Hey everybody! The measurement showing around the 7:00 mark is the stock response. The corrected response is better. This was an editing mistake and we apologize for the trouble! See all the measurements here! www.gr-research.com/store/p90/Sony_SS-CS5_Upgrade.html

So, I bought a set of these speakers on clearance ($70!!!!) a few months ago. I also bought the GR Research upgrade kit. I am not sharing photos, because its not pretty to look at (completely my fault!) but it is a night and day difference on sound! Please understand that this is completely my subjective view. Original listening setup: Luxman R-117 --> SVS Soudnpath cables -->Energy ESM-2 monitors I was using this setup for years then I switched to these Sony SS-CS5 speakers. Straight out the box they are genuinely impressive. A bit too much treble though, slightly fatiguing to the ears. I listened to them for about 4 months on a daily basis in my home office. I keep the music going all day while I work. Finally built the GR Research circuit and dampener. DUDE!!!! They sounded pretty "big" for a small bookshelf speaker in stock form. Now they sound ridiculously HUGE! The depth and soundstage is just mind blowing. You can push the snot out of these and really keep the integrity of the sound across the frequencies. I am just mad that I waited this long. This combination is so good that I am going to buy another set and do the same thing for my workshop. To anyone that doubts this gentleman's claims.... Don't knock it til you try it! The results are legit and can be duplicated repeatedly (the science works). I know that my setup isn't 100% audiophile techy insanity. I have had a system like that, great for analytical listening but I didn't like it for general listening. Cheers everyone! THANK YOU Gr Research for turning me on to this combo!

Sony used to be the firm that gave their technicians a free card to design. V-Fet, Flamingo, APM square speakers etc. As it turns out here they still produce gems now and then.

I believe that the shimmering cone is a foamed paper-mica blend. It's a neat material; the mica flake immobilizes the paper fibers and makes the paper more rigid without being much heavier.

Budget audio is how I roll. 🤩 I own a pair of these speakers and played them yesterday against a pair of Fluance Signature HIFI 2 way and a pair of Jamo S 803. I used a simple 70 watt Rockville BluTube LED stereo receiver/amplifier. Hands down, the Sony’s sound much better to my ears than the other two brands. I don’t know anything about the scientific measurements or numbers and really don’t care. I go on what my ears can actually hear and discern. The CS5’s have great bass, midrange and highs. I can clearly hear all the instruments and vocals on tracks. My receiver has treble and bass settings,so I tune the sound to my liking depending on the style of music and audio track. Jazz, Rock, Blues, Oldies, Reggae, Soul, R&B, Pop, Classical, Country, etc all sound great! Some song files sound better using the wireless Bluetooth setting than others. I’m betting any audio device plugged direct line into my receiver would sound excellent as well. These are a very affordable, great sounding, pair of bookshelf speakers for the money. Stupid cheap (in my humble opinion). Thinking of buying a used or refurbished pair to modify and see if there’s a noticeable difference. But “as is” and straight factory stock, they sound fine.

Danny, Keep up the great work! And thank you for all of your hard work and finding/building the unicorn products for us.

Hi Danny! I just received my upgrade kit for these little giant killers. It's my first time upgrading speakers and I'm really looking forward to doing this. Thank you for your efforts and sharing your passion for great audio with us. Cheers!👍🙂

I have just finished the upgrade. The sound clarity is OMG astounding. I took my time on this and enjoyed every bit of the upgrade. It was challenging trying to fit all components into that tiny box and at the same time applying the inductor layout principle that Danny went over in one of his cable videos. I ended up building two boards for the crossover, one for the two tweeters and one for the woofer. I did run out of the wire provided for making the additional runs. I built one speaker first and compared it to the original. The original sounded pretty good until I put the upgraded speaker next to it. It made it sounds like a tin can with a muffled sound. Well, not to that degree but it was a night and day difference. I finished the second speaker last night and now enjoying them. The voices and string instruments are so clear. The bass seems less but I think because it is now clearer and not chuffing like before. I'm very happy with my work! Not Danny's. lol. This will satisfy my crave for the new Dynaudio Heritage Limited speakers which listed for $7000.

I have a set of these Sony speakers that sounded way too bassy and lacking in the midrange. So I went inside for a look. The woofer was getting far too much low end and not enough of the lower midrange where I could hear the silence. The super tweeter on both speakers was wired backwards! Fixed that problem. Took the notch filter at the woofer out. Took two layers of wire off the iron-core inductor and put them back together. Now they sound fantastic.! And that super tweeter can be heard now. The mids are there. The bass is still there. The highs are all there. And they don't sound soft and muffled by all that bass!

This is the kind of content I came here for. Great work 👍

Very nice video Mr Ritchie.. Nice call on using the larger dome as a notch (filler) driver!! Impressive filter design.. More meat, less snake oil! Thank you very much!

Great to see this find! Looking forward to the other upgrades!

I always get a feeling that some Sony engineers just build the stuff they want, and let the marketing and/or accounting figure out how to sell the thing... Not all of them of course, but enough to make life interesting...

yay! Back to speaker measurements and upgrades!! Just finished putting the rp600m XO together. Gonna listen to the speakers for a week before switching them out

My first speakers were Sony bookshelf 2ways, with a 1 inch tweeter and 5.25" woofer. They were $40 a pair. Paired to my entry level Denon back then, they sounded pretty damn good. I always told people Sony is thr value champion i speakers under $500, glad to see others giving them some love too.

Wow, discovering this channel is very fortunate. Thank you!

OH HELL YEAH! Mine were just delivered - looking forward to adding this kit.

What a great vid! I love finding these little DOODS with just a little love can punch waaaay up and above the belt

Just ordered the upgrade kit! Love the original CS5. It does everything very well. I cant wait to get my soldering iron out to improve it!

Looking good. Its cool to find a gen in the rough.

Good work sir! Love this channel!

Great work and channel. Would be fantastic to have a sound demo before and after alterations.

Great stuff! I love seeing people look more into the deep specs. I am currently upgrading to Arendal 1723s... BUT my current speakers are Paradigm monitor (3000F, 2000C, and Atoms for the rear, with a Defiance V10) which in my opinion is a steal for how they perform (I do have them hooked up to a NAD T758V3 with dirac which definitely helps). My point is people don't have to spend thousands for good sound. I have listened to the sony line you are using and I agree they are a great bang for the buck! Inexpensive doesn't always mean a "cheap" speaker. My monitor series didn't sound that much off at comfortable listening volumes from the step up "premiere" series at less than half the price! No doubt that the more you spend the more you will get, but is a fraction of sound better worth doubling or tripling the cost!?!? Then cost will get so high at some point you are just paying for Aesthetics and not Leaps and Bounds better sound quality. Just wish people would do more research about things instead of jumping into the first thing the salesman wants to throw at them.

Danny, another great video! Plus you get to keep the good poly-caps and air core inductors from the original crossover 🍒

Hi Danny, Thank you for your help with the installation of the upgraded parts for the small Sony speakers. This was an inexpensive foray into DIY, and it was a blast, with a few frustrations along the way! I wanted to comment on how the kit worked for me. I liked the sound of the Sony’s out-of-the-box, especially for a $100 pair of speakers. They were a bit “bright” and pushy in the mid and upper regions but acceptable and overall pleasant. After completing the upgrade for one speaker, I plugged it in and listened to it side by side with the remaining stock box. I was expecting a difference, but a subtle one. After all, how much can you tweak a small speaker like this? The differences were much larger than I would have imagined, and I went to work immediately on updating the second speaker. After completing that one, I have to say I was blown away. I purposely loaded up one of my favorite CDs that has always been fatiguing to listen to on any system I have used (INXS - Welcome to Wherever You Are). I have listened to this CD on some pretty decent hardware before, but at the higher volumes, it gets a bit overwhelming. With your kit in place, this was no longer the case. Details I had NEVER heard before were now evident, including some ghost notes by the drummer (I dabble in drumming) that were astounding. The sound was strong yet not muddled or overwhelming in any way. A remarkable difference. Further listening just strengthened this observation with other musical sources. Some of the things you and others discuss now make perfect sense; I heard what you talk about on your channel. Separation, speed, non-smearing of music, spatial cues, it was all there. Some music even sounded holographic in spots. It was a very strange yet extremely enjoyable experience! All this and the parts and the speakers are not even broken in yet. I truly could go on with how much difference there is with this upgrade kit, but I don’t want to make this too long. Suffice it to say I am impressed, very impressed, and extremely pleased with the result. You will certainly be getting more of my business in the future. Thank you, Danny.

I use these as surrounds in my HT. definitely may do this upgrade for the off axis response alone

This might just sound as my next DIY project. Cheap enough to practice my soldering before doing the Klipsch upgrade I kept postponing 😉

I have a set of these on my computer going out to an older denon amp and they sound really good as is.

Thanks again, Sensei!

I am glad I found this channel.

Thanks for another great video!!

danny this was a real shock to see this cheap speaker do that well it takes a master to extract that performance great job

Two years in a row Amazon has had the SS-CS5 for $73/pair between late Nov. and early Jan. I picked up a pair two years ago and then picked up a second pair about 5 months ago. Really love them. I used Equalizer APO the free parametric equalizer on my computer and fixed the peak and dip in response.. Thanks for posting the curves!

Danny. How about a shootout video of these modded Sonys and popular stock KEF LS50, LS3/5a or comparable, with commentary?! See how close it gets. If it gets anywhere close, ...

I'd love to see a pair of these updated pairs sent out to the other youtube reviewers to A / B .. .. guys like Jay Iyagi ... and over to Erin to run the Klippel on the before & After versions. Very interesting. HEY SONY !! .. Redesign these & make a v2

Well done Sir, just discovered you and Liked and Subscribed.

Great video - just bought them based on this review - what’s a good budget amp to pair them with ?

Ace stuff, Danny.

Crackin' good stuff Danny!

Lovei your attention to detail

Just picked the last pair they had at Best Buy and ordered your upgrade. Now to learn how to solder stuff...

Wow nice! That looks like a promising speaker

Would also really like to see how the SS-CS3 compares as it is almost identical but is floor standing and has two woofers. It is also larger so may resolve some of the cabinet space issues.

Would it be possible to create a video on how to measure speakers performance; which software you use, etc. ? thanks

I bought a pair when they were 74 for a pair in December, killer speakers for the money.

This would be a great first time speaker upgrade path for many of us. When I say many of us, those of us who have not used a solder iron in years, or the first time doing anything like this to anything kind of guy. Call it the "Confidence Kit", do one of these to the inexpensive Sony pairs and then say upgrade those SVS Ultra speakers you love so much, or order one of Danny's kits and build your own. I might just do this myself, it looks like a very fun and inexpensive project!

I got these Sony speakers on sale for 73 dollars for the pair on Amazon about a year ago. Best Buy puts them on sale for 75 dollars a pair fairly regularly. Usually Amazon and Best Buy put them on sale at the same time. They sound excellent.

Looking forward to hearing your views on the ATC SCM 19. Particularly the cabinet and crossover. Thanks

Good one! Thanks!

Ive always thought Sony was underrated in their speakers and headphones. Really good sound for amazingly low prices

How would you compare this set up to the Elac‘s Unifi 2.0, since they’re both around the $500 ballpark? By the way thanks for the videos absolutely love watching and absorbing your knowledge.

I feel like these Sony's would make great value and very sensible as surround speakers for a theatre setup. Particularly when their off axis response is so good after the upgrade.

I still have the Sony despite owning speakers that cost much much more. It’s cheap but it truly punches well above its weight. Just find that it lacks some weight in the sound but what can you say for that sort of price?

Waiting for the cable episode! Keep the good work Danny!

I picked up several pairs, only the 1st did I pay $118! Got pair with wire and banana plugs included for $99 through Worldwide! $68 were the cheapest, well worth that price! Prepandemic prices were real good.

Nice work on the Sony! I do have one general question. Why would you put a big and heavy inductor in the notch filter? Why not use a dental floss gauge inductor with high resistance and decrease the value of the actual resistor to get the same end result? Big air core inductors don't come cheap.

Wow. Great. Not sure if you are getting better or I am understanding it more.. or both. Fantastic

It's funny. That little sony reminds me of a very cheap "realistic" brand pair of speakers I had as a kid. I removed the thick as lead plastic mesh cloth grills, braced and sealed the sh!t out of the flimsy leaky press-board cabinets, upgraded the single electrolytic cap on the tweeter and they were some of the best sounding speakers I had ever heard. I didn't fully appreciate how good they were till I finally bought an expensive pair of other speakers and they didn't sound as good as my modified cheapos.

Great stuff!

When Danny says buy . . . watch out Best Buy!

would your kit work for sony ss-cs3 tower?

I have these Sonys with a Schiit Loki EQ. Very nice.

Great Danny , wonder if inductance should be placed horizontal or vertical , or may be combined, is it any issue that one inductance magnetic field mix with other one .

I'd love to see your take on a 3-way bookshelf speaker with the Silver Flute brand of woofer as the starting point. It's such a good and reasonably inexpensive driver. They have 5, 6.5 and 8 inch versions, but the 8-inch one is the ideal for 3-way designs since it can play low enough to essentially negate the typically required subwoofer that most bookshelf setups need to sound right.

I have my SONY SSCS5s connected to my Denon RCD-N10 streamer and a huge Behringer 2092A dual 8" subwoofer. I also use the SONY 7506 cans in studio and at home. Audio NIrvana...all on the cheap.

I know you have done an upgrade video on the Dynaudio Special 40, but have you done measurements on the Dynaudio Emit M20 speakers. I have a pair, and just curious on how they measure.

Danny I just picked up a pair of these and just looked to see if you had reviewed them. I’m curious, is the upgraded SS CS5 better than the base X LS Encore? Or should I send the Sonys back and order the Encores?

Do you do a video about assembling this? Any idea what wireless headphone you would recommend in the $100-$200.00 range ? Thanks. Thin walls at the house.

Looks good.

Do you plan on upgrading the klipsch 625fa dolby atmos speakers. I would be interested in that as I have a pair also how good are they at stock?

Would you please do a review on the Edifier Luna Eclipse as it is the only speaker I have heard lately and would like to use as a reference guide to what other products you review - Love your channel - Thanks

I love to see a collab with cheapaudioman. That is a pretty big upgrade to the Sony’s! Thanks Danny!

They often run on sale for $73, which makes the deal sweeter

The white speaker on the far left looks like a miniature washing machine! 😁 I am thinking of buying the Sony SS-SC5s a speakers for my 5.1 system. Nice and cheap.

Nice! Japanese engineers really know what they're doing. The insignia bookies of this decade?! I applied your upgrade kit to my pair of those and it's a huge improvement. I've had a pair of the floorstanding version of these (SS-CS3) for about a year and a half now and they're amazing for the money IMO. I got them on sale at $198 for the pair. I'd be interested in your thoughts on that version, and if you come out with an upgrade kit for it, I'd definitely be interested.

Just stumbled on your channel and I'm really digging it! Any chance I could ask to test a pair of Emotiva Airmotiv B1+ bookshelves? The reason I ask for those specifically is because they have an AMT at $250/pair (at the time of writing), which is normally unheard of.

I'm not a fan of speakers that requires the help of subwoofers or other separate "woofers" for a full range sound. That's why i'll never stop using floorspeakers. Maybe they don't dig down to 20Hz , but as long as they can make my livingroom table vibrate, i'm pleased.

These CS5's with the GR Research upgrades would make a fantastic budget surround sound system with matching speakers all around you. You could do a 9-speaker base layer with LCR, Wides, Sides, and Rears for less than $4k and only have to add a couple decent subwoofers and some inexpensive Atmos ceiling speakers...I bet a complete 9.2.4 speaker system could be done for under $7k.

I'd also love to see him take a look at two others: 1. Presonus Sceptre S8 or S6. 2. Dynaudio BM6a. Classics. Curious how impressed he'll be by #1 and how the response looks on #2. For a third I'd love to see him get a Focal 6be or Twin be. These are the top speakers in my book.

Man I hope someone at Sony is listening ! I'd buy a set after your fix !!!

It appears you used the stock frequency response graph (~1:44 in the video) for the upgraded frequency response graph (~7:10). I assume the composite frequency response graph (~6:20) red line is the correct upgraded one?

Per your review I actually bought a set of these. They look like ants sitting on my LaScallas “you love so much” lol. Haven’t had anything but Klipsch Heritage in years. I was impressed!

ALWAYS AWESOME DANNY 'BOY !

Would love to see you do the Polk Monitor 70 as well as the CS2 Series 11 Center Channel

Danny what about B&W HTM61 LCR speaker, the speaker was shown in previous videos it was in right corner of the video. I'm curious, thanks

What sub $300 speakers measure the best? Polk, Micca,Sony?

Blind listening tests. Way to go! Danny is always entertaining, regardless.

Hey Danny thinking about buy this upgrade, would it benefit to do internal bracing in the cabinet ? or rebuild the box to same specs in 3/4 mdf ?

Nice video! Does the upgrade kit you sell come with instructions? I was expecting to see how you put in the components and do the upgrades in the video but apparently this video doesn't cover that part.

Can you put the crossovers in a .... cigar box ? and mount it on the back of the speaker box .

I just want to say that your channel is awesome! Have you inspected the Polk R200's by any chance?

Are you going to offer a replacement crossover and binding post option? Would definitely purchase with that upgrade option. 😀👍

Did you get your hands on those ATC scm19v2?

You are a genius!!!!

Can the kit be used to effectively modify the SSCS3 standing version of these speakers?

This morning Amazon finally confirmed a delivery date of these Sony's (which took them about 11 weeks). So I just placed the order for the upgrade. Looking forward to my first speaker upgrade (a practice run really). If I like it, who knows I will upgrade my Klipsch'es. Hope you can ship soon Danny!

It would be interesting to see how you could improve the emotiva line of speakers, the b1+ are praised for their clarity and I just got a pair, and I am blown away. Wondering if there's a plan to test these in the future?

Hey Danny how much is a pair of crossovers for the Sony sscs5s? I wanted to ask you a question about these. Do you think this will be pretty universal the xovers that you made for the sonys? I guess I am asking if you took 10 pairs of speakers would this be the same outcome across the board. Thank you for doing these videos. Man I thought I knew a little bit about speakers and I was definitely wrong... Lol

Glad to see another speaker upgrade! This little guy has some pretty good bones, and I know Randy at CheepAudioMan has been quite positive about them, esp for their base price. I wonder what he'd think about the upgrades? 👀

Im not a savvy electronics engineer. Do you sell already assembled parts for these speakers, so all I have to do is install it?