Cerwin Vega S1

[tbminc]

Picked up a beautiful pair of Cerwin Vega S1's today. Unbelievable build quality, solid wood cabinets that are very heavy. Each speaker weighs at least 50lbs I would say, really nice horn tweeters and the 12 inch woofers are monsters judging by the specs, definitely not your average or more common CV drivers that were used in these ones. Gorgeous rosewood too, I can't wait until I have some time to hook these up for a proper listening session.

 

[ggregg]

They look really nice. When you get them going, I'll probably hear you over here.

 

[nexus]

very clean pair. tell us how they sound!

 

[CLB3]

Those are cool! Would love to hear them.

 

[tbminc]

very clean pair. tell us how they sound!

Well I couldn't resist waiting much, so I went ahead and hooked these beauties right up .....first I'll just say that they have absolutely no problem going toe to toe with my JBL L166's or my L96's. The S1's are definitely not similar to some typical CV's which can be a little loose, or perhaps the word I'm looking for is at times a little flubby? on the bottom end, nothing but very deep and controlled bass on these ones. The mid presence is more forward than in my JBL's but in a good way, and I say this because while they are more upfront than my JBL's the mid presence still does not sound exaggerated. The horn tweeters are very, very crisp and sweet. I am closing in on five hours now and I've got no fatigue what so ever. Both pads are set to flat, which is the same way I listen to all of my speakers.

 

[damacman]

IMHO, CV speakers of this era are their best. I've never seen that model before but I bet they do sound good!

My dad still has a really clean pair of R24s he purchased new.

 

[turboyam]

These had a special ''Thermo- Vapor'' gas in the enclosures (when new), to better control woofer motion.
A ''soft inert gas, more compressible then air'' is what they said. 300hz low pass x-over.

 

[tbminc]

These had a special ''Thermo- Vapor'' gas in the enclosures (when new), to better control woofer motion.
A ''soft inert gas, more compressible then air'' is what they said. 300hz low pass x-over.

Yes it appears they did. A search online turned up some cool and interesting info about S1's and other CV's from that era.

 

[lovemusicvn]

I also have a pair of Serwin Vega, it's Serwin S-2EE, I had heard with the speaker until last year I decided to upgrade its crossover, a master of speakers in Vietnam made a new crossover for it. Since using the new crossover the sound has markedly improved. I am playing with Pow Luxman 5M21 & Pre Luxman 5C50, CDP Pioneer PD T07S

I know very litter about this speaker and I have never seen another one in Vietnam so I am very grateful if I get information about it.

 

[turboyam]

You guys should look at those carefully, and see if they had proper gasketing around all drivers, rear terminal plate and
enclosure sealing for this gaz?, also, where is the ''schrader valve'' to fill em-up with such gaz?...
I always was skeptical about this gaz thing, as there are numerous leak possible, namely the woofer dust cap (fiber),
fuse socket, etc, etc.
Still, a respectable speaker system, gaz or not!.

 

[cb5300]

I had a pair of S-1's when I was stationed in England in 1979. I kept them for about 3 days and then decided to return them to the BX. I then went down to the audio club on base and bought a pair of CV 316R's. It's a larger speaker than the S-1, and is 103 dB's with 1 watt. I still have those 316's and they still sound great.

 

[nexus]

what is confusing is the ad says they are vented speakers but there does not appear to be a passive radiator so how can the cab be sealed to hold the special gas?

 

[tbminc]

Perhaps this might help better explain it.

http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/t.mpl?f=vintage&m=134578

If you can find a pair, there was a wonderful C-V speaker back in the 70's, the S1 or the S2. Three way Acoustic Suspension in a large bookshelf enclosure filled with platic bags full of SF6 (sulfur hexaflouride). It's a much denser gas than air with a much slower speed of sound, and it makes the box look much bigger to the speaker. Kind of like Acoustic Suspension with a box full of fiberglass, but much higher efficiency. IMHO it was C-V's best, and equally good at rock or classical. Otherwise, find some D-9's or some of the better JBL's, or Pioneer HPM 100's.

Jerry

Jerry, The S1 and S2 were ported with the "Thermo-vapor" bag. The port was a ducted slot on the rear("Infrasonic" tuning). Iam a big fan of C-V as I used to sell them. But, Yes these were some of their best along with the 12-TR and 316-R.
-Dave

 

[turboyam]

Grrrrrrrreat info!. Now, of course we need pictures of those bags!

 

[endo]

@tbminc I also have a pair of these, they are the best set of speakers ive ever owned thats for sure! Have you ever had them apart ? Would it be possible for you to find out and take a photo of the fuse these have in them ? My pair have odd fuses and are way higher than I would have ever expected.

 

[Mmike]

Well I couldn't resist waiting much, so I went ahead and hooked these beauties right up .....first I'll just say that they have absolutely no problem going toe to toe with my JBL L166's or my L96's. The S1's are definitely not similar to some typical CV's which can be a little loose, or perhaps the word I'm looking for is at times a little flubby? on the bottom end, nothing but very deep and controlled bass on these ones. The mid presence is more forward than in my JBL's but in a good way, and I say this because while they are more upfront than my JBL's the mid presence still does not sound exaggerated. The horn tweeters are very, very crisp and sweet. I am closing in on five hours now and I've got no fatigue what so ever. Both pads are set to flat, which is the same way I listen to all of my speakers.

The s1's came with filled gas bags for tighter extention as well as coming with a device you hook to them that double the max wattage! You want this unit I do not remember the name of it though.

 

[turboyam]

The s1's came with filled gas bags for tighter extention as well as coming with a device you hook to them that double the max wattage! You want this unit I do not remember the name of it though.

I think it was named ''Bass Xcavator''

 

[Harvestor]

Sulfur hexafluoride !
I want a bunch of this stuff!
Forget about talking with high pitch helium voice... This stuff makes you talk like Darth Vader!!
I want to fill several balloons and load them in my D9 Cerwin Vegas and see what happens

 

[ultumax]

Picked up a beautiful pair of Cerwin Vega S1's today. Unbelievable build quality, solid wood cabinets that are very heavy. Each speaker weighs at least 50lbs I would say, really nice horn tweeters and the 12 inch woofers are monsters judging by the specs, definitely not your average or more common CV drivers that were used in these ones. Gorgeous rosewood too, I can't wait until I have some time to hook these up for a proper listening session.

Today’s cv don’t look to have as large tweets, what’s the sound difference between new models and vintage?
Very nice find !!!congrats

 

[Jimberg]

Picked up a beautiful pair of Cerwin Vega S1's today. Unbelievable build quality, solid wood cabinets that are very heavy. Each speaker weighs at least 50lbs I would say, really nice horn tweeters and the 12 inch woofers are monsters judging by the specs, definitely not your average or more common CV drivers that were used in these ones. Gorgeous rosewood too, I can't wait until I have some time to hook these up for a proper listening session.

I picked up a pair of these yesterday I couldn't be happier these are amazing speakers