Sony SS-B3000

[Jesse W.]

I just picked up some of these from a local thrift store. I got 3 for $10. They have mixed reviews online it overall positive. I have not hooked them up to my Kenwood 4070 and JVC QL-A2 but I was wondering if anyone here had any experience with these. I currently have Polk T-15’s and was looking for better bass response with out loosing clarity and these fell in my lap. Thanks for any wisdom that can be bestowed.

 

[xero-D-hero]

I have a pair of them,they were used mostly as interim speakers after moving as I did'nt really have room to use my CV E-712's

I powered mine with a JVC RX-318bk reciever.

Overall they're not bad for what they typically sell for,but IMHO they seemed a bit weak in the mids considering they're a 3 way speaker.
Pairing them with the Sony SS-B1000 2 ways seemed to help that situation somewhat,but even that did'nt solve the issue completely.
As for the lower end of the spectrum,they seemed to do pretty respectably in that regard,and the highs are'nt completely horrible either.

Honestly they're a VERY basic speaker,no crossover to speak of,just some blocking caps on the mid & tweeter,woofer runs full range.
And the cabinet falls a bit short in many respects as well,thin wall MDF,vrtually no insulation/damping material,that sorta stuff.

That said if one is not averse to some minimal DIY modding my guess is they could be modified into some much better sounding speakers.
Brace the cabinets internally,add some damping material,add a real crossover,things like that would surely go a long way towards improving them.

There are some posts out there on the web about modding these,I would tend to agree that would be an area to look into.
I dunno,some day I might get around to playing with mine just to see if I can surprise myself.

HTH

Bret P.

 

[Jesse W.]

Thank you for the info. I’d be into modifying them. I did a search from my phone but did not turn up anything for these specifically. I’ll keep looking. If you find something I’d appreciate it if you would post it here. I’ll do the same. I’ve never done a speaker mod before but I can soldier and follow directions. I’m hoping that’s all it takes. I don’t have the experience to design a mod though. At least not yet

 

[FluxT]

My brother got a set of these new about a decade or so ago, after his previous set (a set of el-gigante Kenwood KL7080’s he got at a neighbor’s yard sale) bit the dust thanks to an overzealous rendition of the 1812 Overture (max volume on a 100ish watt receiver). They’ve seen a similar amount of use and abuse at his hands, and last I checked they’re still thundering away. A few amps have given their last breathes of DC voltage with no damage to the speakers, and they’ve sat in his garage for years and fallen off high shelves with no ill effects. Amazing, honestly.

Sound-wise, I found them kinda eh when I borrowed them in high school. My ear wasn’t as critical and it’s been years, but I remember finding them a bit hollow sounding. Not harsh, not unpleasant at all, but they weren’t my cup of tea. Not as smooth as my old Bose 201’s, but leaps ahead of the sub/sat toys that came with my (then new) HTIB rig. Recommend pairing with a sub to liven things up.

For $10, I’d say go put on some music and pat yourself on the back. Since you’ve got 3 of the things to play with, it might be a neat idea to pick up a cheap mini-amp and run a Y-cable from the tape out of the receiver into the mini-amp, and hook that 3rd Sony in for a center-speaker. A lot of the early proposals for stereo called for a center speaker playing a mono sum of the left/right channels, to bolster the stereo image in a wide setup. Could be a neat experiment. If not, you’ll at least have parts if you happen to blow out one or more of the drivers.

 

[Jesse W.]

Thank you for weighing in. Still have not got them hooked up yet. Maybe this weekend. Center speaker idea is a new one to me but that doesn’t say much I’m very inexperienced with speakers and creative set ups.

 

[FluxT]

The center idea’s fairly obscure. I only know about since I have an older model Kenwood myself with provision for a center channel amp, and that prompted me to look up what it was for. You’ll really only appreciate the difference if your speakers are very far apart from each other, like in a large living room or a woodshop.