Cerwin Vega CVHD 5.1 Channel Home Theater Loudspeaker System

There are literally thousands of loudspeakers on the market, and many times the choice, despite all the technical specs, is determined by how they sound to you. I found that the Cerwin Vega CVHD 5.1 Channel Home Theater speaker system, although lacking in physical style, does offer great sound for home theater. However, there is more to the story... For details, check out the rest of this review.

1. Frequency Response: 150Hz to 22kHz.

2. Sensitivity: 95dB (represents how loud the speaker is at a distance of one meter with an input of one watt).

3. Impedance: 8 ohms (standard impedance rating - compatible with all Receivers and Amplifiers).

4. Power Handling: 50-125 watts RMS (continuous power).

5. Drivers: Each speaker houses One 1-inch Soft Dome tweeter and Six 3-inch cellulose composite cone woofers.

6. All speakers are shielded for video applications.

7. Enclosure: Sealed - Linear Dispersion Line Source Wave Array (LSW) Technology.

8. Weight: 6.32 lbs each (not including optional stand weight).

9. Dimensions: 22.5 inches high, 5-inches Wide, 5-inches Deep.

10. Wall mounts included, floor stands are optional.

Product Overview - CVHD-12S Powered Subwoofer

1. Frequency Response: 28Hz to 150z (LFE - Low Frequency Effects)

2. Amplifier Characteristics: 250 watts Continuous - Class A/B Design.

3. Enclosure Type: Bass Reflex.

4. Phase Control: Switchable to 0 or 180 degrees.

5. Low Pass (frequencies below this point are passed to the subwoofer): 50HZ-150HZ, continuously variable.

6. High Pass (frequencies above this point are passed to the main speakers): 150Hz fixed. Crossover settings cannot be varied when using the LFE input on the Subwoofer. It is recommended that the Crossover on the Preamp/Processor/Receiver, if available, be set to 150HZ.

7. Power On/Off: Two-way toggle - On/Standby (Auto-Sensing) and Off.

8. Dimensions: 17.75" H x 16.75" W x 16.5" D

9. Weight: 48.5 lbs

10. Connections: RCA Line-in ports for L/R or LFE, 5-way Speaker i/o ports.

11. Available Finishes: Black.

Setup - Hardware

The following components were used to evaluate the performance of the CVHD 5.1 speaker system:

Home Theater Receivers: Pioneer Elite VSX-91TXH 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver - using 5.1 channel mode (on review loan from Pioneer), Yamaha HTR-5490 (6.1 Channels) , and an Onkyo TX-SR304 (5.1 Channels).

DVD players: OPPO Digital DV-981HD DVD/SACD/DVD-Audio Player, and Helios H4000.

Blu-ray and HD-DVD Players: Toshiba HD-XA1 HD-DVD player, Samsung BD-P1000 Blu-ray Player and LG BH100 Blu-ray/HD-DVD Combo player.

CD-Only Players: Denon DCM-370 and Technics SL-PD888 5-Disc Changers.

Loudspeaker - System #1: 2 Klipsch B-3s, Klipsch C-2 Center , 2 Polk R300s.

Loudspeaker - System #2: Klipsch Quintet III 5-channel speaker system.

Loudspeaker - System #3: 2 JBL Balboa 30's, JBL Balboa Center Channel, 2 JBL Venue Series 5-inch Monitor speakers.

Powered Subwoofers used: Klipsch Synergy Sub10 - used with Systems 1 and 2. and Yamaha YST-SW205 - used with System 3.

TV/Monitors: A Westinghouse Digital LVM-37w3 1080p LCD Monitor, Syntax LT-32HV 32-inch LCD TV, and Samsung LN-R238W 23-inch LCD TV.

Audio/Video connections were made with Accell, Cobalt, and AR Interconnect cables.

16 Gauge Speaker Wire was used in all setups.

Level checks for speaker setups were done using a Radio Shack Sound Level Meter

Blu-ray Discs included: Pirates of the Caribbean 1 & 2, Casino Royale, Blood Diamond, Crank, The Host, and Vacancy.

HD-DVD Discs included: 300, Hot Fuzz, Serenity, Sleepy Hollow, Heart - Live In Seattle, King Kong, Batman Begins, and Phantom of the Opera

Standard DVDs used included scenes from the following: House of the Flying Daggers, Serenity, The Cave, Kill Bill - Vol1/2, V For Vendetta, U571, Lord of Rings Trilogy, and Master and Commander.

For audio only, various CDs included: HEART - Dreamboat Annie, Nora Jones - Come Away With Me, Lisa Loeb - Firecracker, Blue Man Group - The Complex, Eric Kunzel - 1812 Overture, Joshua Bell - Bernstein - West Side Story Suite.

DVD-Audio discs included: Queen - Night At The Opera/The Game, Eagles - Hotel California, Medeski, Martin, and Wood - Uninvisible, and Sheila Nicholls - Wake.

SACD discs used included: Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon, Steely Dan - Gaucho, The Who - Tommy.

Content on CD-R/RWs was also used.

CVHD 5.1 Mounting Options

The CVHD 5.1 allows for two mounting options for the satellite speakers: Wall or Stands. The system comes with wall mounting hardware in the box, but the floor stand option require purchasing additional stands, which are additional purchase of several hundred dollars.

For this review, I was supplied with floor stands for the main L/R and Surround satellite speakers and a table stand for the Center Channel speaker. I did not review the speakers using the wall-mount option.

The CVHD 5.1 speaker system, when used with a variety of receivers, Blu-ray/HD-DVD/DVD/CD players, and movies and music source material, provided a good overall sound, especially in my larger test room (15ftx20ft).

In addition, the linear dispersion array design of the satellite speakers contributed to an excellent surround sound image, with sounds accurately coming from their intended locations. The satellite speakers also produced a good mid-range response, but I did find that the subwoofer was a little "boomy" in comparison to some subwoofers that I have reviewed.

The satellite speakers, although providing good overall midrange and high frequency response, did not as good a result in the lower midrange/upper bass frequency range. If the CVHD 5.1 had a better low frequency satellite speaker drop-off, it would result in a smoother overlap between the satellite speakers and subwoofer.

With regards to DVD/Blu-ray/HD-DVD soundtracks vs CD music-only soundtracks, I felt that this system was definitely more at home with the former. However, with popular music, such as rock and jazz, I was pleased with the result, with the exception of some subwoofer boominess on bass instruments that should have been tighter.

One thing to point out is that I used the CVHD 5.1 speaker system using the floor stand option and did not test them in a wall-mounted setup - which may have provided a different sonic result.

With reference to the floor stands, I found them more difficult to attach to the speakers than I would have assumed.

Proceed to Page 2 - Pros/Cons and Final Take