Upgrade 6+ year old Sony speakers?

[Deleted member 4644]

My mom is running a pair of Sony SS-MF515 speakers rated at 200W which are three way speakers with four speakers (two woofers).

http://www99.epinions.com/elec..._Sony_SS-Sony_SS-MF515

How would these compare to Polk R50s?

Are they still "decent" speakers?

 

[The Boston Dangler]

in overly broad terms, the Polk name is good, the Sony name is rubbish. is your mom satisfied with the Sony's?

 

[Excelsior]

Those to R50s would be a lateral move, if anything. Does she really need better speakers anyway?

 

[Deleted member 4644]

She is happy with them... I just visited her and played them... they actually sound great to me. A tiny bit of background hiss... but when actually played with music, they sound good and have a nice bass even w/o a sub.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

That hiss might be from your receiver and not the speakers, so a speaker change might not even have an impact on the hiss level.

Sounds like they're working fine for her, so I'd say leave them alone.

If you want to add to the system, maybe consider adding a subwoofer rather than getting another pair of budget speakers. This may or may not make much of a difference depending on what kind of music she listens to and what kind of sound she wants.

 

[Shawn]

I have a pair of JBLs that are over 15 years old and still working fine. Age shouldn't be a factor.

 

[montypythizzle]

Those are definitely on their way out to my house and into my bedroom.

 

[Tiamat]

Keep them. They seem to be fulfilling their duty perfectly fine (as far as you and she can tell).

Couple points that wont cost much money:

1. Check the speaker cables. If they are overly oxidized replace them with speaker cables that have appropriate gauge for their length.


2. Clean the contact points on the speaker and receiver. Many years of dust/kitchen airborne grime can be detrimental to assuring a clean good contact surface for the copper speaker wires. Obviously unplug them before cleaning them. A solution of soapy water, then 2-propanol should leave the contacts shiny as new (I use q-tips to clean these parts)! Let dry for an hour.

3. Also, blow the dust out of the receiver as there is probably a thick layer accumulated in there. You might have to open it up and vacuum it carefully. Dust is an insulator may and cause the receiver to operate at elevated temperatures (some electronics exhibit more distortion when they are hot).

 

[Oyeve]

Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
in overly broad terms, the Polk name is good, the Sony name is rubbish. is your mom satisfied with the Sony's?

That is one of the lamest things I have read in a while. Every brand makes crap, even polk. Im no sony fanboy by any means, but occasionally they make a decent product. A brand name does not always equate quality. Sennheiser is FAMOUS for their headphones, everyone RAVES about their HD-280 headphones, but in reality they really suck. Read some PRO reviews on them and you will see what I mean. Over a decade ago Klipsh was an excellent speaker company, but they sell crap speakers at any Bestbuy. To the OP, if they sound good then there is no reason to get something else.

 

[cheesehead]

If you like them, keep them. One man's trash is another man's treasure.

Except for Pyramid Audio. They just suck universally.