Cerwin-Vega Mobile VPAS10 Powered Active Subwoofer Enclosure

First off I know Cerwin Vega’s Brand has been someone diminished over the last decade or so and I feel that makes this gem an even better buy. First off the nearest competitor JL Audio or Kicker are $499 and $299 ( Kicker is an 8 inch sub) this unit comes in at $179 bucks for a 10 inch sub that is not even 2 1/2 inches tall. It fits in my Crew Cab Silverado without any issues at all and the clearance in the middle of the seat in the back is about 3 inches. Perfect fit.The first thing I noticed when unboxing this guy is holy crap this is heavy!!!! I figured out why..the case is not some cheap plastic but metal. It looks sleek and very well put together. It’s built like a tank.Unlike other slim boxes this one allows you to use up to 8 gauge wiring for the Power and Ground which is exactly what I wanted. I can’t stand the little 16,18 gauge all in one “kits” like a few others.My only gripe is they use the little molex connector for the high signal speaker wires. The wiring for this guy is a horrible 22,24 gauge speaker wire. That is very disappointing. I guess you could always use low level RCA’s but Speaker level inputs work just fine .I decided to test out the Auto-On feature and see how it performed. So far its looking like I won’t actually add the remote lead. I’m not sure if this is a GM thing but the moment I open a door, or use my alarm fob power hits the sub and it comes on. Now if the radio isn’t on or there is no signal it will shut off in about 10 seconds ( Car not on) Now with the car on I don’t think it shuts off at all even with the radio off. This is fine as my old system had a remote lead but I would leave the radio on all the time and just turn it down. Never had an issue there so I don’t expect one here. Also I should mention this sub has a soft turn on. NO THUMP!!! I don’t understand why others refuse to add this feature even units that cost 3 times as much. It’s so nice all you get is a red light then green.Performance:I ran a test and this unit produces sound down to 30 hz but the sub filter kicks in and the sub sounds dead until it hits 35 hz. The sweet spot is between 40-80 hz. Man this thing sounds amazing for such a small package. Now it won’t rattle the windows or shake your mirror. The sole purpose of this guy is to add bottom end to your existing soundstage. It will not and cannot sound like a traditional sub. The enclosure is only 3 inches in depth just not possible. The sub has no room to go and if you push it will will flop like a dying fish. There isn’t much forgiveness on these slim subs in general. If you push them they will blow. If you can understand this limitation and accept it you will be satisfied. If you can’t and want to push the envelope you will blow this sub very quickly and waste $200 bucks. If you want an ego boost..get 2 competition 10’s a 1000 watt amp and go to town. If all you want is a full sound with some nominal “thump” then this is excellent. Especially if you are short on space. I have enclosed a few pictures below ( ignore the lint, that’s not a scratch)My Settings:Gain: 1/3Vega Bass: 1/8 if not less just wanted a little umphFreq: about 120 hzFactory Non Bose GM System. Head UnitReplaced Factory Speakers with Polk Audio db651’s front and back. ( Not necessary if adding a sub, but I wanted to tinker)No Amp on the door speakers I set the bass between half or one stop above or below halfway depending on what source I’m playing. (CD,Radio,Streaming)I tapped into the rear speakers and went with the high level and auto on feature.Hope this review helps. ( That's lint and not a scratch in the first pic)

I’ll start by saying... I don’t do reviews...ever. That being said I was so impressed by this speaker I had to share. Bought to put in the extra cab of my older Toyota to save space and replace an MTX RT8PT. All I can say is WOW. Much better bass, louder, deeper, crisp and way smaller! I also have a Kicker Hideaway in my Tundra which I love and sounds great but this Speaker outperforms it due to power and it’s a 10 vs the Kicker being an 8 I think? Plus it’s cheaper! So unbiased first hand experience I have to say 1. Cerwin-Vega 2. Kicker 3. MTX.

Excellent addition to factory stereo. In my vehicle I have a backup camera integrated into the stock stereo.Cerwin-vega has a built-in High-level input via a Molex 6-pin connector. This connector allows you to splice in to your existing factory stereo via the speaker output from your head unit and it will automatically power and turn off the VPAS10. The frequency adjustment on the unit, according to the manual, will allow 85-120Hz. The manual states that if you set the unit to 85Hz, that it will produce all frequencies below 85Hz, so the adjustment is more of a frequency cap than a frequency output range. I wanted something to add depth to the music that a stock stereo lacks, and this was just perfect. It fits cleanly under the front seat of my passenger car. It is made of aluminum and is solid in its construction.

Update: Sub just stopped working at 10 months. Checked all fuses and rewired everything. What a piece of junk! Beware.Just installed this in a 17 Wrangler Unlimited. Fits perfectly under the passenger seat and the wires are easy to run and hide. Some heavy duty Velcro holds it in place nicely.I'm not sure what the others were expecting from this unit, but I am impressed. This is half the size of a shoe box and completes my sound system. It won't blow your doors off, but it is a perfect compliment to a good set of mids and tweeters. Definitely worth the money.

I recently bought this to replace my full subwoofer for trunk space and work convenience. I am giving this 5 stars for its pros.Pros:1. Built quality is solid2. Compact and can even fit under my 2014 Subaru Legacy seat.3. Performance is good for what it isCons: (this does not affect star rating because it's just my personal liking)For anyone that is trying to down grade from a full sub system to this. The built in amp can only go down to 85hz, which is about mid bass. It doesn't give you that deeper bass. Please keep that in mind.For now, I am tapping the sub (alone) to an external amp for lower bass until I can find out how to make the built in amp to go down 55hz or so. Again, it is not windows shaker but much better than 85hz and will void your warranty on the subwoofer.

I installed this under the passenger seat of my 2013 Mustang with the Shaker 500 system. I am not the best at installs, but I did this myself once the power cable was ran through firewall professionally. The low end is NOT like that from a trunk sub, however I have a convertible and bass inside the cabin is crucial when the top is down. This sounds JUST AS GOOD with the top down as it does up. This hits well for Rock music and other real acoustic drum applications. This would disappoint if you want your neighbors to hear you, but this will make my mirror vibrate if I really want to crank it.. I am 35 years old and have no desire to wake the dead anymore, but this will give you the low end that systems lack for a real listening experience.

Perfect fit under passenger seat of 2012 Mazda 3, but sound in my opinion was just slightly better than stock system. I am a bit of an audiophile and used to hard hitting bass. Of course I wasn’t expecting it to rattle my car, but this sub just didn’t do the trick for me. Had to return it.

Very happy with my purchase. Was looking for a small sub to add some bass to my system that wouldn't be overbearing. I'm a 57 year old who listens to a lot of smooth jazz and this sub is just what I needed to enhance my listening experience.