Cerwin Vega fans. You favorites? Least favorites?

As a fan since the mid 70's I will concede that some (many?) sound terrible, but some do sound fantastic. I have not heard them all. My favorites are the 311p and the 29p. Least favorite are the AT series and the VS series. The D series is pretty good at least for the D-3.
Has anyone else given any CV's a critical listen with actual good (tube?) equipment? Or done any cabinet/crossover upgrades? Or both?

 

Wow, takes me back. I had some B.I.C.'s which were contemporaries. Vintage stuff for sure. These kind of speakers literally "rocked"
the little house I lived in, back in the mid-70's.

 

I had the VS 120’s in my youth.
Used them for parties and movies mainly (pre audiophile days). They sounded good at the time and I loved the look.
Found some for sale in a record store the other day, brought back fond memories.

 

always hated all their offerings. Sorry.

 

A very strange approach to building speakers .Often no crossover on the woofer ,lots of overlap between the woofer and midrange and midrange and tweeter and very often minimal damping of the cabinet.

 

" Hated " is pretty strong and definite. There must be some good reason(s)? Like I say most do not sound good, but some sound fantastic given good equipment is driving them.

 

My first speakers were Cerwin-Vega R123. They were advertised as "Receiver Savers", because they were so efficient, you could buy a cheap, low power amp, and they would still play LOUD. They were also Cerwin-Vega's speaker advertised for classical music and jazz. At that time, Cerwin-Vega 3-way speakers, with 12" woofers, were the best sounding speakers I could find at the mass-market stores. 2-ways were lacking in the mid-range, and 15" models had too much bass.

I still have them. They still have the beautiful real-walnut veneer, and they still sound very good with my little 15 wpc Marantz receiver. They sound clean and clear, powerful in the low bass but not overly so, and they sound as good VERY LOUD as they do at low volume.

I have never even tried hearing them with high-end electronics. If you can find a pair of R-123, T-12 or S-1 in good condition, like mine, I think they are very sane speakers, that sound good with a wide variety of music. Their high-efficiency give them a liveliness and dynamic quality that than many sealed speakers (acoustic suspension) from that time period, such as Boston Acoustics and Advent, didn't have.

Sorry, you just have to capitalize LOUD, when you are writing about Cerwin-Vega speakers.

 

I wish that I could explain just why every friend that I ever knew who had Cerwin Vega speakers, which always impressed me, but I never felt strongly enough about them to ever buy a pair for myself?

 

I thought they were fun and a great speaker to rock out or blast loud for a half hour or so, but obviously targeted away from things such as Imaging, smooth and detailed and all that audiophile stuff most of us tend to want.
A great party speaker, the ones I heard, but not horrible at all, simply voiced to do loud and forward more than laid back and detailed.

IMHO Deep bass was always a bit lacking, but the ones I heard could "pound" out bass in the 50-100hz range for sure.

 

They were a good “starter” speaker for my 21 year old self back in the day and fostered my first pride in ownership feeling for audio equipment.
Acoustic memory being what it is, I just remember them being a great party speaker and pretty good (early) home theater speaker.
I remember we (my buds) nearly all had them, and one buddy had a two channel vcr based home theater with them, we watched Return of the Jedi on them (high as kites) and my mind was blown by the bass of Jaba’s giant door opening for Luke. Wow haven’t thought of that in years. He had NAD equipment.

 

In hindsight, the Cerwin Vega's that I've heard, kind of remind me of large Advents. Sure, they are loud and they can rock, but they just don't have that sweeter mid range that my Klipsch Chorus speakers deliver, especially now that I've found the "warmth" of tube amplification, which is like night and day to me now, versus solid state.

 

Cool, man I would love to hear some hooked to my rig now for sure. It would be a blast and interesting to see what they can do. Got a soft spot for them Vegas for sure.

 

You've heard all of their offerings? Wow! That's a lot of them.

 

Agreed on most models. Especially the AT series(awful!). Have you heard the 311p ? Mine have had crossover upgrades and actually a Pioneer mid-range installed. Great warm mids that my tube equipment pushes well. Huge cabinets that are vented with a transmission line type of duct instead of the common round port.

 

Yes strange may be a good definition. My 311p have had the crossovers reworked. Not by me I'm an engine builder, but not an electronic tech. Also the mids were thrown out in favor of some Pioneer 5" ferrofluid units. I'm not sure how the crossovers were modded, but they made a huge imporvement.

 

Myself, I've owned 2 pair of Cerwin Vega D-7 speakers...and I still love them. They handle everything type of music that I play. The bass is tight and full...not at all boomy. They reproduce very nice mid and high frequency sounds that sound natural to me. That said I think that after these series they really started going downhill in quality.

 

I honestly don't have a clue just which models of Cerwin Vega speakers that I've heard through the years, I just remember what they sounded like. I'll have to ask my friend Bob what model he has, as they were still a part of his surround home theater the last time I visited his house, although he has since re-married and moved, so he may have finally bought something new? Wives don't like large speakers and he seems to do whatever she wants to keep her happy, so I'm fearful that those Vega's are gone and he now has something silly, like those little Bose cubes!

 

Cerwin Vegas were the speakers I wanted in college but couldn’t afford. Finding a set of D3s on the side of the road a number of years back was what got me into the audio hobby.

I really liked the D3.

 

Yes I think the D-3 models are some of the better sounding CV. I have had the D1 for a number of years and it is so-so. What I would like to hear is the D2 model . I was told they sound great, but need to hear for myself. One of the larger 2-ways that sounds fantastic is my 29p.

 

I started with the E-312’s, and loved them. Great bass! Not refined or defined bass, but powerful bass. Even response between the mids and highs as well. Fun speakers for sure. Easily worth the cost. I now use Klipsch Cornwalls, so I obviously am very satisfied, but I would give the CV’s a solid 7.5 out of 10, and I won’t sell them, as they soon to become part of a home theater I am planning for my basement.

 

I have some 317p Hardrockers that I really like.Just got some D5 that need a woofer recone.What I really want is a pair of D9.All early-mid 1980s.

 

UPDATE ... I asked my friend if he still had his Cerwin Vega's and he does, they are D5's and he said that he re-foamed them himself, just a few years ago.

 

That is cool you were able to hear them all and was able to form that opinion. You should be proud.

 

I always thought of them as party speakers. I usually heard them played and ear splitting levels at someone’s party. They were good for that but I never gave them a fair hearing.

They were a poor man’s JBL. I remember Stereophile gave one of CV’s top of the line products a pretty good review about 10 or 12 years ago.

 

I can remember coming across a sale on Cerwin Vega speakers when I was in university. They had been priced incorrectly; the leading digit was missing so they were priced at $99 a pair, instead of something like $499. Don't remember the model but they were good size floor standers. Anyhow, seeing an opportunity, I loaded up my car (a '73 Mercury Montego Mx Brougham!) with as many pairs as would fit, and sold them all within a week for a price that was still great for the buyers, but which netted me a over a grand on the quick flip. I used one pair for that week as a demo. They sounded ... like Cerwin Vegas.

I actually still own two Cerwin Vega products (both bought new years ago on Boxing Day): an HT-CTR centre channel speaker (in storage) that pairs up very well with other higher efficiency speakers, and a very capable (in the low-price / small system category) LW-10 subwoofer which has been out on loan for quite some time. (I have way more used gear than storage space, so I have several stereo and surround systems worth of gear out on loan to friends an family at any given time, rather than having it crammed into my basement storage.)

Jeff