Digital Trends

Cerwin-Vega CVHD 5.1

May 15th, 2008 | by Ben Fowler

Listening Experience

For our first music selection, we popped in Norah Jones’ album, Not Too Late, and were immediately impressed by the clarity of Norah’s voice. Surprisingly, there was a noticeable element of warmth in her tone that we haven’t encountered before with other speaker systems of this type and price range.

Typically, these sorts of speaker systems are all about flashy highs and rumble-tumble bass, and when you listen to music on them, highs become overwhelmingly harsh and bass muddy. Here, with the CVHD system, Jones’ voice was actually quite neutral, and very pleasant to listen to. The bass did lean a bit towards the clouded side of things, though. There was plenty of it booming out, for sure, but we couldn’t quite contain its wily energy in our listening tests.

To see how the system would perform with more a full range sound, we dove into Remy Shand’s The Way I Feel, a funky, groovy throwback to Marvin Gaye and other soul greats of the past. And funky groovy it was.

Here the sub proved more at home, readily dipping down to those low soul notes with instant bump-and-grind appeal. Remy himself would have been proud, with his voice clean and clear and the midrange well-balanced, especially so for a speaker system in this price range. Certainly, highs seemed a little harsh at times, but hey… we’re nearing 40, so maybe that’s just us.

Possibly because of the line array technology, which usually creates a pretty specific sweet spot, we also noticed that the speakers tended to sound much better when in the main listening position, front and center. Sitting over to the sides of the front speakers, or standing up above them, we noticed that they get a lot darker sounding – more so than normal, even. Not necessarily a bad thing, just something to keep in mind.

Last came movie-watching time: Specifically, Peter Jackson’s version of King Kong, and here, the CVHD system did not disappoint.

First off, what we were really impressed with was the system’s vocal clarity. The CVHD-63, as a center channel, produced crisp, revealing dialogue, able to cut through the flashy sound effects going on in the film. For example, in the Skull Island scenes, despite the rain, wind, thunder, ocean, boat, tribal drums, etc., the dialogue never skipped a bit. As such, the system allowed us to get immersed in the sound effects without missing a single line of conversation. In addition, it also continued to impress us with its immersive properties and ability to seamlessly integrate the sound to featured visuals: By using the same speakers all the way around, CV is able to create an organic sound field that really helps pull you into the on-screen action.

Happily, the timbre of the CVHD-63 speakers is fully capable of producing incredible sound effects and crystal-clear dialogue. Moving to the lower side of the sound spectrum, the sub felt very much at home producing the low notes for the selected movie as well. At the very least, it certainly has power to huff and puff: King Kong’s breath, heightened by the sub, never smelled so ferocious. And musically-speaking, the sub was further able to provide discernable sensitivity to the lush orchestral themes carried throughout this film.

Conclusion

The CVHD 5.1 system is value-oriented and provides a high return on your investment. As stated on the manufacturer’s website, it’s designed to deliver great bass and increased vocal intelligibility of movie dialogue, and based on our hands-on evaluation, we agree. However, one thing Cerwin-Vega forgot to mention is that, because the system employs identical speakers all the way around, it also provides a truly seamless surround sound experience – a major selling point, in our opinion.

Admittedly, one major downside to the system is the caveat that it’s way bigger than one might expect. The unit is advertised as an all-in-one package to boot, which most will realize typically sport much smaller form factors than the CVHD 5.1’s configuration, so be sure to pack your measuring tape before busting out your credit card. Owners’ potential pressing need to purchase the optional floor stands also detracts somewhat from the system’s cost-conscious appeal.
Overall though, the system, in true Cerwin-Vega fashion, rocks. Taking this to heart, if you’re in the market for a superb-performing surround sound package for around $1000, make sure you add it to the top of your list.

Pros:

• Clear, crisp midrange makes for warm vocals and intelligible dialogue;
• System utilizes the same speaker all the way around for a truly seamless and integrated surround sound effect;
• Aesthetics (other than the sub) match well with most contemporary HDTV displays

Cons:

• Sub a little too big compared to the other speakers and doesn’t fit same aesthetic as rest of the system or come with floor spikes, so it’ll rattle on hard floors;
• Optional speaker stands a bit on the expensive side.