Cerwin Vega CVHD 5.1 Channel Home Theater Loudspeaker System

1. The CVHD 5.1 system projected room filling home theater sound. If you have a high powered receiver or amplifier configuration, the CVHD 5.1 is one pre-packaged system that can take just about anything you can throw at it, in terms of power output. If you like it loud, this system can deliver a clean sound.

2. Very good midrange. The midrange response is very distinct. Vocals do not get overwhelmed with the rest of music or effects. However, as I will point out in the next section, I would have preferred a better upper bass response from the satellites to fill out the midrange better.

3. Very good surround sound image. I found that with surround sound tracks on DVD/Blu-ray/HD-DVD discs that the this speaker system did a great job of accurately reproducing the surround field. This was especially evident on the battle scenes from Master and Commander, the echo game scene from House of the Flying Daggers, and main depth charge scene from U571.

4. Speakers can be wall or stand mounted. For those owning a wall mounted flat panel television, the optional wall mounts provide a practical way to incorporate the satellite speakers with a flat panel television. However, for those that prefer the look of floor mounted speakers, both the front and rear speakers, since they share identical physical design, can be mounted in this fashion.

1. Poor Styling. Although speaker performance is the most important consideration, with the increased emphasis on styling, the CVHD has a plain, cheap looking, appearance.

2. Big Subwoofer contradicts compact home theater speaker concept. Although the subwoofer design is appropriate for a large bass output, its physical size many turn some that looking for something that is less conspicuous away from the CVHD 5.1.

3. Lackluster lows on satellite speakers. Although the role of the satellite speakers in a home theater system is to provide the mid-range and high frequencies, the low frequency drop off of the satellite speakers should be such that it adds some body to the midrange.

With CVHD 5.1, even though the overall midrange response was very good, the lower frequencies dropped off at 150HZ. This decreased the fullness of the midrange somewhat. A lower end response of 100 to 120HZ could provide more fullness to the satellite speakers. In comparison, my Klipsch B3 bookshelf speakers had a better low-end frequency response, resulting in a fuller midrange.

4. Subwoofer is a little boomy. The subwoofer is a dual-port design, which does provide good deep-bass frequency extension. However, along with the extension of deep bass, the dual ports also decrease the accuracy needed for a tight bass image. This contributes to a slight boominess. This would be analogous, in video terms, to an image that is just slightly out of focus - all the information is there, it just needs to be fine tuned.

Although not as noticeable on movie soundtrack explosions, crashes, and other effects, on CD, SACD/DVD-Audio tracks, sounds such as bass drums and bass did not sound quite as tight as my main comparison subwoofer for this review, the Klipsch Synergy Sub 10, or other subs I have reviewed, such as SVS SB12-Plus, and Axiom EP400.

Final Take

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.

The Cerwin Vega CVHD 5.1 Channel Home Theater speaker system, although lacking in physical style, does offer an overall good sound for home theater applications. The CVHD 5.1 did its best work at mid-to-high volume levels, while providing a good surround image.

In terms of style, this system has a plain, lackluster, appearance and the large subwoofer defeats the purpose of a compact home theater speaker system, especially one that is intended to complement flat panel televisions.

However, the CVHD 5.1 is certainly reasonably priced, and offers a performance better than many "so-called" compact home theater speaker systems. This system can easily take what you can throw at it and still sound good, even at high volume levels, but the CVHD 5.1 does have its own shortcomings.

In addition, keep in mind that that although the CVHD 5.1 home theater speaker system comes packaged with wall mounting hardware, the floor stands are optional and must be purchased separately, so budget accordingly if you need, or desire, this option.

I give the Cerwin Vega CVHD 5.1 home theater speaker system a 3.5 out of 5 star rating.

Check out the following Close-up Photos of the Cerwin Vega CVHD 5.1 home theater speaker system:

Cerwin Vega CVHD-63C Center Channel and CVHD-63 Satellite Speakers

Cerwin Vega CVHD-12S Powered Subwoofer - Front View - Grill On

Cerwin Vega CVHD-12S Powered Subwoofer - Front View - Grill Off

Cerwin Vega CVHD-12S Powered Subwoofer - Rear Panel View

Cerwin Vega CVHD-12S Powered Subwoofer - Rear Panel View - Connections and Controls

Cerwin Vega CVHD-12S Powered Subwoofer - Rear Panel View - On/Off Switch - AC Connection

Photos (c) Robert Silva - Licensed to About.com