Sony SS-S550
A floorstanding tower from Sony's 4-way lineup, built heavy, with a spec sheet that means business
Overview
The Sony SS-S550 isn't flashy. It's a floor-standing speaker system from an era when Sony wasn't chasing design awards. They were building gear that could handle serious power and deliver full-range sound. It's a 4-way, 4-speaker system, which was no small feat for its time, with dedicated drivers stacked to cover the whole audio spectrum. At ¥37,500 around 1983, it wasn't budget gear, but it wasn't positioned as a flagship either. It sat somewhere in the middle of Sony's speaker range, for listeners who wanted more than a bookshelf pair could offer.
The physical presence is the first thing you notice: 785mm tall, 360mm wide, 330mm deep, and 16kg per cabinet. These aren't speakers you casually move around. The enclosure is bass-reflex, which helps extend low-end response without bloating the cabinet size too much. The 30 cm woofer handles the bottom end and feeds into a 12 cm midrange driver, then a 6.5 cm high-midrange unit, and finally a solid-state tweeter for the highs. That solid-state tweeter is unusual. Most speakers of this era used dome or horn tweeters, but Sony went their own way here, possibly aiming for durability or a different dispersion pattern. Whether it pays off sonically is something owners might debate.
It's rated at 8 Ω impedance, which makes it compatible with a wide range of receivers and amplifiers from the period. The 92dB/W/m sensitivity is solid. It's not class-leading, but it's high enough that the speaker won't demand heroic power to get loud. Rated maximum input is 75W, with an instantaneous max of 150W, so it can handle dynamic peaks, assuming your amp plays nice. The frequency response spans 35 Hz to 20,000 Hz on paper. Real-world performance will depend heavily on room placement and the condition of the drivers today.
There's no info on where this model sits in Sony's lineup, what it replaced, or what came after it. There are no reviews, no marketing context and no anecdotes about who used them or why they were designed this way. All that's left is the hardware: a four-driver tower with a reflex port, built to last.
Specifications
| Manufacturer | Sony |
| Product type | 4-way floor speaker system |
| System type | 4-Way, 4-Speaker, Bass Reflex System, Floor Type |
| Woofer | 30 cm cone type for low band |
| Midrange | 12 cm cone type for middle and low band |
| High-midrange | 6.5 cm Cone Type for Middle and High Range |
| Tweeter | Solid State Type for High Frequency |
| Playback frequency band | 35 Hz to 20000 Hz |
| Output sound pressure level | 92dB/W/m |
| Impedance | 8 Ω |
| Instantaneous maximum input | 150W |
| Rated maximum input | 75W |
| Crossover frequency | 2 kHz, 12 kHz |
| External dimensions | Width 360x Height 785x Depth 330 mm |
| Weight | 16kg |
| Attachment | Speaker cord |
Similar items on eBay
No exact Sony ss-s550 listings are live right now — these searches show current Sony and similar vintage audio gear on eBay:
As an eBay Partner, we earn from qualifying purchases. This helps support our independent vintage technology research.
Related Models
- Sony STR 202 (1972)
- Sony STR 6000 (1973)
- Sony STR 6450 (1973)
- Sony STR 6500 (1973)
- Sony STR 6550 (1970)
- Braun AUDIO-1 (1965)
- Braun AUDIO-250 (1965)
- Magnavox Component Systems (1972)
- Acoustic Research AR (1967-1976)
- Acoustic Research 11