Cerwin Vega! XLS-215 Speaker Review, Specs and Price

Cerwin Vega´s XLS-215 is the flagship of the company´s XLS series. The XLS has replaced the former CLS series with speakers of similar design in 2010 and is since then Cerwin Vega´s current line of speakers. Considering the price of $650 or more, they are clearly positioned in the high quality segment with customers valuing the promised degree of accuracy and clarity, even at high volume. The XLS 215 is a 3-way speaker with a 1″ soft dome tweeter, a 6.5″ woofer with fiber impregnated cone and two 15″ cast frame high excursion woofers. With its intimidating size of 50” x 17” x 21” each speaker weighs 116 lbs. and requests to become the focus of attention in every living room. If you are planning to buy these speakers, be careful about the offered price. Shipping costs of over $100 can make quite a difference! Several stores that sell on amazon offer cheaper shipping costs (below $70), sometimes even with free shipping. Overall you should expect to pay around $700 for one of these speakers. Click here to check out if any of the stores offers free or cheap shipping at the time.

XLS-215 Review 
The XLS-215 is an improved version of the CLS-215,
but Cerwin Vega´s website states numbers that indicate that the CLS had actually a better performance. This unclarity led to quite a few critical voices, but was finally resolved. CV shifted towards more advanced measured to determine the specifications. To compare the specifications between the older and new 215, Cerwin Vega updated its CLS specs. In case you have seen the old specifications and were confused about the decreased performance of the XLS, below is a direct comparison with the latest measurements:

The “Real” Specs:                            CLS-215        XLS-215
SPL (max)                                          97db               99db
SPL (avg)                                           93db               95db
Freq. Range (-10db)                           30hz-20Khz    30hz-20Khz
Freq. Range (Audible range 80db)    24hz-20Khz    24hz-20Khz

Based on these measurements the new XLS 215 does therefore have the better performance. However, Cerwin Vega states that you should not “put too much value on the numbers, rather trust the Cerwin-Vega! reputation, legacy and your ears”. This being said, it should be clear that the CLS 215, as well as the XLS 215 are great speakers with only little downsides. The Pros and Cons below are a mixture of personal impressions and frequent opinions in other reviews.

PROS:

  • The cost for performance ratio is outstanding. In particular, as amazon offers them for a fraction of the suggested retail price.
  • As typical for CVs, you can enjoy music distortion free, with these ones even at a volume you should not be exposed to. They create an unbelievable soundstage.
  • Accuracy and detail remains consistently high with very dry bass.
  • They are huge and heavy! 🙂

CONS:

  • They are huge and heavy! 🙁
  • If you expect to invest in these speakers to attach them to your “soso” amp and other equipment, you will be dissatisfied. The speakers demand a decent amp with much power output and you should think about getting appropriate speaker wire. You won´t be happy with the XLS-215, if you save at the wrong end!

After reading my way through tons of reviews, I can highly recommend to read the review by avguide.com. I haven´t read a better one! Also, I found that the prices on amazon are rather inconsistent. It definetily pays off to check them every now and then. Price Check: Price Check for CQ XLS-215


Cerwin Vega XLS-215 Price: $600 (excl. shipping)

One comment

  1. i have a pair slx 215 teamed up with 2 500 wat rms mono blocks from emotiva and wow do these speaker sound great both at high and low levels ,alot of bang for the buck

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