Cerwin-Vega vs JBL - Depth vs Punch

[myriad1973]

Which do you prefer?

 

[Tomorrow]

Which do you prefer?

It depends upon the model, of course, but JBL is more refined, IMHO. It's your ears that must be pleased, though...not ours.

 

[bandit]

I agree with the previous post. JBL has a wide range of products - some great some not so great, but I haven't really seen any Cerwin Vega's that would honestly compare. But -as previously stated - its your preference that matters.

 

[chaos24]

come on guys....cerwin vega kills jbl, hands down....jbl's new speakers are a joke....they distort way before their specified ratings...what other speaker company these days even dares to put not one, but two 15's in one speaker....CERWIN VEGA....jbl is a cerwin wanna-be....to many people disregard cv's as a respectable speaker. jbl's northridge series blows, and their customer support is horrible.......CV's ......5 year warranty....great customer service....i think jbl is over rated and cerwins are very under rated.......i'd rather own OPTIMUS speakers before jbl

 

[Sheep]

come on guys....cerwin vega kills jbl, hands down....jbl's new speakers are a joke....they distort way before their specified ratings...what other speaker company these days even dares to put not one, but two 15's in one speaker....CERWIN VEGA....jbl is a cerwin wanna-be....to many people disregard cv's as a respectable speaker. jbl's northridge series blows, and their customer support is horrible.......CV's ......5 year warranty....great customer service....i think jbl is over rated and cerwins are very under rated.......i'd rather own OPTIMUS speakers before jbl

Really? JBL has specified distortion before a certain SPL? Thats news to me.

I love how you like to make so many claims, and back none of them up with facts and/or evidence.

Since when does a 15inch driver mean a good speaker? Since when does a speaker need a 15inch driver? Maybe CV can't make a midbass driver to save their life?

I'd venture that CV would like to be in JBLs shoes ATM.

SheepStar

 

[Tomorrow]

come on guys....cerwin vega kills jbl, hands down....jbl's new speakers are a joke....they distort way before their specified ratings...what other speaker company these days even dares to put not one, but two 15's in one speaker....CERWIN VEGA....jbl is a cerwin wanna-be....to many people disregard cv's as a respectable speaker. jbl's northridge series blows, and their customer support is horrible.......CV's ......5 year warranty....great customer service....i think jbl is over rated and cerwins are very under rated.......i'd rather own OPTIMUS speakers before jbl

Have you ever done an A-B comparison/audition of the two brands? What models?

I've had GREAT treatment by JBL's Customer Service department. Their speakers are warrantied for SEVEN years, btw. I've owned the J, L, E, N, and Studio series JBLs and have been quite happy with all. I selected them OVER CV's, but that was my preference. As I said, depending on the model, some prefer one over the other. I will never own another JBL subwoofer, however. Uck.

But if you want really really loud, for maybe a keg party, the CV's are good speakers for the price.

 

[chaos24]

on a whole....sound for sound....cerwin is a better sounding and better built speaker...back in the day, maybe 8 years ago, my buddy had a pair of JBL's with a 1 inch tweeter and a 6 inch midbass/woofer and they sounded perfect, just lacking in the bass department. i, at the time owed a pair of cerwins 2way 8 inch woofers...we compared them side by side and it was night and day. JBL's last and best speaker was the L7, or L5....the junk they put out now is sad.....if you don't believe me about distorting before they should, get a good amp and push them.....but you have to agree CERWIN VEGAS are under rated...

 

[myriad1973]

Sorry guys. I didn't mean to start a debate or flaming session. I just noticed nobody seems to post these particular brands of speakers, which I know aren't Polk, Velodyne, Infinity, Paradigm or any of the more expensive brands. I've just been a Cerwin and JBL fan myself (because I played in bands, hence pro audio speaker brands too) and wanted to get a census from everybody. I felt CV woofers are very good, and one of the few companies that still produces larger ones (12" and 15") for floorstanding speakers and for folks on a modest budget.

It's a shame they don't have any CV dealers where I live. Even Best Buy doesn't sell them anymore, so I had to settle for Sonys, which for the money, they sound pretty good.

 

[chaos24]

there's nothing wrong with the ? you posed, it just bothers me that people won't give CV's there just do's.....they been around forever and ...bang for the buck....Can't go wrong....their new clsc series is actually very accurate and the imaging is right up there with my polks...dollar per decibel.....can't go wrong....and any pair of cerwin's with an 8in woofer will sound better than your sony's....trust me

 

[myriad1973]

Oh I agree, otherwise I would've gotten some CV's and no sub.

But that's ok. I'm waiting an a dual 10" sub in the mail to match up with the Sonys. It's a Sony sub that sounds good for the money too. lol

 

[chaos24]

first thing is, forget what anybody says about sound..........it's your ears that hold the key...if it is good to you, then thats all that matters...everybody has their own taste....i just hope your happy wih your investments

 

[Flea]

Cerwin Vega!

I have owned a lot of Cerwin Vega over the years. I currently run 4 CVT-12 for listening to music. I use E-706's in a 7.1 for home theater. Anyway, the magnet on one of my E series speakes broke off. No big deal it happens. The speakers are discountinued so I wanted to purchase a new tweeter to fix it. I called and Email Cerwin Vega 6 times before I got a response which they only replyed to because I told them they suck and I was going to buy Klipsch. CV was bought by another company a few years back. The new product lines in my opinion are no where near the quility of the older DX,E,AT,RE and CVT series. I have not really heard JBL's. I think JBL is owned by Harmon Kardon.

 

[bandit]

I haven't looked for awhile, but the last place that I saw Cerwin Vega speakers being sold was Sears.

 

[chaos24]

j and r music world sells them...and there are alot of diffrent models on e-bay

 

[myriad1973]

No matter now. I have my new speaker system setup. My sub finally came in yesterday.... a Sony SA-WX700. That thing is a monster! I'm not missing CV anymore I think. Sony isn't known for their speakers, but this speaker setup sounds pretty nice.

 

[dave1490]

just let you know my system stared with cerwin vega m40,s and the tweets sounded like crap,i then put jbl bullets on top and it was much better then i got jbl mid,s 2445,s and that sounded better.im still useing the m40 woofers because they do sound good.cv 10in woffers go down to 27hz if you use the winisd program only problem is you cant turn them up{ripped 2 form,s already}.cv has good bass but bad tweets.

 

[zumbo]

In '85, I purchased a set of JBL's. Smoked the tweeters in a week. Now, I know the reason was the receiver, and the volume knob. But, I replaced them with CV D-12's. Killer, Killer, Killer. They blew JBL away big-time. And, I never blew any driver.

Today, both companies offer "big-box store" speakers. Both are junk. Both companies offer higher-end speakers that are good. Depends on what is beeing compared.

My CV's are now 22 years old. They are NOT for sale. So, the point is, I would buy CV before JBL on a $ for $ basis. Once you get in the $ range above what CV offers, then JBL. But, once you get into that price-point, I would have to have something other than JBL's.

click on CLS-series
http://www.cerwin-vega.com/products/homeaudiovideo/index.html

http://www.jr.com/JRSectionView.process?N=400360&BrandStore=t

 

[Joe Schmoe]

IMO Cerwin Vegas are great party speakers. They play loud, fill up a big room, and have lots of bass "slam". When it comes time to sit down and really listen to the music, however, they just don't cut it. Some (far from all) JBLs are better in this regard. Among affordable speakers, Infinity Primus, Polk Monitors, and Athena AS all smoke them both.

 

[Tomorrow]

IMO Cerwin Vegas are great party speakers. They play loud, fill up a big room, and have lots of bass "slam". When it comes time to sit down and really listen to the music, however, they just don't cut it. Some (far from all) JBLs are better in this regard. Among affordable speakers, Infinity Primus, Polk Monitors, and Athena AS all smoke them both.

Smokin' something else, Joe?

Preference is all between the ears. Your particular take on the sound is...well, yours. I've A/B'ed my JBL Studio 312's against some very nice speakers....much finer than you mentioned...and all that heard those tests agreed that the JBL's were superior in all aspects of the audio presentations. I find it sad that JBL gets such a bad rap. I think it's the fact that they're a big box store item and perhaps are not as good as they once were. But they still represent a good value. A lot of the badmouthing of JBL's stems from hearsay, I believe. Very few people have run a comparo on them.

But I agree with your opinion of the CV's.

 

[zumbo]

There is one major factor that is being missed. Most people looking for low cost speakers are using low cost receivers to drive them. A low cost receiver pushed into clipping is going to smoke the tweeters in JBL, INFINITY, POLK, and ATHENA. Not going to happen with CV.

The point is this. Most people buying low cost equipment expecting to jam are younger(no disrespect meant).
They want it loud.
They want it to hit, slam, shake the walls, or whatever term you prefer.
They want to blow their friends away.
They don't want blown speakers.
They need it to last until they are ready to purchase better equipment.

There is still one company making speakers in this fashion.
Low cost.
High sensitivity.
Large drivers.
Killer bass.
Protection for tweeters.
Fuse protection for entire speaker.

Cerwin Vega!