Sony SS-MB350H Main / Stereo Speaker

Although admittedly I have reviewed a few rather expensive pieces of equipment, I am myself on a limited budget and take a very frugal approach when buying a/v equipment as my wife and I have six beautiful but pocket hitting kids! That is not even to mention our cat and dog who feel they are every bit the equal to anyone else in our humble household. So, it is with the average hard working individual in mind I write most of my reviews but it would be a mistake for one of any monetary stature to overlook this product up for review here!

Okay, so my son says "Dad, let's go to Best Buy and look at some cool stuff!" This really means that he wants a new video game or "Terminator III" DVD. I respond with "yeah...hmmm...that might be cool." This translates into "yours truly" checking out the latest hi-fi buys and quite possibly making a purchase of an inexpensive speaker system for our humble computer room. Since my reference speaker system had been transferred to a more appropriate larger room, I simply wondered what small treasures were currently available.

I already had heard great inexpensive small transducers from AR, PSB, Bose, B&W, JBL and Paradigm and had not ventured into a Best Buy since last spring.

Now keep in mind that although I do frequent John Rutan's Audio Connection in Verona, NJ...I do so very much try to keep an open mind to stuff sold at the highway discounters also. I do not like to limit myself to any one type of hi-fi shop or another. This has helped me appreciate many manufacturers' design philosophies and principles. It has also made me very blessed as far as owning or auditioning some pretty fantastic equipment at all price levels.

Other than the usual holiday sale stuff that the Best Buy store has to offer, I really didn't know what to expect as my wife, myself and my son headed to the mall. As we pulled up to the store my wife explained that she would be at the nearby Kohl's store shopping for some clothing while my son and I would be testing the various electronic goodies for our own entertainment. So in we went!

As my son wandered off toward the video games and DVD's, I headed over to the speaker area. As I looked over the new floorstanding models from JBL, I was thoroughly impressed with their latest lines...a vast improvement over previous models. Still I wanted to listen to and see more!

I strolled over to the Sony section and proceeded to look at the latest models from the manufacturer. I paced back and forth for awhile until I saw something I just could not believe! My eyes had suddenly caught a sale tag on one of the Sony models...SS-MB350H 3-way speaker system at $94 for the pair!

Not only that but the system was impressive looking with its 20" high black ash cabinets and gray removable grill cloths. Since I spotted the speaker's unbelievable 50Hz to 50 Khz freq. spec and heard a Sony SAVE system with the same tweeter over a year ago and was thoroughly impressed...and also I had just acquired an old Sony STR-AV760 stereo receiver...well I just had to further investigate.

Now Ian is a salesman at the store who is about 1/3 my age but nonetheless into great natural sound reproduction like myself. After listening to my young friend's rather enthusiastic high personal recommendation, I purchased the speakers and brought them home for some thorough testing!

The Sony black ash SS-MB350H boasts the following specifications:

3 Way, 3 Driver Book Shelf Speaker
8" Improved H.O.P. Cone - Bass Driver
3 1/4" Improved H.O.P. Cone - Mid Driver
1" Nano-Fine? Balanced Dome Tweeter
120W Maximum Input Power
Frequency Range 50Hz - 50kHz
Sound Reproduction to 50 kHz --- (for High Resolution Audio)
Magnetically shielded
Black Ash Type Finish
Sealed Enclosure Type
One Pair Per Package
Impedance 8 ohms
Inputs: Push Type Speaker Connections
Removable Grille Cloth
Includes Speaker Cable
Instruction Manual
Warranty: 2 year limited

The Sony SS-MB350H clocks in at 20" H x 9 1/2" W x 9" D weighing 18 lbs. per speaker and is sold in pairs within a well designed easy to deal with sturdy carton that clearly marks the speaker system's model number. The carton itself is impressively packed with the silver like grills sealed in a clear bag by themselves and isolated in the middle of the two well protected speakers.

Right out of the box the Sony SS-MB350H bespeaks droves of quality and certainly gives a high end first impression...ahh! I love the very pleasing aroma of freshly oil finished furniture!

At this point I would like you to take a good long hard look at the wonderful picture of this system at the top of the page and perhaps enlarge it on your computer screen. Do you see what I see? Do you believe it?!!

Look at the speaker on the left side that is exposed. That is not a phony discoloration caused by a less than perfect attempt by Epinions to transfer a color photo of the item. No indeed this is exactly as the transducer appears in real life!

The yellow Kevlar reinforced 8" woofer and 3" midrange are so reminiscent of drivers crafted from great manufacturers like B&W, Spendor and Legacy! Not only that, the use of this type of surround as opposed to foam simply means that these speakers won't rot away in 100 years!! The tacky feel of the Highly Oriented Polyolefine cones themselves plus the fact that the drivers themselves are mounted on their own dedicated baffles tells you that for once a Japanese speaker manufacturer like Sony has finally decided to pay attention to and learn from the high end. The smooth beveled edges of the cabinets also show Sony's dedication to the art of speaker crafting by minimizing diffraction.

The grayish speaker grills are well made and extremely transparent but they do snap into place very tightly at first via the four corner pegs. Take proper care while performing this procedure but do apply enough force so that each peg snaps in completely. You may wish to lay the speaker flat on its back during this task. Once accomplished the grills look great with the very nicely designed Sony logo.

Now having said that, there are a couple of issues I have with the Sony SS-MB350H that actually have absolutely nothing to do with the performance of the speaker itself but instead will be a turn-off to some rather serious purists.

First, the owner's manual is a joke and reminds one of the little spec sheet that phono cartridge companies like Shure and Grado used to supply with their pill box-like packaging. You'd open the container and pull out the scrawny little spec sheet in scroll-like fashion! Although there is a touch of speaker placement information there is a total lack of consideration for one's eyes as the print requires a magnifying glass that would in turn require the first time buyer to look and act like a modern day Sherlock Holmes and the frequency response spec is minus the + or - 3db designation after its 50hz-50Khz claim. It also lacks crossover info.

Secondly, the Sony engineers have opted for the more typical and cost effective red and black color coded spring loaded push type speaker terminals as opposed to the heavier duty 5-way binding posts found on costlier models. This is really no big deal to me but some of you may have a problem with the fact. Sony does supply thin gray speaker wire with the unit but I highly suggest that you use well made inexpensive oxygen free copper [OFC] 16ga. or 18ga. speaker wire available from Mirasonic.com.

Well this is where all negativity about these beautiful gems ends. Having much experience with the art of speaker placement, I hooked the speakers up to my classic Sony STR-AV760 stereo receiver which I had purchased recently from a repair shop for the grand sum of $65! The receiver is capable of providing 80 clean continuous watts p/ch at all frequencies but does not provide a home theater configuration so all listening tests were conducted in the stereo only mode.

The room itself measures 13' long by 9' wide. The speakers were placed on 16" high milk crates to simulate equally high speaker stands along the shorter wall and towed slightly inward leaving about half a foot of space on the sides and behind the cabinets. The wooden floor is fully carpeted with partially curtained windows behind the speakers and to the right of the listening area. The left wall contains three book cases and a metal filing cabinet. The speakers have a full six feet of separation between them.

OK Petey...all well and good but how about the listening tests?!!

Well, the Sony SS-MB350H speakers listen very well indeed! Using my usual array of CD's and FM radio sources I was able to get a great feel for the modest transducer's spectacular listening qualities.

Sony/Columbia's reissue of Neil Diamond's "The Early Years" revealed not only the speaker's fantastic soundstage but also its uncanny ability to reproduce high frequency subtleties and overtones. The real surprise however is the fact that its powerful mid range portrayal with impact and dynamics when summoned is equally seductive!

Soundstaging is also extremely good placing the singer out front where he is supposed to be. Yet, the sound seems to reach beyond the speakers themselves! Depth and width is awesome! These qualities were further reinforced when switching over to Sony/CBS Masterworks late eighties recording of Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker" with Michael Tilson Thomas conducting The New Philharmonia Orchestra. The orchestra was spread across the front of the listening area giving a rather majestic detailed accounting of the work with a generous amount of dynamic emotional reproduction! The various percussive sounds were reproduced with amazing clarity and naturalness along with brilliance but not overly done. This is a most neutral sounding speaker!

The 1" hard dome tweeter performs flawlessly giving an impression of full 180 degrees of dispersion with equal height and a superbly spacious quality to the music! The dedicated 3" midrange driver is certainly up to snuff with the outstanding tweeter and gives wonderful accuracy of musical timbre to bongo and plucked string sounds on Jazz recordings while I listened to some FM broadcasts.

The crossovers appear to be of high quality but do remember that all crossovers introduce some degree of distortion regardless of design. This one seems to be excellent as any appreciable distortion is kept to minimal levels at all frequencies.

Although I thought that for a moment the speakers were guilty of smearing on cymbals it turned out to be a false alarm as my modest FM dipole antenna failed me for about ten seconds. In fact, the speaker was actually revealing phase shift and modulation noise that was taking place during this part of the audition. When the condition caused by the antenna cleared up, the total lack of smearing only reinforced my other positive observations and impressions of the transducer.

Piano and guitar reproduction were absolutely first rate with voice reproduction excellent if not tops! Everything seems to carry forth with proper size and weight. Transient response is the best of anything below $500/pr!! I find these qualities to be most attractive in a given speaker system and they are very seductive with this reproducer! Just checkout Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk", "Gypsy", "Hold Me" and "Sara"...Holy smokes!

I own a copy of Duane Eddy's "Twenty Terrific Twangies" on vinyl. This old RCA/Camden Records recording is one of my favorites! Using my Dual/PE 3048 turntable with a Stanton 881 Mk IIS mounted in the tonearm, the guitar reproduction was excellent giving a good accounting of the instrument's qualities. This speaker can distinguish acoustical differences from one recording to the next with loads of detail!

My favorite test CD..."Atmospheres-Celtic Voices" revealed wonderful accuracy of musical timbre. Every striking of the tambourine, every tap of the drum and every plucked string could be heard to perfection.

Sony in its advertising suggests that although the human ear cannot hear frequencies above 20Khz we can certainly sense or feel them. Regardless of your personal opinion of that statement, I would offer that the high performance tweeter certainly makes a difference in the audible range and is easily the best of any boxed forward radiator for under $1000 I have ever heard!

The bass response on the other hand is not as extended as the highs and will require an appropriate subwoofer for the avid audiophile. This being said, it still gives a good detailed accounting of what it does reproduce...and it does it so well that any droning or whoomphing sounds are non-existent! That is certainly good news as so many larger systems fall short of top sound reproduction because they add a rather pronounced fat sounding boomy "drudging through pig slop" quality to the overall sound rendering what otherwise would be a superb performance as just a so so one.

This is truly one of those speaker systems that you can mate with just about any decent subwoofer from Velodyne to Polk to Vandersteen to Sony itself and not have to worry about lacking a seamless transition of the drivers from bottom to top!

My overall impression of the frequency response is that it is extremely flat from 60hz to 20Khz and that is in contrast to my report on the Advent AS2 towers that had extended bass but fell off considerably at the top.

The Sonys performed rather well throughout the audition on all genres of music leaving me with the nagging but pleasant thought of how was this possible at ninety four bucks for the pair!! Oh by the way, for those of you like myself who have been disenchanted with the honk shrill sound of Japanese speakers over the years...well forget it! These babies are designed and engineered by Sony Of Canada Ltd. Ahh! No wonder they have that superb Canadian look, feel and breathtaking sound quality!

Efficiency is low at 87 db @1w 1m but this is because of the sealed enclosure...yes acoustic suspension is back just when you thought you'd never see it again and I love it! Oh so many great AR's, Allisons, Advents, Boses and Bostons produced lovely sound with this design principle! Okay, so maybe they do not sound as loud as the Fourth Of July with just one watt input. I personally am more interested in quality...not quantity! Besides, virtually any modern day receiver or amplifier will have no problem driving this wonderful speaker.

Also to the speaker's credit...it does not fold under pressure. It simply does not compress on loud passages like the $300/pr of B&W bookshelf speakers that I auditioned almost two years ago did. It took the full brunt of the Sony's 80 w/ch rating with no breakup or malfunction of any type whatsoever! I have absolutely no issue with the Sony SS-MB350H's power rating of 120 watts. This is a very serious and robust speaker system!

The Sony SS-MB350H is an improvement over the already excellent original SS-MB300H model from last year and it is my sincere hope that the co. decides to keep the current model number active in its line for many years to come. If they do this, I believe they will have accomplished a rare and true contribution to the art of sound reproduction.

Although the speakers are categorized as bookshelf models, their slim design reminds me of tower types and they should easily fit into rooms of all types with various decor. Ideally the speakers should be placed on sturdy pedestals 12" to 20" in height of your own choosing. With this type of an arrangement I think you will be shocked at just how little of the "Box" sound the Sonys have!

Because the speakers are Magnetically Shielded, you can even place them on a shelf right directly either side of that big tv you just purchased without even the slightest worry of having the transducers interfere with your picture! Non-shielded speakers when similarly placed will produce a rainbow effect on the tv screen.

When the speakers portray a well defined presentation to the point that they sound like musical instruments themselves and when the sound seems to go way beyond the enclosures, you know you have something special! I will not be returning this speaker system and I am absolutely flabbergasted and astonished at the performance level of the Sony SS-MB350H!

In the days ahead, I plan to purchase an appropriate compact subwoofer and I have my eye on Sony's own SA-WM200 subwoofer 8" 75 watt powered model. I'll update the report when this happens. The sub goes for about $75 to $100 and should prove most interesting as the total cost of this system would bring it to under $200...fantastic!

The verdict is in! I chose the compact 8" Sony and it is outstanding! See my review: http://www.epinions.com/content_121593368196

Although my auditioning reflects a true stereo only situation, I have no doubt that the magnetically shielded speakers would be quite at home in a true home theater arrangement with the SS-CN550H center channel speaker & SS-MB150H models for the rear. Better yet...checkout Sony's SS-CR350H "Center/Surround" system for under $100. There is a wonderful review here on Epinions on this package: http://www.epinions.com/content_124735753860

I'm quite sure that this arrangement will reproduce all of the thrills and spills various movies have to offer! My only concern is that because it's a Sony, many of you that are looking in the $200 to $300 price range may very well overlook these superb sound reproducers and lose out on an all-out audio best buy of a lifetime!

Thanks for your time. Enjoy the holidays and I welcome all of your thoughts and comments on the review and the product itself. God bless!...Peter J Sammon II

Hey, wait...you gotta see this!...http://www.epinions.com/content_178183966340