I struggled with myself to write this in public, but, to support Kelvin's channel I just do it now! In the first place, I am sad to say, that I am a poor retired guy with a small amount of pension. This is due to the long illness I suffered for many years. So, despite having quite a good salary at the end of my career as an engineer, I had also a lot of time loss without paying into my retirement fund. My sickness was of the come-and-go type. This phase changed about 4 times a year for many many years. It was hell, I tell you. Being bipolar is living in hell! Therefore I am stranded with my small pension at the end. Despite this, I begin to support you from now on within my circumstances. And I hope I can be a role model for many others who love kelvins channel as much as I do! He is one of the reviewers with the most charming attitude in his videos. Come on guys! Let's support our Channel and Kelvin, so we can await a lot of new content in the future! If I can afford a few bucks, anyone can, can´t you?
Hi Kelvin. Ive refurbished a few pairs of these. They have a very simple crossover. Just an inductor on the woofer (1st order) and a 12uF capacitor and inductor on the tweeter (2nd order). That capacitor is nasty. By now way out of tollerence. Replacing it with a SOLEN 12uF really helps them. Their then better with more complicated tracks. Easy to replace on these. Undo the 4 screws on the binding post cup and pull out. The crossover is on the back of this. Great video as always. Cheers. Matt
Hi Kelvin these might fall in the Marmite camp for some as I know a few people that did not like them but also a few that loved them. I did not get on with them and were not for me as I found the mids just a bit to forward but they were ok and for £40 I would not argue. I sold mine for £100 and the bloke that picked them up was a massive fan of them. Please don't forget your class D mini amp review.
Very entertaining as always. I still have a pair of mint Celestion 3 ac suspension I bought for my mom because I liked my pair so much. They had an early metal dome and cost only $250 or $280 per pr. Julian Hersch of Stereo Review magazine measured them to be 91db sensitivity and -3 at 58hz. Impossible even today in a closed box that small, haha. Very delicate tweeter so to find one without a ding is probably rare. They needed to be a hand span from the wall for balance. A true bookshelf speaker but I used them on 31” target stands.
I have heard Celestion 15s many moons ago and I was very impressed. Connoisseur BD2 turntable, Shure M75 EJ2 cartridge, Teleton 5 watts per channel amp. Sounded great.
@@analoglooney Yes, I believe it was the SAQ-206. Unfortunately it was a friend’s system and not mine, but I was quite jealous. I remember there being rumours that some Conoisseur BD2 turntables were as good as a Linn Sondek. I often wondered if my friend had one of those as it sounded so good.
@@audiofool4u Well back in the 80's/90's I worked for a HiFi shop and could borrow the new goodies. The hot potato at the time was the Musical Fidelity A1. I invited the hifi mafia around to hear it on a pair of KEF 104ab's. I done a blind a/b test with a Teleton SAQ-206 for a laugh. The Teleton won! LOL. The BD2 punched way above it's budget status and sounded better than it had any right to.
Between 1969 and 1974 I used Leak Sandwich 300, then Ditton15 which sounded JUST as you describe, then KEF Chorale (which I didn’t enjoy), then B&W DM4. The era of discount mail order, no hope of an audition. An expensive way to find out what suits. Then the madness stops.
Wasn’t the original tweeter a Coles unit? I had the originals, with a nice cast basket years ago and much later purchased the 15XR’s which I still use today? The bass unit has a pressed steel basket, but it still has the Celestion sound - great with rock and stringed instruments. 👍
I remember getting a pair from Laskys hi-fi store. They played a track called ‘Popcorn’ as a dem, I had a Roger’s Ravensbrook 10 watts per channel amplifier. Takes me back but in its day, to me, Hi-Fi. Lovely trip down memory lane. 👍🏻 Mike
Great to see you return Kevin. I appreciate your videos and no nonsense style. We both hail from the same era and your lifelong love of high, good sound and music are similar to mine. No hype, no BS, just your honest opinions. And I've discovered new songs from your test songs. Keep it up, you brighten my day. Thanks.
I once owned a pair of celestion ditton 44s . Only sold them because of the size , too large when I moved house. Wish I still had them, would upgrade the caps , and enjoy the full , wonderful smooth sound they produced.
Passive Radiators are the best way to build a ported Speaker. Many people think a port must be open, but that´s not true at all. Why should it be open? The air can not go out of the cabin anyway. The same amount of air the port blasts out, it sucks in afterward. Otherways, the cabin would collapse due to the vacuum, lol won´t it? An open Port pipe has as a resistor the Amount of air that sits in the pipe. This is quite complicated to design. A passive Radiator has the spider and the membrane for this effort, and it is quite easy. You simply put weight on the membrane or put it off the membrane, and that goes on the fly if needed. All in all, when the membrane has reached the maximum point of moving out, the bass gets tight and controlled again like with a sealed cabin. And before that point, it behaves like an open pipe. This way, we have both advantages of 2 sides of speaker cabinet designs. Who wants more? The only thing is, you might tune the membrane new when the speaker ages. But that´s peanuts.
Great clip as always Kelvin. I owned a pair of Ditton 44 which I regret getting rid of. Solved most of the issues that the 15 has with a dedicated mid-frequency range speaker. Beautiful!
i had a pair of the Glendales they where the next speaker up in the mid 70's and i realy liked them i only changed them because i bought a pair of Tannoy Cheviot's in 1978
🙋♂️THANKS KELVIN,FOR REVIEWING ‘old school 🏫 speakers 🔊…with the voice of experience,LOVELY CABINETS…and I love ❤️ your Lava lamps going in the background 🤗💚💚💚
Hi Kelvin, nice video, once more time. About the HF1300 I appreciated the comments on Money from pink Floyd, it is precisely said! I have those speakers, bought in 2020, associated to a recaped Sony ta1150, I wanted to feel back the sound of this system my father bought in 1973 in London ,when I was 8. Those underrated speakers are real value for money, no foam surrounds but good and strong rubber, very musical and using them with a bluetooth dac, my home office is always a pleasure hearing them at work. Midrange is nice, treble a bit bright but very engaging. I changed the olf 12uf cap by a scr polystyrene cap and it's fine! thanks for your very nice channel.
Exactly. When I browse Ebay and see the same gear being re-listed over and over again for months and months tells me that these sellers are delusional and/or greedy! It1s a joke what these sellers think.@@stereoreviewx
I've a pair of these in my bassement. They were the rear speakers for my grand-father quad hifi system made with a Marantz 4270 and a pair of Ditton 66. Today the 66s and the 4270 are in my living room for everyday use. I've set the 4270 to stereo (the little switch behind). One of this day I will take up these celestion 15 and plug them to a period amp I have. The only question is where in my house 😁
definitely tighten the two big drivers screws they go into metal selves so you can be firm k proverb;y disappointing compared to your other set up though
I watch your videos for the hifi info but also just let them play in the BG for fun. I know how much time goes into video production so kudos for your efforts. My dad's family is from northern London. Have you ever heard the names McKone or Holt in your area? Cheers from Halifax NS
Hi, and thanks for your donation I really appreciate it Don’t think I’ve come across those names in person, but have heard of them . All the best from North London K
Love my Ditton 25's with the addition of the HF2000 tweeter added. Would consider swapping them out for the 66's if I ever find any for a decent price, those are the real money grabbers! I also replaced the back terminals of the Dittons (the originals are horrible IMO) with some banana plug terminals. Very easy to do. Also, what components are hooked up to your 15's? I'm using the more modern Arcam Alpha with mine and I wonder if they're doing true justice to the Dittons.
Another great insight into older gear and what to expect... Always enjoy your comments dear boy, funny how i remember the days in england when most of this gear was new Happy days though..bless you pal..take care.
I have some ditton 44's. 3 way speakers I'm guessing from the late 70's. They sound wonderful and musical, but you can't crank them up past 80db. They start popping. Their are so sweet sounding, hooked to a Marantz 2250b down in the woodwork shop.
Hi Kelvin. I always had a soft spot for Diiton 15's. Even though they had a limited range, what they did do was very good. Lovely midrange quality, especially with valves. When they went to the 15xr with the dome tweeter all the magic went. 👍
Another super video! - So, suddenly I'm in the market for a Phillips RH491 speakers to pair with a fully restored Phillips 591 amp and 202 Electronic turntable, from the same range/year just about 1970/1. If you have a pair at the back of your cupboard or suggest a good place to look then I'd be very interested! Keep up the great work!
By the way: Now I am stable for 12 years. Not 100% but I don´t want to take my own life anymore, like I wanted to do in my past... for 35 years....And the money I have now is enough for me because I don´t smoke or drink. My only way to squander my wealth is my HiFi equipment! And being a gifted DIY Guy, I can afford quite some luxury gear from the past, for example, I am building a Record player from scratch with a 12" Carbon tonearm, in a pretty heavy round plinth covered in Buffalo leather, and on top of massive acacia wood. My only concern was the motor. Originally I planned a direct drive, quartz-locked motor, but I ruined it because some screws fell into the case and produced a short circuit. Damn me I must say. LOL! But that´s life... You learn and struggle from beginning to end!
@@stereoreviewx Lol.. The challenge with turtanles are the surfaces. In order to make the turntable look exquisite. That´s the most complicated thing. Therefore i use pure Leather since a few years now. Black fine Deer, Red fine Leather i applied to my second project - this was a strong metal plinth, dampened inside with Mdf, and Outside with Leather for dampening and the good look! The Silver in the tonearm-cables no one can see lol... But the are there...Carbon tonearms look nice too. Especially when i bond them with a aluminium pipe inside... Thats dampened, strong and fine looking... My last project has a flaw: The black laquer of some applications on the build became a lot of cracles... So i must make the surface new now... But that´s life!
I had the XR versions. Got them from a skip. Decent enough sound but I put the mechanics in some beautiful Dynatron floorstander cabinets and really enjoyed them. Got the Dynatrons from a recycling centre for free 🎶🎵
My neighbor gave me a pair of Celestion 1 bookshelf speakers last week to try with a classic turntable and amp I'd just picked up - only given them a quick try to check the turntable over - much newer and small than your of course, but they were fine, not a brand I had heard of. .. but I understand they were not bad at all?
I really enjoy your reviews. I'm using the later version Ditton 15xr (maybe the last redesign on these) and I absolutely love them. Do you think that Celestion solved any drawbacks that the earlier versions may have had in this '79/'80 version? I'm also considering upgrading the quality of the crossover parts.
Nice lava lamps ….cant beat the Astro! And yes eBay sellers of amps and other gear just don’t have a clue how much time effort and cash it takes to service old gear.
Great insights Kelvin. Perhaps one of the few people who acknowledge hifi is subject to the laws of diminishing returns - even when vintage ? After a certain level of spend we're better off buying more music!
My Ditton 25 can be described in the same words : nice high and middle, but soft bass, difficult to turn your living in disco. I had rebuild the crossover with high and bass improvement. I only regretted not to choose Mundorf cap for woofer. Maybe the 1970s didn't have the same music reference. Classical music with big orchestra was dominant among high-end users and with BBC, at this time. Now the wind turned, pop and R&R are the reference.
outstanding video. I have owned a pair or perhaps 2 over the years. I remember I thought they looked quite cool but don't remeber how they sounded. I'm sad to say I actually got drunk and filled one of them with fireworks (in my youth) so I suspect I didn't like them that much
Highly likely that the tweeter capacitor has drifted off value.A pair of 15XRs I have measured 5.8 uF and 5.6uF instead of 4.7uF. So too much upper midrange /lower treble would be coming through the tweeter.That also risks damaging the tweeter.
Kel... Haydn Boardman said these series ain't that good... I agree my recapped Ditton 44s ain't in the same league as the bigger Tannoys.. Thats why they go for 250GBP and the Canturbury etc 2500GBP..The Ditton sound nasely
Another great review, and your description of the sound seems spot on. My Dad bought a pair of Ditton 15's around 1970. He replaced them with KEF 104 abs which were much better! But, although I haven't heard a paid of Ditton 15s since around 1972, your description of the sound really brought back their strengths and weaknesses.
I LOVE YOU And We Love Your presentations Of Old Hifi Gear And You Get Younger Folk Interested SO That's Why We Are Gonna Send Some Funds To Help You Buy And The Gear You Review And When You Get too much Gear You Can Sell some and get more to review Exellent Exellent Idea CAUSE We love ya And Appreciate Your Input. THANKS SO MUCH
Old school HiFi for old school Hifi buffs. Non of your Harman Target curve nonsense here -love it 💗 HiFi for the flat-earthers and there's nowt wrong wi' that.
i had a previous model that still own it from 1970 ,later when returning from working in Africa i had went to japan and bought a complete pioneer system and bought trhis model to improve it´s sound ,it wasn´t so powerfull as the older 1970 model but had great sound , sometimes the amplifier in use isn´t the proper one for them to release it´s fullest capacity , but a pioneer receiver from 74 make them sound at the time spectacular , the new amplifiers or built after 1980 (as all brands decreased their quality at the time,to make them more afordable to everyone, they say)can´t make them deliver it´s best sound, i´m not saying they were the best but still in use today as the receiver and no new amplifier, my son also likes music and apeared at home with arcam alpha´s and cambridge audio´s ,and i hear a lot of good critics to this modern amplifiers but what the hell is happening and i did restore several speakers i had from the 70´s to their original specifications, also bought good speakers from early 80´s to last years and trhis modern things if opened ,electronically speaking they are what they sound ,very poor and can´t fire them 70´s speakers, as an example more either than this ones that were critisized by many some years ago, because they don´t know what a speakers is, the technics SB-F3 were amazing good but some say they don´t have bass ,well the amplifiers they own can´t release any bass that´s why , this were and are incredible good till 90watts(real ones) amplifiers, so i think the celestion brand might had released a cheaper speakers instead of trying to improve their known quality, for no reason Marshal started to use it´s speakers , till they ended up destroyd in China with Kef joint adventure, they killed two birds with one stone , only hope that warphedale doesn´t follow the same path, as the Linton´s are a great pair of modern speakers
Yes, I actually did a follow-up video on Patreon where I discussed amplification for these Speakers and yes they only like vintage amps. It seems probably Japanese
Really pleased you are back on the scene after your break. I enjoy your reviews, they get the message across in a casual no BS manner. Keep it up.
Well said.
I struggled with myself to write this in public, but, to support Kelvin's channel I just do it now!
In the first place, I am sad to say, that I am a poor retired guy with a small amount of pension.
This is due to the long illness I suffered for many years. So, despite having quite a good salary at the end of my career as an engineer, I had also a lot of time loss without paying into my retirement fund. My sickness was of the come-and-go type. This phase changed about 4 times a year for many many years. It was hell, I tell you. Being bipolar is living in hell!
Therefore I am stranded with my small pension at the end. Despite this, I begin to support you from now on within my circumstances. And I hope I can be a role model for many others who love kelvins channel as much as I do! He is one of the reviewers with the most charming attitude in his videos. Come on guys! Let's support our Channel and Kelvin, so we can await a lot of new content in the future! If I can afford a few bucks, anyone can, can´t you?
thanks for your comments my friend K
What??? I don't think he needs your money
What???!!! I don't think he needs your money!
Hi Kelvin. Ive refurbished a few pairs of these. They have a very simple crossover. Just an inductor on the woofer (1st order) and a 12uF capacitor and inductor on the tweeter (2nd order). That capacitor is nasty. By now way out of tollerence. Replacing it with a SOLEN 12uF really helps them. Their then better with more complicated tracks. Easy to replace on these. Undo the 4 screws on the binding post cup and pull out. The crossover is on the back of this.
Great video as always.
Cheers. Matt
Thanks Matt I am going to do this and make a video of it so appreciate your input
@@stereoreviewx It's an easy one. If your up for it whilst you're in there you can replace the naff steel wire with decent copper. Helps to.
For those on a limited budget your videos are invaluable as well as interesting Kelvin. Many thanks.
thanks wasting money would be plain silly yes ?
Hi Kelvin these might fall in the Marmite camp for some as I know a few people that did not like them but also a few that loved them. I did not get on with them and were not for me as I found the mids just a bit to forward but they were ok and for £40 I would not argue. I sold mine for £100 and the bloke that picked them up was a massive fan of them. Please don't forget your class D mini amp review.
Hi Michael yes will do class d soon and thanks K
Very entertaining as always. I still have a pair of mint Celestion 3 ac suspension I bought for my mom because I liked my pair so much. They had an early metal dome and cost only $250 or $280 per pr. Julian Hersch of Stereo Review magazine measured them to be 91db sensitivity and -3 at 58hz. Impossible even today in a closed box that small, haha. Very delicate tweeter so to find one without a ding is probably rare. They needed to be a hand span from the wall for balance. A true bookshelf speaker but I used them on 31” target stands.
I have heard Celestion 15s many moons ago and I was very impressed. Connoisseur BD2 turntable, Shure M75 EJ2 cartridge, Teleton 5 watts per channel amp. Sounded great.
Wow! That's a classic budget combo. Was your Teleton a SAQ-206? If it was, I'll tell you a funny story about that amp.
@@analoglooney
Yes, I believe it was the SAQ-206. Unfortunately it was a friend’s system and not mine, but I was quite jealous. I remember there being rumours that some Conoisseur BD2 turntables were as good as a Linn Sondek. I often wondered if my friend had one of those as it sounded so good.
@@audiofool4u Well back in the 80's/90's I worked for a HiFi shop and could borrow the new goodies. The hot potato at the time was the Musical Fidelity A1. I invited the hifi mafia around to hear it on a pair of KEF 104ab's. I done a blind a/b test with a Teleton SAQ-206 for a laugh. The Teleton won! LOL. The BD2 punched way above it's budget status and sounded better than it had any right to.
@@analoglooney
Yes, the hi-fi gods must have been looking down with love on my friend as he got everything right when choosing his gear.
Between 1969 and 1974 I used Leak Sandwich 300, then Ditton15 which sounded JUST as you describe, then KEF Chorale (which I didn’t enjoy), then B&W DM4.
The era of discount mail order, no hope of an audition. An expensive way to find out what suits. Then the madness stops.
The Celestion Ditton 15's are lovely. great mid range punch.
Wasn’t the original tweeter a Coles unit? I had the originals, with a nice cast basket years ago and much later purchased the 15XR’s which I still use today?
The bass unit has a pressed steel basket, but it still has the Celestion sound - great with rock and stringed instruments. 👍
I remember getting a pair from Laskys hi-fi store. They played a track called ‘Popcorn’ as a dem, I had a Roger’s Ravensbrook 10 watts per channel amplifier. Takes me back but in its day, to me, Hi-Fi. Lovely trip down memory lane. 👍🏻 Mike
Great to see you return Kevin. I appreciate your videos and no nonsense style. We both hail from the same era and your lifelong love of high, good sound and music are similar to mine. No hype, no BS, just your honest opinions. And I've discovered new songs from your test songs. Keep it up, you brighten my day. Thanks.
Thank you
I once owned a pair of celestion ditton 44s . Only sold them because of the size , too large when I moved house. Wish I still had them, would upgrade the caps , and enjoy the full , wonderful smooth sound they produced.
I have four of them, really good sounding speakers they are.
I bought my pair after auditioning a range of speakers in a HiFi shop in York, the 15XR's really did sound that much better than the others.
Passive Radiators are the best way to build a ported Speaker. Many people think a port must be open, but that´s not true at all. Why should it be open? The air can not go out of the cabin anyway. The same amount of air the port blasts out, it sucks in afterward. Otherways, the cabin would collapse due to the vacuum, lol won´t it? An open Port pipe has as a resistor the Amount of air that sits in the pipe. This is quite complicated to design. A passive Radiator has the spider and the membrane for this effort, and it is quite easy. You simply put weight on the membrane or put it off the membrane, and that goes on the fly if needed. All in all, when the membrane has reached the maximum point of moving out, the bass gets tight and controlled again like with a sealed cabin. And before that point, it behaves like an open pipe. This way, we have both advantages of 2 sides of speaker cabinet designs. Who wants more? The only thing is, you might tune the membrane new when the speaker ages. But that´s peanuts.
Great clip as always Kelvin. I owned a pair of Ditton 44 which I regret getting rid of. Solved most of the issues that the 15 has with a dedicated mid-frequency range speaker. Beautiful!
Just another great review Kelvin can’t wait until the next one .
thank you
i had a pair of the Glendales they where the next speaker up in the mid 70's and i realy liked them i only changed them because i bought a pair of Tannoy Cheviot's in 1978
Cheviots....Ear candy. 🙂
I've got one in my av room for repair at the moment Kevin, great video 👍
Would be keen to hear your thoughts on the Ditton 66's or even the 662's
the 66 have airy midrange very big sound
Always liked them speakers, never had a pair, but heard them great review
🙋♂️THANKS KELVIN,FOR REVIEWING ‘old school 🏫 speakers 🔊…with the voice of experience,LOVELY CABINETS…and I love ❤️ your Lava lamps going in the background 🤗💚💚💚
Hi Kelvin, nice video, once more time. About the HF1300 I appreciated the comments on Money from pink Floyd, it is precisely said! I have those speakers, bought in 2020, associated to a recaped Sony ta1150, I wanted to feel back the sound of this system my father bought in 1973 in London ,when I was 8. Those underrated speakers are real value for money, no foam surrounds but good and strong rubber, very musical and using them with a bluetooth dac, my home office is always a pleasure hearing them at work. Midrange is nice, treble a bit bright but very engaging. I changed the olf 12uf cap by a scr polystyrene cap and it's fine! thanks for your very nice channel.
I have a pair of those that were destined for the tip. The cabinets are a bit shabby, but they do sound nice to my industrially impared ear 'oles!
Love your thoughts on the people that think their gear is worth a treasure!
Some people think, if it’s very old and very Unknown that makes it more valuable
Like an unknown Egyptian tomb
Exactly. When I browse Ebay and see the same gear being re-listed over and over again for months and months tells me that these sellers are delusional and/or greedy! It1s a joke what these sellers think.@@stereoreviewx
Great to see u r back! I would be interested on your views in the similar bigger speakers….Ditton 66’s and the B&O 5700’s.
Noted!
Would love to see a video from you on Ditton 662's :)
Dave Alvin - Eleven Eleven. A wonderful album.
I've a pair of these in my bassement. They were the rear speakers for my grand-father quad hifi system made with a Marantz 4270 and a pair of Ditton 66. Today the 66s and the 4270 are in my living room for everyday use. I've set the 4270 to stereo (the little switch behind). One of this day I will take up these celestion 15 and plug them to a period amp I have.
The only question is where in my house 😁
definitely tighten the two big drivers screws they go into metal selves so you can be firm k proverb;y disappointing compared to your other set up though
Quadrophonic lol now your talking.
@@richardcrook2112 That was the Atmos of the 70s and my grandpa was in it!
I watch your videos for the hifi info but also just let them play in the BG for fun. I know how much time goes into video production so kudos for your efforts. My dad's family is from northern London. Have you ever heard the names McKone or Holt in your area? Cheers from Halifax NS
Hi, and thanks for your donation I really appreciate it
Don’t think I’ve come across those names in person, but have heard of them .
All the best from North London K
This channel is living proof that people knew how to make some pretty decent HiFi in the past.
Love my Ditton 25's with the addition of the HF2000 tweeter added. Would consider swapping them out for the 66's if I ever find any for a decent price, those are the real money grabbers! I also replaced the back terminals of the Dittons (the originals are horrible IMO) with some banana plug terminals. Very easy to do.
Also, what components are hooked up to your 15's? I'm using the more modern Arcam Alpha with mine and I wonder if they're doing true justice to the Dittons.
Arcam doesn't sound bad combo to me ,certainly not overblown amp sound
Another great insight into older gear and what to expect...
Always enjoy your comments dear boy, funny how i remember the days in england when most of this gear was new
Happy days though..bless you pal..take care.
Glad you enjoyed it
I have some ditton 44's. 3 way speakers I'm guessing from the late 70's. They sound wonderful and musical, but you can't crank them up past 80db. They start popping. Their are so sweet sounding, hooked to a Marantz 2250b down in the woodwork shop.
Sounds great!
Hi Kelvin. I always had a soft spot for Diiton 15's. Even though they had a limited range, what they did do was very good. Lovely midrange quality, especially with valves. When they went to the 15xr with the dome tweeter all the magic went. 👍
Yes, they took the best thing out of it. Funny how slow learners the world of Hi Fi manufacturing can be
@@stereoreviewx So true Kelvin. They call it progess....apparently. 🙂
Another super video! - So, suddenly I'm in the market for a Phillips RH491 speakers to pair with a fully restored Phillips 591 amp and 202 Electronic turntable, from the same range/year just about 1970/1. If you have a pair at the back of your cupboard or suggest a good place to look then I'd be very interested! Keep up the great work!
I found some shoes
@@stereoreviewx Sure they wern't slippers? ;-)
By the way: Now I am stable for 12 years. Not 100% but I don´t want to take my own life anymore, like I wanted to do in my past... for 35 years....And the money I have now is enough for me because I don´t smoke or drink. My only way to squander my wealth is my HiFi equipment! And being a gifted DIY Guy, I can afford quite some luxury gear from the past, for example, I am building a Record player from scratch with a 12" Carbon tonearm, in a pretty heavy round plinth covered in Buffalo leather, and on top of massive acacia wood.
My only concern was the motor. Originally I planned a direct drive, quartz-locked motor, but I ruined it because some screws fell into the case and produced a short circuit. Damn me I must say. LOL! But that´s life... You learn and struggle from beginning to end!
turntables are the ultimate diy project enjoy K
@@stereoreviewx Lol.. The challenge with turtanles are the surfaces. In order to make the turntable look exquisite. That´s the most complicated thing. Therefore i use pure Leather since a few years now. Black fine Deer, Red fine Leather i applied to my second project - this was a strong metal plinth, dampened inside with Mdf, and Outside with Leather for dampening and the good look! The Silver in the tonearm-cables no one can see lol... But the are there...Carbon tonearms look nice too. Especially when i bond them with a aluminium pipe inside... Thats dampened, strong and fine looking... My last project has a flaw: The black laquer of some applications on the build became a lot of cracles... So i must make the surface new now... But that´s life!
I had the XR versions. Got them from a skip. Decent enough sound but I put the mechanics in some beautiful Dynatron floorstander cabinets and really enjoyed them. Got the Dynatrons from a recycling centre for free 🎶🎵
Very nice!
in comparison with Ditton 22 ? merci
My neighbor gave me a pair of Celestion 1 bookshelf speakers last week to try with a classic turntable and amp I'd just picked up - only given them a quick try to check the turntable over - much newer and small than your of course, but they were fine, not a brand I had heard of. .. but I understand they were not bad at all?
I really enjoy your reviews. I'm using the later version Ditton 15xr (maybe the last redesign on these) and I absolutely love them. Do you think that Celestion solved any drawbacks that the earlier versions may have had in this '79/'80 version? I'm also considering upgrading the quality of the crossover parts.
Well, the base Driver is different and the Tweeter is different I think they solved the mid range congestion problem .
Sunday afternoons are much better these days. Cheers Kelvin
Valeu!
Thanks a lot Richard K
Hi Kelvin.
I’ve shared this on the Celestion page for you. 😊
cool
Used to live a stone's throw from the Celestion factory in Thames Ditton.
Nice lava lamps ….cant beat the Astro! And yes eBay sellers of amps and other gear just don’t have a clue how much time effort and cash it takes to service old gear.
fantastic as ever!
Absolutely perfect for 1970s rock, like Deep Purple etc.
sounds right to me
Great insights Kelvin. Perhaps one of the few people who acknowledge hifi is subject to the laws of diminishing returns - even when vintage ? After a certain level of spend we're better off buying more music!
Yes the upgrading path is a total minefield
My Ditton 25 can be described in the same words : nice high and middle, but soft bass, difficult to turn your living in disco. I had rebuild the crossover with high and bass improvement. I only regretted not to choose Mundorf cap for woofer.
Maybe the 1970s didn't have the same music reference. Classical music with big orchestra was dominant among high-end users and with BBC, at this time. Now the wind turned, pop and R&R are the reference.
Yes, not much you can do to tighten the base on those speakers I think might be interesting to experiment with the wadding though
Nice work ! Very accurate representation here. ❤
It's studio monitors or not?
outstanding video. I have owned a pair or perhaps 2 over the years. I remember I thought they looked quite cool but don't remeber how they sounded. I'm sad to say I actually got drunk and filled one of them with fireworks (in my youth) so I suspect I didn't like them that much
who knows ?!
It's actually an isobaric passive radiator.
Highly likely that the tweeter capacitor has drifted off value.A pair of 15XRs I have measured 5.8 uF and 5.6uF instead of 4.7uF. So too much upper midrange /lower treble would be coming through the tweeter.That also risks damaging the tweeter.
Hi Kelvin.What'll it cost to be a patreon?
its £ 3 a month but still working out how to upload to it K
@@stereoreviewx copy
What amplifier(s) did you use with those speakers? Best wishes, Rain
various Japanese plus naim they like the vintage sound best
How much amp power did You find optimal! How did those speakers compare in playing deep bass? Thank you in advance!@@stereoreviewx
Nice Review! Try to find an old Yamaha NS-690... You'll be amazed!
Thanks! Will do!
In the sixties they were £29.19shillings and six pence
Not bad £40, from what I dig from, there a a bit buttery sounding,.. but £40, ya can't go wrong
good word buttery
Kel... Haydn Boardman said these series ain't that good... I agree my recapped Ditton 44s ain't in the same league as the bigger Tannoys.. Thats why they go for 250GBP and the Canturbury etc 2500GBP..The Ditton sound nasely
well tannoy Canterbury more expensive in first palace I think
@@stereoreviewxsecond hand they used to go fo 500gbp....demand pushed e to 4grand...the refinement and magic.... Celestions miss sadly
Another great review, and your description of the sound seems spot on. My Dad bought a pair of Ditton 15's around 1970. He replaced them with KEF 104 abs which were much better! But, although I haven't heard a paid of Ditton 15s since around 1972, your description of the sound really brought back their strengths and weaknesses.
Thanks for the info! K
I perfect my speakers a little... for my taste
I LOVE YOU And We Love Your presentations Of Old Hifi Gear And You Get Younger Folk Interested SO That's Why We Are Gonna Send Some Funds To Help You Buy And The Gear You Review And When You Get too much Gear You Can Sell some and get more to review Exellent Exellent Idea CAUSE We love ya And Appreciate Your Input.
THANKS SO MUCH
Much appreciated thanks K
Old school HiFi for old school Hifi buffs. Non of your Harman Target curve nonsense here -love it 💗 HiFi for the flat-earthers and there's nowt wrong wi' that.
HF1300..what a peach!..DM2 fanboy xx
👍💯👍
i sold at least 300 pairs of these
wow
The 15XR trumps the 15 completely..
KEF's from the time are better, aren't they?
pretty much
Had a set of these which I found dumped in an alley behind a row of shops. Blew the drivers in an audio experiment sadly.
that happens K
i use to sell a lot of them to woman because it is not an agressive sound
i had a previous model that still own it from 1970 ,later when returning from working in Africa i had went to japan and bought a complete pioneer system and bought trhis model to improve it´s sound ,it wasn´t so powerfull as the older 1970 model but had great sound , sometimes the amplifier in use isn´t the proper one for them to release it´s fullest capacity , but a pioneer receiver from 74 make them sound at the time spectacular , the new amplifiers or built after 1980 (as all brands decreased their quality at the time,to make them more afordable to everyone, they say)can´t make them deliver it´s best sound, i´m not saying they were the best but still in use today as the receiver and no new amplifier, my son also likes music and apeared at home with arcam alpha´s and cambridge audio´s ,and i hear a lot of good critics to this modern amplifiers but what the hell is happening and i did restore several speakers i had from the 70´s to their original specifications, also bought good speakers from early 80´s to last years and trhis modern things if opened ,electronically speaking they are what they sound ,very poor and can´t fire them 70´s speakers, as an example more either than this ones that were critisized by many some years ago, because they don´t know what a speakers is, the technics SB-F3 were amazing good but some say they don´t have bass ,well the amplifiers they own can´t release any bass that´s why , this were and are incredible good till 90watts(real ones) amplifiers, so i think the celestion brand might had released a cheaper speakers instead of trying to improve their known quality, for no reason Marshal started to use it´s speakers , till they ended up destroyd in China with Kef joint adventure, they killed two birds with one stone , only hope that warphedale doesn´t follow the same path, as the Linton´s are a great pair of modern speakers
Yes, I actually did a follow-up video on Patreon where I discussed amplification for these Speakers and yes they only like vintage amps. It seems probably Japanese
1st ;-)
one thing is for sure, it is ugly.
They needed a super tweeter. That would have made them sound so much better. Found the top very muted and the sound woolly
Fair enough!