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Cerwin-Vega's new CMX series - high WAF and a $X,XXX(!!) price tag

post #1 of 10
10/23/09 at 10:37pm
Thread Starter 
For now Radio Shack is one of the few companies that sells them:

Cerwin-Vega CMX-212

They have them listed at $1,999 for each speaker(!!), but with a line drawn through the price. BTW folks, to me these don't seem anything like the "frat boy" speakers many people associate with Cerwin-Vega (and anyway, during a party is the last place you want to "audition" any speaker).

Features:

* slim enclosure with gloss black front piece w/illuminated CV logo
* dual side-mounted 12" powered woofers
* dual 8" midbass drivers
* dual 6.5" midrange drivers
* one 1" soft-dome tweeter

* 64" tall
* 169lbs each

There is also a line of smaller versions including bookshelf models.

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Also...........

For those that don't care about WAF Cerwin's well-reviewed CLS series, now called the XLS series, has been redesigned.

Here's the new dual 8" woofer model.

FYI: in my opinion it looks like Cerwin's entry-level "VE" series is most akin to the "not-real-accurate-but-still-fun" speaker image many people seem to have in mind when this company is mentioned.
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post #2 of 10
10/25/09 at 2:24pm
They are selling for $1799.99....which is about $1500 more then they should.

This type of speaker enclosure always seemed to be more of a joke to me than anything else. It's not a sonically good idea to have your sub(s) located in a small enclosure behind your mid drivers. In my opinion, towers like this have always sounded bad in HTs, but if you are looking for the perfect absurdly expensive tower speaker for house parties then this is your item.
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post #3 of 10
10/25/09 at 3:44pm
Thread Starter 
As far as the powered CMX models: because of their built-in powered woofers (they don't go low enough to qualify as true subwoofers), I actually pictured these more for a music-only stereo system that can be used with one of the more powerful stereo receivers out there.* Though I'll bet the CMX-28 can probably work well with a $200 to $300 receiver since all it has to operate are two 6.5" midbass drivers.

I highly doubt these are of the "house party" variety of speakers. CV nearly went bankrupt @5 years ago and despite their success with the CLS line of speakers which were introduced after the Stanton Group acquired them back then, it looks like they need to sell a line of more upscale models to help them to stay solvent and such a sonic personality would IMO prevent them from selling to a wider range of buyers. To help with that endeavor I am sure that is why they hired - after the Stanton acquisition - Domenic Buonincontri as their director of engineering, who previously worked for Revel & who has earned several patents in loudspeaker design; and Bill Bush as their senior design engineer, who was previously NHT's lead engineer.

FYI: a large proportion of any speaker's price is their enclosure, lots of hand labor and the price of the material itself. For example checking the weight of even the smallest CMX model, the CMX-5, reveals it to weigh 21lbs. That's a lot for a small 2-way with a 5" woofer! So these definitely aren't typical Cerwin-Vegas.

Here's some examples of other manufacturers that use side-mounted woofers: NHT's Classic Four; Vienna Acoustics' Mahler V1.5 ($12,000 per pair); German manufacturer Canton and their Karat Reference 2 DC.

I don't mean to sound like a shill, but conventional large and affordable speakers are very rare these days and as an old guy  who grew up with such designs, I would like to see a few of them survive (including Cerwin's VE and new XLS series). And I think a few others think the same way: witness the return of the Klipsch RF-7s, large floorstanders with dual 10" drivers that are "back by popular demand" according to the website.


* for example, the Denon DRA-697

Edited by LanceJ - 10/25/09 at 4:25pm
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post #4 of 10
10/27/09 at 2:00pm
these look pretty darn cool. Ive always been a fan of CV.
Id love to hear a demo of them.
I do wish they went a bit lower though.
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post #5 of 10
10/30/09 at 11:40pm
Thread Starter 
>>> I do wish they went a bit lower though.<<<

The fact they don't go lower, as far as compared to many other speakers with similar-sized woofers and enclosures, is what increases their efficiency rating: since they don't have to reproduce those lower bass frequencies - those POWER hungry frequencies btw - the receiver or power amp doesn't have to work as hard. Though if these are used in an HT system, I would still include a good sub so you could hear those super-rumbly effects (30Hz and lower) many movies contain.

This type of design decision is what contributes to CV's (and Klipsch's) reputation for building speakers with "punchy" and hard-hitting bass for music.
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post #6 of 10
1/20/10 at 4:34pm
Thread Starter 

These finally appeared on the retail portion of CV's site: CMX Series. The powered versions would be a good choice for those with stereo receivers or integated amps without the power capability to take full advantage of dual 8/10/12 inch low frequency drivers, but still want to listen to their music at higher levels.

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post #7 of 10
2/26/10 at 9:56am
Originally, I was looking to replace some very old Bose 401's in our Living Room home theater.  Our Definitive Technology Subwoofer (15" - 500W) had just gone out.  Second one at that, I will never buy Definitive Technology again.  After 2 months of shops here in Las Vegas saying they couldn't repair the Definitive, we decided to buy a new Subwoofer.  We were attracted to the price of the Cerwin Vega CMX-12S (300W).  While it wasn't as much power or as large as our old Definitive, we were told it wouldn't disappoint.  The subwoofer performs admirably and while we do need to turn it up higher (about 75%) to get the same effect, the bass is smooth and clean.  Much moreso than the Definitive.  We were also please about the warranty on this new subwoofer (60 months parts/labor)!!!

We were so happy with the sub that we decided to see what else Cerwin Vega had in terms of floor standing speakers.  I was a little apprehensive at first.  Cerwin Vega was always considered a Car Audio company to me, but times are a changing.  Now that CV is a part of the Stanton Group and they have some new engineers working with them, they are moving head first into Home Audio in a major way.  

The first speaker that looked attractive in terms of performance/price was the CLS-215 that they are phasing out for the new XLS-215.  Several high end reviews compared the speaker to $4K speakers.  Problem is the wife did not agree with the look/size of the speaker or general aesthetics.  We decided to purchase Cerwin Vega's CMX-210-NA.  This is a powered speaker.  250w RMS/500w peak.  Cerwin Vega is stepping away from their paper composite material for the cone of the subwoofer and going with a much more durable poly material for their CMX line which are aimed at "Cinematic/Music eXperience" enthusiasts.

These came in via Fedex and they wrapped both speakers together.  The packing slip reported 254 pounds for two of these behemoths!  This particular speaker has (2) 6.5" magnum subwoofers, (1) 6.5" accent midrange, (1) one-inch high resolution horn tweeter and (2) 10" magnum powered subwoofers.  They are slim, but deep and have a very new and modern look to them.  The wife liked the way they looked (thank God).  The sub as well as all of their powered speakers have illuminated logos.  They are red when no signal is detected and light up white when they are receiving audio signals.  The slim design of the speaker forces the 10 inch subwoofers that are mounted on the sides to be offset.  I am sure this is the same with the 12" woofers of the CMX-212-NA as well.

We have not broken in the speakers as of yet, but let me tell you....these speakers are so crisp and so accurate in their reproduction of the high, low and midrange frequencies they receive, I was blown away.  I have heard Polk Audio's top of the line and these rival if not exceed their performance.  We listened to several types of music as well as a couple of movies.  "Transformers" second movie....I have heard sounds, and special effects I have not heard before.  Best of all, I could turn the volume up as high as I wanted and nothing was distorted...NOTHING!  I was afraid to turn it up any higher for fear that the paint was going to start stripping from the walls (LOL).

We got these through Tiger Direct for a smoking price of $919.00 per speaker.  We will be replacing the other channels of our 7.1 surround system with other CMX series of speakers, all of which are backed by the same 60 month parts/labor warranty.  Do yourself a favor and get yourself some CMX's and you won't be disappointed.
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post #8 of 10
4/12/10 at 9:39am
Thread Starter 
These finally made it to CV's "regular" site: http://www.cerwinvega.com/home-audio/cmx-series-floorstanding-bookshelf-center-channel-subwoofers-speakers.html

I wish though they had included more technical details & more pics, including with the grills attached and the rear panel connections for the powered versions.

For music-only systems, I think the smallest powered version w/dual 8" woofers would match up well with the lower-priced stereo receivers from for example Sony, Onkyo and Sherwood, since only one 6.5" midbass and one 6.5" midrange (and the tweeter) need external amplification and I'm pretty sure those @$150 receivers should be able to do this without straining in a "typical" sized living room.
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post #9 of 10
10/8/10 at 10:14pm

So tell me how are the CMX-212 speakers now that they've broken in.  How much power are you running through them?

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post #10 of 10
10/30/10 at 10:46pm


Quote:
Originally Posted by cybernco View Post

So tell me how are the CMX-212 speakers now that they've broken in.  How much power are you running through them?



DITTO. I have always been a fan of Cerwin Vega, regardless of how sorry some yuppie "audiophiles" claim they are. I have always thought even the cheap modles sound amazing. I currently own a pair of the VE12F and am using as front surrounds and plan on getting XLS 12's to replace them and move the VE to rear channel when I sell my current Athena 8's. The CMX 212 is my dream when I hit the lottery!  But maybe "rich folk" hearing is better than my poor "hillybilly ears" have,  I still see no need to spend $5000-10,000 on a pair of speakers! Human ears have a very low range of hearing (20 Hz to 20,000 Hz) anyway. Cerwin Vega is awesome IMHO...

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Home Theater Forum › Home Theater Forum › Home Theater Hardware › Speakers and Subwoofers › Cerwin-Vega's new CMX series - high WAF and a $X,XXX(!!) price tag