Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony SS-CN5000 Dual 5.25" Center Channel Speaker

The Sony SSC-N5000 center channel speaker (which I mounted on top of my television with two strips of Velcro) is definitely loud and clear enough to do its main job, which is to deliver dialogue. No screaming highs and no thunderous bass, but that's not what this speaker is for. The frequency response is good, though, and overall this is a very nice speaker. Well-constructed and heavy. This speaker matches all the other Sony speakers in my system. I hope this review helps you.

I own a Htib with tiny satalite speakers and a big subwoofer. I really liked the features and looks of my home theater system but I must admit that it was a bit of a strain listening to conversations on broadcasts and dvds. Rather than start from scratch I replaced my center speaker with this and the left and right speakers with the sony ssf-5000 floor speakers.

Now its amazing the how great movies and broadcast are with this speaker especially since I paired it with the floor speakers!

I was afraid it wouldn't be good quality or poor audio since I didn't audition it before buying, but I am very pleased and since owning I've compared center speakers at best buy and circuit city and see how this stacks up well in size and craftmenship to speakers that cost alot more money.

Sony has value for the buck when it comes to their entry level speakers.

I started with the Onkyo TX-SR 705 to put together a nice Surround Sound System, then added the Sony SB3000 front - SB1000 rear, SA-W2500 Sub and the SSC-N5000 and have a nice system for an apartment.

The system is more than I need but it does sound nice and I didn`t break the bank, I would not hesitate to reccomend the SB1000 for front speakers for those on a tight budget as they were great with a 10 year old RCA surround sound amp I replaced.

All of the Sony speakers in this series are a bargain for those in apartments where ... really using ... more expensive speakers could get you evicted save the extra bucks for a box of Dots to eat with your movie!

Great value!

HH

I bought this speaker after I bought a pair of sony bookshelf speakers to match the set. This one unlike the bookshelf speakers, (officially gave them a 4 and 3/4 stars)I give a 5 star rating to. I was so shocked when I installed it into my system. It filled the room with voices an other sounds I never heard before even in both songs and movies that I'm very familiar with. Then we get to the price. I got it for about $85 including shipping. For the price and quality it far exceeds my expectations and not to mention out performs. To give you an idea I was really looking into getting polk center channel. Don't get me wrong it sounded great but there was not a noticable difference between the two except for the price. The Sony center channel was about $45 less than the polk that was comparable to it and at equal quality. In my honest opinion, this is the only way to go. My only regret is I wish I wasn't so predisposed to getting the highest end equipment I possibly could. I would have had my system upgraded a long time ago saving almost 3 months of searching and researching.

TV: Panasonic 58pz800u
AVR: Onkyo SR-605
Bluray: Oppo BDP-83
Sat: Dish Network ViP 211
Fronts: Sony SS-F7000
Center: Sony SS-CN5000
Surrounds: Sony SS-B1000
Subwoofer: Onkyo SKW-530

I've been using this center for the past 6 weeks now and let me say first that this center looks simple, clean, and doesn't attract very much attention. It's size is noticeable, however. It's a pretty big Center, and weighs like about 15 lbs.

BUILD

It's a nice looking fake black wood enclosure. It has some heft, heavier than most centers I'd think. It's made of MDF inside and has some foam in certain patches in certain areas. The front screen is easily removeable revealing the composite woofers, tweeter and front port. Has spring clips for the speaker wire. Overall, very good build for this price.

MATERIALS:

The tweeter is a 1" Nano Dome, good solid choice for a tweeter.
The Mid Range Woofers are slightly less than 5 inches and made of HOP. This type of material is stiffer then regular polypropylene.

Overall, the materials used is really good considering the price of the center. 10 years ago this stuff was high tech in speaker construction, esp in car speakers which run on 4ohm usually. With the prices of these materials coming down, Sony is able to use them and give us a lot of great sound and tech for not a lot of money.

SOUND:

I primarily use my system for Satellite and movies. I don't listen to too much music, but when I do it's a CD and through my Oppo. So since this center most typically will be the most used speaker of all. It will be in charge of voices, action, some background music and other directional effects. It handles all these with EASE. It is extremely accurate sounding. Audessy shows that the center is FULL RANGE and lets all bass frequencies go to the center on the center channel. This gives insane dynamic range, from deep exhaust notes and voices to high bells and screams from movies.

For music the center sounds crystal clear on everything from symbol to sax to bass guitar to electric guitar, etc. Very good, solid music reproduction. Doesn't have any punch in the lows, but, it's a center channel, it's not supposed to. Most center channel information won't ever go lower than a deep vocal.

I can definitely understand why this center is sitting pretty at #1 in the Center Speaker section for some time now. I would not have tried this Sony setup if it weren't for other reviews. For the price (I paid $83 shipped), this is a really good center speaker. The only thing about it is it's too accurate at times, and can be slightly lower in volume during whispers or low passages due to it's crazy dynamic range. Anyone with an AVR that has Dolby Volume Plus or Audessey Dynamic Volume won't know it though.