AND BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE!!!!
We enter the world the world of puter speakers. The Cerwin Vega XD series comes in 3 variants XD3, XD4 and the XD5 plus XD8 SUB.
We are going to play with the XD4 and XD8 Subwoofer.
Design:
We are dealing with a larger style computer speaker. These come in at a hefty 13lbs (combined XD4) and measure in at 10.63 x 15.70 x 11.81 inches (each) and supporting a ¾” high frequency soft dome tweeter and a 4” low frequency driver the XD8 busting out with a powerful 8” sub
They are manufactured with high pressure MDF which helps with the audio experience.
Cerwin Vega made sure to add the historical red ring on the driver of both sub and speakers.
The volume button on the speaker as well as the wired sub remote are illuminated in red.
You can also pick up a set of XD3 or XD5 and link them together for a more impactful sound.
The XD4 come with an RCA to 3.5mm for connection to computer or what not and the XD8 comes with Remote, RCA-RCA, as well as a 3.5mm to 3.5mm
Now that I have rambled off about the design let’s be clear these are beasts…In a good way. Computer speakers are normally small and plastic and oddly shaped trying to appease the ideals of a neo techno art style. I want sound not a speaker that look like a teleporter array.
These speaker look like a speaker not a toy. (But I still will play)
Sound:
When you think of computer speaker sound you normally think of a tin like sound with an over performing subwoofer trying desperately to fill in the gaps of audio.
These do not follow suit. The sound you get from these are full of life. Response on these are 75Hz-21KHz. I played with the sub and without (There is a convenient option on the sub remote to mute sub on the fly). There is a trick on setup for best sound with this sub. Have the speaker volume set to full, then control it from the remote.
Like always I played 3 very different types of music.
The Pit – Doctor P featuring Method Man
When laying down some full blast audio here there was some minor distortion in the sub but considering the song choice it did hold better than most other computer speakers.
JukeBox Hero – Foreigner
When sitting in front of these speaker rocking out to some old school rock and roll they played well. There highs weren’t as sharp as I would like but you still get that tingle in your spin when that chorus kicks in.
Happy –Pharrell
This song was probably the best sounding out of the 3 Pharrell’s soft voice carried well and the pump in the song’s bump was almost flawless.
I also rocked out a few matches on some Counter Strike G.O. I have to point out that there was great sound separation and it was easy to hear everything but it would have been better if I had some XD3 to set up as my rears.
Final Thoughts:
I would be down playing my opinion if I said I liked them. The Fact is that this is the closest thing to pro audio you will likely find in a computer speaker in its price range.
For the Approx combined value of under $400 I have yet to find anything close to this kind of audio and physical build.
You would be missing out if you did not get them.
Cheers
