My new speaks CV PD-9

[kfa888]

Well I just got back from stealing a set of speakers. Never had Cerwin Vegas before but now I have a super clean set. Got them for $100 and could have easily got them for less but they were worth it and the guy I got them from was super nice. I feel good about giving him full price.

So I know nothing about these speakers. I read up on D-9's and hear they are not all that articulate but loud and full of bass. Sounds fun. In my research I read allot about these and thought I knew everything about them. Then I go to look at them and they look slightly different than the ones I have seen on the net. Also they are PD-9's not just D-9 ??? The owner said he thought that meant wood grain not black ??? I think it designates something else. Fist off the surrounds on the woofers are pleated not rolled foam, I thought the ones I saw in the internet were rolled foam. Next the mids on the ones on the internet looked like they had there own grill, these do not. Tweet looks right.

The owner was the original owner, bought them brand new in Okinawa Japan 20 plus years ago. I absolutely believe him and he had nothing to hide, was very cool and told me a funny story about standing in line for 4 hours with a bunch of service guys to get these at a huge sale. I guess it was like a candy store over there at the time. He thought they were a special model as he said they retailed for something like $1600/pr and he got them for $800. He said there were some that looked very similar and were D-9's but he liked the wood grain better and even though the list was $400 higher the guy told him these were far superior??? I have no idea and he really did not know a bunch about them ether. Seems they had a little "one upping the jones" buying competition on stereo EQ. He was telling me about Altecs, JBL, Bose etc. that could be had for great prices. He also said his CO had a fit when he tried to bring them back onto the ship. Anyway the drivers are all original and look like they have never been touched.

The speakers look brand new, not a scratch and the drivers look perfect. I have a small kid asleep so just a quick try to make sure they were fine, sound good.

I'll evaluate them more in the next few days and report.

So:

Woofer - surrounds right for a D-9 or is the unique to the PD-9?
Mids - Correct or PD-9 specific?

Where are these originally manufactured? USA?

Thanks,
Kelly

[cabinover]

That's different, the only pleated CV's I've seen are my 18".

[kfa888]

The plot thickens... I looked on the web again and almost all the mids have grills, and all of the woofers have round surrounds (Foam / rubber) Also the color is more red on mine than the typical bright orange.

Additionally the grill badges say "Special Edition"

Through the ports on the back the woofer frame looks like the right cast aluminum frame / mag.

I can hardly wait to crank them.

So is "Special Edition" like a Cosworth Vega

[kfa888]

OK, look at these, round surrounds, grills on the mids etc. Also another discovery, my mid tweet arrangment is further off center and to the right and the control panel is placed different and on the left. And, the cab is constructed different (seems).



http://audiokarma.org/forums/attachm...chmentid=23264

[dingus]

holy crap, looks like someone played mumbledy-peg with that woofer. yours look mighty sweet though. it would be cool to to an A\B with yours and a standard pair.

[bolly]

no listing in Orion BlueBook though, just the regular run-of-the-mill D-9's...not the fancy ones you have.

The cabs are different; the baffle joins with the sides differently than the D-9. Looks like you found something special -- Foe

[vega ls-12]

awesome find
they are in excellent shape..
as for some backround,,i'll email a guy at cv, he's been good in the past with info on rare models.
see what happens.

[kfa888]

Originally Posted by vega ls-12

awesome find
they are in excellent shape..
as for some backround,,i'll email a guy at cv, he's been good in the past with info on rare models.
see what happens.

I look forward to any information you can give me on these as I can find nothing. Any good CV sites for me to explore?

Thanx

I have not been able to find any good CV sites, which is why I ended up here at AudioKarma, because this was one of the few good links that came up in search engines when I was looking for information about my D-1s -- Foe

[Kegger]

Whoo, DUDE! I think you got something there! I have D9's and have seen a lot
but nothing like yours!

Those could really be worth something. I know THOR's are a special addition CV
to that are pretty rare, I had never seen anything like his CV's either until I saw
those and they are pretty rare. So I believe you really got something there and I
would definatly protect them and never mod them babbies.

I hope someone comes up with some info, that would be great!

[kfa888]

I send CV an Email and they quickly replied with...

PD-9 Specifications

DESCRIPTION: 15” 3-Way Loudspeaker
FREQENCY RESPONSE: 25 Hz –20 kHz
POWER HANDLING: 5/405 Watts RMS (Min/Max)
SENSITIVITY: 103 dB (1 Watt @ 1 Meter)
IMPEDANCE: 6 Ohms
LF DRIVER: 15” Die-cast Frame / 2” VC
MF DRIVER: (2) 7” Cone
HF DRIVER: 1” Voice-coil Phenolic Dome Horn
CROSSOVER POINTS: 250/3500 Hz
WEIGHT: 90 lbs.
DIMENSIONS: 36” x 17.5” x 19.25”


But unfortunatly thats all.

[Charivari]

Those are some very nice looking speakers with what appear to be good specs. You've managed quite a nice find there. Congrats.

- JP

[Kegger]

here's the specs someone else posted for the regular D9, definatly some
are a little different, weight/demensions/xover point/driver size maybe
others but that's what got me right away!

(Tried to clear the pic up a little)

[kfa888]

Cerwin Vega Faxed me a brochure that mentions the PD-2 and PD-6 but not the PD-9. It says they are limited “special edition” units with upgraded drivers, cab and crossovers. Not a lot of details. It says they have elliptical HF drivers which mine I do not think has, looks just like the regular D-9 to me. It mentions a “completely new Polyolefin cone material” for the mids, has special damping and unusually large and powerful magnets. The only thing they say about the woofer is it is a special design patterned after the CV Sensurround Earthquake speaker.

Info on the net about the Sensurround…

“Specifically developed by Universal Studios sound engineers W. O. Watson and Richard Stumpf for the theatrical release of "Earthquake," Sensurround essentially created subsonic, low-frequency vibrations between 5 and 40 cycles at sound pressures of 110-120 decibels, causing the audience to feel low vibrations during the main earthquake and dam collapse. The speakers and amplifiers were designed and built by Universal Studios in association with Cerwin-Vega, and brought in to select theatres showing the film for a $500 per week rental charge.“

It was basically a 18” woofer designed around the movie release of Earthquake in the mid 70’s. There is a lot of info if you care to search for Sensurround. I’m assuming all this really means to me is the accordion surround and maybe a different magnet VC setup. I’ll yank the speakers and take a look at some point but the cast aluminum frame looks the same as the standard D-9 through the port holes on the back of the cab.

Interesting.