Cerwin Vega E-312 Floorstanding Speakers

Cerwin Vega E-312 Floorstanding Speakers 

DESCRIPTION

Floor standing speaker with 12 inch woofer

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-10 of 35  
[Jul 31, 2013]
Andy R
Audio Enthusiast

My dad bought these speakers a few years ago. He bought them used and at first I was a little sceptical about how they would sound because I know that Cerwin Vega is the "loud" speaker company and from recent CV's I was not actually impressed by some of there newer models. But listening to these speakers now, I gotta say they're amazing. For speakers that are 10 years old, they play beautifully. The high frequency come out clear and crisp and the midrange is just so ear pleasing. The sub woofer can really be pushed with out distorting. We paired these speakers with a Behringer Euro live 1600 watt sub woofer (Don't judge me, we borrowed it from my uncle for a wedding) and that sub woofer could not keep up with these speakers. We got the CV's playing loud and the sub woofer couldn't match the volume with out clipping. These speakers are worth the money and would sound great as use as a home theatre speaker or even as a pro audio speaker (for small house party's).

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Nov 22, 2010]
Steve
Audio Enthusiast

Very good speakers for the price. Purchased mine on sale 14 to 15 years back. The foam around the woofer started to fall apart, 26.00 for the fix it kit, no big deal. Wife wants newer larger speakers, same brand. I'll fix these and then purchase 2 more.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jul 17, 2010]
Charlie04SiR
AudioPhile

Let me start by saying that I purchased my E-312's from a reputable audio studio and when i listened to the ones they had set up in the demo room, I was completely in awe. One of the most clearest, cleanest sounding CV's I EVER heard! High end that just screams detail without being harsh or shrilled, Midrange that is so clear and accurate that it jumps out at you as if the performance is right there live in front of you, Bass is so strong, quick, flat and REALLY strong without any roll off. bass goes straight down, low and mean as if it's flying off a cliff in an airplane across the valley of the kings! All around performance. ALOT of BANG for the buck, here folks. I am a VERY critical listener and the E-312 is one of the best sounding speakers I EVER heard. They are powerful enough, and detailed enough to project every nuance from barely a whisper to the LOUD as hell 300 Watt power handling. I'd say that puts them on par with any other speaker costing hundreds or even thousands more. Those high end high dollar speakers are more for the glamour puss because the high cost reflects nothing more than name brand and cosmetics. I say save you rhard earned money and go for the E-312 or even the E-315 if you like Bass you can "feel". Unfortunately, my review comes 11 years after I purchased mine because I did not hook mine up until a few days ago! These are long discontinued and are pretty hard to find nowadays in good condition. If you find a pair of E-312's, DO NOT pass them up!

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Mar 19, 2009]
flash flood
Audio Enthusiast

I bought these christmas of 99 and I hvae to say I like them but not as much as other vegas that I have especially my RE 30's, but to complement my other speakers they do the job. the bass is real good the highs and mids are ok it really helps to use an eq on these. I'm running them on a technical pro hb 2501 hybrid pushing roughly 250 watts rms to each speaker and they handle every bit of it. if you can find these anywhere now and you need speakers I would get them but if you have a choice get the RE 30's and you definately won't be disappointed.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[Nov 05, 2002]
itsmllrtym
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Clear Highs Adjustable Mids/Highs Fused Auto Tweeter protection Good Bass Loud They have those cool red surrounds :-)

Weakness:

Not perfect, but as close as you'll get in this price range.

Upgraded from fisher 15s to these and ran them with a Kenwood VR-357. Recently Upgraded that to a HK AVR120. These speakers always sounded great, I live in a fraternity and always had loud clear sound. These things are much better with the more powerful HK though. They aren't klipsch, but then again people buying these aren't looking for klipsch either. They deliver highs and bass very well. These are my first pair of CVs, i bought the E-706s to compliment them as surrounds, they are nice as well in my opinion. On a budget? Buy these.

Similar Products Used:

Fisher 3-ways with 15s Cerwin Vega E-706 Kenwood VR-357 Harman Kardon AVR120

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Oct 26, 2002]
Mike Bulger
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Bass and highs here. Unfortunately, I don't have a very powerful amp, Onkyo TX-DS595 (in the bass department, anyway) but I have heard these through a DENON 2801 and I must say the bass is superb, clean and not boomy.

Weakness:

Midrange is lacking in these speakers. I notice it when I listen to the Beatles. But if you are more into rap or techno, these will be great speakers for you. And because they do have the 12" sub front-firing, the enclosure is inevitably too large, which I think considerably increases the poor midrange response (and the fact that it's just a crappy driver).

These speakers are by far and away the best you can buy for the price. They are very versatile; they can deliver both a very nice stereo sound, having great imaging for their size and inadequate enclosure design, while also very nicely complementing in a 5/6/7.1 setup. Lets face it, as Mr. Rock would say: I'm tired, tired, tired, tired, tired! Look can we just ban anyone who gives these or any products a bad review based on a sole comparison to competition 3 times the price? We ALL know you truly do get what you pay for with this stuff.

Similar Products Used:

None, first stereo Cerwin Vega E-312 Cerwin Vega E-76: Center Onkyo TX-DS595 NAD 521 Sony DVP-560D Various unmentionable surrounds :) Hey I'm a college kid, gimme a break. I want Paradigms, I

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[May 02, 2002]
scottys38
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Cant say Of any OOOO the Emblem at the bottom Look''s really Neet

Weakness:

The whole Speaker

What Can I say I dont know why anyone could give these Speaker''s a good reveiw. I alway''s Loved CV''s I had a Pair of CV-AT10 about 14 year''s ago and they really rocked.Bought This Thing to replace My Paradigm Monitor 7''s witch are 2 year''s old. And the CV''s just could Not even come close to the to the sound Quality. So I took them back. And I could''nt get back to sear''s fast enough. To Dump them OFF. My suggtestion to you is to Find a Paradigm dealer closest to you And Take a lesson to Them or A set of Klipsch.I''m really sorry to the People who have given this thing''s a good review. But they really dont know Quality. I guess they Might be a good buy if you find them in a second hand store for about 20 buck''s

Similar Products Used:

Older Cerwin Vega''s.Klipsch.Yamaha''s Paradigm

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
1
[Mar 18, 2000]
Kevin Moore
Audiophile

Strength:

Excellent bass response
Sheer volume
Very good sensitivity
Price/value

Weakness:

People complain
Mid-range could be better defined

I purchased my E-312s December of '98 to replace speakers that came with my stereo. The speakers weren't so good (still more powerful than anything I had ever seen, because I got the system 7 years ago), but the amp was (120W per channel into 8-ohms). Given that these CVs are 4-ohms (it says 8-ohm compatible, and it is, but I actually measured the impedence with a multi-meter; it was a little above 4-ohms), they're obviously a lot louder than the old 8-ohm speakers, as well as allowing the amp to provide more than 120W per channel.
Anyway, it says handles 300 watts on the website, but that's peak. I e-mailed CV and got the real spec - 200 watts RMS at 4-ohms.
The mids and highs sound a bit muted, but I think it's my 7 year old Sharp amp that causes this. With a lot of EQing, I was able to tweak at least treble (hardware EQ built into the soundcard of my computer, 10-band - I primarily play MP3s on these speakers) to mimic the sound of a horn tweeter. The mids are still a bit muted, but still good for my ears. I imagine that a new amp will provide the much-needed brightness boost. For the really loud volumes that I like to listen to music, extra brightness can cause fatigue, and ultimately hurt my ears. So I'm glad they're not too bright.
I'd also like to talk a bit about speaker placement and polarity. Placement is more important that one may initially think. First of all, these CVs are meant to be a floor speaker. If you put them off the floor, you're risking non-linear response, as well as increasing the damage-factor in case they tip over. They hit noticably harder, and have more bass volume. However, I live in a dorm and recently rearranged the room - the CVs are now on two dressers, about 4 feet in the air. Mids and highs have noticably improved, because the midrange and tweeters are at ear level. Bass response was lessoned, as promised in the manual. I made an interesting discovery, though, and this is where polarity comes into play. I decided to reverse it one day, and I noticed the sub-frequencies were extremely amplified. I'm talking about the sub-40hz. It now responds really well to the 30Hz region, when before, it actually cut off at around 40Hz. I'll give you an example about a before-and-after effect of this polarity reverse on one speaker: Everybody should be familiar with the song We Tryin' To Stay Alive. You should also be familiar with the ultra-low bass note that occurs throughout the song. Do your current speakers reproduce this note such that you can hear it? My woofers moved quite a bit before the polarity change, but I could never really hear anything. After reversing the polarity, if you sit in the corner of the room, the note is EXTREMELY pronounced.

I just thought that was interesting, thanks for reading.

Similar Products Used:

Don't know anybody with a more powerful stereo system, so I haven't used any comparable products (store demos notwithstanding).

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jan 08, 2001]
Dave Leonard
Audiophile

Strength:

clean, natural sound when used good, strong amp.

Weakness:

havn't found any yet

These are very good under$500 speakers. The sound is clear and articulat. Bass is very good with only a hint of tubby-ness. Mids are very natural. Most speaker's in this price range have punched out mids that don't sound real. These do! Treble is well balanced and natural with only a hint of hardness (could be my amp). I use a Harman Kardon Citation sixteen power amp which puts out a clean 200 watts per channel. These speaker's handle all I can give them. I listen to jass, rock, and folk. I'm middle aged and have been an audiophile since my teens. These Vega's are the best sounding speakers I've had yet.
I thought I'd mention that I am a professional folk musician/singer (Celtic and Old Time), and I hear a lot of live music, both amplified and acustic. These speakers sound real, not hyped up like most speaker's designed just for loud rock music. However, they do need good, powerful electronics to get the full potential out of them.
The Cerwin Vegas aren't going to sound like $5,000 speaker's, but they about as good as you can get in the $500 range.

Similar Products Used:

Spica sc30, B.I.C. formula 4, AR 28b, Pioneer project 100, Electro Voice Sx100's

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Aug 02, 2001]
Mike
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

These speakers offer a huge amount of bass and are an excellent value for the price. You cant find anything better in the price class, especially if you like it loud.

Weakness:

They tend to piss of the neighbors. The model under these-the 10 inch vegas, have a very different sound that i would check out before making a purchase, they are better for certain types of music, so it depends on what you are into.

These are the best speakers out there for the price. The mids and the highs are really good and the bass is unbeatable. I upgraded to a harmon kardon 50watt/channel avr 100 reciever which really improved the clarity over the 100watt/channel jvc i had before. If you are trying to compare these to $5,000 speakers you are a dumbass b/c there is no comparison, of course the more exspensive speakers are better, but you arent gonna beat these for the price, and if this is your first stereo a lot of people will be blown away. I have no complaints at all with these speakers.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
Showing 1-10 of 35  

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