Hoopsontoast
pfm Member
hi, anyone heard the Celestion 15 (mabye ditton model) from the late 60's-70's, i might be able to aquire them and are they any good?
Views on the Celestion 15's (dittons?)
- Thread starter Hoopsontoast
- Start date
Tony L
Administrator
If you do get them you will almost certainly find they sound better upside down - they are a bit muddy and boomy and flipping them over helps negate this to a degree. The tweeter in the earlier versions is very good but doesn't go too high, it's the same one used as the 'low' tweeter in the excellent Spendor BC1.
Tony.
Tony.
They were one of the standard starter speakers which everone wanted to have back in about 1976. I think they were a 3 unit speaker - bass, midrange and tweeter. I bought a pair of Lasky's own brand Audioline speakers that I thought sounded as good or better, and they were about £70 then, whereas the Ditton 15's were about £100. I don't remember anyone having any complaints with the Celestions, except that they used to blow the drive units regularly the way they were used and abused. From memory they were rated at about 30 watts, but it was 30 years ago, so I may be wrong here!
Hoopsontoast
pfm Member
ok, i was not planing on buying a pair, i could get some of my grandad, even though they are in mint condition lol.
general opinion is that they are pretty poor then ;P
general opinion is that they are pretty poor then ;P
well, I was happy with mine, also bought new for £109.50 in 1976, for many years. I managed to pass them on to a daughter and she is pleased with them too. Very easy to drive, smooth and full, and yes could now be described as a bit boomy. I will recommend that they are turned upside down!!
bennyboyph
pfm Member
I have a pair of these from my dad. I have replaced the tweeters with morel mdt-30se (had to add some resistors into the crossover for these), replaced the 12uF capacitors with wilmslow supersounds, moved the crossover out of the cabs, sealed the cabs with some silicone sealant, lined the cabinets with dedsheet and acoustic wadding (to remove the bass boom!).
They sound much better now, but still not quite up there. Bass isn't as tight as modern drivers, the ABR is rubbish. I don't know the values of the air-cored inductors to replace them. Does anyone have any ideas? Someone suggested replacing the ABR with another ditton 15 bass/mid driver and wiring the two up in parallel, what do you guys think?
Anyway, I have probably spent £100 on a free set of speakers that I prefer to equivalent £200 speakers. Student budget and all that!!
They sound much better now, but still not quite up there. Bass isn't as tight as modern drivers, the ABR is rubbish. I don't know the values of the air-cored inductors to replace them. Does anyone have any ideas? Someone suggested replacing the ABR with another ditton 15 bass/mid driver and wiring the two up in parallel, what do you guys think?
Anyway, I have probably spent £100 on a free set of speakers that I prefer to equivalent £200 speakers. Student budget and all that!!
bennyboyph
pfm Member
completely re-wired inside too, with some bargain QED silver anniversary that I found for £4 on the market. Tightened up the bass!
Hi there
I think everyone’s being a bit unkind to the old Dittons.
They are NOT HiFi ‘speakers!!!!
You can’t judge them in the same way as ‘modern’ HiFi ‘speakers; they are not the same, and were never intended to be used in the ferociously (and sad, really) analytical way that modern ‘reference monitor’ type ‘speakers are.
Yes, in comparison to modern ‘speakers, they have a very fat arse, and if your life revolves around detail retrieval - i.e. aggressive and unnatural top end – then you are going to hate them. They will not throw a massive 3D representation of the ‘soundstage’ into your listening cell, and you will not hear things you have never heard on Peter Gabriel’s ‘So’ before.
But they will do something that many modern ‘speakers can’t, and that is make a pretty good smile-on-the-face, party-like sound with whatever you play on them.
Remember, these were designed back when people actually had HiFi in the living room, and used to use it for enjoyment, and not excruciating analysis. No, really, there was a time when this used to happen!
If you don’t want them, I’ll have ‘em.
Martin.
I think everyone’s being a bit unkind to the old Dittons.
They are NOT HiFi ‘speakers!!!!
You can’t judge them in the same way as ‘modern’ HiFi ‘speakers; they are not the same, and were never intended to be used in the ferociously (and sad, really) analytical way that modern ‘reference monitor’ type ‘speakers are.
Yes, in comparison to modern ‘speakers, they have a very fat arse, and if your life revolves around detail retrieval - i.e. aggressive and unnatural top end – then you are going to hate them. They will not throw a massive 3D representation of the ‘soundstage’ into your listening cell, and you will not hear things you have never heard on Peter Gabriel’s ‘So’ before.
But they will do something that many modern ‘speakers can’t, and that is make a pretty good smile-on-the-face, party-like sound with whatever you play on them.
Remember, these were designed back when people actually had HiFi in the living room, and used to use it for enjoyment, and not excruciating analysis. No, really, there was a time when this used to happen!
If you don’t want them, I’ll have ‘em.
Martin.
bennyboyph
pfm Member
martin47 said:
Too true! They sound great with my Cyrus II
Wow! I have nothing but praise for my pair of Ditton 15's. Still pumping out smooth articulate stereo from by Marantz amp like it has for the last 40 years. I occasionally drive my units loud for parties etc but they have never been boomy - maybe its how and where you place them. Muddy? never except once when I had the cable polarity wrong. Guests always comment how clean and tight my music sounds and are somewhat surprised they come from humble bookshelf speakers. I run mine both horizontally and vertically but have never turned them upside down nor had a reason to. I am an audiophile but not an elitist i.e. I listen critically to the performance of my equipment across a range of electric and acoustic music but I never could bring myself to stomach reviews of connections cables as "sweet but controlled" "joyful and tight"! These speakers are an excellent practical choice for living room stereo music listening they are not reference monitors, nor mutli-channel or PC speakers. I know "stereo" is becoming a lost medium but I have no doubt your grandfather would have enjoyed high quality music through the speakers he has obviously cared for. This is a rare opportunity. Pair them up with a 70's Japanese amp 2x50w and play some real music through them.
Radfordman
pfm Member
Agreed, and they will do this with just a few watts.
Radfordman
pfm Member
The magnet on the HF1300 tweeter in the Ditton 15 is smaller than the one used for the Spendor BC1 HF1300.
michael64
New Member
I have a pretty nice mid-fi vintage setup- NAD preamp and turntable with Sumiko cart, Carver amp, TOTL Yamaha tuner. I have a record collection I've been accumulating for forty years. I've had a number of stereos and have had the pleasure of owning a number of speakers: Rogers, Boston, Klipsch, Infinity, Paradigm, DCM, AR. We moved into a small place, and I could only keep one pair larger than a satellite- I kept my original Celestion Ditton 15s. They are perfectly adequate to let me enjoy my record collection in a limited space. They don't plod and aren't boomy. Perhaps they just have great synergy with the cart and NAD electronics. Who knows? All I know is they are a good pair of speakers that sound good with a range of music styles.
Snufkin
pfm Member
Tried a seemingly good pair, just for fun about three years ago. I think I had always fancied a pair since I read about them when I had my first system running Wharfdale Dentons. The Ditton 15's really werent very good and passed them on to a happy Ditton 15 collector, yes they do exist. The pair I tried seemed a little thin and yet managed to boom with ease. I compared them to a pair of Castle Avons I had in a second system at the time and the Castles were far superior. Having said this, the Dittons were old and I am sure could have been improved BUT I didnt like that ABR.
As a footnote, I am really surprised that they cost £100 in 1976. I bought a brand new pair of Celef Domestic speakers for £85 in 1976. A much simpler speaker in a bigger cabinet that really grew with every change I mad to my system. I had to buy some Harbeths over 25 years later to better them.
As a footnote, I am really surprised that they cost £100 in 1976. I bought a brand new pair of Celef Domestic speakers for £85 in 1976. A much simpler speaker in a bigger cabinet that really grew with every change I mad to my system. I had to buy some Harbeths over 25 years later to better them.
bill hughes
Member
I have a pair of 60's celestion ditton 15's a Dunlop systemdek 11 and a Realistic STA-2080 receiver' and I would like some advice on a new amp. I've been looking at s/hand Cyrus, Nad and Creek up to £300 has anyone got any views on these or others that they could recommend,
Many thanks.
Many thanks.
Radfordman
pfm Member
I had a Realistic receiver a few models down from yours, sound quality was extremely good. I suspect that your best upgrade is in the speaker department. If you want to stay classic, perhaps Spendor BC1, Spendor Prelude, B&W DM4, B&W DM2. DM4 and DM2 can be very good value.
bill hughes
Member
Radfordman
thanks for your reply but I'm quite happy with my speakers its the amp I need to change as I've had it over 30 years and its given up the ghost, its a massive beast and I would like something a bit smaller, just wondered if someone had any experience of these speakers with any of the amps I mentioned
thanks for your reply but I'm quite happy with my speakers its the amp I need to change as I've had it over 30 years and its given up the ghost, its a massive beast and I would like something a bit smaller, just wondered if someone had any experience of these speakers with any of the amps I mentioned