SL Series 12" 3-Way Floor Speaker - SL-12

I needed to replace an old, old set of 3-way speakers and these speakers are a close match. They're a proven design that was perfected in the 1970's These CerwinVega! SL-12's are for loud rock n roll, and have the punch to get LOUD. They are rated for 300W each, and will rock a large party.But realistically, who listens to their music at 300 watts? My wife and I listen to music at less than 0.1W most of the time, 1W is loud, and 10W is the loudest we can stand, and it can annoy the neighbors. So what's going on?First I researched the math about perceived loudness, decibels, and power. You can look it up, but it shows you need 10 times as much power to sound twice as loud. So 300 watts is only twice as loud as 30 watts, as heard by the human ear. So why buy these speakers?I auditioned the newer design speakers with similar power ratings. These have multiple, identical small drivers, passive radiators, etc., and they just do not sound good without sub-woofers. They don't tell you about the sub-woofer until you become very interested in the main speakers. And who wants all the stereo bass jammed into one channel? Rock and roll has some interesting performances where you would want your bass in stereo.I'm using a vintage receiver that is rated for 40W RMS. Even at very low volume levels, the sound is rich and warm, and you can still feel the lowest base frequencies going into your body. For me, this is the best thing about these speakers. You won't get that with small speakers. The 12" woofers are like two sub-woofers, without the extra cabinets. It just gets better at higher volumes.The biggest caution that I can throw out is that if you are going to underpower these speakers, stay comfortably below the rated power of your amp/receiver and stay in the volume range that it still sounds clear. Turning the volume higher his can cause "clipping," a form of distortion which will cause the tweeters to overheat and fail. Stay within the capability of your amp.I gave only 4 stars to the quality of material. There are no defects whatsoever, but the cabinet materials and visual design are just plain and unremarkable. Take off the covers to reveal the intense red color of the speaker cones.One last thing: Serious audiophiles look down on this brand. That's because CerwinVega! speakers are too much fun!

Cerwin Vegas....their not the old school D9s...or even D5s...but still sound amazing

They are sizeable. Make sure you have the room. I am powering these with an onkyo m504 and the bass is enough to get a ticket. It is amazing the sheer brutality of the bass punch. I've never heard such depth. The cabinets bring out the resonance for the neighbors to hear,which is why I have ordered 36 x 24 x 2 thick sound deadening panels to put directly behind each speaker to help reduce travel. Cerwin vega lives up to its reputation. These are the best brawlers in the biz. And for a super good price cant beat it. Mids and highs are exceptionally balanced . I am sensitive to 1khz,2 and 4 of midrange and these aren't on my radar of noticeability at even the top volume. Great speaker. Not for the faint of heart. Love them.

Excellent home speaker, perfect price point as well. I recommend a pair for your entertainment pleasure. Thanks Cerwin Vega.

A proper floor standing speaker, with a 12-inch bass driver. I've been pretty happy with them and you will be hard pressed to get this much sound at less than $800 for a pair. I have them about 20 inches out from the front wall. Driving them with a Peachtree Nova 300. I have an Adcom GFA-5500 on the way to test out.

Great sound so far and stupid loud!

Cerwin-Vega SL-15 15" 3-Way Floor Tower SpeakerIn my humble opinion I don`t think you will need a sub woofer with these, so you will save money in the long run setting up a 2 ch. system. You can go look up the specs on these speakers and from what I read there is no reason these can`t be used for all kinds of music listening. Keep in mind I have sensitive ear problems and high sharp sound bothers them, and I can tell you the highs from these speakers are not overly sharp like some new speakers that I have heard these days, maybe the tone from the woofers just balances it all out, so I will say it`s a warm sound.These speakers made my vintage Pioneer sound better then it ever has, it always had detail, but never had enough bass tone, till now, it`s only around 12 Watts per channel too, the CV speakers are efficient enough to get some pretty good volume even at 12 Watts in my small living room, if I want to move some air I switch to my Onyko it`s 85Watt, latter I have a 150 Watt amp I will try, and then do a follow-up, but in a small room it might be overkill with these speakers, I don`t want to blow out my ears. Right now, I`m probably going to listen to a lot more of my old Pioneer.These type large old school floor standers are hard to find these days, the ones that are out there are mostly over priced too, and some of those are just big shelf speakers on stands, I don`t like the tall skinny tower speakers, I feel (I don`t know for sure, just what I have experienced) that they are designed for good movie dialog sound in case you just buy two, and they really don`t sound good for music unless they are in a complete surround speaker system.These CV sL-15 speakers are some big box speakers, check how deep they are, that was where I could have measured better, but they fit pretty good otherwise.Product Dimensions19.7 inches Deep (front-to-back) x 16.6 Wide x 35.9 inches tall.Item Weight 72.5 poundsYes these speakers are designed in the US and assembled in China, and they are well put together I must say.They also came well packed.Thanks!

These sound absolutely amazing!!! Highly recommend!!!!