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View Full Version : Sony SS-F6000 - decent speakers, dirt cheap?


Dimitar Georgiev
03-31-2011, 07:44 PM
Somebody got those ? $150 for both of them which is $75 a piece? Somebody opened them ? - I am curious about the crossover Sony is using in those ?

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-SS-F6000-Floor-Standing-Speakers-Woofer/product-reviews/B000OG4E20/ref=dp_db_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

Look at the review from a turkish fellow especially (below):


"4.0 out of 5 stars Great budget speakers for classical music !!, April 6, 2009
By G. Serpen (Istanbul, Turkey) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: Sony SS-F6000 Floor-Standing 4-Way Speakers with 6.5" Woofer (pair, black) (Electronics)
I will start by confirming what other reviewers have pointed out : you're unlikely to find better sounding floorstanding speakers at this price. The F6000s offer convincing depth despite not being constructed out of real wood. I have two pairs hooked up to a Yamaha RX-V663 receiver along with the CN-5000 center channel speaker.

I compared these at a store against a pair of JBL ES80 and similarly priced Yamaha floorstanding speakers. The F6000 offered the least warmth but most clarity out of the three. I rated the F6000s with 4 stars because it has a very uneven response curve (though somewhat expected at this price range) and needs delicate equalizing. The bass is slightly boomy, lower mids come out too strong and upper mids are relatively weak, highs are OK. I am amazed at the reviewer who wrote the bass isn't deep, he must be a subwoofer junkie. I can certainly feel the bass in my chest.

The loss of upper mid frequencies might be because the speakers are 4-way and the signal may be degrading going through too many crossover filters or it may be a safe design decision to make the sound pleasing to the average Joe. This won't be an issue for most people but I would not recommend these speakers to you unless you are using a 9 band equalizer. Listening to Guns N' Roses "Use Your Illusion" albums I get the feeling the guitars sound distant and muddy. Other reviewers with sharp ears have pointed out this muddiness, it is certainly caused by the strong lower mids (NOT caused by low driver quality) therefore it can be corrected.

My Yamaha receiver has a 7 band graphic equalizer and below are the settings I recommend for obtaining a 'flat EQ' (amplifiers and room acoustics affect the sound but you should get a general idea) :

63Hz : -1.5 dB
160Hz : -0.0 dB
400Hz : -1.0 dB
1kHz : -2.0 dB
2.5kHz : +0.0 dB
6.3kHz : +3.0 dB
16kHz : +0.5 db

What I would have liked is a control point around 4 kHz because boosting 6kHz too much can make guitars and drums sound harsh or fatiguing but with only 7 bands I had to make a compromise. Thats why I recommend at least 9 bands for these speakers. Nevertheless, the settings above will have the effect of removing a blanket from over your speakers.

I use my Yamaha 663's automatic parametric EQ for classical music which makes the violins from Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" sound amazingly detailed with no trace of harshness. I must say I was impressed with Sony's tweeters and midrange driver's clarity. With just a graphical EQ I would recommend starting with my 'flat' settings as reference followed by a little boost of the 8-12kHz range ( if you can ) to your taste.

The only weakness I can find with these speakers is the excessively strong lower mid frequencies but it shouldn't be too big of a deal if you are willing to spend some time correcting it. As long as you are subtle EQing, the tone will remain clear. These speakers won't have the depth of a 1000$ speaker but at 1/10th the price that can hardly be considered a fault."

imasoundhound
04-01-2011, 05:58 PM
i've never heard a pair, but you couldn't pay me to take them home. run far away.*bigthumbdown*

Dimitar Georgiev
04-02-2011, 04:54 PM
i've never heard a pair, but you couldn't pay me to take them home. run far away.*bigthumbdown*

No, no, no - now you are rushing your judgement. Didn't you read the reviews - about 90 reviews on google on this sony model. Somebody is claiming that his B & W DM602 sound better but definitelly not much better. For $150 + shipping you could not go wrong.

D.

Pacific Stereo
04-02-2011, 06:45 PM
I just can't imagine these sounding good. The only GREAT speakers Sony ever made were the true APM series of products.

That being said, I remember that Sony America for a time (don't know if this is still true) had gotten more serious about speakers and had hired an old friend from Yamaha to help them. I recall hearing the results of those efforts, and they were not bad at all.

I for one would never, ever, buy a pair of speakers that I had not auditioned for a considerable length of time. I say this is something you definitely can't buy on Amazon.

Socal Sam
04-04-2011, 09:32 AM
Sorry to be bearer of bad news. Yes, you cannot go wrong for so little money but there lies the problem. So many have taken a cut that there is little left for actually making the product. I found a pair of new looking Sony's for cheap and they sound OK enough as test speakers. Sometimes they sound fairly decent. A look inside showed what looked like a cast basket for the woofer. Upon closer inspection, the basket was plastic!

Socal Sam
04-04-2011, 09:36 AM
I just can't imagine these sounding good. The only GREAT speakers Sony ever made were the true APM series of products...

The APM's the square speakers? Seen them but with rotten foam and so haven't heard. Agreed, the better APM's have really nice construction. Have you re-foamed a pair?

I'd also nominate the SS-xM series as Sony's best effort. Agreed, it is a wasteland after these lines.

Pacific Stereo
04-04-2011, 09:50 AM
Some of the APMs had foam surrounds, but many were cloth. Refoaming is difficult or impossible, because there are almost no surrounds available. I had one person at AK give me the name of a speaker repair distributor that he claimed had square surrounds, but I was never able to get a response from them.

I've seen the starch-and-chamois method of repair for these, but I've never thought about actually doing it.

There were several series of APM products. Some were exceptionally well made, sounded fantastic and were quite magic. There were also APM products that were just glorified junk. The drivers also differed considerably, even tough they looked the same on the outside.

Dimitar Georgiev
04-04-2011, 05:06 PM
Sorry to be bearer of bad news. Yes, you cannot go wrong for so little money but there lies the problem. So many have taken a cut that there is little left for actually making the product. I found a pair of new looking Sony's for cheap and they sound OK enough as test speakers. Sometimes they sound fairly decent. A look inside showed what looked like a cast basket for the woofer. Upon closer inspection, the basket was plastic!

Make sense. Thank for all the tips!

regards,
Dimitar

Socal Sam
04-04-2011, 05:47 PM
Some of the APMs had foam surrounds, but many were cloth. Refoaming is difficult or impossible, because there are almost no surrounds available. I had one person at AK give me the name of a speaker repair distributor that he claimed had square surrounds, but I was never able to get a response from them.

I've seen the starch-and-chamois method of repair for these, but I've never thought about actually doing it.

There were several series of APM products. Some were exceptionally well made, sounded fantastic and were quite magic. There were also APM products that were just glorified junk. The drivers also differed considerably, even tough they looked the same on the outside.

IIRC, I was impressed by the APM's driver construction. Cast baskets, honeycomb square reflector, and solid cabs were all good signs. Just couldn't get past the rotten foam.