[Vintage-Audio] Celestion speakers

[Salmons, Michael]

I thought I would share the enjoyment of a recent acquisition with
anyone on the list who might also like the sound of classic smaller
British speakers. The acqusition is a pair of Celestion Ditton 15s (not
the XR, the original that was first released in 1966). Reportedly at the
time people were startled by the bass response of these smaller
speakers. The Ditton 15 was the first really successful small passive
radiator design. People went nuts over them and they outsold every
bookshelf speaker in its class at that time. There's an 8" woofer and 8"
radiator, both with long-lasting butyl surrounds, and a dome tweeter.
The dimensions are about 22"H X 9"W X 10"D, so not as small as a Rogers
LS/3a by any means, but not huge either. And I'm happy to report the
sound is pleasingly full. The highs are airy without being brittle, the
mids have warmth, and the bass is startling, not muddy in any way, tight
and very authoritative. I'm reminded of Tannoys and Missions, two other
lines of speakers with smaller models generally (barring a few not so
great models, especially recently) quite capable of delivering
satsifying lows.=20

I've tried these speakers with a couple of different amp/input combos.
They do my Eico HF-81 justice, although they are a little more power
hungry than my Paradigm references. One of the thing I like about these
Celestions is they can really help a transistor amp shine. I mean, no
speaker is going to make a crappy amp shine, but if you have a decent
amp, the combination can be very pleasing. They seem to like my
(mid-seventies) Dynaco and Denon amps; both brands are sweetened with
these speakers. I sampled some John Coltrane (Blue Train, on 180 gm Blue
Note vinyl) via my old kenwood turntable, armed with a nice A&R
Cambridge cartridge, through the Dynaco. Trane sounded as suave and
manic as ever, jumping right out in the soundstage. The celestions have
a pretty easy time with brass, which is, next to vocals, in my
experience is the greatest challenge for smaller, budget-priced
speakers. For the money (less than $100) they blow away anything Polk or
Infinity have made in twenty years (I'm probably exaggerating- I
certainly haven't heard everything they have made!- but perhaps not by
much).=20

Then I tried a CD of the recent thorough remix and mastering of the
Who's Tommy. One of the things I've always liked about that album is its
nifty stereo image, something they apparently really worked hard to
preserve in the new mix. The Celestions fleshed out discrete areas in
the stereo image very handily. I think "Overture/Sparks" is one of the
greatest moments in rock, and I felt totally immersed in the recording.
Chills up and down the spine.

Anyway.. I'm hooked! if any of you have opinions about or experiences
with Celestions or other British speakers, I'd be interested to read
them!

Michael=20