Cerwin Vega SL-5M Sound Demo & Sony CS5 Comparison 

I was feeling pretty good about the SL5M until I listened to them next to the CS5. The Cerwin Vega are nice speakers but to me the Sony are better and on average cheaper. The SL5M also have an odd dip in the 2khz - 3.5khz range that could be part of the speakers slightly dull upper range. I show this with REW software comparing responses of other popular bookshelf speakers. In a future video I may build new crossovers for these and see if the issue can be resolved. Link to Part 1 the initial review video. www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNCxa...

$75 at Best Buy for Sony speakers. I got these and the Sony subwoofer on my stereo and it rocks. And I got the Sony F190 receiver for $100 at Best Buy. Sony has stepped up their game on this line. Very Satisfied.

nice speakers and those cerwin vegas look awesome with the red/pink tweeters

Efficiency is a perk - I totally agree with your thinking here. It just demonstrates another difference between the speakers and their design.

I'm just now learning about the Sony CS5's. Thinking about picking up a pair, they're pretty cheap right now. Great review btw!

Great demo 👍

My iPhone plays RU-vid just fine. Thanks for demoing it :)

Sony put out so much cheap garbage audio gear in the 1990's, and they are still recovering today. The CS5 are really good. Sony needs more winners like this.

Nonetheless i was amazed by the amount of punch (through portapro) these babies can produce. And the look is a mix of modernity and classic ohh

Did you make the wooden stands? They look really nice. Also what stands are you using on the Sony speakers?

If you turned up the volume to compensate for the lower sensitivity of the CV that would make it a bit more fair and useful. This just ends up showcasing the efficiency difference.

Sounding good!

The Sony is better, but then they do have a true three way design. The Cerwin Vega does not not have the mid speakers for better detail, the bass driver is doing all the work. You should be able to see the difference in the in the frequency scale.

Thanks for the video. Next time add a visual queue for selection. Either zoom in to exclude the ones that are not in use or use a pointer (place an object on the ones in use).

which ones do you think are better? these Cerwin Vega SL-5M or the Jamos 803?

Awesome vid. Older Cerwin Vega cabinets rock. New stuff from them is eh. The older cabinets are are around 96-98db per 1 W

Hello, I'm very late to the show for these sony's - But could you please drop a link for the vinyl wrap? Thank you. Regards, Jack

As a big cerwin-vega fan, I have always used my setup of 4, 4ohm speakers in series with 2, 8ohm in parallel. (Two dx-7's and two re-30 in series with two Dx-5 in parallel powered with phase linear and an adcomm preamp, and even better sounding softened with a dynaco tube preamp) at about 6ohm. The reason why is because I have always believed that six ohm offered the best amount of volume and push with the best amount of clarity. I have noticed it also offers the best option with room node adjustments. Sony clearly hit the mark on this. I'll be buying the Sony's.

compare them at the same volume level. any amp ought to drive either to LOUD level for a small room, which is what book shelf speakers are for.

I’m not scrolling through, but how many watts are you pushing?

Hi mate will the sonys go well with a Klipsch R-120SW

You got a pair of Cerwin Vegas with the tweeter hooked up backwards. That dip in the crossover region is a well known obvious symptom of that. I've studied speaker design extensively and have built many speakers.

1/18/2024: $198 today on Amazon. Obviously but sadly, "whatever the market will bear" for both speakers. $199.99 for the Cerwin Vega SL-5M

I can see 20 years from now people trying to get their hands on these Sonys.

how would the NHT Audio SuperZero 2.1 compare to the Sony's ??

That rap on the Sony looks sweet

Yuppers. But I still want your impressions. And with high level headphones in an isolated atmosphere I can hear what you focus on. I just want an opinion a and I can hear differences when differences are recorded. So have at it.

Are the Sony CS5's the best budget speaker right now in your opinion? I'm trying to build a good/affordable 5.1 home theater system for around $500 and have been considering various speakers for my main L/R. Your test comparisons have me thinking I should go with the CS5's. I was considering the Micca rb42's and m42x's but your demos seem to suggest these Sony's are a better buy.

Yeah, I’ve had a lot of Sony equipment over the years, but I’ve never bought any of their speakers. Their amps were OK back in the day once the HDMI shit started coming out I went with Pioneer elite or Denon I have some old-school Vegas I have some new school, Vegas I have these exact Vegas. But lately, if you look at some of their latest technology, as in Sony. You will find that they are number one in the world in headphone Design. Xm1000 4 &5 so they have obviously been doing the same thing with their bookshelf speakers that’s good news I like to have a variety of speakers around but it’s not much that can compete with some old school Vegas.

wich one is sounding ? please be more clear, include on screen markers or something, thanks

Should have jumped from one speaker brand to the next With every song demo, This would help listeners Ears & minds stay fresh to the audio differences. Playing a long list of songs on one set of speakers for to long a duration will diminish in minds and recall of sound differences will be lost.

i got To Get Me Some Sony's Right away!!!

If you can get a Sony ss cpx22, that would be a really interesting comparison with this ubiquitous Sony.

I agree with you on the fidelity difference. I am a big fan of Cerwin Vega but these sound like a 30.00 speaker in comparison to the Sony's. I'm not a sony fan when it comes to speakers but in this case you get better sound for the money. Cerwin Vega is now owned by the Gibson Guitar Company and Cerwin Vega is now manufactured in china. The decline of another American Company...

Fin da quando furono progettati i primi diffusori Cerwin Vega, il loro padre, ingegnere della Nasa (Gene Czerwinsky inventore nel 1957 degli amplificatori a stato solido) cercava un ascolto emozionale aprendo l'ascolto musicale a nuovi orizzonti, fino a quando nell' anno 1964 creó un woofer da 18 pollici capace di una (altissima) pressione sonora pari a 130 db (difficilmente raggiungibili ancora oggi),con frequenze ultra basse impensabili a quei tempi. Fino ad allora l'amplificazione sonora era affidata alle valvole che benché avessero una risposta lineare erogavano un numero di watt così esiguo, che si potevano contare sulle dita di una mano. Fatta questa premessa volta ad indicare il padre della rivoluzione dell'ascolto musicale, come degli effetti home theater,(Czerwinsky con i suoi SubWoofer fu il primo negli anni 60 a riprodurre un esplosione durante la proiezione di un film, facendo tremare la sala di quel tanto che bastò a fare scappare gli spettatori impauriti), affermo che quando ci si trova dinanzi a quel bordo rosso tipico delle C.V. bisogna avere rispetto. Fermo restando che non esiste un diffusore capace di riprodurre al meglio ogni genere sonoro, queste casse prediligono il rock il jazz il blues. Emettendo il suono tipico delle casse americane, regalando emozioni con l'asprezza tipica di un medio alto da Concerto live e la presenza caratterizzata dal punch di un ascolto che seppur gradevole all'orecchio coinvolge gli organi interni; la pancia il torace. Questo diffusore lascia il segno , genera invidia, difatti, dando la paga a diffusori costosissimi, crea lo sconcerto in chi pur spendendo molto in altri rinomati marchi, non é riuscito nemmeno ad avvicinarsi a tale esperienza di ascolto. Non solo dall' ottimo rapporto qualità prezzo questi diffusori vanno oltre, badando alla sostanza dei driver che contengono. Queste casse, provengono direttamente dalla mitica serie R e dalle inequiparabili Cerwin Vega D9 con i tweeter caricati a tromba più aggraziati al mondo, meglio di una cupola in seta raffreddata al metallo fluido (diffusori capaci di una sensibilità da record con un solo watt ad un metro fanno misurare una pressione sonora di 103,5 db, chi altri ci riesce?), dalla più recente serie AT, che non solo hanno poco da invidiare sulle qualità audio a marchi ben più costosi e blasonati, ma sono nettamente superiori a qualsiasi altro diffusore che voglia competere con loro sulla tenuta in potenza , sul dettaglio dei bassi, sulle pressioni sonore di impatto, in una parola, sulle EMOZIONI.Esse sono uniche quando si tratta di riprodurre il suono di una chitarra elettrica, dando l'impressione che l assolo di quest'ultima sia suonato dinanzi all'ascoltatore. Nonostante l'ottima sensibilità dei diffusori, si consiglia di accoppiarli ad un amplificazione con caratteristiche di alta corrente in uscita (amplificatori ad alimentazioni toroidali) per sfruttarne al meglio tutte le potenzialità. Sul web é pieno di persone pronte a screditare queste casse, ma secondo la mia personale esperienza sono veramente in tanti quelli che ne parlano male senza averle mai ascoltate perché non costando molto e generando bassi da prime della classe, vengono accostate a cassoni da esterno (casse da giostrai)......NIENTE DI PIU' FALSO .....infatti presi i critici che solo con le teorie screditavano questi diffusori, messi dinanzi alla realtà proponendo loro un ascolto, al primo assolo di chitarra che gli increspa la pelle con un piacevole brivido, cambiano idea . Chi ha ascoltato le mie C.V., nonostante la maggior parte di quest'ultimi possano definirsi Audiofili da anni, con centinaia di apparecchi posseduti e o avuti in prova, sono rimasti piacevolmente colpiti dalla musica che sanno riprodurre.....quanto basta per mettersi alla frenetica, non facile ricerca delle loro prime Cerwin Vega magari della serie D, (veri capolavori, non se ne trovano). L' Audiofilo non é mai soddisfatto e tendente al cambiamento fin quando non incontra un paio di Cerwin Vega D9.

Compare with BIC FH-6B and FH6-LCR.

My Aiwa 180s can hang with this test 120 watts 5way 💪💪💪

wow

I do not agree with testing each speaker at the same volume level .. since they are of different impedance.. 6ohms will draw one third more power than 8 ohms at a set volume and should be louder.. but that has nothing to do with sensitivity. A fair test would have to be watt for watt.. that is not the case in this test l.

Sony’s sound much clearer

But the Sony's is a three-way I want Cerwin Vega dual 8 three-way

Sony nice speakers

Most amps provide more power at 6ohms vrs 8ohm. So that's part of why the Sony speakers play louder at the same volume.

Sony 👍

i need both now lol

The Sony's with a super-tweeter are obviously going to have way better highs. Unplug the super-tweeter and see how the sound. Comparing a 3-way speaker vs a 2-way speaker...6 Ohm vs 8 Ohm is a cheap-shot at trashing the Cerwin Vegas. You should have unhooked the super-tweeter and had the same wattage. At the same volume the 6 Ohm always draw more wattage. Nice way to trash on the Cerwin Vegas. No a fair comparison at all.

Not really a fair comparison. The Cv's don't have a Midrange, compare the Cerwin vega D9's against any Sony Speaker and they will blow them out this world

yea its a marketing gimmick the sony, is not a 3 way in fact its the opposite its missing low frequency and its also missing the lower mids.

Hands down the Sony's kicked cerwin vega's ass. Wow....whoda thunk it...

Andrew Jones designed the pioneers, and the Sony sounds like them. The 3kz range is what humans are used to when the baby sounds out. We like that, but don't make them too harsh for speakers.

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Cv speakers create bass and DBs. Not an articulate sound experience .

SONY

you want to listen, and what you get? Bla bla bla bla. These people love to hear themselves talk.......crazy.

that amp is , well theres a reason you can pick them up for nothing..... you havnt even heard them speakers yet.....

Sony’s are better then cerwin’s those look like toys....