Summary

Cerwin-Vega has long been associated with value-oriented products tucked nicely into the “middle class” of speaker offerings out there. The company’s speakers typically feature a sensible design aesthetic, low bass output, high-efficiency, and solid bang for the buck.

Started in 1954 by Gene Czerwinski, at the time an aerospace engineer, the business has since built up a solid reputation in large part due to its knack for technological innovation and strategic partnerships with rock music icons of the ’60s and ’70s. It’s worked with the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, and Peter Frampton, just to name a few.

More to the immediate point though, the firm’s CVHD 5.1 system is a budget-friendly 5.1 speaker system designed for audio enthusiasts looking to score a little more for their money than they would from a typical home-theater-in-a-box. So how does it fare based on our extensive tests? Read on to find out.

Full Review

Features and Design

A unique feature of this system is its use of line array technology, which is generally found in higher-priced speaker systems due to the high cost associated with the use of multiple drivers. 

The CVHD 5.1 hinges on the use of several CVHD -63 speaker units. Each features six 3-inch Cellulose Composite Cone Woofers and one 1-inch soft dome tweeter. The speakers are 22-inches high and 5-inches deep, plus 5-inches wide: A nice fit for use in most medium- to larger-sized rooms or with 42-inch or larger HDTV display units. The CVHD system comes with two pairs of the CVHD-63s – one pair for the front channels, and one pair for the surround channels. The center channel is the CVHD-63C. It’s the same exact speaker, just designed with a slightly different mounting configuration for horizontal placement.

To do the “.1” work in this system, the CVHD system employs a rather large 12-inch subwoofer with ported cabinet. It is powered by 250 continuous watts, with all the basic subwoofer amp complements, including volume level, variable crossover, high and low level inputs and high level outputs. It’s a pretty big sub, especially compared to the compact and sleek design of the CVHD-63 speakers.

Bear in mind that the speakers ship out-of-the-box with a wall-mount solution. If you want the optional stands that we used for testing, you’ll have to pay extra for those. (As of press time, the CVHD-63 stands were $149 a pair, and the CVHD-63C stand $60).

 

Cerwin-Vega CVHD Sub

Installation and Setup

First off, we noticed that this complete system comes in one box - one very large box. A lot of speaker companies prefer this method of packaging because there’s this notion that consumers are more likely to buy something if it comes bundled together. Maybe there’s a perception that it’s easier to setup if it’s all in one box. Or maybe it means that the speaker system is more likely to get put out in a huge floor stack at a big box retailer where shoppers can see it. 

Either way, Cerwin-Vega (CV) was able to pack a lot of speaker into this immense package. Nice work. But because of the system’s size, we had a hard time lugging it around. Frankly, we wish the sub would have come in a separate box, which would have made transporting the system as a whole much easier.

The CVHD-63 speakers have an unobtrusive fit and finish, and CV clearly designed this product to match many modern HD displays. Outfitted in a matte black plastic shell with a little silver trim, these speakers indeed pair nicely with many of the current HDTV units out there. In fact, we noticed that they matched perfectly with the color scheme and aesthetic of the Samsung DLP HDTV we were using to test this system with – a nice bonus.

Nonetheless, it was surprising to find out that the grilles on the CVHD-63 were not removable, as we were hoping to see what “cellulose composite” cones look like. (We have a feeling it looks a lot like black paper.) Not that anything is wrong with black paper: In fact, it’s very rigid and lightweight, and many high end audiophile speakers use this material. It’s just that to the mass market consumer, paper doesn’t really have the same cachet as say, carbon, aluminum, or beryllium – and doesn’t look as cool either. But we could be all wrong – “cellulose composite” could be some sort of Australian tree bark, who knows.

Since the grilles were irremovable, we couldn’t view the tweeter or its location in the array. But a little listening test pointed out that it’s located in the center of the CVHD-63 speaker. Generally speaking, you want the tweeter right at ear-level for the best sound.

On a positive note, the optional stands were easy to setup and matched the overall aesthetic of the system. In fact, the finished product – stand and speaker together – takes on the appearance of a singular, cohesive unit. Note that the speakers have three different mounting points so they can be attached to the stands at three different heights. So, for example, when you’re trying to get that tweeter at ear-level, you’ve got some options.

One thing we really liked was the ability to completely conceal wiring with this system, as the stands are hollow and allow speaker wire to be run through them. They also come with a small black shell that can be mounted over the back of the speaker once the speaker wire is in place, perfectly concealing every inch of cabling. Oh, and speaking of the back of the speakers, we found them appointed with high-quality 5-way binding posts – another welcome addition.

The sub itself is finished in a basic matte black plastic, with no silver trim. The subwoofer grille was removable, and once removed, unveils the traditional CV sub look – black paper cone, bright red (CV red!) rubber surround, and a nice big CV logo screened onto the speaker’s dust cap. It’s a nice look, but sadly, we couldn’t see any CV red on the main speakers – that would have been cool.

Back to the sub. It doesn’t come with any feet or floor spikes, so be prepared for it to rattle your floor, literally. To wit, if you have hard surface floors, you’ll want a little padding to keep it from bouncing around (maybe a little throw rug or some felt furniture pads).

Anyways, out of the box, the crossover level was all the way up (150Hz, recommended). But the volume level on the sub was also all the way up (very loud, not recommended). If we hadn’t noticed that before pumping some tunes through this system, it would have potentially blown out the sub, our ears, or both!

Luckily, that wasn’t able to happen because the sub didn’t work at all to begin with: Bummer. Fortunately, being the speaker experts that we are, we thought to check the voltage setting. The sub amp features a voltage selector switch that can toggle between 110 and 220 Volts (to accommodate US and foreign markets). By default, it was set to 220. We flipped it over to 110 and voila… instant bass.

Back of the subwoofer

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.

Specs

5 CVHD Sate l l i tes with Linear Dispersion Speaker Technology™ (LDST )
Frequency Response: System 28 Hz to 22 Khz, Satellite 150 Hz to 22 Khz
Power: 50 to 125 watts continuous
Impedance: 8 Ohm nominal
Sensitivity: 95 db
Filters: 150 Hz high pass filter
Drivers: One 1” [2.54cm] high definition soft dome tweeter and six 3” [7.62 cm] cellulose composite cone woofers
Video Shielding: Yes
Floor Stands: Yes (optional) vertical stands sold in pairs provides 3 adjustable height positions, with wire management
Wall Bracket: Yes Included - Optional Omni-mount brackets for wall and ceiling mounting



1 Subwoofer: 12" [30.48 cm] powered
Frequency Response: 28 Hz to 150 Khz
Amplifier: 250 Watts (110V and 230V versions available)
Speaker: 12” [30.48 cm] woofer
Cabinet: Bass reflex
Other features: AC and thermal protection Speaker level and line level inputs Auto-on sensing



DIMENSIONS
CVHD Sate l l i tes with Linear Dispersion Speaker Technology™ (LDST )
Dimensions (HxWxD) 22.5 x” 5” x 5”, 57.15 x 12.7 x 12.7 cm
6.32 lbs [2.84 Kgs]


Subwoofer: 12" [30.48 cm] powered
(HxWxD) 17.75” x 16.75” x 16.5”, 45.09 x 42.55 x 41.91 cm
Weight: 48.5 Lbs, [22.05 Kgs]

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