofer. I also use the SONY 7506 cans in studio and at home. Audio NIrvana...all on the cheap.
yay! Back to speaker measurements and upgrades!! Just finished putting the rp600m XO together. Gonna listen to the speakers for a week before switching them out
Great stuff! I love seeing people look more into the deep specs. I am currently upgrading to Arendal 1723s... BUT my current speakers are Paradigm monitor (3000F, 2000C, and Atoms for the rear, with a Defiance V10) which in my opinion is a steal for how they perform (I do have them hooked up to a NAD T758V3 with dirac which definitely helps). My point is people don't have to spend thousands for good sound. I have listened to the sony line you are using and I agree they are a great bang for the buck! Inexpensive doesn't always mean a "cheap" speaker. My monitor series didn't sound that much off at comfortable listening volumes from the step up "premiere" series at less than half the price! No doubt that the more you spend the more you will get, but is a fraction of sound better worth doubling or tripling the cost!?!? Then cost will get so high at some point you are just paying for Aesthetics and not Leaps and Bounds better sound quality. Just wish people would do more research about things instead of jumping into the first thing the salesman wants to throw at them.
Man I got those Sony's from Amazon a couple of months ago for $73.00. I have been very impressed. I have the new Elacs and the Klipsch 600's ...These Sony's can compete! I love them. 73 bucks!
what are you smokin?
@@jackfalco5351 Well...I also have some JSE Infinite Slope Model 2's....They weigh 125 lbs each...5 drivers. I love them too!!! Check em out...Look em up! I have two stereo systems. One in my man cave and one in the living room. Same preamps and same amps. Dude it's like guitars...and I have about 20 of them. They all sound different and they all have a place for certain sounds. I'm telling ya...Those Sony's do not sound bad. Get some. For 73 bucks, what do you have to lose? They aint bad.
@@AmericanConstellation I bought them and they were awful
@@jackfalco5351 Well then you have junk for a preamp and amp. What are you running them with?
@@jackfalco5351 Hey...I'm not making fun of you. I want to help. What type of amp are you using?
They often run on sale for $73, which makes the deal sweeter
not in the last 4 months
Yeah, I got mine for 76$ in the Thanksgiving time frame on Amazon.
They currently sell on Amazon (the Dutch version) for about 200 euros. Ordered them on the spot but they take two weeks to arrive. So not that cheap helas. I am gonna order Dannys kit as soon as the speakers arrive. Can't wait!
Hell yea. I got em for $73. I could not believe how great they sound. There's speakers for $600 that don't sound like the Sony's. For $73 bucks...It's just something to have. I swap out my speakers once a week with a different set. These still impress me and I crank em with an Adcom GFA-555 amp.
A piece or a pair? Here they cost €200 a pair🤦
I bought a pair when they were 74 for a pair in December, killer speakers for the money.
Great to see this find! Looking forward to the other upgrades!
I bought a cheap($130?) Sony receiver from BB to power my computer speakers. I was frankly astonished at how good it sounded.Open up the cabinet and you see one reason why. Actual discrete poser transistors....not chips. And a fairly beefy linear PS. Biggest issue on quality was the crappy spring loaded speaker terminals, which I eventually broke try do shove the pins on Reality Cables in. I ordered real binding post from parts express, but have never gotten around to doing the work to install. So yeah.....Sony makes surprisingly good but inexpensive gear. Sorry if a bit off topic.
I got these Sony speakers on sale for 73 dollars for the pair on Amazon about a year ago. Best Buy puts them on sale for 75 dollars a pair fairly regularly. Usually Amazon and Best Buy put them on sale at the same time.
They sound excellent.
Would it be possible to create a video on how to measure speakers performance; which software you use, etc. ?
thanks
It's funny. That little sony reminds me of a very cheap "realistic" brand pair of speakers I had as a kid. I removed the thick as lead plastic mesh cloth grills, braced and sealed the sh!t out of the flimsy leaky press-board cabinets, upgraded the single electrolytic cap on the tweeter and they were some of the best sounding speakers I had ever heard. I didn't fully appreciate how good they were till I finally bought an expensive pair of other speakers and they didn't sound as good as my modified cheapos.
These CS5's with the GR Research upgrades would make a fantastic budget surround sound system with matching speakers all around you. You could do a 9-speaker base layer with LCR, Wides, Sides, and Rears for less than $4k and only have to add a couple decent subwoofers and some inexpensive Atmos ceiling speakers...I bet a complete 9.2.4 speaker system could be done for under $7k.
Sony makes some great audio equipment at a low price. I put their MDR-7506 headphones in the same category as the CS5. Great sound, and often less than $100! The 7506 are marketed as studio monitors, but I think they actually sound really good for everyday use, and funnily enough, they have a similar sound signature to what I’ve heard out of CS5s in other channels’ sound tests. I also use GarageBand fairly often, and the 7506 are definitely suitable as monitors! Not heard their cs5 speakers outside of Best Buy where they sound horrible due to the placement and loud noise, and I think that Best Buy often skews the Polk demos to sound the best. I want a pair someday though.
On the other hand, their “Extra Bass” line of Bluetooth speakers and headphones is mostly trash. They speakers are muffled, and even boomy in some cases. The headphones’ bass is just a loud tone with no real sense of what instrument is actually being played.
I have my SSCS5s connected to my Denon RCD-N10 streamer and a huge Behringer 2092A dual 8" subwoofer. I also use the SONY 7506 in studio and at home. Audio NIrvana...all on the cheap.
Man I hope someone at Sony is listening ! I'd buy a set after your fix !!!
Glad to see another speaker upgrade! This little guy has some pretty good bones, and I know Randy at CheepAudioMan has been quite positive about them, esp for their base price. I wonder what he'd think about the upgrades? 👀
Everything CheapAudoMan does is 100% subjective to his ears and tastes. No measurements of any kind. I doubt he would understand measurements like spectral decay or FR curves.
@@indridcold4210 Actually, I think Randy would understand. I believe he has talked about doing measurements in at least one of his videos, he just doesn't show them or talk about them a lot in his speaker reviews, which is far more subjective as you say. But audio is very subjective anyway, just because a speaker measures better doesn't necessarily mean it will sound better, let alone the fact that everyone's preferred sound signature is different.
I actually listened to the Sony speakers and holy crap, they actually sound really good! I prefer them over Polk speakers twice the price of the Sony’s!
@@indridcold4210 you ought to keep up with him, his content is on fire rn.
@@eattoast6378 LMAO
Would also really like to see how the SS-CS3 compares as it is almost identical but is floor standing and has two woofers. It is also larger so may resolve some of the cabinet space issues.
would love to see you do some Cerwin Vega AT15 AT12 and AT10"s I'm sure you could make those alot better
The white speaker on the far left looks like a miniature washing machine! 😁 I am thinking of buying the Sony SS-SC5s a speakers for my 5.1 system. Nice and cheap.
Danny, another great video! Plus you get to keep the good poly-caps and air core inductors from the original crossover 🍒
Well done Sir, just discovered you and Liked and Subscribed.
Looking good. Its cool to find a gen in the rough.
I have a set of these on my computer going out to an older denon amp and they sound really good as is.
I have KEF, ONKYO,JBL AND BOWER WILKINS speakers.. Bought some sony speakers for $15.00 at a flea market.. Blew my Onkyos and Jbl out of the water. Sony is way underrated.
Thanks again, Sensei!
I picked up several pairs, only the 1st did I pay $118! Got pair with wire and banana plugs included for $99 through Worldwide! $68 were the cheapest, well worth that price! Prepandemic prices were real good.
Per your review I actually bought a set of these. They look like ants sitting on my LaScallas “you love so much” lol. Haven’t had anything but Klipsch Heritage in years. I was impressed!
I was given a pair of new KEF Uni-Q's (Black with front ports) as a gift from a Client and They fit right under my TV Lying down instead of a SoundBar and I am amazed at how they project sounds around the Bedroom. Using SP/DIF Optical from TV to a DAC to a Rotel 9030A that I have had forever. The Bass is Lovely and I Like the Idea of a concentric Tweeter.
How would you compare this set up to the Elac‘s Unifi 2.0, since they’re both around the $500 ballpark? By the way thanks for the videos absolutely love watching and absorbing your knowledge.
I have these Sonys with a Schiit Loki EQ. Very nice.
$405+ shipping for a speaker that plays as well as some costing triple the price is a steal
Great video - just bought them based on this review - what’s a good budget amp to pair them with ?
Ace stuff, Danny.
Lovei your attention to detail
It's a classic 3 way, and he describes it as a 2 way with mid-dome being a dip filler? Just some mindboggling linguistical gymnastics to describe something very common in speakers (or electronics in general).
When Danny says buy . . . watch out Best Buy!
I had the scm-19. Like jump starting a brick.
You should do sound demo's before and after?
Seems like common sense, I'm very disappointed
It would be interesting to see how you could improve the emotiva line of speakers, the b1+ are praised for their clarity and I just got a pair, and I am blown away. Wondering if there's a plan to test these in the future?
May I also suggest changing the tweeters and woofer as well
Good work sir! Love this channel!
I'm not a fan of speakers that requires the help of subwoofers or other separate "woofers" for a full range sound.
That's why i'll never stop using floorspeakers. Maybe they don't dig down to 20Hz , but as long as they can make my livingroom table vibrate, i'm pleased.
I'm the same way. Unless it's space related why buy bookshelf speakers that you have to still push with a subwoofer. I miss the mini refridge style speakers like I have from the 90's Sansui. Can't remember the model number rigjt now but they still work great. I'm looking to modernize my setup with some new speakers but I prefer towers because I'm just not sold on the budget bookshelves.
I never liked subwoofers, I now enjoy BS speakers
How about a kit for the SSCS 3 towers? I know they haven't received the accolades the bookshelves have, but I think they have similar components and may have some hope. I bought a set for rear surrounds, but occasionally hook them up for hi fi for a change of pace. I like the sound when teamed up with a good amp and a sub, but can see room for improvement. Some no rez for sure. I just think it would be cool to make them right.
Wow I was excited to improve my sscs5 but for $345?? I could add a nice sub with that money.
How about a listening comparison?
I use these as surrounds in my HT. definitely may do this upgrade for the off axis response alone
So, how does these upgraded Sonys compare to stock speakers in the $450-$500 range?
I've wanted cheapaudioman to review a pair after the upgrade to see what they compare to...... But since Danny raised the price it's looking less appealing. It's unfortunate.
...and the Sony SS-CS5 just dropped under $90 per pair on both Amazon and Best Buy. You're welcome!
You, sir, are doing the Lord's work. I am in love with these speakers
I'd love to see your take on a 3-way bookshelf speaker with the Silver Flute brand of woofer as the starting point. It's such a good and reasonably inexpensive driver. They have 5, 6.5 and 8 inch versions, but the 8-inch one is the ideal for 3-way designs since it can play low enough to essentially negate the typically required subwoofer that most bookshelf setups need to sound right.
Waiting for the cable episode! Keep the good work Danny!
We have some interesting things in the works.
S O N Y used to make some really high end stuff back in the day, especially car audio.. I'm running the carbon woven looking GS 12's, other than them being manufactured in China instead of Japan those beotch's flat out get it..i have each sub wired to a separate Sony 1K ZX amp @ a final 8 ohm load for dampening reasons and after about 3 tracks my ears and head are done.. however i swaped my Infinity components with Focal...a lot of backbreaking work for a lack luster result. So glad customers got their money's worth out of these speakers.
Oh dear...."The price of Sonicaps have just gone up and it caused a slight increase in the cost of this upgrade." $285 as per this vid has now increased to $480, this "slight" increase in cost of upgrade coupled with the price of the speaker itself increasing due to popularity unfortunately means it has priced itself completely out of the market :(
Yes, the parts cost did go up. Most of it was the cost of the Sonicaps.
I commented on your wharfedale vs Paradigm segment. I should also added that I picked the Wharfedale 225 over the Sony you presented in this segment. While the Sony is a steal for the price $88 at Amazon at the moment, the Wharfedale do have the looks and better base and a less fatigue high and mid is warmer. So after a day or more deliberation in my head (between Elec, KEF, JBL, Sony) I decided on the Wharfedale 225.
BTW, I have a pair of Klipsch KG 2.2 and it needs some updates on the crossover since the high is showing the age and getting flat. Any suggestions on how I should go about on it? Got 2 KSC 10 ohm J 10W; 2 KSC 25 MFD 100 VDC 10%; 1 KSC 8K 100V and 1 KSC 4K 100V on the XOver board
Great Danny , wonder if inductance should be placed horizontal or vertical , or may be combined, is it any issue that one inductance magnetic field mix with other one .
Yes, face them in right angles of each other.
Wow. Great. Not sure if you are getting better or I am understanding it more.. or both. Fantastic
How do you feel these compare to your Desktop Mini speakers with and without your upgrades for the Sony's?
Without the upgrades the Sony's don't compare.
Who would pay $345 to upgrade a $118 speaker (pair)?
Apparently, a lot. Look at it as for under $500 getting a really good and really tough to beat speaker.
For those of us that want a high quality speaker DIY project, but don't want to deal with woodworking or finishing these are perfect. 👍
Nothing wrong with upgrading a crossover topography, but the price of those crossover components is just throwing money out the window. Your crossover component costs should never exceed the value of the drivers used.
It's a Sony/GR 💪
Wow nice! That looks like a promising speaker
I wish I had found this yyoutube channel sooner. I purchased the new Polk Audio Reserve R700 speaker and I also own KEF R series speakers. To be honest, I have not found the speakers I love.
Bookshelf speakers are always inadequate...always...which is why you always have to buy another set to see if the next ones are better. Thanks for keeping the economy going.
Good, back to the good stuff. I own the ATCs and can't wait. ASR forum says they measure particularly bad. They have low bass, but i really like the detail they have in the mids and highs. Is there a measurement that hints at the amount of details a speaker can deliver?
Danny already did the scm-11 and they measured really well according to his measurements.
Detail resolution, damn, essentially that's everything.
A speaker's perceived level of "detail" is multiple important factors combined.
Perceptual masking is a contributing element so assuring a smooth or slightly elevated response thru the upper mids/highs.
Most importantly however would likely be driver/loudspeaker settling time. A CSD (cumulative spectral decay) measurement would help expose loudspeaker cabinet coloration and ringing, as well as driver settling times.
Time alignment and the ability of the loudspeaker to recreate the recorded event with phase uniformity across the spectrum is important.
Other factors include; re-radiated rearwave energy from inside the cabinet back thru the driver ... certainly unwanted and negatively impacts detail perception.
Thermal compression and the magnetic nonlinearities (Bl uniformity) associated with the individual drivers is vital.
Crossover design and parts quality is also an important part. Iron core inductors can blurr the signal via stored energy.
Playback of a recording, thru a loudspeaker system ... and relying upon those speakers to recreate that recorded event via revolving "detail" ... or simply tracking the input signal and launching that recreated image into the room... is a monumental ask!
Essentially everything impacts detail, some elements perhaps more than others.
Also it's important to note it's not just avoiding distortion or nonlinearities. There's also errors of omission. Once that particular detail is lost, no amount of high end listening room treatment can resolve it back.
Everything matters.
It appears you used the stock frequency response graph (~1:44 in the video) for the upgraded frequency response graph (~7:10). I assume the composite frequency response graph (~6:20) red line is the correct upgraded one?
I'd also love to see him take a look at two others: 1. Presonus Sceptre S8 or S6. 2. Dynaudio BM6a. Classics. Curious how impressed he'll be by #1 and how the response looks on #2. For a third I'd love to see him get a Focal 6be or Twin be. These are the top speakers in my book.
I have pair of Trio6be and a pair of the mighty Trio 11be's. I literally don't think they can be improved!