erikjohn Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 I have a Cerwin Vega A-1800 2 channel amp(2x900wts) sitting around collecting dust. I am not sure what year it is but I think it is from the 80's. It is huge. It has a massive power supply and the caps are the size of pop cans. I picked it up about 8 years ago from a pawn shop but it has necer really worked right and I am not sure what is wrong with it. I am contemplating if I should take scrap it or try to get it fixed. It does work but under fairly light loading it starts to clip. The caps appear to be hoding a charge because the speakers will run for about a 10-15 seconds after you shut it off. I had it load tested once by an "unauthorized" tech and he said that it was handiling as much load as he could give it. When it clips it makes kind of a silicony sound it is not a massive clip because I can't get any real volume out of it. Can anyone help? Has anyone ever had any expirience with this amp? What is this thing capable of? EJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile homeless Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 I am trying to imagine you plugging in a 900wpc solid state Cerwin-Vega (I only thought that made poor speakers for college dorm parties -mosut have been some pro monster) amplifier into your Klipschorns or Cornwalls. Each time I do, I recoil in horror and get strange sensations in my lower abdominal region, akin to a wolverine gnawing on my own pancreas... Even if working, what are you going to do with it? And Why? The word GRAIN comes to mind... LOUD and plenty of it! I stopped listening to horn speakers because of monster, mediocre solid state amps years ago. The beauty of Klipsch horns is the ability to run on LESS watts allowing for better amplification. As for the problems, I have no idea. I say sell the beast to a fraternity right after an all nighter, preferably in another town for safety reasons. kh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynnm Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 Leaving aside questions of merit or lack thereof - I wonder what have you been using as a preamp for that brute ? From your description it sounds as if it isn't getting a sufficient input signal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 Egads! 900 wpc per channel with a dummy load on the terminals at 1000Hz. Put a real load on it and chokes itself to death. C'mon man, it's made by Cerwin Vega! They probably left parts out of the circuit so they could sell it for next to nothing. Lynmm may have a point though. You should check it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile homeless Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 You should have left the line about tying it to the bumper.... heh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clipped and Shorn Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 I cannot get past the idea of Wolverines eating Pancreas for breakfast. Do you think they like Pancreas syrup? -c7s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 might make a good sub woofer amp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikjohn Posted October 15, 2002 Author Share Posted October 15, 2002 Do I sense alittle bit of sarcasm here or is it just me? All kidding aside, I bought this thing along time ago and picked it up for very little money. I figure if CV rates it at 900wpc it ought to be good for at least 100wpc of good clean power. My intent now would be to use it to drive a pair of SVS's. I dont think I would need or want to use it on the Horns. As for what preamp did I use I believe I used a cheap Sansui Preamp and I also tried it with an old Pioneer DS-509 reciever on the pre-outs. It didn't work worth a sh!t with either one of them. If I have time I think I am going to preamp it with the RX-V1 tonite and check on the horns. Get this, this thing will accept a 220 input. If I can get it going I may be able to recreate the story HDRBuilder told about the 10,000 watt shin-dig. EJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty Favog Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 C&S- Although I'm a Type I Diabetic I still find that funny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile homeless Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 On 10/15/2002 1:16:12 PM erikjohn wrote: I figure if CV rates it at 900wpc it ought to be good for at least 100wpc of good clean power... Ummmm... Strangely enough, I would come to the exact opposite conclusion; I cant imagine anything GOOD or CLEAN coming from this piece of gear. Yes, it might work on ye olde sub but why ruin a good thing? I still think you should use those Klipschorns in a dedicated 2 channel system with some high quality gear and dump the Cornwalls and sub in the HT room. Yeah, I know I own CW but what else can you do? ps- I almost had the wolverine going for the colon, but this brought about even more wincing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikjohn Posted October 15, 2002 Author Share Posted October 15, 2002 Sorry Homeless can't do it. Khorns gotta stay with the 5.1. Weather in a 2 channel or HT setup the Khorns are still the sh!t and they work so great Corns on the rear. I should've known what I getting into by posting something about Cerwin Vega in the 2 Channel Forum. LOL as I walk away with my tail between my legs. I don't think the CV is a cheap piece. Its a rack mount with an attractive face and a huge power supply and caps. What is it about this amp that has you all so convinced that it is a peice of crap. If it has a decent PS which is where all of the cost is what will keep it from sounding decent? I fart in your general direction. EJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikjohn Posted October 15, 2002 Author Share Posted October 15, 2002 Homeless, PS - Thanks for the inspiration for my new closer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile homeless Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 That amp was made around 1976 although it may have been manufactured a few years. I can think of no worse time for solid state electronics, especially from a company that surely has NO reputation for doing anything with electronics of merit, let alone speakers. Of course, plenty on here DO have CV speakers and love them. They love to rock. I just have never personally heard ANYTHING from this company that I have remotely liked, almost across the board. Yep, someone on here will surely discuss them in a positive fashion, especially after this post is left. But that is my experience. The 70s for SS electronics was a watershed of bad sound, this in my opinion. Once again, there will be many here that will argue this point. Indeed, I have some 70s amps including some stuff from Yamaha back when they were good. But most of these SS amps were involved in the specs COLD WAR and this brought engineers scrambling for better measurements and specs to the detriment of the actual SOUND of the amplifiers. Besides, there is nothing harder than designing a GOOD high power amplifier. Most, if not ALL from that era were extremely grain-ridden and harsh, almost unlistenable to me. While playing in bands, I had a host of SS pro gear from the likes of Phase Linear and Crown. I would rather put my head in a vice then listen to these amps on horns! And to imagine some Cerwin Vega 900w monster powering 104dB horns or ANYTHING for that matter is painful at best. I have only heard a small number, and I mean VERY small, of high powered amps that really sounded great. And to be honest, I have NEVER EVER head a 900w amp sound anything more than horrifying. I once monoblocked two ADCOM GFA-555s and lived with it for about an hour. What a mess. TERRIBLE. LOUD is not always better. More watts usually brings more grain, harshness, lack of inner detail, a severe reduction in blackness of background etc. I am having a hard time imagining a 70s Cerwin Vega suddenly cracking the magic question of how to bring GREAT sound from 1000watts of power at the cost they were likely asking. Indeed, the amp more than likely sounds as bad as your closing line! Still, I havent heard it. Apparently, you havent either, another bad sign. Still, if you can find some soul to work on it for peanuts, why not give it a go. At the very least, some froot on ebay would get all worked up about the 900 watts figure and fork over his weekly check... kh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEAR Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 Mobile this reminds me of the Carver TFM75 amp I sold a few months ago.While this brute could deliver 1KW RMS per monoblock channel full bandwith its grainy and noisy signature was irritating at best.With RF7's your ears were bleeding,not the amp was agressive,it was grainy and noisy.And to me a grainy amp is a worthless POS. I tried to recycle the amp for subwoofer duty but also found the amp a bit too noisy,even when driving two SVS Ultras and both amp gains set to 70%.The amp had power,oh yes it did it could dim lights and peak two 15AMP circuits(dual 15AMP powercords).It looked impressive and was inpressive on paper.That is all Finesse was an alien in the TFM75 world,brute power was all it could muster. And the TFM75 must be a refined lady compared to a Cerwin Vega amp,its the Mustang Cobra compared to an old Hemi Cuda.Both have muscle oh yes,refined... What is that? I would never use even a TFM75 with any large Klipsch(or large hor speakers),as this combination makes you want to sell both. Not to say large solid state cannot sound great,as the Celeste MOON W5 and Krell FPB600 are proof of finesse and control.Never heard anyone say a FPB600 or W5 are grainy.Even tube lovers dont claim this,they prefer the life tubes inject in music,and with horn speakers I cannot disagree. A TFM75 compared to a FPB600 sounds like a defective Krell with shorted outputs and running from a buzzsaw.Its a leap from sandpaper to velvet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 ericjohn, "I should've known what I getting into by posting something about Cerwin Vega in the 2 Channel Forum. LOL as I walk away with my tail between my legs." You definitly got that right !! This can be a dangerous place for anything not tubed or high wattage for that matter !! Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile homeless Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 Well, EArs is right really. The high wattage amps from Krell, Boulder, Pass Labs, Classe, and others are a FAR FAR cry from the high wattage amps from the early days. I know I dont usually say a lot of nice things about these beasts but they ARE LIGHT YEARS ahead in sonics. Virtually no comparison. And the best solid state amps have closed the ranks between tubes and solid state. Still, although I have not heard the latest Krell FPB series amps, there still is something missing from even the best of most solid state units. It just is hard as hell to equal the lineararity and ultimate low distortion of triode tubes as amplification devices. But these old SS amps were more like sandpaper in comparison to the latest components, which I admit can be VERY impressive...just not the ultimate in musicality in my opinion. BTW, I generally dont like HIGH WATTage tube amplifiers as much either as most bring more grain...not all...but most. kh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikjohn Posted October 16, 2002 Author Share Posted October 16, 2002 Thanks Guys Thats really the kind of information I was looking for. I just didn't really know if it was wven worth my time to mess with this thing. Like I said it has been sitting underneath boxes packed away since I picked it up. Now that I am thinking about getting a couple SVS's I thought maybe I could use it to run them but maybe not. Even if I do get it going the thing is huge and will probably be major overkill. I knew if I posted this in the 2 channel forum I would get the answers I was looking for I just had to figure how to extract the information from y'all. 1.) Start with question about non-tube equipment. 2.) Swallow any pride you may have and sit back and let the posters rip all over you. 3.) Admit your ingnorance by apologizing for invading the 2 Channel board 4.) Now that eveyone feels sorry for your misfourtune of not owning any tube equipment and thus they realize that you were merely trying to get the facts from the experts they will lend some constructive advice thus confirming their intellegence and more humanistic qualities. LOL Thanks guys. Anyone looking for a good boat anchor? EJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted October 16, 2002 Share Posted October 16, 2002 "I knew if I posted this in the 2 channel forum I would get the answers I was looking for I just had to figure how to extract the information from y'all. 1.) Start with question about non-tube equipment. 2.) Swallow any pride you may have and sit back and let the posters rip all over you. 3.) Admit your ingnorance by apologizing for invading the 2 Channel board 4.) Now that eveyone feels sorry for your misfourtune of not owning any tube equipment and thus they realize that you were merely trying to get the facts from the experts they will lend some constructive advice thus confirming their intellegence and more humanistic qualities. LOL" Now that was a great how to guide LOL !!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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