GODLY AMOUNT OF BASS!!!!! Fine quality you would expect from Cerwin Vega. Has sweet front firing 15 inch woofer with 2 ported holes in the back that throws gobs of bass out of it. It also has a many nifty features that are very benificial to the bass lovers!!! Did also I mention BASS!!!

My neighbors complain all the time about the rattling from our house. Plus the corners of my wall in my room are started to crack from all the rattling. But the speaker itself in perfect as well as the sound for any music/theatre lover.

I bought this subwoofer about 2 months expecting a much needed improvement over the old 8inch subwoofer that i previously had in my room. i got it for 500 at best buy and was hoping for the best. There was very easy set up, just plug it in and attach the y cables. I set the volume to 3/4 and left it at about 60 hz, i put the 3db switch on and the 180 degree switch also. i loaded up a good bass cd and sat back and pressed play. AHHHHHHHHHHHHH the bass came out like crazy, it sounded sooo good. i decided i wanted more so i turned the volume to full. the bass just thumped my chest and made my vision blur. it was absolute madness. i have loved it since day one and will never so back to anything smaller than a 15.

Similar Products Used:

polk psw 250

Full range of sound, massive bass, reasonable price

Large cabinet size, needs better low volume range of adjustment

There's and old addage in auto racing that the only thing better than cubic inches is cubic feet... and I believe it's true with this speaker too. I suspect that a huge amount of R&D has been poured into making the same response this 15 incher delivers naturally come out of today's popular 8-10 inch sub-drivers.

This monster reminds me of the old Altec VOT tradition. Size does matter and this baby CAN easily shake your foundation, while at the same time delivering notes that you can hum along with if you desire.

I'm not a rocker or a bass junkie. I was just looking for something to cover the 50-25 HZ that my Tannoys don't deliver. And I'm running a 2A3 (3 watt) tube amp. My only complaint is that I have to run the sub just above the lowest volume setting, but it blends beautifully.

There are better subs, there are smaller subs, and there are more expensive subs, but if you can handle the size, this one is amazing for the dollar.

It must be ungodly in a DVD HT system watching something like the Matrix.

Similar Products Used:

JBL, Mission, Boston

None

Non distinct bass. No good for neither films nor music.

For how long can you live on your name?

Firstly I found the LW15 good. I sent in a review to www.audioreview.com that I now unfortunately must complement. The powerful, rumbling, non distinct, non puncing and unclear bass was accepted in the initial period when playing films and music. Especially when playing films (when there is not the same need for distinct bass as when playing music.) So firstly I liked the speaker. Very much indeed. The LW15-bass enhanced the movie experience. After the initial period I expected the LW15 to enhance the movie soundtracks even more. And I also expected a better music bass.

So I wanted to give the LW15 another chance. I mean most speaker need a "warming-up"-period for a couple of hundreds hour before performing at their best. So I played on and waited. And waited. And waited. But the LW15 continued playing strange. There never become any real punch in the bass. It just sounded badly. The bass was as a matter of fact remarkably uncomfartble for my ears. The bass was low and trembling and didn't hit your body as a good subwoofer, the LW15 just made your brain vibrating (it felt so anyway - really horrible). Like putting your head to a steam engine (I imagine, i've never tried for real) My wife who is not interested of Hifi at all expressed her unpleasusre as well (and she never usually comment on hifi issues!).

Unfortunately the purchase couldn't be undone, so I tried to do the best with what I had. I experimented with all different well-known solutions for making a subwoofer sound good (walls, carpets, spikes etc). Nothing helped. Finally I opened the LW15 to have a look inside. Then I found something REALLY REALLY REALLY TERRIBLE! There was no wool inside. There was nothing. Just bare walls! I didn't belive my eyes. I bouht a bag of synthetic wool and dressed the inner walls. After this operation the LW15 sound much better. But now there was no power in the bass. No punch. Was the built-in amp not enough for a descent construction? However, my cheap 500$ - but oh so good - Dali 606 (front speakers) cope much better without them. The bass in my front speaker were much better than the LW15's.

I have e-mailed Cerwin Vega many times, but never got an answer back. I don't care anymore because I eventually sold the LW15. The fool that bought it said that he had only Cerwin Vegas in his sourround system. Poor bloke. I could have used the LW15 as an anchor if I had had a boat of course... My trust in Cerwin Vega is forever gone. I will never buy anything from them again. Next time I buy a sub I will buy a speaker - not a Cerwin Vega. I am really surprised that so many of you other guys have found the LW15 good. Perhaps some of you have not used the LW15 so long and will receive a different opinion soon?

I am sorry for my first review and I regret it so awfully. I wish indeed that the former review of mine hasn't affected anyone. If it has I truly aplogise. Next time I will listen to an audio equipment for a longer than a month before commenting it.

Kind Regards
O Linden, Sweden

Amplifier: Onkyo 620
Cables: Tara Labs
Subwoofer: Cerwin Vega LW15
Front speakers: Dali 606
Center Speaker: Dali SC5
Surround speakers: Dali 150 Menuet

The LW-15 has "tight" bass for a 15 inch subwoofer, high sound level output, good low frequency extension (down to 20 Hz), and is highly configurable. It's also a good value for the price.

To get the "tight" bass and to integrate the subwoofer well with your main speakers for music, you have to "tweak" the unit considerably (or know exactly how to set it up in the first place, which I did not). Even after all the tweaking, it's not quite a "tight" as a 12 would be.

I picked up the LW-15 because I had an opportunity to save $200 on the list price during a clearance. Also, Cerwin-Vega is known for reproducing bass with authority and I've been pleased with my LS-12's (which I use for main speakers).

When I first set up the LW-15, I used the single subwoofer input on the back, set the crossover frequency at 80 Hz (the THX standard value) and placed the unit in a corner of my living room. Unfortunately, this resulted in a "loose" sound that lacked impact, yet was overly boomy and did not integrate with the sound of the mains at all. Changing the crossover point to 40 Hz reduced some of the boominess, but did not tighten up the sound or blend the subwoofer with the mains any better. I should mention that my preamp (a B&K Reference 30) includes a subwoofer setting ("Ultra") that sends sub-bass to both the mains and the subwoofer, which helps a great deal to integrate the low frequencies.

After reading a section on loudspeaker placement in a book called "The Complete Guide to High-End Audio" (an excellent book, BTW), I ran an RCA cable under the carpet and moved the subwoofer out into the center of the room as close as possible to the nominal listening position (3 ft). This immediately reduced the boominess even more and produced a much more seamless transition from the mains to the sub on very low frequency extensions.

After reading a review on this site (hats off to Michael D. from San Antonio) I connected the single RCA from the preamp to a Monster Cable Y-Adapter and plugged the Y into both pre-inputs on the subwoofer. The LW-15 definitely plays with more "impact" if both channels are driven with a Y-Adapter (I don't mean louder - technically, the attack and decay of transient acoustic events is faster).

Now the subwoofer has a nice "tight" sound on the bass drum, integrates well with the mains (in the listening position, you can't tell whether bass is coming from the mains or the subwoofer), and is doesn't have any undesirable boomy quality. I've listened to the LW-15 with many different kinds of music, including rock, R&B, contemporary country, bluegrass, and classical, and have no complaints whatsoever.

As far as home theater, the LW-15 really shines with low frequency extension. Try the DTS ES version of "The Haunting", which includes excellent low frequency effects throughout. The B&K preamp includes a test tone generator, so just out of curiousity I used the test tone to see just how low the LW-15 could go. It reproduced bass down to and including 20 Hz before the response began to fade.

Of course, it's not quite as "tight" as a 12" subwoofer or a sealed enclosure would be, but it's an excellent compromise considering the high sound level output and low frequency extension. It's large and heavy, so it may not be a good choice for persons with limited space or that move the sub from one location to another frequently. As far as reliability, I haven't had any problems yet, but only time will tell. If I had the opportunity to buy another one, I would.

It would be useful if Cerwin-Vega would put more detailed setup suggestions in the user manual, such as keeping the LW-15 away from walls and using a Y-Adapter.

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch KSW-15

PLays very low and loud. With my experience the sub can be very punchy.

Port Noise

I have also previously posted an article about this subwoofer. Like others I was also disappointed because it lacked punch and seemed boomy.

At first the sub played loud. But because it was a 15, you would think that it would be louder. The problem I have had and others was, this thing didn't have any punch at all. I was highly dissapointed and I thought I made a mistake buying a 15 incher.

So for christmas, I bought tower speakers with 6.5 inch woofers. The punch that came out of that could not compare to the sheer bass that came out of the sub, so that was a waste of money, except for the fact the highs and the mids were drastically improved(I had small satellites before).

So I tried experimenting with the crossover and stuffing the ports and still didn't get anything but a sealed woofer that can play deeper(that might not be so bad, but it couldn't play as loud).

As a last resort I went out and brought a new reciever.

AMAZINGLY, it was fixed!!!! The sub is now punchier than ever. In fact It also plays way louder. I haven't been able to turn it up all the way because it causes things in my room to rattle and sense I live in a dorm I could get in trouble. This new reciever is heads over hills compared to my old one. I guess this reciever sends a cleaner more accurate signal to the subwoofer, in turns produces a more accurate sound.


previously I had the RCA R2250 that was:

50watts x 5 per channel at 6 ohms(Its not a typo)
it was cheap and only cost about $150.00


Now I got the RCA STAV-3880

100watts x 5 per channel at 8 ohms
This one was a lot more expensive and better.

What ever you do, do not use this sub with a cheap reciever. The amp in the sub amplifies whatever signal you send to it. If you send a poor signal to it, you will get a poor sound. A good signal, a good sound. I had no idea that a receiver could make that big of a difference.

One bad note. Because of the increase in volume of my subwoofer and its ported, port noise has increased greatly.
One Also major flaw is because of the new reciever I really hear the extension limitaions of this subwoofer. I just found out that below 30hz on my old reciever there was a lot of distortion being made. So When I would send a 20hz test signal to it, I thought the sub actually played 20hz, but it was actually distortion and a lot of air. Now I actually hear true 20hz. Actually feal it, not hear it. I would reccomend this sub to anyone.

Similar Products Used:

Optimus sw14, aiwa tsw60, aletc lansing acs48

Ithas really powerful bass...enough to shake everything in the house...

Its kinda big but with its power its alright...

Its a very nice subwoofer i just got it like a week ago...The bass is realy realy powerful but it tends to get hot fast...I have the volume on the back turned down to about 1/4 and it still gets hot fast...but overall it was a good buy...

Similar Products Used:

Acoustic Research 300 (with the sunfire amp)

Very loud (shakes the whole house), good frequency response, VERY cheap buy, nice wattage (200 rms)

not very tight, bass can be too boomy sometimes, very big/heavy/space consuming, no damping products used in the box

I was walking through the audio department at Sears and noticed this monstrous sub. A cerwin-vega 15" and 200 watt subwoofer for only $179.95??? I doubled check the price with the sales-associated, and when he said the price was right i was pretty much sold. I listened to it at the store and then within a day it was hooked up to my reciever. When I got home I noticed that the bass tends be boomy and not tight enough in certain situations, however with a little bit of tweaking on the sub and tweaking on the reciever I got it to sound very nice. It performs very well with my 8" bookshelfs and produces some amazing lows. I think that it was well worth the $180 I spent on it, however i wouldn't spend more than $300 on this sub. I noticed that it retails on-line for around $450, but I don't feel that this sub is worth that much money. If your into thick bass and love hard rock, rap, or anything that has a lot of bass in it, than you'll love this sub. If thats not what your looking for than I suggest you spend your money on a Veloydine, a Polk, or a Bose sub. Oh yeah and i checked the amount of watts the sub has with Cerwin-Vega. The sub has 200 watts, even the updated sub, not 250.

Similar Products Used:

yamaha and boston acoustics subs.

Bass,speed,does not bottom-out.Loud!

NONE

I purchased this sub at circuit city which matched sears price. I went to sears but they had the older LW15 with the less powerful amp and circuit city had the updated model with the 250watt amp.(it should be noted that they had the older model on the floor as the demo as many of the stores still do,if it has all the switches and the permanent cord and not the detachable cord its the older model.} This thing rocks! My buddy has this sub(older model} and even he is surprised at the sound that my LW puts out with the increased 50 watt amp. It will be a long time for an upgrade! Awesome with BOTH music and HT!

Similar Products Used:

Many

BAAASSSSS!!!!!! if u want it or like it buy his and just be totally amazed. it is great cerwin vega bass ~ u cannot get this kind and amount of bass from anywhere else

the volume and crossover dials are in the back and can be a pain to get to for adjustments
~Plus, i get yelled at all the time by my hall RA in our dorm room :(

I was going to get the LW-12 at this store, but they didn't have any in stock, so the guy was like "we have a bunch of 15"s, ummm.... how about i give it to u for $10 more than the 12"" so i was sold and got it.

My first problem was we went to pick the speaker up in a little chevy calivier and we couldn't get the box it came in inside the trunk or the back seat, we spent 10 minutes tilting and turning and pushing and finally got it in the front seat. so we got it back to our dorm room and had to hook it up.....boy am i glad i got this sub :)

my system i had before the sub was 2 Cerwin Vega VS-12" i got 3 years ago, and even tho they produced enuf bass for almost everyone i know, they just didn't cut it with dvds and if u really wanted to feel the bass without screaming loud vocals, so i wanted a powered sub, and the only one that would do for me is Cerwin Vega just because they are the bass experts.

well simply put i had it hooked up for 20 minutes before the RA of the hall came in and yelled at us because stuff on his shelves way down the hall were shaking and rattling. and i only had the volume on the back of the sub at like 1/4 of its potential.

this speaker kicks ~ expecially with my 2 12" fronts. the sound is awesome, it doesn't hit as hard as a 12 would, but i got the fronts to cover that. but its volume is incredible, i don't even dream about turning it up anywere over half cuz it would just shake apart whatever is near it.

Music: wow, listen to any rap, hiphop, or some heavy bass filled rock and u will be floored, i was. it just pounds and is sweet.

DVDs: after an initial testing with some music we put in the Matrix DVD and skipped to the lobby scene. i felt every bullet being fired from the gun. the room just vibrated as every shot went off just like if u were firing the guns, it was great. we then put in saving private ryan and a friend jumped out of his seat when a mortar landed. it was great.

Overall this sub is well worth it. it is great. only problems i see in it was: controls in back which is just annoying and i get yelled at alot because of it. the manual was a joke too but yeah that wasn't anything too important. but it is a great sub and well worth the investment

Great Clarity,solid build

None comes to mind

Wow,with all the great woofers out their the Vega delievers! I have had no problems with this woofer,though like above mine seems to be re-designed. Many of the features seem to be gone...the 3db gain switch..the highpass switch(40-80)....and the sub only input is gone,just the line level inputs and out-puts are their as well as a new rocker-style off,auto-on and phase switch. Also a very thick detachable cord is now included instead of the old style. A completely different looking back panal with a redesigned heatsink( AND OR AMP?).Much different than whats in the instruction manual. I guess the "subject to change without notice" applies here! Oh well,i love mine..AWESOME SOUND!

Similar Products Used:

AR112