Blown tweeter Cerwin Vega AT15

[Onfloor Audio 10]

I need a tweeter for my Cerwin Vega AT15 !!

The numbers on the tweeter are : DT-5 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for any help !!! 

[johnrotten 1,099]

CV has changed ownership at least once in the last decade. Those OEM speakers are getting rare. I buy my surrounds from Simplyspeakers but they also deal in diaphrams. Ebay might have used but those tweets only came with the 15's if I remember correctly so the numbers out there will be limited to that model's production numbers.I use my AT-15"s every day and had it not been for the protection built in to them then I would also be looking for a fix. Auto-reset breakers protect the high end and overall fuse protects the woofer. Both continue to keep me safe.

[johnrotten 1,099]

Why is your woofer upside-down?

[Daddyjt 9,805]

There's one here for a BIN of $27.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CERWIN-VEGA-DT-5-TWEETER-For-AT-12-2-avail-4-ohm-Very-nice-condition-/171169511612?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item27da7f78bc

[zumbini 6,153]

There's one here for a BIN of $27.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CERWIN-VEGA-DT-5-TWEETER-For-AT-12-2-avail-4-ohm-Very-nice-condition-/171169511612?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item27da7f78bc

Right diaphragm, wrong frame. (It fits the physically smaller opening in the AT-12.) 

[danowood 2,167]

CV has changed ownership at least once in the last decade. Those OEM speakers are getting rare. I buy my surrounds from Simplyspeakers but they also deal in diaphrams. Ebay might have used but those tweets only came with the 15's if I remember correctly so the numbers out there will be limited to that model's production numbers.I use my AT-15"s every day and had it not been for the protection built in to them then I would also be looking for a fix. Auto-reset breakers protect the high end and overall fuse protects the woofer. Both continue to keep me safe.

 

understand the desire to protect them from overdrive, but you give up something when you do it, clarity for one.  It's best just not to over drive them to my understanding.

[Daddyjt 9,805]

 

 

 

There's one here for a BIN of $27. http://www.ebay.com/itm/CERWIN-VEGA-DT-5-TWEETER-For-AT-12-2-avail-4-ohm-Very-nice-condition-/171169511612?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item27da7f78bc

Right diaphragm, wrong frame. (It fits the physically smaller opening in the AT-12.) 

 

How about this one?  Tweeter AND the 2 midrange drivers, at $25 with 3 days to go...?

[Torr 8]

Why is your woofer upside-down?

 

possibly to balance out parts? I did this to a speaker when it was getting noisy, to correct imbalances in the speaker alignment. It helped to cure a noisy voice coil when driven near mechanical limits of the speaker, on a true sub. jr.

 

 

[Onfloor Audio 10]

 

 

 

 

There's one here for a BIN of $27. http://www.ebay.com/itm/CERWIN-VEGA-DT-5-TWEETER-For-AT-12-2-avail-4-ohm-Very-nice-condition-/171169511612?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item27da7f78bc

Right diaphragm, wrong frame. (It fits the physically smaller opening in the AT-12.) 

 

How about this one?  Tweeter AND the 2 midrange drivers, at $25 with 3 days to go...?

 

 

 

Thanks for the link , but they won't ship to Canada so that one's out ...

For the record .... people who don't ship to Canada SUCK !!!  

 

 

[Onfloor Audio 10]

Why is your woofer upside-down?

 

 

 

Not my actual Speakers , this is a sample pic from the net .

Mine are correct ...  

[Zoom 373]

 

 

I need a tweeter for my Cerwin Vega AT15 !!

The numbers on the tweeter are : DT-5 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for any help !!! 

 

 Parts for the AT series are getting rare.  I just replaced a tweeter in my AT-12 two months ago and it took me a while to find a good one.  DT-3 I think.  6 ohm btw.  None of this helps you, though. 

Ill keep looking.

[Daddyjt 9,805]

 

 

 

 

 

There's one here for a BIN of $27. http://www.ebay.com/itm/CERWIN-VEGA-DT-5-TWEETER-For-AT-12-2-avail-4-ohm-Very-nice-condition-/171169511612?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item27da7f78bc

Right diaphragm, wrong frame. (It fits the physically smaller opening in the AT-12.)

How about this one? Tweeter AND the 2 midrange drivers, at $25 with 3 days to go...?

Thanks for the link , but they won't ship to Canada so that one's out ...

For the record .... people who don't ship to Canada SUCK !!!

 

If you want, I can buy it, and ship it for you...?

 

[Jim Coash 126]

This is actually a case where a simple upgrade would yield a major improvement.  Go to the Vifa page, or Peerless or Scan Speak.  There are others.  Find a very nice soft dome tweeter, large diameter that will perfectly fit the opening.  You have a tweeter level control so you can compensate for an efficiency difference easily.  There will be a nice improvement.  Also, stop over driving your amp.  The reason the original tweeter is open is because you clipped the amp.  Either reduce the volume or get a bigger power amp.  Of course, the best solution would be to just dump these turkeys and get a good set of speakers. Cerwin Vegas are among the worst of the mass market companies if it is sound quality you are interested in.  A pair of Paradigm Titans would blow them away.  You could also reduce the stress on the amp by going with a powered sub that included a high pass filter.  Provided you have separates or a pre-out/main in set up.  Consider all options before you spend your money.  Even with a really good pair of tweeters those speakers will continue to be the weakest part of your system, most likely.  I would recommend these but they will not stand the abuse that damaged your current speakers.  Jim

[fill35U 1,847]

Of course, the best solution would be to just dump these turkeys and get a good set of speakers. Cerwin Vegas are among the worst of the mass market companies if it is sound quality you are interested in.

I don't think it's fair to categorically denigrate a large manufacturer's entire history of products. Not every company gets everything right all the time. And sometimes a company with a poor reputation hits a home run. Due to a fickle public, blunders in marketing, biased reviews, production or financial difficulties, or just bad luck, many erstwhile remarkable products become footnotes of history. Conversely, many average or sub-par products become wildly successful (or cult classics). It's the same in any industry.  

 

As for Cerwin Vega in particular: sure, they had a reputation for "west coast sound". They may have been largely *responsible* for it! But since ostensibly half the country enjoyed that sound, it must have been acceptable, if not preferable. CV was prolific, ubiquitous, and popular- they must have made a lot of money doing *something* right! The AT-15's were CV's top of the line for a few years, and many people say they sounded much better than CV's lower-level offerings. The later D-9's better yet. Those AT-15's are pretty serious speakers, high sensitivity and lots of power handling, to say the least. If I ever heard a pair, I'm sure it would have been under far less than optimal conditions, so I can't provide an opinion. Do you recall listening to AT-15's specifically, Jim?

 

I also don't think it's polite to seriously bash someone's system.  There are many Carversite members who own (or owned) Cerwin Vega speakers. Very few of us can afford our dream system. Most of us scrounge for deals on used equipment. Some of us own what we have out of nostalgia. I seem to have a penchant for acquiring ugly, battered, and gimmicky gear. This website is devoted to a long-defunct product line... While we might engage in self-deprecating humor, or or poke a little fun at each other, it feels to me that you were coming on a little strongly with your wording. 

 

OTOH, thank you for your advice as to how to prevent the problem from reoccurring! And thanks for the suggestions for quality replacement drivers!   

[Jim Coash 126]

I did actually sell a few pair of Cerwin-Vega speakers during my years at Stereo Showcase.  One customer in particular was the perfect customer for them.  His name was Derek and he was one of my long term customers.  In fact, I heard from him just a few months ago.  He called to tell me he was no longer using his Carver MXR-895 receiver and wondered if I was interested or knew a potential buyer.  I remember delivering it to him long ago.  Derek and his girl lived in an old house very close to the Woodward School neighborhood on Kalamazoo's near west side.  Martha was raised on Woodward and I knew it well.  Derek came to Stereo Showcase after having destroyed a couple systems he purchased at the appliance stores. I had his number quickly and decided the truth was the only way.  When he saw and heard the Carver gear, he wanted it, but I was worried.  He was young, working a construction job that paid well and loved headbanger music as loud as he could play it.  The red flags went up and I tried to dissuade him from buying equipment from me.  I told him, no matter what I sold him, he would blow it up. He literally begged me.  He did have good taste and he wanted KEF speakers but I told him no way.  I had a pair of Paradigm Model 11 floor speakers that were more efficient by far and I knew that was my best chance. I delivered and set up the Carver MXR- 895 using the pre-out to feed a Paradigm 15" powered sub, then took the high pass out to a Carver M-1.5 to drive the mains and used the receivers on board amp(s) for speakers in the rear of the room, Paradigm Phantoms, also with no deep bass going to them.  It didn't take a week before he blew several drivers.  I replaced them and warned him about clipping.  No charge.  Two weeks later, he did it again, and this time Paradigm called me up and said the warranty was void.  I told Derek and suggested he buy some E/Vs from me.  Big ones that would produce well over 100 db/watt/meter.  Too much he said.  Then go to Highland Appliance and buy the biggest Cerwin-Vegas you can get I told him.  The only spec you want to look at is "efficiency" and it has to be as high as possible.  It was at least a month before he called back and invited me to his new place.  It was way out in farm country, high on a hill, overlooking a valley where the town of Lawton lay.  When I drove up, I could hear the stereo, then I saw the Cerwin-Vega speakers on his deck, pointed out into his massive front yard.  He was listening to Triumph while mowing his lawn on a tractor!  I checked his install and made a few tweaks but I told him his system was not designed for outdoor use.  The next time he showed up he had sold the Cerwin-Vega speakers, blown, to a friend as is and he was ready for E/Vs.  I also took back his M-1.5 and gave him a generous trade in toward a PM-1200.  He bought four E/V 15" horn loaded two way stage systems.  That really made him happy and I never heard another word for several years.  We are still good friends but these days he has a family and his habits have been toned down some.  His wife is the same lovely girl I met the first time I visited his place.  He now is owner of an asphalt business and makes good money.  They both tell me they consider my consulting the best thing they ever had happen to them.  At some point, you must be truthful.  I can complement the owner of products I never could recommend sometimes but I cannot tell people what simply isn't the truth.  I know plenty of people who love what they have but you never see those units on anybodies list of great components.  Names come and go, brands change ownership, what was once good is now not any longer but some things are just facts. Please don't see my criticism as personal.  If you like it, so be it.  But have you taken the time to really listen to something else?  Who knows what another person really is hearing?  I only know what I hear. The thing is, who has had more practice than I have?  Anybody?  Jim

[johnrotten 1,099]

[johnrotten 1,099]

Some of us have not found a more affordable alternative that makes sense. Even after 25 years of hard use and a TFM-45 driving them for the last 20, I have only burned up 2 old style tweeters in the U351's. Never had a problem with the AT-15's. The tall ones have ALL original drivers and belong to a friend that brought them to be refoamed. They pre-date mine by a few years and he also uses the M-400.

[Jim Coash 126]

I'm glad you like them.  My ears are bleeding just looking at the pictures.  They must be incredibly loud.  Jim

[PMAT 2,054]

Too harsh Mr Coash. I know when my stuff gets bashed it sucks. A member here bashed my ALIIIs offhandedly in private. Who needs that? Screw that.

[hewlew1 258]

For 29 years I have had 4 D-9's in my setup. I have played them on two M500T's and at times 4 bridged M500T's. IMO for rock and roll nothing can touch them they just kick A$$. During that time I have blown 1 midrange and 2 tweeters. I remember when I first bought them I was blowing fuses I called CV tech support and once I told the guy I was using Carver M 500T's he told me to up the fuse to a 3&1/2 amp slo-blow fuse and have not looked back since.

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[Chuck 74]

Of course, the best solution would be to just dump these turkeys and get a good set of speakers. Cerwin Vegas are among the worst of the mass market companies

 

And what is wrong with CV speakers

 

I have a set of CV DX-7's that sound great, run them with a Carver M-1.5t, you just have to run them with enough power, everybody has their own opinion on speakers, I also have a set of glass HPM 100's that I am restoring and a set of  Dahlquist DQM-7's

 

Not a doubt that the Dahlquist will be the best sounding set of speakers but the CV are good also, just because some audio ___ on the internet keep bad mouthing them does not prove they are bad

 

You may have heard some bad one's but that can happen with any speaker