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Vintage Sony SS-890 Speakers - Anyone know anything about them?

AV-Man

AV-Man

New Member
I bought these monster speakers at a yard sale many years ago for $40 bucks! I was never a fan of Sony speakers until I heard these. They have the direct reflecting sound similar to Bose but much better with a lot more power. I also own many higher end speakers and can tell that these were not mean't to be ordinary.

I have used them with a Kenwood KA-801, Yamaha M-60, Marantz 2325 and a ADCOM GFA555 in which they have performed wonderful. I even DJ'ed at a Ramada Inn 1400+ sq. ft ball room with these!

Model: Sony SS-890 circa early 1970's
Origin: Japan
Design: Ported with center port (separate tweeter and woofer cabinets with separate terminals)

Configuration: 4-way
Power: 335 Peak (165 RMS) at 8 ohms
Drivers: 16" woofer
5 1/4" midbass x 2
4 x 10" midrange horn
2" ribbon leaf tweeters x 2
Dimensions: 37" H x 18" W x 9" D
Weight: 70 lbs
L-Pad: Tweeter level

I have been searching for information for these speakers since 2003. I always wondered if these were a rare trade show product never mean't for the U.S. sale, limited edition studio monitors, PA speakers, or just another vintage sony speaker that happens to sound better than the rest. Tell me your thoughts!


Sincerely,

AV-Man
 

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I think there are many speakers from japan that sound wonderful.....I would like to hear your sonys .........looks like a very busy speaker to say the least...how do they compare to your l88s?
 
lordypete..got drivers? good luck with info, have a pair of ss-1850 here, and havent been able to turn up nary a peep about them, so Im afraid you may be in the same boat. that being said, what you have there is quite a phenominal looking setup, kinda puts the ones here to shame (just 3 ways with a horn tweeter). If you end up stumbling across some obscure database do me a favor and let me know.
 
My L88's are great too but more for easy listening. In another words, the JBL's have a warm vocal sound which when listened to at low to moderately loud volumes. The Sony's however can be listened to at any level without losing detail, like my Klipsches.

The Sony's will be more on the treble end but are capable of projecting across a large room and still getting that pin point accuracy of a guitar note wherever you are. Again, quite phenomenal for Sony as they do not receive to much credit in terms of speakers amongst Audiophiles.

You are right bobaloniny, I have had no luck except one search result for a Sony SS-860 which appears to be the little brother to mine at some shop.

http://www.randallareed.com/Sony_SS860.htm
 
WOW!!!! I think I would like to have a pair of those.... I like a good loud speaker and these look to fit that. I have been finding sony made alot of interesting stuff back in the days that I never new about. I found a rare pair of Sony SS-TL5 speakers at a thrift store they are a transmission line speaker and have really good sound in my opinion. Good luck on your info search.
 
I actually called sony this morning to inquire about yours and mine, guy couldnt find thing one, but hes emailing higher ups about this, especially yours, and has created a file for this. Just gotta wait and see now. File #76758. Doesnt get any more official than that.
 
Funny you guys are talking about these. There is someone on CL here sellering a set of SS-860's:scratch2: Look very interesting
 
The Question is....How do they sound?

That bottm box looks to be a bit small for that woofer IMHO :scratch2:
 
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i hope you have good luck in your search for info, i like yourself am in possession of a what i am finding to be very rare speakers stateside, i have a set of wonderfully loud and proud kenwood ls-p9400 monster towers that were from what i can find out only made for the overseas market, i bought mine from the original owner who bought them while stationed overseas, and they were in mint hardly used condition ( thankfully ) and like you i can find little info on them, i find it very cool though having something rare like this that chances are you will not be seeing anywhere else, only foreseeable drawback i see is if a speaker blows parts will not be easily found, but hey they are speakers and its easier i guess to find a suitable replacement speaker than say a rare complex electronic replacement part for a rare component, so i am not worried, enjoy them rare beauties i bet they sound great !!
 
I must agree it is really nice owning something truly rare and unique. To the above individuals since my last response: thank you babolniny for calling Sony this should be interesting. To M Jarve sending me a link to WEGA. I never heard of WEGA except in Sony CRT TV's. Hopefully something cool will come up.

I consider myself a relatively young audiophile being born in 1985. I appreciate all of the info from everyone!
 
I have a set of SS-860, bought it purely for novelty. But the sound surprised me, much better than Pioneer CS-88 of the same vintage, without the treble rolloff and has deeper bass. I swept a treble box (which has its own crossover and the horn tweeter and super tweeters) when I first got them, it played below 1KHz. I have used these treble boxes with other bass boxes, such as fullrange drivers and pro bass bins, because of high sensitivity and the convenience of built-in level adjustment, they integrate well.
 
PioneerGuy75 said:
That bottm box looks to be a bit small for that woore IMHO :scratch2:
Click to expand...
The bottom box and top box are linked through openings to provide slightly more volume for the woofer. The two "windows" on each side of the horn tweeter are actually ports for the woofer.
 
Awesome! Great to know ultralc. I was quite amazed at the output of these speakers for a Sony label. I am actually going to be using them in a DJ application this coming weekend, they have served me well in the past. No need to buy pro-speakers. :-D
 
I have the exact same speaker set. I am only 14, but your description and model number match mine perfectly. My neighbors gave me these a year ago along with a teac reel to reel, and I have been trying to find information on them ever since. I don't know how much help I can be, but I got excited when I read found your forum.
 
SS-890's

I also have a set of them. They were only available in Japan never sold here in the states. If they got here it was from an former service member like I am now. I bought mine from the Navy BX Subic bay. I still use them and they sound great still. Only problem I ever had was a blown 15inch driver. LOL took 9 months to get another. They were still under warranty so Sony took care of them. They were rated at 180 watts per channel! Only problem with mine now are some of the grill hold on studs have broken from moving them as often as I have.
 
I never knew that. Thanks for posting that. Do you have any idea what they're worth? I would never sell them, but would like to know
 
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