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SyntheticDream · « **on:** 5 Jan 2005, 08:20 am »

Well Im still lookin around at audio setups and ive come to a dillema... i was at my friends house the other day and he started to crank up some old speakers that his parents were about to throw out.. then i noticed they were an old pair of cerwin vega re 25's. i got interested cause they sounded awesome to my still untrained ear and they were being powered by a real crappy source.. i have pretty much decided on the Harmon Kardon 3380 receiver advised to me by JLM, but my speaker choice is still up in the air.. the ascend acoustics cbm 170 and a dayton sub are a little more costly than the cerwin vega re's if i could find them used.. ive read they are real house shakers and was wondering what anyone on here had to say about them. also any thoughts on cerwin's newer models?

Thanks
Walker

meilankev · « **Reply #1 on:** 5 Jan 2005, 12:12 pm »

Walker,

I haven't seen or heard any Cerwin-Vega speakers in over 20 years. Their reputation (back in the day) was that of being great Rock-n-Roll speakers but with limited finesse. However, I always thought they sounded better than what the audio-snob crowd gave them credit for. Of course, "dynamics" is higher on my list of priorities than a lot of folks (my second system back in 1977 was built around large 3-way horn speakers).

Honestly, if you are getting a good deal on these speakers and you really like how they sound, this is a no-brainer. Buy them; put them in your system; try them out for a couple of months. If, at that point, the luster has worn off, and you no longer like how they fit - dump them. It's unlikely you will lose much money in the process.

Good luck,
Kevin

SyntheticDream · « **Reply #2 on:** 5 Jan 2005, 08:17 pm »

Thanks for the reply Kevin,

The main reason im really lookin into these cerwin vegas is because so far they seem to be a good raunchy speaker for rock, which is really what Im looking for at my young age. The ability to blow the roof out of my house would be nice, but I still want it to sound good at high volumes. The only concern I have with the ascend acoustics cbm 170 and a sub is that will their small size be able to fill a large room/house? I do realize Im on a budget and probably cant find everything I want but I guess all I really want is to find a speaker that will be FUN more than anything.

Walker

P.S. Think they will ever add mp3 to the now playing list?

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #3 on:** 5 Jan 2005, 10:59 pm »

You might want to read the thread on some CVs here. There are those who say some of them are pretty good and can be modded to sound better.

markC · « **Reply #4 on:** 6 Jan 2005, 10:31 pm »

A friend of mine has a large pair of CV's ,(don't know the model), hooked to a Marantz 5 channel recieveras part of his home theater setup. While he is almost 10 yrs. my junior and likes to "bang his head" with blasting rock, I must admit that they sound pretty good. Not much detail and the highs fizzle, but they certainly punch and rock the house. If you like the way they sound and the price is right, why not?

SyntheticDream · « **Reply #5 on:** 7 Jan 2005, 01:03 am »

Yeah, Im still 18 and Im sure Ill need something that can make the house rock for a party... theres plenty of time later in life for a refined taste in speakers, right? Now do you think 80wpc rms will be enough?

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #6 on:** 7 Jan 2005, 03:22 am »

80 Watts should sure rock with those Classic 215's!

Back when I was your age (God, I can't believe I just said that!

) I had a Carver CM-1090 integrated amp that I used to drive some Infinity SM-150+ speakers. The SM's were giant pet coffins similar to the CVs, albeit slightly more refined. With a 102 dB/W/M sensitivity, they didn't only rock the house, they rocked the whole block!

Even with speakers that sensitive, more power is better, but 80 should suffice.

I'm curious how those old Infinity's would sound now, if I still had them. Especially given that now I'd know how to mod them to improve the sound (eg add some dowels to brace, line w/Black Hole #5, etc). It'd be cool to hook them up to my P-Wave amp and see what they could do.

Adarsh · « **Reply #7 on:** 6 Feb 2005, 03:24 pm »

With technology evolving so rapidly, we can get stuff that sounds just as good as equipment that was top of the line some years back for a much lower price.

I mean there is no reason to say a pair of Sony SS-S90D won't sound much better than the Cerwin Vegas. Add to that the Sony is probably even cheaper.