The Cerwin-Vega VE-5M is a modest bookshelf speaker from the legendary maker of professional and home-use speakers that are notorious for being very loud. We don’t want, however, to leave the wrong impression. Loud though they are, Cerwin-Vega speakers derive their power from superb efficiency which also results in exceptional clarity and accuracy. While there are some details that prevent us from ranking this bookshelf speaker more highly compared to others in our survey, we are rather drawn to it and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend giving it a critical listen.

Characteristically of bookshelf speakers, the Cerwin-Vega VE-5M is an extremely versatile device. Its musicality makes it a good choice for enjoying stereo music but it’s equally adept as the main or surround sound speakers in a home theater arrangement.

The first specification that generally gets attention when considering a new speaker is its dynamic range. This is essentially a measure of the lowest and highest frequencies that it can produce. Those numbers for the Cerwin-Vega aren’t spectacular but they’re pretty much in line with what we’ve come to expect from bookshelf speakers in this price range.

The bass response goes down to a respectable 60Hz. In musical terms, that falls between a low B-flat and B natural on a bass guitar. Ideally, we’d love to see that extend down to around 41Hz to be able to produce the bass guitars lowest E note, but we’ve had to resign ourselves to the fact that that’s just not going to happen with compact bookshelf speakers. Regardless of your choice in bookshelf speakers, a subwoofer will have to be added to get tones that low.

The news is better on the treble end of the spectrum. These bookshelf speakers can soar to the magical 20kHz figure that is generally accepted as the upper limit of human hearing. The only downside of stopping at 20kHz is that it doesn’t accommodate the ultrasonic overtones that we can’t actually hear but nonetheless discern. Those frequencies can give a live feel to music that is missing without them.

The other specification that is most critical when predicting a bookshelf speaker’s performance is its sensitivity, or efficiency. That measurement specifically reveals how much output sound will be created with a given amount of input from the tuner or amplifier. At 89dB, the Cerwin-Vega VE-5M falls at about the midpoint within our evaluations of bookshelf speakers. This specification is particularly important because greater efficiency relates directly to getting the best performance from other electronics in the system.

This bookshelf speaker is magnetically shielded so it can be placed on or near a CRT television or monitor in a home theater system without causing video interference. This isn’t an issue for systems using a flat-screen TV. Cable connections are accomplished by a pair of gold-plated five-way binding posts so just about any type of cable end will ensure a high-quality connection.

The Cerwin-Vega is a two-way bookshelf speaker with most sonic information being reproduced by a 5 1/4-inch low-frequency driver with a fiber-impregnated cone. It’s very responsive and produces clear, precise tones across its performance range. High frequencies are handled by a 1 1/4-inch dome tweeter that is treated with silver mylar to give it rigidity. The tweeter is cooled by a ferrofluid which is a highly magnetic liquid which removes excess heat from the driver’s voice coil. It helps keep performance consistent regardless of the sonic dynamics being reproduced.

Like all but one other bookshelf speaker we’ve reviewed, this unit’s enclosure is of the bass reflex design which enhances the quantity of bass produced by the rather small speaker. Its output is ported to the rear of the enclosure. The cabinetry has a black ash finish.

Customer support can be contacted by email or telephone, thought the number isn’t toll-free. The manufacturer’s web site contains a detailed FAQs section as well as online owner manuals.