Cerwin Vega Anyone?

I owned Cerwin Vegas years ago, but I never thought that they sounded good. I also don't think they are the same quality of years ago. But that said, why do you want these? Have you listened to them? I mean if you like them and they sound good to you, then get them, but I think there are many better speakers out there such as Klipsh and Energy.

Do you not like the Energy/Jamo speaker, that you bought?

I'm still running a set of the E-15's I bought like 15 years ago and they still sound great. I love them almost as much as the first day I hooked them up. If you add a sub to them you get even better sound. I just ordered a Klipsche RW-12D last night to replace the lower end sub I have been running and can't wait to add it to the system.

CV speakers have always gotten a bit of a bad rep in audiophile circles because the bass is "muddy" or "loose" but I've never had any problems witht he sq from mine at all. I grew up putting big bass systems in trucks and I guess my listening habits are a little boomier than the average ap. That said, I've never heard a system that sounded as good to me that was less than $10k. The only drawback to them is of course the size of the cabinets.

Yeah, there is something to be said about the classic 3-way using large woofers. I certainly enjoyed my first pair of LS-12's I bought back in the mid 90's. I bought another pair in the mid 00's and there was something not quite right with them. I still have them, but haven't powered them up in years.

Yep, particularly for fans of stereo-only systems.

I've realized many people here and on other forums are only 30 years and younger and have literally never heard such systems, IMO partly due to influence from the advertising from a certain well-known speaker company based in the northeast, that implies that anything larger than a 2-way standmount with a 5.25" woofer is considered "huge" and/or "old-fashioned". Nope, to me and I am sure many other experienced audio hobbyists, they are not huge nor are they old-fashioned. There is something to be said for a speaker system that doesn't need to be integrated by the user i.e. a subwoofer and a pair of sats, because all the integration has already been done by the speaker's designer back in the lab. I've heard plenty of systems that sound like a pair of sats....and a subwoofer........but not an actual system.*

So for music at least or for people who don't need bone rattling sub-30Hz bass, I believe a pair of speakers with a 10", 12" or larger woofer can work out great. Plus, there are two sources of low bass in such a system, which is what many people recommend for the best sat+sub HT systems for a more even response throughout a room (though I'll admit this is theory on my part because dual-sub systems are usually set-up with SFX bass in mind, not music bass which usually only reaches to the upper 30s). Not to mention the fact they don't need to try to find a stereo receiver that includes a true bass management system, and Outlaw Audio's receiver is the only one available that I know of that does. FYI: unfortunately the presence of a subwoofer output does not mean a management system is also included.



* while a sat+sub system has the potential for sounding better than a pair of large floorstanders, to get that to happen means the owner has to do some rather intensive tweaking i.e. crossover choice, phase setting, level setting and moving the sub around the room (though except for the last item, admittedly automatic room speaker configuration systems have pretty much taken care of these issues). A pair of floorstanders also require moving around but you know what, since most don't reach nearly as low as the average sub, personally I've found this to not be a problem, so they end up being relatively easier to set up & still produce some great bass and accurate stereo imaging.

I think large floorstanders get an undeserved reputation for boomy & sloppy bass, not because they are inherently defective but because so many of them get shoved against a wall or worse, crammed into a corner, two of the absolute worst locations for a full range speaker & which usually happens due to decorating issues.

I to had Cerwins back in the early 90's, so did a few friends. Looking back, they sounded good at that time and at the same time they were the speakers to have, but with todays technology and new designs, I would look at other options!

Problem with cheap speakers like that is they lack the refinement people around here expect. Chances are the woofer and mid are both run full range with no crossover, and the tweeter only has a cap and lpad on it.

Now it's possible CV does more crossover work given the price premium they charge over similar speakers, of it could just be the name.

http://www.amazon.com/BIC-AMERICA-RT...815546&sr=1-11

No thanks. Been there, done that.

Actually, I have no experience with the exact model you posted about so I can't really comment directly but I have owned 3-way CVs and a CV passive sub. Both were terrible sounding. Hated them. Had to resist the temptation to use them as target practice. End up giving them all away (and felt bad doing that to someone).

For the most part - Cerwin Vegas have tended to sound, somewhat out of phase
to me - somewhat boomy and muddy, and lacking in resolution.

I remember them being called the "party speaker" of the late 90s/early 2000...what they lack in clarity/crispness, they made up for in volume!

Cheap speakers? Might want to check what CV is charging for them, especially the CLS and XLS models. Not to mention what they weigh. And refinement is a subjective issue - there are some brands here that are constantly touted but drive me up the wall because of their overabundance of "accuracy".


IMO those chances are VERY low because: 1) I've never personally seen a CV without a 12dB/octave crossover i.e. resistors/capacitors/inductors but especially 2) you cannot build a speaker that can withstand that much power and produce those higher sound levels like most CVs (vs. similarly sized speakers) without using full crossovers.

As I've mentioned before here, I have a very strong feeling the only time most people get to hear Cerwins is:

* at a party with people standing in front of them
* the speakers are stuck in the corners - BAD location for any speaker - to make room for the people at said party
* the receiver's bass and treble is maxed out (drunk people tend to do this a lot!), making for an overabundance of those frequencies i.e. boominess and tizziness
* receiver is being operated near it limits i.e. clipping is occurring, a particularly nasty sounding type of distortion

I'll admit CV's advertising doesn't instill much confidence but since I used to sell them (their lower priced stuff), I've been able to hear them properly set up and personally I don't think they are the awful p.o.s. speakers so many audiophiles make them out to be.

Speaking of audiophiles, those that only have heard them improperly set up may want to read these two full reviews conducted in the last few years of the better series of Cerwins......by audiophile publications:

Cerwin-Vega CLS-215 Loudspeakers by Soundstage.com

CLS-215 test by A/V Guide (the HT arm of The Absolute Sound magazine, probably one of the pickiest publications around when it comes to sound)

BTW there are smaller versions of the above, with dual eights and single 12" and 15" woofers, now called the XLS series.

The speakers the OP linked are $500 pr for a floorstanding 12" 3-way. That's comparatively cheap to anything besides speakers like the bic I linked. The higher end models aren't relevant to anything I said, and I freely admitted I was guessing about their design.

Gotcha. I wasn't sure what level of "cheap" you were referring to.

BTW these may be priced rather low relatively-speaking since I have yet to see these for sale in a brick-n-mortar store i.e. they're basically an internet-only product though I admit a five minute web search isn't exactly thorough (a couple years ago I couldn't find them for sale anywhere except for the big J&R Music store in Manhattan). Plus large speakers like this are very politically INcorrect these days, so they cannot charge as much for them as they could before sat+sub systems became so popular.

We have those exact speakers in the workout room at my work. Don't let any of these guys poo poo CV stuff. Sure they aren't the best but they are still pretty decent for $500. If you are planning on getting a sub at any point, you may want to look at something else but if you're only going to get 2 speakers, you could do a lot worse for a lot more money!

Have fun picking out your new gear!

Well, I'm still an old school speaker fan; I got into Home Theater about 7 years ago after many years of collecting/buying/selling vintage stereo equipment. My basement theater room is totally DIY, so it still includes some of the equipment I acquired during my collecting days, including my speakers... I suppose since I'm over 50 my ears are not so finely tuned to "refined" audio anymore - too many years of that loud party music, I guess... lol.

Anyway, my theater features a pair of vintage Cerwin Vega 380SE speakers as my front mains, driven by a QSC MX-2000a pro audio amp @ 650 wpc . The "SE" stands for Special Edition, an upgraded series that CV released, with cloth surrounds on the drivers (which don't rot out) and an attractive black felt front face. I also have a vintage pair of Infinity SM-152 floor standers as my rears, driven by a fairly vintage Carver Premier 705a multichannel @ 200 wpc - all four speakers use 15" drivers. I just prefer the sound and the "feel" of big speakers with large drivers - lol, just take a look at my subs, if you don't believe me...!







Older pics from a few years ago, long before the Tropical Storm Lee flood took out all my carpeting last fall...

^ Wow, that's really nice Frey!

That looks like my clr-2002 atop my subwoofer. Except you have it in a single box !!!

My experience with CV is that they can play very loud. Guess that is why they call themselves "The LOUD Speaker Company".

Frey Theater looks like fun!

Yes, they can play pretty loud - the 380SE are rated at 400 watts RMS continuous, 1000 watt peak. I'm also using a QSC Powerlight PL-218 amp bridged at 1800 watts to drive the dual 18" sub enclosure, and the Nuonic 15" sub on top has a built-in 1000 watt amp. Plus there are three Clark Transducers mounted under the sofa seats for some nice butt-shaking action during movies, driven by a 450 watt Crown amp... So yes, with almost 5,000 watts of amplifier available, my theater can be somewhat fun...!

You should experience a Concert Blu or DVD cranked-up in the theater sometime... chest-thumping, just like being there, lol!

+1

I have a pair of Cerwin Vega 380SE's that I picked up rather cheap (150.00 for the pair). I bought them from an older gentlemen who never really used them. They are in fantastic shape and believe they have never been driven hard. Looking for a powerful amp but for now they are hooked up to a Pioneer SA-6500 amp. All my music is on my computer using the ASUS Xonar Essence STX sound card and AIMP3 player. A little tweaking and I must say it sounds rather nice. A more powerful amp would be nice but in no rush. Being an older guy loud music just doesn't work for me any more, mind you I have gave them some juice! Honey, nail the pictures down and put the good china away.