Sony SS-CS5 Review: 3 Way Speakers With Great Clarity

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Sony SS-CS5 Review: 3 Way Speakers With Great Clarity

The Sony SS-CS5s are great 3 way bookshelf speakers that deliver excellent sound quality. At 9.92lbs, sufficient space for them is important. Their unique tweeter and super tweeter combo helps add extra clarity, while their 5.12 inch woofer allows more versatility in the lower end for a deeper bass response.

 

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It Has Sound Focused Features

3 Way Design Provides Improved Versatility With Audio Output

One of the most notable features is its 3 way design

Instead of the 2 way design that a lot of speakers use, (a single driver & single tweeter configuration) a 3 way design adds an additional driver for further clarity and spatial imaging.

3 way speakers tend to have greater control over their frequency ranges due to each driver being optimized to work within a specific range, and thus, can sometimes sound better than their 2 way counterparts.



 

A Wide Dispersing Super Variant Tweeter That Enhances Clarity

3 way speakers often add an additional driver, but what makes this one special in my opinion, is the fact that Sony opted to add an additional tweeter to the design instead.

This super tweeter as it’s called, is responsible for handling the the extremely high sound ranges; well over 20kHz and up to 50kHz — to provide a much higher fidelity of sound.

 

Large 5.12 Inch Woofer That Improves Low End Frequencies

Then what’s also unusual is that for the included 5.12 inch bass reflex woofer, Sony also decided to make it a foamed-Mica Reinforced Cellular variant (abbreviated to MRC)

This material isn’t as common in smaller speakers since their woofer cones are often made of either paper, or some kind of plastic.

It’s more common with bigger speakers & subwoofers due to its great tensile strength while remaining light weight.

So with an MRC woofer, the SSCS5 can deliver a much cleaner and distortion free sound, even at much higher volumes.

In addition, an MRC woofer also gives the speaker more versatility in the lower range too, providing for a much deeper bass response.

 

Specialized Port That Helps Further Improve Clarity

Further augmenting clarity is the port over on the back of the speaker’s bass reflex enclosure.

This bass reflex enclosure with a back port helps further eliminate chuffing or unwanted noise.

What can sometimes happen with some compact speakers is the additional stress on the tweeters at higher volumes can result in more distortion with a muddied sound.

Sony took this into account, and built a specialized port into the design as to mitigate this issue..



 

.98 Inch Soft Dome Tweeter For Better High End Sounds

As for the normal tweeter, it’s a .98 inch polyester soft dome variant that uses sound absorbing felt to eliminate rear sound pressure, ensuring that things are as clear as possible.

 

Proprietary High Resolution Audio Codec For Better Quality Sound

Then there’s also Sony’s own proprietary audio codec which offers support for high resolution audio by improving bitrate accuracy as well as frequency of the audio sample.

This gives your content an entirely different level of immersion and realism.

 

Check Availability Of  The Sony SS-CS5 Bookshelf Speakers

 

 

Specs

In terms of specs, the speakers have a noted peak wattage of 100 watts at 6 Ohms.

They measure 7.01 x 13.19 x 8.66 inches (W x D x H) and have an impedance of 6 Ohms.

Their sensitivity is rated at 87 decibels.

The weight about 9.92 pounds each, and have a frequency response of 53 Hz – 50 kHz.

They also have a screw type binding post meaning you’ll need to use pin plugs with them if not using bare wire.

 

 

Setting Up The Sony SSCS5 Speakers Was Straightforward

I connected mine to the Sony STRDH190 stereo receiver which was really straightforward.

In order to set up the Sony SS-CS5 speakers, since there’s a screw type post on the back, I connected them with pin plugs.

You could also use the wire as is by stripping it, but for a really solid connection, I’d highly recommend going with pin plugs.

Other than that, these connected just like most bookshelf speakers would to the receiver.

The one side of the wire went into the back of the speaker, while the other side went into the receiver.

For a refresher on how to do that exactly, this should help.

Once that’s done, that’s pretty much it.



 

The Sony SSCS5 Speakers Sounded Fantastic

Initial First Impressions

With all of those features, surely the SSCS5 speakers have to sound great right?

Well you’d be correct.

These things sounded absolutely fantastic — more so than I was expecting to be honest.

I’m not sure if it’s the extra tweeter, or the support for high resolution and lossless audio, but these speakers seemed to perform better than a lot speakers I’ve actually I’ve tried which is surprising.

Details were clear and crisp, but not too sibilant to the point where you’d get ear fatigue after an hour or two.

Everything just sounded right.

I was honestly expecting these to lean more on the treble side of things, but really I’d say they’re actually pretty neutral in terms of sound signature, at least from what I’ve noticed.

Frequencies in the 120-130Hz and 1kHz range do seem to be just slightly emphasized over the higher and lower frequencies respectively when graphed, but not really enough to even be noticeable.

So for those of you out there who are into sound mixing — whether it’s professionally or as a hobby, this might be an attractive reason to go with these to due to their pretty neutral sound signature.

 



 

They Responded Well To Equalization

This aural versatility also translates elsewhere because something else worth mentioning is just how well these speakers respond to equalization.

Whether used in conjunction with a PC or a standard AV receiver, using even a basic EQ with these speakers made them come alive in a way that really showed what they were capable of.

It really accentuates the SSCS5’s neutral audio signature too because even cranking any one frequency range doesn’t cause the entire audio profile to become overbearing.

It just sounds amazing and balanced.

Should you actually prefer a warmer sound signature instead, something like the Edifier P17 or Yamaha NS-6490 might be better suited.

 

They Performed Really Well With My Content

But to be fair, everything I tried with these speakers — be it movies, video games, you name it, just sounded crystal clear and realistic.

Music especially; I don’t think it can be stated enough how good music sounds with these.

To my ears, they sounded pretty incredible.

With a lossless media source, (Tidal & Spotify for example) music sounded really impressive.

Now I suppose it could be argued that human hearing doesn’t exceed 20 kHz so a second tweeter that targets that wouldn’t necessarily do as much, but ehh..I don’t know.

I feel like there’s something to it because I was noticing new sounds that I hadn’t heard before.

Not saying I have supersonic hearing or anything (I wish) but there was a new sense of depth to the content that was really immersive.

I will say though that while the CS5 does go down to 53 Hz, I wouldn’t say that the bass is low enough that you’d want to forgo a subwoofer all together.

For stereo applications they’re more than adequate, but if you’re planning on running these in a home theater then I’d still stick with a dedicated subwoofer.

Still, for a bookshelf speaker to even get that low is still really impressive.

Carrying on with my Sony SSCS5 testing, I noticed that the mids were really good too, with vocals coming in loud and pronounced.

This could be attributed to the optimized crossover that allows changes in sound and frequency ranges to be nice and smooth.

In any case, sound quality is definitely there.

 




 

Overall I Feel That They Have Impressive Sound Quality

They do have a sensitivity of 87 decibels, so you’ll likely need more power to actually get these things loud which is something to note beforehand.

These would be excellent nearfield or even midfield monitor speakers for that very reason, especially when using them desktop speakers since you wouldnt need to turn the volume up as loud.

But for home theater proposes, having a high power pre amp/receiver to use with them is highly recommended so that you get the same awesome experience.

I’d recommend using a receiver that at least has 75 watts per channel to get the most out of them.

But overall, I’d have to say I was impressed with the sound quality of the CS5s and give these 2 giant thumbs up.

 

Check Availability Of The Sony SS-CS5 Bookshelf Speakers

 

 

Their Design Appearance Is Subdued Yet Refined

Overall, I feel they have a really subdued yet refined design that quite frankly, looks good.

There’s a small Sony logo towards the bottom, and the edges of the cloth grille are actually chamfered, giving the speaker a unique look.

They’re what Sony calls tapered edges, that help reduce unwanted noise from the baffle board and cabinet; providing for a higher quality sound.

With the grille removed, there’s a double tweeter and woofer display that I personally think looks really cool.

I’d say it blends in with its more dark and contemporary design.

The color of the woofer is also pretty nice, and kind of shimmers when light hits it which is a nice touch.

As for the cabinet itself, it has a smooth matte black wood finish that I noticed didn’t pick up a lot of finger prints.

While definitely not gigantic, these also aren’t the smallest speakers in the world by any means, so you’ll definitely want sufficient space to house them.

What’s great about these speakers though is their appearance stems from their functionality; meaning not only are they meant to look great, but perform exceptionally as well.

 

Likes

  • 3 way dual tweeter design provides incredible sound clarity
  • Support for high resolution audio through a proprietary codec
  • 5.12 inch woofer provides a solid midrange with depth
  • Vocals & dialogue are represented beautifully
  • Wide soundstage gives a greater sense of immersion
  • Tapered faceplate edges allow for a cleaner sound
  • Fits in aesthetically with any contemporary setting
  • Work great as computer speakers

 

Dislikes

  • Low sensitivity requires decent amount of power to get loud
  • No 5 way binding post, only screw type
  • No keyhole for wall mounting

 

Final Thoughts

Well that’s about it for now.

Hopefully you enjoyed this Sony SS CS5 3-way bookshelf speaker review and now have a better idea of whether or not they’re for you.

To sum it up, I personally think they’re a great set of speakers that work well with pretty much everything content wise; provided you have the adequate power to make them work.

If you do, I’d definitely recommend them in that case.

 

Check Availability Of  The Sony SS-CS5 Bookshelf Speakers

 

 

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January 24, 2020 Author: JayJay Posted in: Home Audio, Home Theater Speakers, Reviews, Technology