JBL L220 vs Cerwin Vega D7
- Thread starter Almonds
- Start date
Register to hide this ad
Chris Brown
Super Member
If you find the L220s for a good price, you should definitely get them, as they are great classic speakers.
As far as them being better for your purposes than the D7's, It depends a lot on what your goals are. If you are using them as party speakers and/or listening to lots of bass heavy music, I don't think that the L220 would be your best option. You can beat the heck out of a D7, throwing a ton of power at it without any real worry about damaging them. The L220 will be a much more delicate speaker. They use the LE14A woofer, the Alnico version of the LE14. It has a limited power handling and limited Xmax (max distance of cone travel) compared to the later LE14H. If you aren't going to push the woofer hard though, then this likely won't be a problem.
The tweeter on the L220 tends to make people either love it or hate it, but if you think the tweeter on the D7 sounds good then you will likely have no problem with the tweeter on the L220.
As far as them being better for your purposes than the D7's, It depends a lot on what your goals are. If you are using them as party speakers and/or listening to lots of bass heavy music, I don't think that the L220 would be your best option. You can beat the heck out of a D7, throwing a ton of power at it without any real worry about damaging them. The L220 will be a much more delicate speaker. They use the LE14A woofer, the Alnico version of the LE14. It has a limited power handling and limited Xmax (max distance of cone travel) compared to the later LE14H. If you aren't going to push the woofer hard though, then this likely won't be a problem.
The tweeter on the L220 tends to make people either love it or hate it, but if you think the tweeter on the D7 sounds good then you will likely have no problem with the tweeter on the L220.
Last edited:
I think the 220 was both boomy and tizzy, stereotypical JBL sound, a <very> well built speaker that sounded bad; very fatiguing. The L-220 is better parted out than listened to.
My opinion, not the word from Sinai. I suggest the OP listen and decide for himself.
My opinion, not the word from Sinai. I suggest the OP listen and decide for himself.
Last edited:
Almonds
Active Member
I know that taking a listen is always the best option, however; Room size, placement and the amp used all make a HUGE difference.
Whenever I go to someone's house to try out speakers (which has been dozens of times)
The speakers always sound different when I get home.
There's also the element of pressure and adrenaline when I go to someone's house that makes the speakers sound better sometimes. I've definitely gotten home and been disappointed, I've also gotten home and been extra happy. So since it's 50/50 with trials, I like to research before I even go listen.
The other factor is that, I've listened to speakers before and been totally blown away, wowed by them, and then over time when I have dozens of hours of listening time, find their weak points. I feel it would take a minimum of 1 hour of playing the dozen or so genres that I listen to regularly (Prog rock, Rap, Acid Jazz, Classical, Techno, Rock and Roll, Blues, Trip hop, Reggae, Dub, PsyTrance and Pop) and at volume levels that most people selling their speakers are not comfortable demoing the speakers at.
So, while testing at someone's house is useful, it is by no means the only tool for shopping for speakers,
which is why I love asking you guys questions!
It seems like maybe I should be more patient on the JBLs. It seems there are more highly regarded ones out there, and the particular pair I'm looking at now, while rated a 9/10 on appearance, they are quite pricey. About 20X what I paid for my CVs. I can't imagine they are 20X better.
Whenever I go to someone's house to try out speakers (which has been dozens of times)
The speakers always sound different when I get home.
There's also the element of pressure and adrenaline when I go to someone's house that makes the speakers sound better sometimes. I've definitely gotten home and been disappointed, I've also gotten home and been extra happy. So since it's 50/50 with trials, I like to research before I even go listen.
The other factor is that, I've listened to speakers before and been totally blown away, wowed by them, and then over time when I have dozens of hours of listening time, find their weak points. I feel it would take a minimum of 1 hour of playing the dozen or so genres that I listen to regularly (Prog rock, Rap, Acid Jazz, Classical, Techno, Rock and Roll, Blues, Trip hop, Reggae, Dub, PsyTrance and Pop) and at volume levels that most people selling their speakers are not comfortable demoing the speakers at.
So, while testing at someone's house is useful, it is by no means the only tool for shopping for speakers,
which is why I love asking you guys questions!
It seems like maybe I should be more patient on the JBLs. It seems there are more highly regarded ones out there, and the particular pair I'm looking at now, while rated a 9/10 on appearance, they are quite pricey. About 20X what I paid for my CVs. I can't imagine they are 20X better.