Looking For A New Audio Experience? Check Out These 15 Inch 3 Way Bass Reflex Speakers!

[@felipesandoval7593]

man those look badass and sound beautiful..

[@wattspeakers]

Wow thank you so much!

[@willbrink]

Old school fun for sure. We had a pair of Jensen speakers in the late 70s (no clue what the model was), and they were good party speakers. At that time, louder = good audio. We didn't know any better!

[@wattspeakers]

Thanks for watching and the comment! Hmmm... back in the 70's it seems that may have been older than these, perhaps like the "Sound Lab" series I've got: OS25 and LS 5. Those are future speaker projects waiting for me patiently. They're huge heavy, thick cabinets with super cool front baffles. Very vintage indeed. You're right about loud = better back in the day. I like to have my cake and eat it too, with high power, high SPL, high fidelity speakers. Not many were made that way so I make my own ;-)

[@eccentric363]

they sound really decent. Nice singer too :)

[@wattspeakers]

Thanks for watching, listening and the comment. Yeah Julie London is one of my favs. They don't make em like that anymore.

[@Professional-seo-services]

I Saw your video. Your video content quality is very good and interesting.

[@wattspeakers]

Thank you for watching and the comment! I do it for the content, not the clicks and views. My challenge is making the videos short enough for someone to get through, while still delivering some value in the content. It's tough to take something like building speakers and break it down in tiny digestible chunks, but with each video I get a little bit better at it.

[@JR-ho5qm]

Hey pal, I’m enjoying your channel! Just wondering if you have toyed around at all with any CerwinVega! Speakers? I find there driver quality to be pretty good and respond well to crossover upgrades with higher quality parts equal values along with box bracing and damping. I think a CV project would make for some great content and when modified proper are pretty fun speakers! Take care.

[@wattspeakers]

Thanks for watching, commenting and I'm glad you enjoy it! I've definitely wanted to work on some Cerwin Vega speakers. Finding decent ones at a decent price is the hard part. At one point oh.... I'm guessing 25 years ago or more, I picked up a pair of Cerwin Vega 12” speakers that were nice, mint actually... $50 from a local stereo store that would usually have a few used odds and ends from trade-in. I cannot recall the model, but they were a better or higher model. I thought they sounded good, but as I remember, they didn't seem to have much bass, the imaging was basically non existent and the highs would shriek like nobody's business, and lacked any airiness or sparkle to the highs. Just sort of a blah speaker, so I sold those and bought the Energy 3.1e that I'm still using and they still sound great. If I got a Cerwin Vega pair, I would like to test them and listen to them... and then RestoMod them. Their cabinets were fairly nice albeit a very resto look that was so out of place in the 90's but might seem more attractive to me now. I always liked the look of their Woofers though and their logo is distinctive. I think of there was one thing they could've done differently that may have picked up brand awareness and sales, was if they offered some high end models at least to show they could design something as good as their competitors from back in the day. They were trying to compete against the likes of JBL, Advent, Sound Dynamics, KEF, Klipsch, Acoustic Research, even Jensen, Pioneer and so on. Those companies were building a reputation with the high end stuff, which brought value to their lower end offerings and subsequently made their whole offering more attractive, whereas Cerwin Vega, just sort of hunkered down and pigeon holed themselves into the cheap zone indefinitely. That being said, I still want some!

[@JR-ho5qm]

@@wattspeakers yes I agree some higher end models would have been great. They had some higher end stuff early on, and are actually supposed to be working on a new higher end model now. Not sure what model you had, but they usually image and sound stage good and there bass is usually what they are known for. I agree they don’t have much sparkle but there is many versions with a soft dome tweater that aren’t shreaky. Be on the look out for either VS120 or VS150. I think that was the last model that was made in the USA before moving manufacturing to china and I think they sound pretty dam good. I’m in Canada and they are pretty easy to find at a reasonable price. 👍🏻

[@wattspeakers]

@@JR-ho5qm I'm really glad you happened to come across the channel and comment. In all fairness, I truthfully have never given Cerwin Vega a fair listen. The model I had was possibly the AT 12 or one that looked very similar. The VS series looks pretty interesting though and has good reviews. I must say that my bias may have been lurking beneath the surface, because back in the 70's and 80's I think most guys had their favorite stereo stores. Mine happened to be one that carried Sound Dynamics, KEF, Advent, and Magnepan speakers, while the electronics were Haffler, Dbx, Harmon Kardon, Aiwa, Technics and other brands in that range. They didn't carry JBL, Marantz, or Cerwin Vega and therefore they propped up what they sold and once a person gets locked into some sound characteristics they like, they gravitate that direction. I became a bit of a speaker and receiver snob and didn't think very highly of Realistic, Jensen, Fisher, Pioneer, Cerwin Vega and even Klipsch. I would go to other stereo stores and listen to their stuff, and RadioShack, Sears, etc. And as a young man because those other brands didn't deliver what I was used to or preferred, I didn't give them credit for their differences. The stereo studio store had a philosophy of simple and powerful. The emphasis was on 1) finding out a person's budget. 2) picking speakers that would fit in that budget while leaving 20+% to allocate towards driving them with the most amp one could afford and whatever playback devices were needed for the application. I was particularly drawn towards the HK and Sound Dynamics, because they could deliver up a rock n roll experience that was pretty remarkable. Very loud, very clear, and very punchy without a hint of strain or breakup. As I remember, other brands I demoed seemed in comparison to be kind of thin, 2 dimensional and flabby and could never match that combo at higher volumes. I was into rock n roll at the time so the finer qualities of other brands was lost for me. At the time, I would go to the stereo store to listen to whatever I couldn't afford, such as the KEF and Haffler combos, which weren't quite as punchy or dynamic, but seemed very rich, smooth and detailed. When I picked up whichever Cerwin Vega speakers I had some years later, they sort of reminded me of a Realistic speaker in terms of sound. That was in the mid 90's, and the tower speakers and bookshelf speakers were all the rage, so the big driver speakers were difficult to find and not well thought of as the winds of marketing shift took over creating a draw towards tall, skinny and small drivers. None of those did much for me. Paradigm and Mirage seemed to lead the charge or perhaps they were on the band wagon, but I just didn't enjoy the flatness and purity quest. I needed more cow bell, more bass, more punch. Now, many years later I'm appreciating all the various brands and designs, because my taste in music has broadened. Like a kid that only eats plain hot dogs and pizza, I was stuck in the rock n roll muck. It takes a special speaker and plenty of power to make rock sound good. Now that I've broadened my palette, I enjoy it all and really gravitate towards Jazz, Orchestral and Acoustic. Those music genres can sound really good without cranking it up. My old impressions of the Cerwin Vegas in the 80's however before that industry shift towards towers, were that they had bass, but not much impact. Their mids were clear, but the highs screechy. Klipsch sounded very hollow and void of bass, (even their flagship models). JBL seemed just boring and blaringly loud in the middle and treble region, (like a PA speaker). Fisher, Pioneer, Yamaha, Bose and Realistic seemed to fall apart when called upon to deliver any meaningful volume. So that was my journey in the 80's. I've learned to appreciate things more now, but one thing hasn't changed for me is the tendency to judge a speaker at maximum volume levels. I think it's when a speaker is pushed hard that one really discovers whether the drivers, cabinet and crossover design is truly capable. There's tons of speakers from the 90's and 2000's that sound good at low to moderate volumes with some that even sound good when pushed hard, (like Energy which replaced Sound Dynamics before getting euthanized by Klipsch). All the speaker companies seemed to get away from speakers that pounded at high volume and narrowed their focus on either flat frequency response or just plain cheap and small as the demand for big speakers dwindled and seemed to only remain on the Pro Sound side of the industry. Yes I was biased. But looking at some of the design specs for the Cerwin Vegas I can see that perhaps some of what I didn't like about them could probably be massaged. I noticed the series you mentioned had quite low crossover points for the Woofers and either they were ported out the back or maybe not at all. That could have a lot to do with my prejudice, because I really like a speaker that delivers very dynamically in the low bass and mid bass region where a 5" or 4" midrange just doesn't have the same impact as an 8", 10", 12" or 15" can provide. I know that last statement may get me banned for life from the Audiophile club, but I enjoy being wowed by the sheer scale of big driver speakers operating within their useable range. Some talk about "beaming and cone breakup", which may be true to some degree with many of the old big driver speakers that I mentioned that would fall apart when pushed hard, but some brands like 1st, 2nd Gen Sound Dynamics and KEF could pump out chest pounding bass and mids and suck up all the headroom the best amps could supply. When I build speakers, or RestoMod them I'm looking for the same qualities... Can they sound great and deliver meaningful impact even when pushed to the limit? If so, then they make the cut. All that to say I think that with cabinet improvements, crossover improvements, and some tweaking I could make a pair of killer Cerwin Vegas. They've got the bones for it. I'd be curious to hear the new stuff they sell on Amazon that has the Halloween themed black and orange. They look cool. I wonder how they sound.

[@JR-ho5qm]

@@wattspeakers I agree with all that you said. I am loyal to CerwinVega! For the same reasons you are to your speakers. It’s what I grew up with. Bought my first pair in 1996 at 16 years old and actually still have them in really good condition. However I figured I wanted the latest and greatest so I ordered the newest model and was very disappointed upon arrival. They sounded pretty good but had extremely bad build quality. So I like you went deep into the modification rabbit hole lol! I sent the crossovers to GR Research and had him replace the parts with higher quality equal value. I braced the cabinets and added No Rez as well as spray dampened the speaker baskets. Rounded over the inside radius of the woofer hole and port, new internal wiring and tube connectors. And also made matching granite bases with out rigger spikes. Cosmetic wise I made the grilles magnetic, and painted the front baffles and trim rings eliminating all signs of the driver screws. All in all I had a blast doing the work and the final product out performs my vintage model and looks pretty good as well. But I like you much rather prefer the bigger box speakers over the narrow baffle modern jobies. It’s good to see this new wave of old school high efficiency 3 way speakers making a bit of a comeback with new modern legacy models. 👍🏻

[@wattspeakers]

@@JR-ho5qm That's very cool indeed. I like what Danny does at GR Research. When you sent your speakers did he do a video of it? Or the frequency and spectral decay? I want to send him speakers as well.

[@kurthill7030]

Sounds great 👍

[@wattspeakers]

I definitely appreciate the comment and thank you for watching and listening!

[@superdougie10]

So basically you only really kept the cabinets. Most likely you've lost the original speakers sound completely. The sound signature is no longer a Jensen. Im not sure I could ever do that to a vintage speaker because I would only replace perhaps the mids only or only the tweets. I would completely have left the original crossover in amd just matches one set of drivers that may have sounded bad but I could not have changed vintage just for cabinets unless drivera were blown.

[@wattspeakers]

Thanks so much for watching and commenting! Yes that's correct in regards to the only thing I used them for was the cabinets. Sort of like building a hot rod vs keeping it stock. There's something to be said about the purity of it, but it doesn't change that void which remains, nagging that this _________ could be better . It's possible to put anything in that blank. In my case it's mass market vintage speakers. When I try to make something better, I have a tendency to try and keep some of the original design, or perhaps an aspect of it that may have fit within the manufacturer's general design philosophy. As an example, my brother and I, for a while were building similar but different hot rods. Mine, a 1971 Plymouth Duster, his a 1973. I chose to put a big block 440 in mine, whereas his was a small block 360. Mine was built from a rolling chassis from Arizona and rust free. It was an ugly greenish gold metallic original color, which had been resprayed to freshen it up, but it looked like factory paint. When I put the 440 drive line in, (keep in mind the factory never made any big block Dusters, except for drag racing). Anyway, I had a 71 block and made sure to repaint it factory blue which was the proper color for the engine that year. I also purchased 68 Magnum Heads, and Exhaust Cast Iron Headers, (so I wouldn't need to cut open my wheel houses). I chose steel 14" wheels with hub caps, which was proper for that era, the hood scoop was a genuine Mopar twin snorkel from a 340 duster. I had replica stripes made like the 340, except it said 440 on the quarter panels. Anything I did performance wise from that point was invisible or could've been factory... From the bigger valves, the new cam, high rise intake and 4 barrel carb, full dual exhaust, 3:93 sure grip rear end, extra partial leaf spring and pinion snubber, right down to the shift lever, were done as if the factory made it. Even some Mopar nuts would scratch their heads and wonder if maybe Plymouth did make a big block duster for mass market... but no, it only looked like it. Now, my brother's car was equally as fast, but done the complete opposite. Instead of gently massaging the engine, it was completely rebuilt for high performance and nitrous boosted. His was rusty and he installed as many fiberglass replacement parts that were available aftermarket. He painted his a Ford color called screaming yellow, with a huge black hood scoop, giant aluminum wheels and tires, exhaust that dumped out by the wheel wells... I mean it was screaming pull me over too. I suppose the moral of that rambling, is that my passion is making something another designer or manufacturer made, and making it better without losing its identity altogether. The Jensen CS-315 speakers I started with, were literally like new. They were charming and quaint and didn't sound half bad. But that wouldn't unlock their potential. I'm sure whoever designed that speaker, probably had many things they wanted to do on that speaker, but couldn't if they were to keep under budget to make a profit. I'm not burdened with their concerns thankfully. It would be neat if whoever designed that original Jensen, could see that potential come to fruition. Honestly it would be so far beyond what they could've done, or would have known to do during that era, this imaginary designer might be just plain blown away. That's the day dream anyway lol. Some vintage speakers I've got, I honestly don't touch because they're already good, and original. Others, like the lowly Jensen CS-315 designed for a low budget shopper and destined to be demonstrated and sold in major department store nationwide.... well, it's doesn't break my heart that bad. Similar to my 440 Duster, which started it's existence off the assembly line as a plain Jane slant six grocery getter. However... If that car had been a 340 Duster to begin with, I likely wouldn't have changed much if anything because of its value as original, whether financial or sentimental. But... with several future vintage RestoMod speaker projects, I've got tough decisions to make. Like a pair of Jensen Sound Labs 25, which have a ton of wear, but if restored to stock they'd sound pretty good and be close to their original beauty, or a pair of Jensen Sound Labs LS 5 speakers that are gorgeous, still in their original boxes, but one got dropped in shipping and broke a corner loose... But, in both cases, I'll RestoMod them, turning them into something far beyond what Jensen could've, or would've made them. They may have been state of the art back then, but nowadays there's so much better use for those cool cabinets! Thanks again for watching and if you read the whole reply, well... you're due a reward! I want you to remind me at some point, perhaps when I get some "merch", that I owe you at t shirt. Well, thanks again and if you're interested in seeing and hearing the Jensen's when they were stock, go here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/h5DSo36KfNetgMU