Great full thumping bass, good mids and highs

does not have the best soundstage presence

Back in 1980 I came into some money and went on a quest to have the baddest stereo system. Back in 80 It was'nt as easy to shop for high end stereo equipment, and there was no surroud sound to contend with, I remember the latest thing was digital quartz lock tunning, and they were also demoing some futuristic thing called a C.D, although the one they had played disc's the size of lazerdisc's.
Anyway I remember seeing this Sansui G7700 receiver and thinking it was the s--t,(Sansui at the time was considered to be high end), and of course it had the digital quartz lock tuning, it was $700 plus dollars at the time which was a lot of money back then, I latter found one on sale for $349. After that It was my next order of bussiness to find a really good set of speaker's, My friend and I went to every stereo shop and listened to every speaker system they had, I remember they had these one's that when cranked had sparks or flames or something that shot out the bottom port!, I guess this was'nt a reference quality stereo shop but it was the best we had at the time.
I wound up buying the cerwin vegas because they just rocked period zip.I was 18 at the time and liked to listen to hard rock as loud as possible, and nothing else quite fit the bill as well as the cerwin vegas, when my system was complete I was the envy of all my friends,back then your stereo and your car were considered extensions of the male anatomy,well I guess some things will never change!
Which brings me to the At12's, one day at my local superpawn I came across a pair of At12's and I got them for $175, all I could do was think of how much I missed my old system(I traded my other system for a 1967 volkswagen camper bus, I needed transportation) a fair trade at the time. This started my latest obsession into Home Theatre, I had been out of the loop for awhile and man did I have to do some learning quick, But the cerwin vegas as before sounded awesome,especially for rock played at real high DBs for long periods of time,Crank Queensryche's Operation Mindcrime through these using a good amp and you'll hear what I mean, this was 4 years ago and my whole attitude has changed, I now own all Klipsh speakers and I'm more into less volume and more accurate sound imaging, and my musical tastes have changed as well, but the cerwin vegas as before just flat out rock.
Thanks for letting me share my anecdotes with you
Glen H

Similar Products Used:

1980 Cerwin Vega 123's, Basically AT 12's without the mid and high frequenccy controls.

I have owned a pair of AT-12 for over 3 years now. If you are anaudiophile then don't bother purchasing the speakers. For the price
range I don't beleive you will find a better pair of speakers. In many
aspects these speaker can compete with ones twice their price. The weakness
with these may be a slightly underpowered mid range. The bass response is incredible. I use these as L&R as front speakers in surround and for
movies with good soundtracks and sound effects they are great. Dialogue
leaves something more desireable.

Crankin' bass - subwoofer has 7 lb. magnet

None noted

I bought these bad boys in Scotland in '89 for $350.00 US when they were going for around $650.00 - $750.00 US elsewhere. I have cranked them so hard the windows have nearly broken when driven by my Sansui 9090DB receiver. The AT-12 subwoofer in my opinion is phenomenal and SAT-12 satellites put out crisp, clear sound no matter what volume level. I have yet to live anywhere where the neighbors haven't called the cops when these babies were rockin' the house! I have used them with numerous receivers and amps, and though the results are somewhat varied, the end result has always been earth-shattering bass and crisp mids and highs. If anyone is looking for a a speaker system that gets it on for a reasonable cost, I would highly recommend this set.

Similar Products Used:

none