Sony SS-MB350H Main / Stereo Speaker

As a musician, I have very little money of which to gamble on 'the next big thing' in speakers, or for that matter, ANYTHING.

As a producer of lively dance music, and an avid listener of jazz, classical, rock (and just about anything I can get my hands on) I have taken sound reproduction VERY seriously.

So after using B&W, Polk Audio, Advent, Tannoy, JBL, Bose, Samson, Event, KRK, and a slew of other monitors (and strangely enough, findidng a way to destroy all of them with sounds), I decided to find a good set of flat and accurate speakers for monitoring....

I went searching and for some odd reason I ended up at Radio Shack, looking for something else, and happened to come upon these beauties sitting on display. They looked impressive-black ash cabinets with bright yellow cones and just slightly tall...I had to have a listen!

Bringing Beethoven and my own techno music (two extreme challenges for any speakers) with me, I took a listen to JUST ONE of these magnificent boxes (for some reason it was a pain to connect two? Oh Radio Shack)...and I became blown away!

I had not even considered using Sonys...even though my MDR-V6 headphones I use for DJing have lasted me for over 8 years without trouble.

My goodness...These speakers at first listen gave me everything I wanted-a very tight, flat response, extremely accurate on fast transients (important for Timpani's and TR 909 drum machine kicks)...and such brilliant highs!

Then, the kicker-finding them on clearance for $59!!!!

By far, the best purchase of the year for me.

Once home, I have broken these babies in with myriad sound sources-The Smiths "The Queen is Dead," Phillip Glass' "music in similar motion," ELO's "Telephone Line," and even Frank Sinatra singing "The September of My Years."

I have heard NOTHING in this price range that comes close to this. As far as the bass response? For me, it has been accurate-the drivers will give nothing more than what is there, no more, and no less...accuracy is important when you are listening to your favorite tunes or creating music to be played on a giant soundsystem thousands of miles away.

Placement was not really a problem for me, as my studio desk had ample room for speakers of this size...getting the soundstage equal seemed easy enough and frankly, I expect that off-axis listening would sound different...these speakers are made to be listened to either up close and personal or a larger room placed farther away...Using them as near-field monitors has been a joy!

Lastly, I will tell you that the high frequency driver in these speakers can be a bit tiring to listen to, mainly because they are so hot...they are never out of balance, but you will hear every bit of noise in the upper ranges that is there...especially on a tape recording.

Consumer reports, and every other poster on here are not joking-Sony created something very special, and it will provide you with YEARS of enjoyment!