ISPEED
ISPEED's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: May 30 2008 - 3:08pm
better amp or better speakers?
RGibran
RGibran's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 years 4 months ago
Joined: Oct 11 2005 - 5:50pm

Are these the Cerwin Vega model your refering to?

Dicks Sporting Goods

RG

ISPEED
ISPEED's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: May 30 2008 - 3:08pm

yes

Welshsox
Welshsox's picture
Offline
Last seen: 12 years 3 months ago
Joined: Dec 13 2006 - 7:27pm

Hi

I has the VSX 74 and basically its just a poor quality amplifier for hifi. What is suggest is keep that unit for surround and purchase a good pro audio amp like the Crown CTS 600 and drive it from the pre amp outputs of the receiver, this would be the most economical way to get great bass from the Vegas. The Vegas will never be the last word on refinement but they should be able to rock your world big time.

Alan

RGibran
RGibran's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 years 4 months ago
Joined: Oct 11 2005 - 5:50pm

Those things look pretty scary to me. I haven

ISPEED
ISPEED's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: May 30 2008 - 3:08pm

this is my system setup i have a dedicated theater room in my house i have a 72" toshiba HDTV a Pionneer Elite VSX-82TXS 130 watts x7 a pair of Cerwin Vega VE 15 speakers rated at 400 watts as my fronts a Cerwin Vega CVHD 5.1 system all put together making a killer 7.1 setup. a Pioneer Elite DV-48AV upconverting DVD player and a high end gaming PC all connected via HDMI except for the audio from the computer which is optical out. the music i am listening too is coming directly from my itunes collection (not illegally downloaded poor quallity crap these are all songs i paid for)mostly top 40 stuff some country and some classic rock. the computer has a high end audio card and there is no buzzing or background noise the signal seems very clean.i replaced both tweeters yesterday as one was fried but they cut out at anything above 70 to 75 % volume. would i be better off buying the CDs ? would that make that much of a difference? the preamp idea from welsh hifi sounds like a good idea. if i was looking to set up a stereo only audio system that would drive these speakers to their full potential what equipment should i get? thanks for the info guys other forums just jumped all over me for using cerwin vegas

CharlyD
CharlyD's picture
Offline
Last seen: 12 years 8 months ago
Joined: Jul 20 2006 - 4:01pm

Since you've already replaced the tweeters on your Vegas, it's very clear that LOUD is your driving goal. Your receiver is not a bad unit, but you're driving it into hard clipping. A more powerful amp will get you only a bit more loudness before clipping. As RG suggested, have a look at Klipsch speakers. Their main claims to fame are high efficiency and ability to play LOUD. Glad I'm not your neighbor.

ISPEED
ISPEED's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: May 30 2008 - 3:08pm

i just disabled the so called "sound enhancing software" on the pc and this made a huge difference the clipping is gone just using the EQ in itunes seems to be more to my liking i have clear strong highs mids and base now and yes the windows are rattling in my house i dont like my neighbors anyway lol

CharlyD
CharlyD's picture
Offline
Last seen: 12 years 8 months ago
Joined: Jul 20 2006 - 4:01pm

Out of curiousity, are you controlling volume with the media player on your PC (iTunes?) or at the receiver? Is this "sound enhancing software" a part of iTunes?

ISPEED
ISPEED's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: May 30 2008 - 3:08pm

no i am controlling the volume with the reciever and the sound enhancing program is built into the sound card the only part of itunes i am using is the EQ which seems to work quite well the volume for the SPDF is set to 100% as is the itunes volume.i wish i would have disabled the audio software a month ago it would have saved me a set of tweeters the program is called SONIC FOCUS its part of the SOUNDMAX HD AUDIO built into the sound card

jackfish
jackfish's picture
Offline
Last seen: 10 years 5 months ago
Joined: Dec 19 2005 - 2:42pm

crap begets crap

If you want a music system you have to get stuff made to make music sound good. You don't even have speakers that can make movies sound good. The receiver is good for home theater, but will take work for a music system. Get better speakers.

Cerwin Vega speakers may be good for a house party, but for critical listening they ain't worth crap.

ISPEED
ISPEED's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: May 30 2008 - 3:08pm

wow jackfish sorry i pissed you off by having cerwin vega speakers.i wish you lived next door lmfao

CharlyD
CharlyD's picture
Offline
Last seen: 12 years 8 months ago
Joined: Jul 20 2006 - 4:01pm

Just because these speakers can be had at GI Joe's does not necessarily imply that they're "crap". Here's an excerpt from a SoundStage review of their big brother from the same series:

Quote:
Although the CLS-215s aren
RGibran
RGibran's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 years 4 months ago
Joined: Oct 11 2005 - 5:50pm


Quote:
the music i am listening too is coming directly from my itunes collection (not illegally downloaded poor quallity crap these are all songs i paid for)...

would i be better off buying the CDs ? would that make that much of a difference?

Aren't the music files purchased from Itunes poor quality crap? I do think you should compare some lossless music files or actual CD's to the files your listening to. If you can't tell the difference then don't worry about it.

Lay off the EQ!!!

Turn down the volume!!!

Protect your ears!!!

Enjoy!

RG

jackfish
jackfish's picture
Offline
Last seen: 10 years 5 months ago
Joined: Dec 19 2005 - 2:42pm


Quote:
wow jackfish sorry i pissed you off by having cerwin vega speakers.i wish you lived next door lmfao

I'm not pissed off, just relating my opinion. The Cerwin-Vega VE15Fs are not even close to the CLS-215s in design or quality. When you can get a pair of speakers from at least three different online sporting goods stores for as little as $250/pair it seems to me that that would be a clue as to their quality. I don't know what else one could expect posting to a serious audiophile site that they are dissatisfied with their party speakers and cheap home theater receiver. ISPEED, if I lived next door we could have gone out and listened to some good gear before you made a selection in ignorance.

ISPEED
ISPEED's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: May 30 2008 - 3:08pm

hey jackfish the reason i posted here was to get a little help from people who know much more about this stuff than me and a few members were kind enough to give me some helpfull suggestions.others however chose to judge me on the money spent on my equipment and call me ignorant.you must be pretty bored wasting your time belittling people.your a real asset to the community

jackfish
jackfish's picture
Offline
Last seen: 10 years 5 months ago
Joined: Dec 19 2005 - 2:42pm

Sorry, but your system is beyond help with those speakers. I already suggested you get different speakers. Ultimately, I suggest you junk the whole lot and start over. That would be perhaps the most help you could get here. If it seems I am belittling you perhaps you are feeling a little insecure as all I am really doing is giving you straight talk. If you want good sound you need to make purchases that will get you there. If you come to realize you made mistakes in the past regarding that, then you need to move on and make things right. That will take work on your part.

dog_or_man
dog_or_man's picture
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 3 months ago
Joined: Feb 7 2008 - 7:02pm

I think this comes down to whether the Vegas are getting it done for you or not, and that's impossible to tell with your current electronics. I don't agree that jackfish should dismiss them out of hand (there are about a guhbillion different speaker manufacturers out there, just like there are a guhbillion different restaurants), but it's worth remembering that your OP was asking which aspect of your system needs to be improved.

Is it possible for you to do some A/B testing that would allow you to upgrade one aspect at a time, scientifically? Maybe there's an audio dealer in your area that will let you bring everything to their store for some side-by-sides? I mean, gosh, maybe the Vegas, powered by some vintage McIntosh integrated, will be just what you've always wanted.

I will tell you this: I got my stepfather out of a set of Cerwin Vegas and into a gently-used pair of Polk RTA-11's, as a Christmas present. He hated the idea, even told me to re-sell them before we had them hooked up. And then he heard the difference and has never stopped thanking me. I'm not saying you'll have the same experience, but early-nineties Polk does seem like a nice step-up for someone who likes that lush, insistent, high-spl-with-no-breakup, Cerwin-Vega sorta sound. Of course you can't demo the RTA-11's at a retailer, so consider this two separate ideas, I suppose.

...Then again, I suppose you *could* buy my Audio Physic Spark-4's on audiogon

Log in or register to post comments
-->
  • X