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Cerwin vega

Back then, brick-and-mortar audio stores were a reality. They weren't without their problems though, from what I was told: the salesmen would crank the bass tone control as needed to sell speakers.
 
I had a system with five XLS 215's in 2015 and it was awesome for home theater.
I modified one XLS 215 to be a center / base for my TV!
 

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Used to own a pair of D9's that I modded a bit cabinet wise and crossover wise with a refoam. Sounded pretty to good to my ears, wish I still had them actually.
 
Back in the 1980s a friend had the larger 3 way 'bookshelf' CVs, I coveted them greatly.

of course we were 17 and all we listened to was Rock, or maybe if we were adventurous, Blues Rock. Actually not much has changed there.

I was looking just recently to buy the latest version of them for my A/V set up, but the nearest dealer to the UK is in Paris.

I don't understand why it is so hard to buy American speakers in the UK? It is the same with JBL.
 
I saw an advertisement for sale of handcrafted speaker stands, found them beautiful and went to get them.
At the house of the gentleman who was selling them to me, I saw that two large Cerwin Vega R10s were sitting on them, with a 1979 label, recondition and with the cloth redone. They were really beautiful, I imagined them playing acdc at full volume in the bedroom of a twenty year old in the early 80s.
I listened to them and the sound was just what I expected, nothing remotely hifi but "full" and satisfying. I added 100 euros to the 50 of the supports and I took them home, if I had to have a party I would know what to use
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I 'Toured' for many years with a PA comprising various Cerwin Vega components and Cabinets and apart from how good the various cabinets were, as a 'Roadie' I could truly appreciate how Light and well made they were (well, in relative terms), compared to how heavy many other systems were, then And now.
There were some 2-way cabinets we used as Side-Fill that sounded amazing, as well as some very capable Small Floor Monitors (Wedges), that were exceptional.

I particularly liked the Bass Cabinets as seen in this pic:
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They 'Coupled extremely well when Stacked and Whilst Only used occasionally Outdoors, the Servo driven 'Earthquake' subs, were extraordinary and worked very well, if but a bit heavy :)
I clearly remember Marty from "The Church", exclaiming happily (the first time I did Stage Monitors for them with the CV system), that it was The First time he had heard his Harmonies with Peter, since they had been together LOL

"Party Speaker" Domestically perhaps but Professionally, they had some exceptionally good components.
 
I retailed Cerwin Vega for a couple of years. It sold well to the intended customers it was designed for. Loud and Proud! :D The D9 sold very well for a ~$1200 speaker of the day.
Frequency Response29Hz-20kHz
Power Handling (RMS/Peak)350 watts
Sensitivity (1W/1M)101 dB
Nominal Impedance (ohms)
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I had a pair of those home wreckers when I was 16 years old. Super efficient.
I was not aware of room placememnt, imaging, etc. They did play Run DMC very well, however.
 
I have a pair of ve-5M that I use for computer desktop speakers. Like that they are compact and fit nicely on my desk.
 
Why Doesn't anybody remember Cerwin Vega?View attachment 256346
Probably because the "private home models" got slightly worse and more plastic styled for each generation after the famous Cerwin-Vega AT100 (that I have) and the model that came directly after, with the same superiour tweeter...

Mine (in the photo below) did offer 28 to 28000hz within +4db-8db, 101db/Watt/meter handle 400 watt continusly and 1200 watt peak, with less than 0.5% distortion at 96db and can play 127db continusly... But they sound especially more brilliant at very low volumes, probably because the very strong magnet systems look the membrane to the signal... But then did I also modify mine to TMT configuration...

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I have a pair of AT-15s that I found abandoned under an apartment building around 2006. The cabinets are a wee bit rough, but they are fine for my shop. I had the woofers refoamed shortly after I found them and then redid them myself a few years ago. I'm currently driving them with a Denon receiver, but will eventually change to the HK670 with DAC we discussed.
Your AT-15 can be the simple version (with the same elements) of the AT-100 model I have (see photos just above) which got finer box'es and filters made by Dali in Denmark!
 
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I had a pair of D-somethings (12" woofers) and they were great party speakers. Loud and thumping without much amp power. When I went to Sound Advice and heard a pair of NHT 2.5i, I immediately bought the NHTs and gave the CVs to my (soon to be ex) girlfriend. We used to have many concert nights. Stevie Ray sounded awesome...
 
CVs were awesome for that. I don't think I ever saw blown drivers (plenty of blown fuses). A few chewed up foam woofer surrounds from mice and small dogs. Great value party speakers.
Restorer John, I fixed a bunch of Big Cerwin Vegas back near 30 years ago. I finally got up from my workbench and went to the counter and talked to a few guys who had blown CVs. These were the big 12 and 15 inch models. They all said to a man, that they hooked up the speakers outside for a lawn party. I asked, what kind of amp do you have and they used plain jane 75 or 100 watt receivers (90s era) and turned them up all way and left them that way. Well our old friend (for repair guys!) constant clipping came and burned and melted the voice coils. I then told them to get a lot more power and don't turn them up to the max and they would last a lot longer. Those were the days. those speakers could play loud and long with enough power. Just no clipping. I also asked out of curiosity, how long did they play before they quit? They lasted from 30 minutes to an hour. But, I did enjoy putting brand new CV drivers back in. Easy money. ;)
 
CV reminds me of the big box store days like highland and Circuit City where a huge wall was lined up with like speakers and comparable prices. The big CV's always sounded best in those huge rooms.
 
CV sensurround the front sub located in front of the front row at the Empire leicester square london , i guess picture was taken around 1975 for earthquake

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poster in my hallway would of course be for CV and sensurround system feel the bass ( generated )

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Cerwin Vega is a somewhat sad story. I was introduced to the company in the '80s, when it produced very good and equally reliable pro audio enclosures. From the beginnings until around the end of the 1970s, the company made a serious effort in the home HiFi market with designs that were truly innovative at the time, such as the 12TR, with its 12" downward firing woofer, dhorm, ambience tweeter. and with an attractive furniture-like aesthetic. These are still around and fairly collectible if in good condition.


12TR Brochure 2.jpg



Perhaps the last gasp of reaching for a more upscale clientele with innovative design was the stately 2000 series, launched in 1985 and now a collector rarity:


2000 Series Brochure 3.jpg



Unfortunately, Cerwin Vega's other 80s-90s models consisted of mostly redundant SKUs with no real innovation, each being the same basic dimensions and layout, with slightly rejiggered combinations of familiar drivers and changed crossovers. This was done ostensibly to give each distribution channel its own line to avoid self-competition.

By 2002, the overwhelmingly top heavy company was bankrupt and rescued by Stanton, who hired the late Bill Bush, formerly of Audio Research and NHT, to create the CLSC and later the revised CLS series. As can be seen in the Soundstage measurements in the article posted previously, he did a fine job with the acoustics, but that relationship ended with the onset of "The Great Recession."

CV was recently bought by its more successful car audio namesake and is producing very decent home audio speakers (e.g. LA Series) that feature modern acoustical design with good build quality and hardware for the money.
 
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