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!

I wanted the old school look, feel and sound of the almost extinct full size 12" towers and these take me back. Pair nicely with my 120" projector, they serve as mains in a 2ch stereo with a Yamaha R-S202 powering them. Movies, music and games are fantastic they sound very good. I am glad I went with these over the polk xt70s. Shipped separately, good oem packaging with only one having a very minor scuff i was able to cover with a sharpie. Would highly recomend

I totally love these speakers they sound amazing and have great bass response buy these if you want to experience your music I will be buying more of these in the future!! A++

Cerwin-Vega SL-15 15" 3-Way Floor Tower Speaker In 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 Dimensions 19.7 inches Deep (front-to-back) x 16.6 Wide x 35.9 inches tall. Item Weight 72.5 pounds Yes 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!

Good sounding speakers at an affordable price. Very loud when needed.

When I was in middle school (early 90's), my buddy's mom had a set of Cerwin Vega AT-15 (I think). We used to rock the house when she wasn't home! I always wanted a set of my own, but could never afford them. It's been 30 years and I finally bought me a set of SL-15. WOW! They sound as good as I remember. I haven't turned them up real loud because 1) I live in a townhouse and don't want to anger my neighbors, and 2) I don't crank up my music anymore (I'm getting old lol). I listened to a few Hi-Res audio albums from my Zidoo Z1000 and through an Onkyo 7.1 stereo and was really impressed. The highs were crisp but not harsh, mids and vocals were clear and bass was smooth/punchy... depending on the music. Speaking of bass, I no longer need a dedicated subwoofer for my surround sound system, as these speakers get a lot lower. Overall, I'm very impressed with the sound quality. The build quality is impressive too. I was surprised to find out that the grill frames are made of wood instead of cheap plastic. The only con I have with these speakers are with the grills. There's no place to grab it to pull them off. I'm afraid that I'm going to tear the cloth from digging my fingernails between the speaker and grill. A small groove, wide enough for three fingers on the bottom underside of the grill would've been perfect.

Great sound so far and stupid loud!

These Cerwin Vega SL-15 towers are insane. I have 2 of them on an old school technics receiver and equalizer. They are the loudest, cleanest, ground shaking towers I’ve ever heard in a home system and I’m no stranger to audio. Sure there are louder out there but my living room isn’t a dam concert venue these will rock a normal house like crazy. You will NOT need a subwoofer with these. I play everything from classic rock to old school to got150s (rebassed music with extremely low frequencies) and let me tell you these will hit down to the low 20s effortlessly and a AUDIBLY too! They will rumble your couch harder than a movie theatre, they will literally shake the pictures and the wife’s trinkets off the wall. I’ve done it many times it always amazed me. I can’t imagine how they would sound with an even better receiver than the one I have.