Celestion SL6

canuckaudiog

On a quest for high fidelity
Hey all,

I recently acquired a pair of these in beautiful condition with the original stands. I was a little worried about getting these because of the reviews online, many saying they're not as good as the later series (yes, these are the originals with the copper tweeters), but I figured what the heck, they're iconic - I might as well snag them.

I hooked them up last night and first impressions are fairly positive. They are silky smooth sounding with a velvety texture to the midrange. I've heard this sound before! It brought back memories of the KEF 107s I used to own. I've been looking for a nice bookshelf speaker for a while so this fits the bill nicely.

Anyway, I'll get some more hours into them before concluding whether I really do like them or not but I wanted to ask if anyone knew how to access the crossovers? It seems like the easiest way is from the front? If anyone has a pair and knows how let me know.

Thanks!

Oh and, I'll certainly put up some pictures later.
 
You could probably track down an equal number of people who would say the original tweeters were better. They were certainly less efficient and gave the speakers a darker sound but as you have found out, quite seductive. On simpler acoustic music and voice they can be stunning.
 
I had DL8's I liked a lot. First guess on crossover access is always through the woofer holes. Probably a bunch of electrolytics on those boards. New film caps would be probably an audible upgrade
 
You could probably track down an equal number of people who would say the original tweeters were better. They were certainly less efficient and gave the speakers a darker sound but as you have found out, quite seductive. On simpler acoustic music and voice they can be stunning.

I am really enjoying them so far. They are easy to listen to and smooth with a compelling midrange. A little dark, yes, but it isn't bothering me in the slightest. So far I have yet to hear the constrained sound that many people report with these. They are bookshelf speakers but definitely have a nice sound about them. I also happen to like the way bookshelf speakers sound so there's that too I suppose. I think once I recap them they are going to open up quite a bit too.

I had DL8's I liked a lot. First guess on crossover access is always through the woofer holes. Probably a bunch of electrolytics on those boards. New film caps would be probably an audible upgrade

I've had DL12s in the past as well and they were really nice, so grabbing these seemed like a no brainer. You're right about the crossover access, there are four bolts on the front that hold the woofer in place and you take those out and the woofer comes right off. Easy peasy. As far as caps go, apparently the crossover shouldn't be tampered with in terms of using different parts - electrolytics are the way to go with these.

Edit:

So far I've been running these with my Dynaco ST-70. Only 35 watts a side but man, it sounds good! And these speakers put out quite a bit of bass. From what I read online I was expecting them to be bass shy.. not at all, these have plenty of bass. Impressive for their size in fact. I was also worried the Dynaco would not have enough grunt but it has more than enough. It probably helps that I'm sitting literally 3 feet away from them so I don't need much power to get the volume I'm looking for, but regardless, it drives them wonderfully.
 
They are quite inefficient, about 82 IIRC, so they do well with more power but sitting close may be the best thing for the SL6 since where they get into trouble is when you try to play loud, with lots of bass on complex material. That is where something like a 107 will keep its composure much better and fill a large room doing it. Keep the SL6 within their performance envelope (the laws of physics do apply) and they are very nice.
 
I am definitely on the Celestion bandwagon and have a set of Celestion SL600sis plus a set of Monitor 100s. Would still like to find an affordable set of SL12s. I've had SL6s in my system too. (I had my SL600sis at the same time but did not do an A/B comparisons between the two.) Although I don't remember their generation, when the SL6s were set up and running I liked them a lot. As an aside, I ran them from my Dynaco ST70 as well. I think you will enjoy that combo quite a bit. The Dynaco definitely prefers a sealed box speaker.
 
I suggested the SL6s to my boss when he wanted an upgrade back in the early 80's. They were extraordinary
in presenting a wide soundstage and details in complex final movement symphonic pieces.

don't worry about what others say, you're counting on their memory and (un) bias and the entire food/sound chain
of their then equipment.

If you find it bland, needs salt, has too many carbs, etc then go back up the food chain and change things
like speaker cables, power amp, preamp, power conditioners/regenerators, and the main course of
source material. if you're playing music off a phone then stop immediately no further investigation is necessary.
 
They are quite inefficient, about 82 IIRC, so they do well with more power but sitting close may be the best thing for the SL6 since where they get into trouble is when you try to play loud, with lots of bass on complex material. That is where something like a 107 will keep its composure much better and fill a large room doing it. Keep the SL6 within their performance envelope (the laws of physics do apply) and they are very nice.

I looked around for specifications and found this, which was quoted from Celestion's old website:

SPECIFICATIONS: *Drivers: … Tweeter: 1.5” Celestion one piece Copper dome … Mid-Woofer: 6.5” Celestion vinyl homopolymer composite cone * Impedance: 8 0hm * Power Handling: 35 - 100Watts * Sensitivity: 84db / 1 watt at 1 meter (free space conditions) * Frequency Response: 45Hz – 20kHz (+/- 3dB) * Dimensions: … Height: 14.5” (370mm) … Width: 7.8” (255 mm) … Depth: 9.5” (200 mm) * Weight each: 21.6 pounds (9.8 kgs)

I am definitely on the Celestion bandwagon and have a set of Celestion SL600sis plus a set of Monitor 100s. Would still like to find an affordable set of SL12s. I've had SL6s in my system too. (I had my SL600sis at the same time but did not do an A/B comparisons between the two.) Although I don't remember their generation, when the SL6s were set up and running I liked them a lot. As an aside, I ran them from my Dynaco ST70 as well. I think you will enjoy that combo quite a bit. The Dynaco definitely prefers a sealed box speaker.

The SL600Si seems to be the creme de la creme of this speaker. I'd love to find a pair because I'm sure it would be the SL6 on steroids. But, the SL6 as you said is quite good with the ST-70. Interesting you ran yours with the same amp. I definitely like the combination, you get the warmth of tubes plus the warm velvety midrange of the SL6. It works really well for a large variety of music.

I suggested the SL6s to my boss when he wanted an upgrade back in the early 80's. They were extraordinary
in presenting a wide soundstage and details in complex final movement symphonic pieces.

don't worry about what others say, you're counting on their memory and (un) bias and the entire food/sound chain
of their then equipment.

If you find it bland, needs salt, has too many carbs, etc then go back up the food chain and change things
like speaker cables, power amp, preamp, power conditioners/regenerators, and the main course of
source material. if you're playing music off a phone then stop immediately no further investigation is necessary.

What you said is part of why I decided to get them anyways, to form my own opinion in my own environment with my own music. It's proving to be a positive choice and like you said, "don't worry about what others say". Too true. I like what I have in front of me and they work well. It's kind of cool they were so revolutionary to the speaker industry at the time as well. And you're absolutely right about the soundstage, it's precise and has a holographic quality to it. The way I have them set-up it's like I have surround sound, I absolutely love that kind of quality in a speaker (which is what I like about bookshelf speakers so much, narrow baffles make a big difference in soundstage presentation).
 
In case anyone needs the information, the capacitors inside are 1x 8uF Low Loss Alcap, and 1x 4.7uF Low Loss Alcap, both 50V.
 
I think there's also a 3.3 uf in there or at least there are in my SL600's which in theory have the same xovers as the SL6's.
 
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