Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony SS-B3000 Bookshelf Speakers with 8" Woofer (Pair)

I bought these through Amazon's Warehouse Deals for $59 and change (plus free shipping and no sales tax). The pair I got were brand new and in perfect condition, and had apparently been returned to Amazon by a previous buyer because the box got beat up during shipping.

If I'd paid $100 for these speakers I'd still be happy. I got them to replace Advent mini indoor/outdoor speakers with a passive subwoofer for a bedroom stereo system. The Advents cost more nearly 10 years ago, but the Sonys sound so much better. The Advents sounded muddy; the Sonys are so clear I am amazed. I can hear subtleties in music from CDs that I never heard before. The highs are crystal clear, and when there is silence on a CD, there is silence from the speakers, no hum or air sound at all.

The bass from the 8 inch woofers is good, putting out a bass sound that has both oomph and clarity. I mostly listen to classical these days, though I love rock, and with classical I am not concerned about having insane bass (like those cars that sound like they are subwoofers on wheels), and for a bedroom system I do not need dance party volume.

As other reviewers have noted, these speakers are large for bookshelf speakers, though this is not a problem for me. And as other reviewers have noted, the speaker wire that comes with them is so thin it's useless. I don't know why Sony bothers including it.

I have the speakers connected to an Onkyo TX-8222 stereo receiver (50 watts per channel) with 16 gauge speaker wire, and I have the speakers about 6 feet apart. This set up is more than adequate for a 12 X 16 bedroom. (People who are mystified by speaker wire might look up the page at the Crutchfield site that explains the basics of gauge, etc.)

I am very happy with these speakers.

I am very happy with this set. I bought it for our surround sound in our bedroom in order to replace the old huge Sanyo speakers, they were great too; The SSB-3000 are used as the front speakers (I bought the SSB-1000 for the rear speakers and they are also great for this purpose and set up). Even at high volume, which I usually don't use, it performs without distortion. DVD movies, and music, sound great in our room. The receiver I use, Sony, is 150wts of power.

Any college student/individual on a budget will be interested in this review:

Before I hooked up my Cambridge Audio Azur 340A, PS2, and SS-B3000s together, I went over to the Beverly area to reference more expensive hi-fi audio equipment, and the first thing the people at Ahead Stereo said was that ~$100 speakers were trash. I was so convinced that I almost put down nearly $1000 for Paradigms and a Rotel. Thank goodness my ear--trained with LA Acoustics, Castles, Sonus Fabers, and other obscure hi-fi brands--could tell that I would never be able to convince myself that obviously boxed-in and muddy middles and highs would be okay.

The takeaway: Don't ever buy into the notion that you HAVE to spend big bucks to get a decent setup, especially if you're a budget audiophile like I am. These speakers definitely perform way out of their price range; for $86 (which is what I paid a couple weeks ago), I've got smashing sound in my dorm room. The only way this setup could get any better would be to add a turntable, which is happening soon. I'll admit that my sounds could be crisper, fuller, and more colorful, but how can I possibly rationalize having a luxury automobile's worth of equipment in my dorm room?

I am super happy with these Sonys, as well as my Azur 340A. I'm going for a first-gen PS1 to upgrade from my PS2 to play CDs. And then a turntable. With any luck, I'll be drinking wine while listening to Mozart and Beethoven soon!

I'm on a tight budget because I'm a college student and I was looking around everywhere for speakers that could handle everything by themselves (good bass quality, nice highs and mids). As of right now, my setup only has these two speakers and they are hooked up to a Denon AVR-1507 and they sound really good. The only concern of mine with the speakers is that the sound seems a little on the shallow side for the bass, but its not too bad. By themselves these speakers definitely can stand on there own and for anybody on a budget looking for great speakers these are it. I feel that even though the bass is just a tad shallow it doesn't merit giving these speakers 4 stars, they are definitely 5 star speakers. As soon as I pair these with a woofer, I'm sure they would sound even better.

I am very impressed with these speakers. I am setting up a 7.1 surround sound system and bought these for my rear speakers but I tried them temporarily to replace my main front speakers and they could very well do that. Very good sound at a great price.