The Sony SS-CN550H : A Smart Buy Waiting to Happen
Written: Dec 08 '05
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Pros: Cheap, unobtrusive, good sound, most big boxes have them
Cons: A tad light in the bass and limited imaging, but forgiveable for the price.
The Bottom Line: A good center channel speaker for the price. Certainly beats out combo kits and freebies.
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| AVaddict's Full Review: Sony SS-CN550H Center Speaker |
A Little History
This great little speaker is used as the center channel in a newly installed 6.1 system running off a Sony STR-DE598. The front channels are handled by some Sony SS-MB350H mains. The rear is handled by three Sony SS-MB150H mini bookshelf speakers. Although wire comes with all these speakers, some really basic 16awg was used instead and was still bigger than what was included, but a nod to Sony for the effort anyway. There is a sub in this system in the form of an odd little Panasonic that seems to work well with these speakers.
The three front speakers reside in a custom wall unit I made for this installation. The mains are leveled such that the tweeters are at ear height when listeners/viewers are seated. The center is positioned almost 18 inches higher so I used a few nickels, a little testing, and some hot glue to angle it downwards ever so slightly towards the folks that matter. There is a fair amount of semi closed space behind each speaker and this may add slightly to perceived bass, but I set everything up to test the components before the build, which only took an afternoon, and after installation I'm not entirely sure I heard any enhancement.
First Impressions
The first thing I was surprised by is how light this thing is. It measures a scant 17x7x9 and barely weighs over ten pounds. It does have a solid feel if not a solid knock. The finish is a vinyl black ash that has fairly good seams and a well finished look. The grille on this thing is as tenacious as the other speakers, they would really rather be left on. I was interested to see that this was a bass reflex set-up as opposed to the acoustic suspension used for the mains. I have a feeling this was more to maximize bass in the interests of matching the other speakers well. That may be the case, but most of the audio in 5.1 movie soundtracks routes through the center including a lot of speech but more spectrum is a better spectrum and a little tuning goes a long way apparently.
Very much like the 350s, I was pleased with the aesthetic, fit and feel, and overall first impression when considering the price paid. This speaker was purchased along with the above referenced speakers for about $270 delivered. This speakers actual price was $69.99 before shipping was added. Even so, if it were just that one speaker, the shipping would only have been $16, still making it the best buy. Go www.etronics.com! The lesson here is to check shipping; some stores charge almost $40 for delivery even though the advertised price is very low. Now folks, I use FedEx everyday, I have used UPS in the past on a daily basis, and I can tell you this from experience, shipping this item even with an overbox from NY to CA would only be about $14 max. Someone wanna explain this? Oh yeah, it's called bait and switch.
Performance
The line up for this particular speaker is just a pair of 5.25" cones and what Sony is calling a Nano-Fine dome tweeter. Right off the bat I was somewhat impressed before I had even started tweaking things. Not to say there isn't the highest level of fidelity in the average Gillette razor ad, but you get the idea. I did do some listening with the center at various angles because of its positioning and found flat wasn't the way to go nor was a direct line the listeners ear. The following opinions are a result of this little bit of fiddling to get things as optimal as they could in the space given, which is a bizarre cavernous . . . thing.
I did some testing with the various soundfields available just for music courtesy of the receiver and wasn't particularly wowed, however I found the bass from up front impressive, again, for the price and more specifically the size. I am not saying I haven't heard 2 or 3 way speakers this internal volume sporting 5.25" woofs really throw down, and I mean head turningly so, but for a lot more money. I am not really comparing the overall quality and presence to say an Energy, Boston, or even Polk, but I was surprised. It seems good thing may come in small boxes.
The movies used to test this center channel in a 5.1 set-up include 5th Element, The Machinist, Hero, Episode I, Memento, Office Space, Chronicles of Riddick SE, The Abyss SE, and Constantine. I felt it was a good spectrum or maybe it was what I grabbed first, either way I got a good idea of what this speaker was comfortable with doing. Little pieces of each movie were used in an attempt to see what this speaker could resolve in complex loud scenes, quiet source specific scenes, and everything from conversions in an office cubicle to terse tension filled exchanges in windy abandoned cement factories. I wanted to see how it would perform with bullets and shrapnel as well as John Williams creations.
Clear speech in a quiet scene is very sharp even at low volumes. This is a nice attribute because it's not quite the effect where one finds themselves reducing overall volume when what they want to is simply cut back on the center because it is getting harsh. The drawback there if that is the case is all the other information on that center channel that may become less defined because of the loss of volume. This unit seems to do just as well with the dynamic 5th Element soundtrack as it does with often deeply subdued soundtrack in Hero. I wouldn't say it is perfect. As I complained about a "certain hollow nature" regarding the MB350H, there is a certain lack of presence / soundstage with this unit.
A lot of dialog, although it is not overbearing, is sometimes suddenly and sharply directional, coming and going several times within a given film. Many of the films I know very well so it is rapidly noticeable to me. The overall sound stage seemed shallow sometimes and keep in mind, this is after tweaking the position of the speaker a little. The folks that were often listening with me didn't really hear what was annoying me and in a way that is a good sign, cause it just means I'm being cranky. The bass output was quite good as well, most likely due to the ported design, but who cares, as long as it works we're golden. FYI, these speakers are shielded, yes, but the fact is I wouldn't recommend laying it right on top of a CRT. At the absolute minimum, place an inch of MDF or less if you can add another decent barrier between the tube and the speaker.
The Brass Tacks
This little section is where I post specs and remind you that the numbers are just numbers, you ears are the true scale, ok, well maybe not so much at this price point. Just comparing the raw numbers can be misleading, keep in mind what you are paying and what the specs might be. Something half the price may show lower extension, but at what SPL(volume)? Anyway...
Peak power - 150wpc
Range - 85Hz-50kHz (human hearing 20-20k)
Sensitivity - 89dB
Size - about 7x9x17 (WDH)
Final Thoughts
The moral here is that I enjoyed the overall performance these speakers put on. One could spend less on a Jenson or Fisher or the latest house brand at Wal-Mart, but this speaker represents a giant leap over the super cheapy models and thus a better value, even if it does cost more. It does well with just music, it does well with 5.1 soundtracks and does just as well with broadcast TV on a Dolby Pro-Logic setting. All these assessments are off a new, but base model, Sony receiver which certainly adds its own noise and even so, this speaker comes off pretty damn shiny. It does have some drawbacks, but the fact is this, you'd be very hard pressed to do better for the price paid.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 69.99 s/h
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