Need help/advice to set up Sony SS-WS551

[kefka]

Hi all,

I've inherited a Sony 5.1 speaker system and digital amp from some friends who have moved to another country, but am pretty clueless as to how to set it all up.

The subwoofer model is SS-WS551 and the amp is a Sony S-Master 5.1ch Full Digital Amplifier (model HCD-S880)... it also appears to be a DVD player.
Edit: Upon further Googling, it appears that the whole package comes under the model number of DAV-S880 - http://getmanual.ru/manuals/compo/sony/dav-s550_s880.pdf

These photos show everything that I've inherited, and the plug of the amp/dvd player.
http://daftjunk.com/sony001.jpg
http://daftjunk.com/sony003.jpg

My main questions are:

1. The speakers appear to be missing the front bits (don't know what they're called, but you can see them in the manual) - is this a problem or dealbreaker?
2. The amp has a British plug, but I'm in Australia - Is it likely to be a problem if I just get a plug adaptor? The label on the amp says 220-240V, 50/60Hz 135W
3. What types of wires/cables, etc, would I need to get it all set up? The speakers have the usual pair of clips to feed the ends of wires into, and the amp has sockets for plugs. All looks pretty simple, really...
4. Is it worth doing? I'm not really an audiophile, but if it's a half decent set of equipment, then I'm happy to use it.

Any info or advice very much appreciated

 

[Don Dadda]

• The speakers appear to be missing the front bits (don't know what they're called, but you can see them in the manual) - is this a problem or dealbreaker?
• The amp has a British plug, but I'm in Australia - Is it likely to be a problem if I just get a plug adaptor? The label on the amp says 220-240V, 50/60Hz 135W
• What types of wires/cables, etc, would I need to get it all set up? The speakers have the usual pair of clips to feed the ends of wires into, and the amp has sockets for plugs. All looks pretty simple, really...
• Is it worth doing? I'm not really an audiophile, but if it's a half decent set of equipment, then I'm happy to use it.

Any info or advice very much appreciated

Hi and welcome Kefka

1) The bit that is missing is the speaker grill. More for protection than sound and will have no effect on function or what you will be hearing from the speakers.
2) I believe the voltage in Aus is the same as in britain -240v, so an adaptor is fine or change the cable if detatchable.
3)The unit should of come with speaker cables like these but they seem to be missing. Just get some cheap speaker wire and banana plugs like these
4) is it worth doing? Personally - it's not for me, but If don't want to buy a new system then maybe. It will do a job, but do not expect anything great from it. The speakers looks like they do not yield much quality and will just create a sound. However, it will not cost much for cheap speaker cable and banana plugs to get it going and see for yourself.

 

[kefka]

Thanks muchly for the reply

I'll look into getting some speaker wire and plugs!
Should I go to any particular kind of shop for them? I've seen massive differences in cable costs between music/entertainment stores, general electronics stores, hardware stores...

Obviously the quality would vary, but I'm no audiophile so anything that will do a half decent job is fine for me and I'd prefer to avoid the massive markup that some specialised shops slip in there.

 

[Don Dadda]

If you have Aussie version of the likes of below will do. Probably your music/entertainment stores your mentioned is the same type of shop.

Richer Sounds
Superfi

JBH hifi seems a similar store to the ones above so you could start there if there is a store near or reasonable distance to you

I think £1- £2 per meter is enough on speaker cable to get you going. You may be able to get the plugs there too

 

[kefka]

Sorry to bump an old thread like this - I never got around to sorting out the speaker cables!
They've proven to be quite difficult to source at a reasonable price.

How viable would it be to just use the speakers and buy another box to connect them to - one which uses standard wiring/plugs that I can pick up anywhere nice and cheap?

This is starting to sound like a better and better idea since the digital amp / dvd player does not support HDMI...

If this is a viable/good plan, what would people recommend getting? I have no other boxes beneath my TV at the moment - no DVD/Bluray/console/amp, etc. I guess it would be handy to have a DVD/Bluray player combined with whatever I need to get the speakers sorted out...

 

[formbypc]

Jaycar Electronics - Better. More Technical.

Prod code WB1754 - $1.70 per metre; is this too expensive?

 

[kefka]

Did you read the original post? The problem is the Sony specific plugs.
If you can find the full set of them with cables for under $ 50 AU including shipping I'm all ears

 

[formbypc]

I thought 'sockets for plugs' was generated by the forum software, not your link. I only looked at the two pics showing the speakers and mains plug. I see what you mean now.

I'd be looking for something similar to the banana sockets shown on this page, and see if I could rig something up that fits the Sony sockets without being made by them - either that or open the back panel of the amp unit and hard-wire the cable, bypassing these sockets.

 

[Ben Jammin]

I don't understand what special requirement there is?

If you are getting another box i wouldn't bother with the speakers and you would still need to buy speaker wire anyway

 

[kefka]

Yeah, a friend suggested/offered to pull it apart and rewire the sockets / hard wire things - might take him up on that... if it fails then plan B was to get a new box anyhow.

Ben Jammin:
The problem with the current box is that the sockets to plug in all the speakers require special proprietary Sony plugs, rather than the standard clamps or bananas. These plugs, either on their own or with the cable, are a pain to obtain and are way more expensive than they should be.

The speakers themselves are decent enough (remembering that I'm no audiophile), and they have the standard red and white wire clamp connectors, so if I get another box then I should be able to use them no problem with more commonly available cable/plugs. I'm expecting to buy the cable regardless, it's the plugs at the amp/dvd player end that are the problem.

 

[kefka]

Looking further into the option of rewiring/modifying the sockets, here are a couple of pics of them from up close, inside and out. Any suggestions based on this?

http://daftjunk.com/sonyplug003.jpg
http://daftjunk.com/sonyplug004.jpg

The plugs appear to be a solid plastic block clipped to the PCB (seemed quite hard to remove, so I didn't try too much), with thin bits of metal leading to each connection...

Looks like it should be more than possible to sort something out. At the moment, I'm leaning towards making some replacement plugs rather than ripping stuff up inside the box. Will take it to an electronics store and see what we can figure out.