advertisement


Celef Monitor Improved

madmike

I feel much better now, I really do...
I found a pair of these a few weeks ago in a charity shop. I knackered one of the tweeters by cleaning them. I was using a soft brush to get rid of the dust and it broke the fine tweeter wire which goes across the front. A friend of mine fixed the tweeter by using a similar front and putting the original magnet on the back. I have identified them as Celef Monitor Improved according to the web. There is a picture of the same speakers with a title and on this very forum an old thread with a link to a Hi Fi review.
As their is a lack of pictures of this particular animal I am posting some here...







The bottoms are in better condition than the tops which tells me they have been used upside down in a previous life. I wonder if I could remove the front panel and turn it round?
 
I once owned the original model Celef Monitors and sold them to buy Monitor Audio MA5s. What a bad move that was...
In those far-off days I made some ( and some more!) mistakes in purchasing audio equipment.
Thankfully age ( plus sensible advice and critical listening ) have come to the fore. The once dismissed Quad amplifiers ( in favour of the 'amplifier of the month ') work perfectly with my Harbeth or LS3/5a speakers, but I still have happy memories of those original Celefs.
 
Having had a closer look at the pics, these are not Celef Monitor Improved. It looks like they have a Kef B110 mid/bass. I have no idea what they are, but they are likely Celef or Proac going by the "drinking straw" resistive reflex port that was often used by Stewart Tyler at the time (mid 70s).

Edit: Looks like they could be Celef Mini's.
 
I bought some Celef Domestics locally and cheaply to use with my new to me vintage Quad 34/303 system and they are really very good. In very good order too.

I was going to upgrade to better speakers fairly soon but I might just keep these for a while.
 
I found a pair of these a few weeks ago in a charity shop. I knackered one of the tweeters by cleaning them. I was using a soft brush to get rid of the dust and it broke the fine tweeter wire which goes across the front. A friend of mine fixed the tweeter by using a similar front and putting the original magnet on the back. I have identified them as Celef Monitor Improved according to the web. There is a picture of the same speakers with a title and on this very forum an old thread with a link to a Hi Fi review.
As their is a lack of pictures of this particular animal I am posting some here...







The bottoms are in better condition than the tops which tells me they have been used upside down in a previous life. I wonder if I could remove the front panel and turn it round?
I'm interested to know how you'd describe the sound of those celefs. Do they have good low bass extension?
 
I found the bass end of the Celef Monitors very good. None of that slight ‘looseness’ you can get with normally
ported reflex, or the fast bass roll-off you can get with infinite baffle speakers.
The drinking straw/resistive port was an excellent idea.
Incidentally, the Monitor Improved appears to have a different tweeter to the original model.
 
Treated myself to a pair of Monitors as a rainy day project ,I must admit I have been impressed from the start .Will recap at weekend although they sound good as is even with the 1975 components in place .
 
Like for like recap of crossovers and replacement of binding posts ,felt gaskets to drive units and bolted the drivers firmly as they where rather loose .Have let them tickover for a week ,today I have given them some stick ,very pleased with the results .Now to tart up the woodwork .
 
Like for like recap of crossovers and replacement of binding posts ,felt gaskets to drive units and bolted the drivers firmly as they where rather loose .Have let them tickover for a week ,today I have given them some stick ,very pleased with the results .Now to tart up the woodwork .
 
Well done, I'm glad that's worked out.
I've put a deposit on some Celef Studio Professional Monitors, whoch I haven't heard but am bargaining on being pretty decent especially for what I'll be paying. The woodwork will need some attention as well as the obligatory recap. it's quite faded and teacup stained etc. Did you get round to doing the wood on yours, did you get good results and if so, what was your method?
 
still a work in progress but now stand up to scrutiny ,lightly rubbed down with 240 grade sand paper being careful not to round of edges fill any deep scratches with colour matched wax, I rebuilt one iffy corner by this method fiddly but oddly soothing . Another light rub down and Liberon ring remover ,I tried the hot iron method but whatever finish had been used wasn't having none .Another wipe over and a heavy coat of bees wax polish allow to dry and soak in for a couple of days buff up and start again without the sanding ,repeat till satisfied with finish . As I said I found the whole process rather soothing and the results justify the effort as the pile of junk comments have dried up from the screetching head /font of all knowledge .Best of luck
Ray
 
I found the bass end of the Celef Monitors very good. None of that slight ‘looseness’ you can get with normally
ported reflex, or the fast bass roll-off you can get with infinite baffle speakers.
The drinking straw/resistive port was an excellent idea.
Incidentally, the Monitor Improved appears to have a different tweeter to the original model.

Pedant alert but IB rolls of much slower though earlier than ported.
 


advertisement


Back
Top