advertisement


Views on the Celestion 15's (dittons?)

Ditton 15s are an easy drive being of a fair size and efficiency, I'm sure any of the amps you mention would be a decent match. Go for quality over power as they don't need much grunt. They'd be happy with tubes if that was a direction that appealed. Consider restored vintage too, e.g. A&R A60, Quad 33/303, Sugden A21 or any number of Japanese amps or receivers of the period as this is the kit they'd have been partnered with.
 
I've a set of 22's languishing here that I never use. For the price of them they batter many a more modern and more expensive speaker that's passed through my possession over the last 3 years, and I've had quite a few.
 
Agreed. The Ditton 15s get a bad rap for some reason, I have a feeling due to most people's memories being of them sitting on the floor and on the end of often rather too low-end 70s kit and partnered with a poorly sited turntable on the brink of feedback. They were in their day a very well reviewed and well liked speaker - I recently found the Gramophone review from when they were first released and the reviewer was very impressed with them, and remember this was a world in which Quad ESLs, giant Tannoys etc existed, so not so different to today.
 
When you consider that the Dittons are worth 60 quid tops and yet I sold a set of MA silvers for 4 times the price it makes me smile.

The Dittons outclass them in all aspects apart from as an earlier poster said ie a hard, sharp and false clattery top end.
 
You'll get a lot more than £60 for a good pair of Ditton 15s or 22s, I'd say £150-250 for a mint boxed pair dropping fairly sharply from that with condition. As ever with vintage kit there is a huge difference between a really tidy pair and something someone has fished out of a skip, which sadly many pairs going through eBay appear to have been.
 
I agree Tony, a mint boxed pair would be a nice find but quite rare I'd guess.

Mine for example came from a music room at Liverpool Uni, covers I bet had never been off and inside veneer is mint as well as drivers, like new.
However, outer cabinet shows the scratch's of 40 years service.

That's why I'd not want to part with them even if I don't use them, for 60 quid it's better just to have them there and fire up every couple of years when interested parties come around for a hifi play.

If they came out again in shiny onyx black cabinets with titanium driver surrounds and a fancy name they'd be hot news.
 
martin47 said:
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!
Click to expand...

From a post made almost ten years ago, but well worth repeating. :)
 
Tony L said:
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.
Click to expand...

Different version of the Celestion HF1300 in the Ditton 15. It is a lower impedance one, with a smaller magnet.
 
bill hughes said:
... up to £300 has anyone got any views on these or others that they could recommend,
Click to expand...

One of the smaller JVC AX- series amps mentioned on the JVC AX-Z1010TN thread in this Classic section would be perfect and likely under £100 if a little hard to find) !

For example : http://www.marktplaats.nl/a/audio-t...viousPage=lr&lr_snippet=horizontalRichSnippet (will ship to UK).

Btw, I loved my Ditton 15s in the '70s and thought they were much better than most of my friends similarly priced speakers at the time.

Edit : in addition to the JVC AX-Z1010TN in my main system, I have an AX-R337 (smaller model in same range, as is the AX-A2) as a desktop amp driving JBL Control 1 speakers : it's fantastic.
 
Thanks for all your replies, jtrade I logged onto the link you gave me but the guy was reluctant to post as he was worried about them getting damaged and as I live in sw France going to Holland is not an option, I will carry on looking on ebay and gumtree as I frequently come over to the uk and also I have mates who could collect, thanks again
 
Bill - these JVC amps seem to come up mostly on eBay.de and Marktplaats (the one I linked seemed to be from a "semi-dealer", but there are several more, some really low cost). Gumtree is a good idea.
 
jtrade - yes I think you are right about the link you gave me, I saw a ax-z1010tn on google somewhere, cant remember where I've looked at so much but they wanted over £1000 for it I nearly fell off my chair, its just a case of finding something that can be demonstrated to me or a mate, location wise, I never rush into anything so waiting is not a problem to get the right amp.

regards Bill
 
Hi all I have seen a Sansui au-217ii for sale, has anyone had experience of this amp. and would it work ok with my early Celestion Ditton 15's many thanks, its reached £56 on ebay.
 
Good evening! I've been given a pair of these. Along with a Sony 700ES Amplifier and a Sony 730ES Tuner. All in very good condition. I will hook the Celestions up to my Audio Innovations Series 500 Amplifier based on what has been written above; they have 5881 Valves so develop 17WPC...
 
Excellent. They have their detractors but I like them. Teak cabinets....tick. Solid construction.....tick. Big bassy sound.....tick. I have a pair in the garage which I must bring in and hook up to my Tandberg 2075, a marriage made in heaven.
 
madmike said:
Excellent. They have their detractors but I like them. Teak cabinets....tick. Solid construction.....tick. Big bassy sound.....tick. I have a pair in the garage which I must bring in and hook up to my Tandberg 2075, a marriage made in heaven.
Click to expand...

Argh!! No!! That Tandberg is superb and demands some modern top quality speakers! Says a guy using a main rival of the Ditton 15's with a 2055....
These receivers are top notch and I would take one over ANY Japanese model. Great amplifier section and tuner is state of the art. They were also hideously expensive when new!
 
madmike said:
But I flogged my Epos 11s Jez!
So what do you suggest?
Click to expand...

So did I! Wish I hadn't...

I'm not suggesting anything, most amps work just fine with most speakers and there is no need to get an amp and then start asking about which speakers to use... as happens daily here on pfm!

All I was suggesting is that the TR2055 and TR2075 are superb in their own right and not something to be looked upon as merely "it'll do for a bedroom/office system"....even though I use my own in my workshop system! That's only because it's convenient rather than because it's not good enough for other tasks.

I would expect the amp section to beat some well regarded brand new models and the tuner sections right up there with the best I've ever used.
 
These Tandbergs are also very well made and a delight to work on... lots of alloy sections that pretty much just fall apart once you've removed the relevant screws and allow good access to everything. About £500 in 1977! A Quad 405 was about £150...

They have a stock fault which is the voltage regulation and can stop the pre amp section from working or make the tuner drift all over the place depending on which rail has been effected. Very easy fix though.
960850-tandberg-tr2075-stereo-receiver-rosewood-beauty-2-manuals-brochure-amp-guide.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top