Do I upgrade my Cerwin Vegas S1's from the 70's


Yes, I am an old timer here. I moved from Marantz Quad solid state to a custom built Mcalister tube amp of 75 watts per channel and a Mcalister tube preamp. The even order harmonics from the tubes in compared to solid state was really picked up by my wife Theresa, who in the past would love listening for an hour or so and then ask me to turn it off-Funny thing, She does not ask me to turn it off any more-The tube amp provides such a live, realistic sound stage that is so pleasing to the ears that you cannot get enough of it.............So, that brings me to the speakers, and should I upgrade, and if I upgrade, what should I go to. I am a hobby cabinet maker, and I have considered full range speakers, whereby, I would make my own solid wood cabinets....... and from there, I would really appreciate any input
johnnyd
Johnyd,You are probably not going to get much response here because you mentioned Cerwin Vega and this is a bit of an elitist site.Unfortunately many of the more recent Cerwin Vegas are pretty crude devices in a loud and bass crazy sort of way.Some of the older ones were quite good however and you may find that the fullrange type drivers lack bass extension, although like the Cerwin Vegas they are efficient and dynamic.Even things like the highly praised Zu Druid have very little bass below 100hz.
If you are wanting to build your own speakers I would suggest looking into some of the excellent kits available from suppliers such as Madisound,Edgarhorns,Parts Express and Zalytron.Even though your amps are quite powerfull I would recommend selecting kits with sensitivities above 91db/watt because valves and efficient speakers synergise so well.
I'll bet the EarthQuake soundtrack would be awesome- remember when it was roadshowed in first run, with monster CW woofers installed? :)
Johnnyd,

One thing you can do, prior to moving on to new speakers, is upgrade the speaker crossover. This makes a profound difference in the performance of a speakers across the entire frequency spectrum. If you want more information about it, drop me an email.

Mike