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

I have much more expensive speakers and none come close to the sound for the price and incredible value. These speakers will stand up favorably to speakers costing much more. I use for music and home theater in my bedroom with smaller sony surround, sub woofer and center channel and they are absolutely stunning looking and sounding....just get them and see for yourself. I am listening to them as I am writing this review and I am telling you, you can not beat them.

Just got an Onkyo HTIB and as expected, the speakers were weak. I got these as an upgrade to my front speakers and WOW! What a difference they make! I also bought a powered subwoofer and can now turn it down a bit because these speakers produce some pretty good bass on their own. Top of the line caliber? No. But for a medium sized room, they do the job quite well. Music sounds great on these and movies are much, much improved over what I had. You might take note on the size of these "bookshelf" speakers though... :)

These were on sale with free shipping, which only made it better. As to the speakers themselves, they sound fantastic, and this is in a far from ideal listening room. The sound is clean with good imaging & surprisingly good bass. I had heard that these are the new version of a speaker given great reviews by the leading non profit consumer review organization, and they were dead on. While a bit taller than the "standard" bookshelf size, they are still light enough to be placed on any reasonable shelf. Mine are on small squares of plywood with feet at the corners attached to upside down shelf brackets which are screwed to studs in the wall - no deflection, no rattle.

For the money, these are excellent speakers. I have them hooked up to a collection of older, formerly well respected components--which probably helps--and they sound good all across the range. They're not bookshelf speakers, really, so take your measurements carefully if that's what you're after, but if you get a pair, I think you will be highly satisfied with their quality. The only thing I'd change is the connectors, which are the easy to use type you just push on and poke the wire into, but that don't last as long nor grip as tightly as other connectors.

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!