Cerwin Vegas to Onkyo TX-NR6100?

[DonFroelichJr]

Hello. I am trying to connect 2 Cerwin Vega XLS-215's and 2 Cerwin Vega E-715's to an Onkyo TX-NR6100 receiver. Can this run all 4 of these speakers?
(Just trying to get by until I can afford Emotiva)
Thank You!
Don

 

[lovinthehd]

As long as you run separate amp channels for each don't see why it would be a particular issue altho I wouldn't try and run them at full volume or anything crazy....what Emotiva are you planning for?

 

[DonFroelichJr]

Thank You. I do not have an amp yet. Been running the XLS's by themselves on this Onkyo so far. It's OK, but nothing great.
I do not remember what Emotiva suggested to me, I just remember that the total cost was around $9,500.00 to get everything needed to put 500 watts to each of the 4 speakers. I removed them that the E-715's are only rated at 400 watts total, but the rep said I could put 500 to them and really wake them up. I was surprised she said this.

Stereo is in part of my shop, 40x80, all one room. Steel building. On 23 acres. I'd like to be able to throw concerts for myself.

In the Army many years ago I had 4 CV M-100's(?) with Kenwood stereo. Seems like it was 200 watts per channel. This stereo was GREAT!
Later on a house fire took it away from me though. This was back between 1988-1995 or so. I bought the M-100's at some kind of stereo show on a millitary base.
Thank You.

 

[lovinthehd]

I just meant don't expect too much from the receiver in the meantime and keep the volume control sane

What model(s) does that translate to at Emotiva, tho? I'd get Crown XLS2502s and save the money. OTOH going by max wattage ratings isn't particularly meaningful, and that whole "waking up" thing is overrated....particularly when proposed by sales people.

 

[DonFroelichJr]

Thank You! Very good information that I did not know. I have always bought and judged my equipment by wattage. I bought the Onkyo only because it was what I could find in my area, and had the highest wattage I could find.

I had never heard of Crown, but I really like the price and the 440 watts per channel at 8 ohms. I'm going to try it soon. The Onkyo is like new, might have 30 hours on it. I wasn't thrilled with it as soon as I turned it on. And I could do something else with the E-715's too because I know the XLS215's would do great with 440 watts each.

This route may scrap my Emotiva plan. They were talking a receiver, and 2 amps and maybe a cd player for the $9,500.00 quote to run these 4 speakers. This was about a year ago.

Thank You Very Much.
What is your stereo components?

In the Army, I bought Bose 901's (?) And some big Infinity speakers too, but sold them and went back with Cerwin Vegas. I like all kinds of music, but am still pretty hard core Led Zeppelin, Red Hot Chilli Peppers,etc. guy.

The attached picture is my speakers with old equipment I had before buying the Onkyo stuff. Wasn't happy with them, but again it was stuff I could buy locally.

 

[Tankini]

Those Vegas make for great party speakers, plus Crown Amp will match nicely with them. That's a great recommendation by lovinthehd. But 9k + on EMO gear? There are many other options out there.

 

[lovinthehd]

Thank You! Very good information that I did not know. I have always bought and judged my equipment by wattage. I bought the Onkyo only because it was what I could find in my area, and had the highest wattage I could find.

I had never heard of Crown, but I really like the price and the 440 watts per channel at 8 ohms. I'm going to try it soon. The Onkyo is like new, might have 30 hours on it. I wasn't thrilled with it as soon as I turned it on. And I could do something else with the E-715's too because I know the XLS215's would do great with 440 watts each.

This route may scrap my Emotiva plan. They were talking a receiver, and 2 amps and maybe a cd player for the $9,500.00 quote to run these 4 speakers. This was about a year ago.

Thank You Very Much.
What is your stereo components?

In the Army, I bought Bose 901's (?) And some big Infinity speakers too, but sold them and went back with Cerwin Vegas. I like all kinds of music, but am still pretty hard core Led Zeppelin, Red Hot Chilli Peppers,etc. guy.

The attached picture is my speakers with old equipment I had before buying the Onkyo stuff. Wasn't happy with them, but again it was stuff I could buy locally.

Speaker wattage ratings are generally more a limit before damage type of information, not that speakers "need" it or will even sound good at those power levels. Too bad your Onkyo doesn't have a full set of pre-outs, then you could just use that with any amp(s) you wanted to add. I would maybe buy an amp from Emotiva, but not their electronics generally. Can you still return the Onkyo 6100? I generally use avrs with a full set of pre-outs so as to have amp flexibility.

I've been happy with my various Crown XLS amps (have four 1500s and a 2502). I use them for diy sub duties mostly but currently running some JBLs on the 2502 at the moment....I have several systems, tho (mostly multich). I had CVs once upon a time, but didn't care for them all that much but they were smaller speakers than the XLS215s. More likely your XLS215s are 4 ohm; they're nominally rated at 6 ohm rather than 8, too. Looking at the sensitivity spec of 95 dB for 1w/1m seems a bit high, I think CV overstates it (as does Klipsch). Sensitivity is a better indication of the relationship of amp power for a speaker in any case. Try this http://www.hometheaterengineering.com/splcalculator.html

Not sure what you mean by doing something else with the E715s, altho for 2ch stereo I generally prefer just two speakers; if I used the E715s they'd more likely be in a surround mode rather than 2ch.

Haven't used dedicated cd player in years....used dvd players until bluray came along and now use a few bluray players for optical discs (the more types of disc the better IMO, and there are a fair number of quad SACD discs if you have certain bluray players that can play that format).

 

[DonFroelichJr]

I've always been happy with Cerwin Vegas too..
I guess I have been looking in the wrong places for equipment. (Stores within 60 miles around me, North Alabama)
Emotiva was all I could find with 500 watts per channel and they are located in Tennessee, I could drive up there.

I am VERY Happy to hear of this Crown amp and will definitely be trying it. I just hope it hooks up easily to the Onkyo receiver and CD player I have.

Thank You "LovintheHD" and "Tankini".

 

[DonFroelichJr]

Speaker wattage ratings are generally more a limit before damage type of information, not that speakers "need" it or will even sound good at those power levels. Too bad your Onkyo doesn't have a full set of pre-outs, then you could just use that with any amp(s) you wanted to add. I would maybe buy an amp from Emotiva, but not their electronics generally. Can you still return the Onkyo 6100? I generally use avrs with a full set of pre-outs so as to have amp flexibility.

I've been happy with my various Crown XLS amps (have four 1500s and a 2502). I use them for diy sub duties mostly but currently running some JBLs on the 2502 at the moment....I have several systems, tho (mostly multich). I had CVs once upon a time, but didn't care for them all that much but they were smaller speakers than the XLS215s. More likely your XLS215s are 4 ohm; they're nominally rated at 6 ohm rather than 8, too. Looking at the sensitivity spec of 95 dB for 1w/1m seems a bit high, I think CV overstates it (as does Klipsch). Sensitivity is a better indication of the relationship of amp power for a speaker in any case. Try this http://www.hometheaterengineering.com/splcalculator.html

Not sure what you mean by doing something else with the E715s, altho for 2ch stereo I generally prefer just two speakers; if I used the E715s they'd more likely be in a surround mode rather than 2ch.

Haven't used dedicated cd player in years....used dvd players until bluray came along and now use a few bluray players for optical discs (the more types of disc the better IMO, and there are a fair number of quad SACD discs if you have certain bluray players that can play that format).

 

[lovinthehd]

I've always been happy with Cerwin Vegas too..
I guess I have been looking in the wrong places for equipment. (Stores within 60 miles around me, North Alabama)
Emotiva was all I could find with 500 watts per channel and they are located in Tennessee, I could drive up there.

I am VERY Happy to hear of this Crown amp and will definitely be trying it. I just hope it hooks up easily to the Onkyo receiver and CD player I have.

Thank You "LovintheHD" and "Tankini".

I use the internet, live too far away from stores, particularly audio stores.

The new Hypex module based amps can be very high power for a good price, too (checkout Buckeye Amps).

No, your Onkyo lacks a full set of pre-outs (it has only subwoofer pre-outs and no, you can't likely use the sub pre-outs instead, they should be frequency limited).

 

[DonFroelichJr]

Wow! Ok.. I just learned A LOT again and am literally taking notes and need to look up most of what you just mentioned. I am 55 years old and extremely out of date.

When I had bought all my other equipment, I just went in and told the salespeople what I wanted to achieve and then they gave me options and I went home and hooked it all up and either liked it or didn't.

LovintheHD, you are DEEP into this! Thank You!
I have a small welding business, and deep into 1950's Volkswagens. My stereo interests are very basic compared to what you've been doing. I would LOVE to hear your systems!

I will look up everything you mentioned and change my plan accordingly. My main goal is a system that sounds great and allows me a similar experience as being at a concert.
I do hope to keep all 4 speakers just because I have them, but I could be happy with just the XLS's at high wattage.
I did not realize these sets are at 2 different Ohms though until you just mentioned it.
Does this make them incompatible?
Thank You!

 

[DonFroelichJr]

I use the internet, live too far away from stores, particularly audio stores.

The new Hypex module based amps can be very high power for a good price, too (checkout Buckeye Amps).

No, your Onkyo lacks a full set of pre-outs (it has only subwoofer pre-outs and no, you can't likely use the sub pre-outs instead, they should be frequency limited).

I use the internet, live too far away from stores, particularly audio stores.

The new Hypex module based amps can be very high power for a good price, too (checkout Buckeye Amps).

No, your Onkyo lacks a full set of pre-outs (it has only subwoofer pre-outs and no, you can't likely use the sub pre-outs instead, they should be frequency limited).

Ok.. Again, I did not know. Thank You. I will look at Buckeye Amps too! I just hope I can get this figured out without spending 10k right now. Really, 4-6k would make me happy.. But.. Porsche VS. Kia type situation, I understand completely.

Thank You!

 

[lovinthehd]

I'd check out the Denon X3800. Spending large amounts won't necessarily gain you much with electronics.

 

[lovinthehd]

Wow! Ok.. I just learned A LOT again and am literally taking notes and need to look up most of what you just mentioned. I am 55 years old and extremely out of date.

When I had bought all my other equipment, I just went in and told the salespeople what I wanted to achieve and then they gave me options and I went home and hooked it all up and either liked it or didn't.

LovintheHD, you are DEEP into this! Thank You!
I have a small welding business, and deep into 1950's Volkswagens. My stereo interests are very basic compared to what you've been doing. I would LOVE to hear your systems!

I will look up everything you mentioned and change my plan accordingly. My main goal is a system that sounds great and allows me a similar experience as being at a concert.
I do hope to keep all 4 speakers just because I have them, but I could be happy with just the XLS's at high wattage.
I did not realize these sets are at 2 different Ohms though until you just mentioned it.
Does this make them incompatible?
Thank You!

I haven't found audio salespeople very knowledgeable generally and some will suggest some bullshit waste of money (like wires/cables) . It's not that hard to get a good sounding component system put together, just a bit of planning and patience (and research....research should be first step ).

LOL bought into my first good audio gear setup when you were about 4 years old If ever in Oregon. I had some friends big into the 50s VWs, personally loved my '70 Beetle but my diesel Rabbits kinda put me off

No, they're still compatible. Your speakers don't operate at just the nominal impedance rating, it varies up and down quite a bit as it varies with frequency. Maybe this article can help explain https://www.audioholics.com/loudspeaker-design/loudspeaker-sensitivity

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

But 9k + on EMO gear? There are many other options out there.

Yeah a discussion about “Emo, Cerwin, and Onkyo” and the number $9K seems out of place.