Small church sub - CV 189E good idea?

[Andrew Bienhaus]

Good day everyone,
Thanks very much for having this forum, much like many other very useful forms out on the Internet, it's great when you can find a specialized bunch of folks who know what they're talking about.

Briefly, what brought me here was several Google hits and then the last 45 minutes of reading about the church organ enhancement project.
I have become attached to a church that has some well-intentioned musicians, but also owns a very exceptional digital keyboard that no one is using at present.

Between that keyboard, and some good Organ recordings, I'd like to offer them some assistance in adding to the services. They do have a half decent sound system, but it has no low-end.

My own personal experience is likely 20 years out of date, and I'm having to recall much as I read through this stuff.
I used to use Cerwin Vega stuff, almost exclusively, as I was always just very pleased with the efficiency and the response.

I have been offered a pair of older CV 189E 8ohm speakers, for a reasonable price. I can take one or both of them, and I'm not sure if I need both or not. It's not the world's biggest church, more of a modern building.
I realize there's a lot more to do , In determining type of cabinet, enclosure, porting or not, as I understand from other readings that these earthquake speakers originally were in unported cabinets.

I guess what I'm asking is, does this sound like a good place to start? Even if I have to end up adding more in the way of middle low-end to their overall system. They do have a fair amount of available space under the platforms at the front of the church, where I'm guessing I could build some fairly large enclosures.

Thank you in advance, Andrew

 

[just a guy]

It took some searching but it appears these might be the t/s parameters for the CV 189ES, which may or may not be the same thing you have access to.

cerwinvega 189es

fs 30.5 hz

qms 3.86

vas 244l

cms 0.1514727mm/n

mms 179.76g

rms 8.9248kg/s

xmax 5.2mm

sd 1065cm2

qts 0.227

spl 96.7db 1 w/m

qes 0.241

re 5.0 ohm

z 8 ohm

bl 26.73 tm

pe 500 w

From here - help with horn design cerwin vega 189es - Speakerplans.com Forums - Page 1

That thread also indicates these are from around 1976. There's two issues with woofers that old - the t/s specs may have drifted due to a number of various issues and the glue joints and soft parts may be deteriorating (or stiffened up).

So it would be nice if you could measure the t/s parameters but if this is the same driver you have the xmax is only 5.2 mm which isn't much, and if the driver wasn't stored vertically the cone might have permanently sagged, stretching the suspension so it might now be offset with even less xmax. The t/s specs indicate it would probably work well in a high(ish) tuned horn.

These specs indicate that the driver probably won't do too well in anything other than high(ish) tuned horns so unless you build with cheap materials like OSB I probably wouldn't use these drivers. They are unknown (unless you measure the t/s - you can't rely on t/s to remain constant on a 40 year old driver), they may be unreliable (40 year old glue joints and soft parts might not hold up) and you probably can't easily find replacement drivers.

I probably wouldn't use these drivers but I'd have to see them in person to make any judgment calls. I certainly wouldn't pay any money for them though.

That thread indicates these drivers might have been used in CV B48 cabs from 50 hz and up, which sounds about right.

You should start with a list of goals, max spl, frequency passband, etc. Starting with a driver as the only stated goal is a bit backwards.