Troubleshooting a Cerwin Vega VS-150

Рет қаралды 2,942

5 ай бұрын

These Cerwin Vega VS-150 loudspeakers just don't sound they way they should. Distorted midrange sounds, a buzzing from the woofer and possibly some cabinet issues is just the start.
This will be the first video of more to come where I will diagnose and repaire these speakers to sound as good as new or better.

Пікірлер: 36

@nhexan 5 ай бұрын

In my country these are called vs-15. And the crossovers are very different. I refoamed mine only to discover bad mids and tweeters. I bought mine 2nd hand off a musician, so obviously they had seen alot of abuse. I changed all the electrolytic caps to high end poly caps, except for the cap on the woofer. A polycap for that costs a fortune. So i put a new electrolytic cap on that. I couldn't find replacement mids, so I found some off ali-express from aiyima or something, almost identical drivers for 6€ a pop. And the tweeter diaphragms are unobtanium, so I got something from simply-speakers for the at-15 or something.. completely different diaphragms, but I made them work. I run mine with a dsp that makes their response flat. Great pair of speakers. With a dsp they beat newer high-end speakers to a pulp. And for less money than anything on the market today. Cool vintage speakers that will dominate your whole house and then some 😂

@jasondonaldson9355 4 ай бұрын

I just bought a pair of VS150’s. One of them had a blown midrange (DXM6). I was lucky enough to find a guy parting out a set of VS150’s on eBay and bought a used working DXM6. I still have the blown midrange that has voice coil rubbing. I’d absolutely love to see a video of a midrange repair. For the life of me though, I could not find ANYONE selling midrange recone kits anywhere.

@SavingVegas 4 ай бұрын

Pretty much the same situation I was in. Even some of the DXM6 mids I bought off Ebay that they said were in "good working condition" had issues. This led me to find a proper fix for the ones I had. I'm glad you were able to find a good working used on with better luck than me. I will be doing the DXM6 repair video soon, it's a tedious job but great results.

@TheodoreBreaux 5 ай бұрын

Excellent video, very thorough. You should consider doing the same for any CV enclosure you get on the bench, as very few measurements for vintage CV have been posted or published anywhere. Plugging the component values fromthe VS-150 crossover schematic into a calculator, the 2nd order LC lowpass filter on the woofer should begin to roll off around 340Hz. If that large NPE has decreased in value over time, it will raise that roll off point. As for the small NPE that was toast, it compromised the midrange filter, so that compounded with the faulty driver was certainly responsible for the weirdness. Well done!

@zew-ski8713 5 ай бұрын

Another great video buddy! Keep it up!!

@snlmcp 5 ай бұрын

great video! Looking forward to the midrange repair

@SavingVegas 4 ай бұрын

I will definitely be uploading the mid repaire video just not sure when I will get the time. The projects are pyling up these days which is a good thing I guess.

@adriancressy8363 5 ай бұрын

interesting overview...Would the age of the cross over components be causing this drift from the "expected" results???

@MadScientist267 5 ай бұрын

Woah, there's a name I never thought I'd see again. CV... as it was said... "got much knock" 🤣 Some of the best sounding speakers ever made IMO.

@JR-ho5qm 5 ай бұрын

Right on! Glad you got the CLEO. Would be very interested in seeing more CerwinVega! Measurements in the future. It would be great to see you choose a speaker and point to point wire new crossovers using higher quality parts equal value but eliminating the fuse and all the steel hardware in the signal path. It’s a fair bit of work and cost, but I think the VS150 would respond very well to it. It has pretty good drivers.

@SavingVegas 5 ай бұрын

That was my original plan for these 150's. I even have all the caps and inductors for them. Unfortunately I probably won't use them for these because I potentially have someone wanting to buy them and they aren't that interested in spending that kind of money on the xover parts. To keep things rolling in the shop I need to keep money coming in and I have a lot tied up right now. The cabinets are pretty rough otherwise I would consider keeping them for myself but I'm sure I will find a nice minty pair one day. Chances are I will just be doing a budget rebuild and sending them on their way but who knows.

@JR-ho5qm 5 ай бұрын

@@SavingVegas ya, I agree save it for the right pair. VS Series seems to be pretty common here in Saskatchewan. There is lots of them around. Some good lots bad lol! Ya I used to think that fuse was pretty cool but it causes more harm than it’s worth

@fortworthron 5 ай бұрын

Neat video! 🙂 I just finished refoaming my JBL L100Ts a few weeks ago (waay overdue), but after watching your video, I wish I woulda gotten a flashlight on the crossover, to look for any blown caps, or anything unusual. I guess I could always go back in there... I have not noticed any unusual sounds though...

@SavingVegas 5 ай бұрын

Chances they are probably fine but you never know. In the case of these speakers I'm guessing the damage to that cap is due to too much power for extended periods of time. Those caps have a temperature rating of 85°C and if those speakers were overpowered-which most people tend to do with these Cerwin Vega's-then it will eventually cause damage. How do you like those L100T's? I was looking over the specs on them and I bet they are pretty impressive.

@fortworthron 5 ай бұрын

@@SavingVegas The pair I have are the older ones - JBL re-released an updated L100 series just a few years ago. I'd love to hear those. But mine I purchased new around 1993 or so. I've been pretty happy with them. I like my retro stuff! 🙂 And the re-foaming definitely helped! Some have complained online about the crossovers, and I thought I saw aftermarket crossovers available to replace with the originals, but since I don't consider myself an audiophile, I have no need for that! 😀 I think they're taller than the previous or original L100s, and they fill my room better I think. I used to have these on stands. I need to make another set one day. They aren't CVs - but I'll be checking out your other vids. Thanks!!

@SavingVegas 5 ай бұрын

I would stick with the original crossovers myself after looking up some info on them. They got great reviews and were measured to play quite flat across the frequency spectrum. It's interesting that they gave them a model number that resembles the famous original L-100 and the newly released L-100 Classic you mentioned. Reviewers mention they sound nothing like either L-100 but still very good. I'll have to keep my eye out for some of these and try them out one day maybe.

@mikebrookshire3464 5 ай бұрын

Got a set of VS150s that need crossover work. I already have refomed them and look forward to your next vedio, keep up the good work. There is so much to learn. Have a fabulous day, Mike.

@muff10000 5 ай бұрын

That small green capacitor are blown out. broken. never use a one that looks like that.

@Elektronenregen 5 ай бұрын

Very interesting video! The clio pocket looks like a neat device.. Some people requested me to do measurments of the speakers I take apart. I think, that I need something like that in the future! Damn, I've seen better crossovers in Vega speakers.. The capacitor is blown for sure, curious what it will measure. A time ago I had speakers, that had a very light buzzing sound at some high frequencies.. turned out, that the wire separated from the tweeter coil. The coil looked fine, no signs of overheating or burning.. but loose coil wire.. just wasn't sticking to the coil carrier (I hope thats the right word for it :D). I'm wondering how the coil of your midrange is looking.

@SavingVegas 5 ай бұрын

I have disassembled a few of these midrange drivers with this issue and there as been no damage to the actual coil itself. There were signs of the inside of the VC former rubbing on the magnet pole. If the problem is caught in time they are definitely repairable.

@robertholsopple9451 5 ай бұрын

I threw a Yamaha GE-30 equalizer on my setup to boost my midrange. It made a night and day difference to the ear at least. My daughter said she likes it alot better as well.

@SavingVegas 5 ай бұрын

I have been recently playing around with an equalizer with the amp I use for testing at my workbench. Helps with some speakers for sure.

@edjackson4389 5 ай бұрын

Im a huge equalizer fan. Been using them since my audio beginngs 35 years now. Great for room correction and they look cool

@billsmith5166 5 ай бұрын

Now that you have the ability to test individual drivers you also have the ability to replace the midrange with something better that looks similar. Based on the known good midrange, you could start by selecting one that is slightly more efficient but has a flatter response. There are a ton of inexpensive drivers of that design available. I know there's a tendency to want to keep a speaker as original as possible, but refoaming and replacing crossover parts will change the characteristics anyway. Not only that but everything is very old, so they certainly won't sound new no matter what you do If you're going to sell these, simply include the replaced midranges so the new owner can decide whether he wants to have a better sounding speaker or he can just put the originals back in. It would also make a VERY interesting video if you tested several drivers to see the results. Looking forward to the next video!

@SavingVegas 5 ай бұрын

I have already been working with these mids and have found proper parts needed to properly fix them. Spoiler alert they needed new spiders. I tried many different replacements tell I found one I was satisfied with. The VC was still good and no need for new foam because these mids use a cloth surround so I was able to remove, replace the spider and reattach the surround to the basket with the VC 100% centered and I am very happy with results. I like your idea about measuring similar replacements. The repair method may not be for everybody as you mentioned so it could be very helpful. And for that help anybody doing so should send me their blown midranges 😆 jk but seriously lol.

@billsmith5166 5 ай бұрын

@@SavingVegas That's good to hear. Looking forward to the next video! Subscribed.

@jim9930 5 ай бұрын

Ferrite magnets decay with age, too.

@fiveangle 5 ай бұрын

I miss my D9’s ! ❤

@Reflector-gb4vo 5 ай бұрын

I still have mine lol the pope doesn't have enough money to get them. Hopefully you can find another set to rejoice with

@ericschulze5641 5 ай бұрын

Tweeters are sealed No ? I've never seen any that weren't, also try putting some of that foil tape with the mastic on the baskets of the midranges , it should help stabilize them . Woofers too !

@SavingVegas 5 ай бұрын

Tweeters themselves are sealed yes but if not installed back in the cabinet when measuring the woofer the open hole for the tweeter will throw things out. If that's what you ment by that. As for the bumps in the impedance measurement it's nothing to be too concerned about but what you suggested could definitely help, may have to try that just too see.

@ericschulze5641 5 ай бұрын

@@SavingVegas agreed 👍