Cerwin-Vega VS-100 Speaker System Review

Cerwin-Vega says it designed its VS loudspeakers to provide a high ratio of performance to price, including an exceptional dynamic-range capability. The moderately priced VS-100, next to the smallest of the four models in the series, is a three-way floor-standing system with a 10-inch cast-aluminum-frame woofer in a ported enclosure, crossing over at 650 Hz to a 4-inch cone midrange driver. The second crossover, to a 1-inch dome tweeter, is at 6 kHz. The tweeter is protected against damage from excessive signal levels by a self-resetting PTC (positive temperature coefficient) resistor. Cerwin-Vega speakers have a reputation for high sensitivity and the ability to generate large amounts of acoustic energy, especially in the bass region. The VS-100 continues that tradition, with a rated sensitivity of 95 dB sound-pressure level (SPL) at 1 meter with an input of 2.83 volts and a frequency range of 37 Hz to 20 kHz.

The speaker’s front panel, normally covered by a removable black cloth grille, is finished to match the rest of the cabinet. With the grille off, the woofer cone’s red rubber surround contrasts distinctively with the panel and the other drivers, which are protected against physical damage by individual grilles. The woofer port is at the bottom of the rear panel, below a pair of recessed five-way binding-post input terminals that will accept single or dual banana plugs or almost any other type of cable or connector that might be used.

The measured average room response of the pair of VS-100 speakers was quite flat through the midrange and high frequencies—within ±2.5 dB from 400 Hz to 20 kHz, except for a slight peak at about 15 kHz, presumably due to the tweeter resonance. Cerwin-Vega says the small on-axis peak is intentional, to yield flat response at typical listening positions, about 30 degrees off the forward axis of each speaker.

The close-miked woofer output, including the contribution of the port (principally below 70 Hz), varied only ±2.5 dB from 30 to 500 Hz. Our best approximation of the splice between it and the room response resulted in a composite frequency response of ±2.5 dB from 400 Hz to 20 kHz (except for the tweeter peak at 15 kHz) and a slightly elevated output between 40 and 250 Hz. It’s important to realize that the lower portion of that response (as with the composite response curves we develop for all tested speakers) is heavily dependent on room dimensions and speaker placement. Nevertheless, it conformed quite well with what we heard from the VS-100 (and also contributed to a noticeable but not particularly objectionable heaviness on male voices).

Quasi-anechoic MLS frequency-response measurements produced somewhat more ragged plots than we are accustomed to seeing, though such things tend to be exaggerated by the expanded amplitude scale we use to reveal small details. The on-axis response was ±5 dB from 300 Hz to 13 kHz, with an additional 4-dB peak at 15 kHz, which conforms quite closely to test data supplied by Cerwin-Vega on our samples of the VS-100.

Measured 45 degrees off-axis, the response fell off by about 4 to 5 dB between 2 and 6 kHz, which is in the region covered by the midrange driver. From 6 to 11 kHz the off-axis response was flat again. The tweeter became progressively more directive at higher frequencies, with the off-axis output down by about 10 dB at 20 kHz.

The system impedance, nominally 6 ohms, varied from a minimum of 4.1 ohms at 140 Hz to a maximum of 18 ohms at 70 Hz. Over most of the audio range it was at least 8 ohms.

The VS-100’s measured sensitivity was even higher than rated. We measured a 96-dB sound-pressure level at 1 meter on the tweeter axis with a 2.83-volt input of pink noise. That is one of the highest sensitivities we have measured from a home speaker. In practical terms, it means that an amplifier that can drive an average speaker (with its 89- or 90-dB sensitivity) to a comfortably loud level will be able to produce an imcomfortably loud output from the VS-100. Alternatively, with a 25-watt amplifier, the VS-100 will deliver the kind of punch that for most speakers would require at least 100 watts.

In pulse power tests, the VS-100 was able to absorb single-cycle tone bursts at very high powers without damage. Even at 100 Hz, where most woofer cones can easily be driven to the limits of their travel by any amplifier that can deliver several hundred watts (and often at much lower power levels), the VS-100 took a pulse of 1,320 watts into its 5-ohm impedance without damage (though with a distinctly hard sound) before our amplifier clipped.

The VS-100’s distortion, measured with a 1.42-volt input (the voltage required for a 90-dB SPL output) was between 0.6 and 1.5 percent throughout most of the woofer's rated frequency range, from 650 Hz down to 50 Hz. It rose at lower frequencies, to a maximum of 8 percent at 38 Hz.

Listening tests confirmed the VS-100's distinctive characteristics. For example, in A/B comparisons between it and some competitive speakers, the VS-100 was unmistakably louder, owing to its higher sensitivity. Louder can easily be mistaken for better, which is why level matching is so critical in such comparisons, but the VS-100 did in fact sound very good, with a bass extension and punch unusual for a speaker of its price (and size). It reproduced a 31.5-Hz tone from a test CD cleanly and powerfully, with hardly any audible distortion. As I mentioned previously, the speaker can exaggerate the “chestiness” in some male voices, but on the whole it is a fine performer, especially for those who prefer to listen to their music at close to its natural volume.

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