Vintage Celestion Speakers

[Koko L.P.]

I've owned 2 sets of Celestion speakers in my hifi journey, the ditton 44 and ditton 66. The 66s were awesome so I'm looking to buy some again but searching it up I found out there is a lot of design variety in the mk1 line made from 1973-1979.

- The grills vary from full textile to PA style metal grills
- The hf2000 tweeters often look different eventhough it's the same one
- The front sides vary from full black to wood veneer
- The passive radiators sometimes have a white/grey cirkle around them

Does anyone know what these variations mean, does it have something to do with the year it was produced or where it different designs you could choose from?

Here are some pictures;

 

[Koko L.P.]

 

[RocketFoot]

I'm not sure about what different configurations they had, but I know Celestion made some nice commercial speakers back in the day! When I started DJ'ing in 1990, we bought 4 Celestion 3 way 15" woofer speakers and they were amazing! I would suspect that the different config's you listed were purchase options as the photos all look like consumer speakers...not commercial. Sorry, I know...not much help but I mainly wanted to reinforce that Celstions are some good speakers! Great guitar amps too!

 

[62vauxhall]

I have not owned Ditton 66's but a friend had a pair in the early 1980's which I often listened to. I knew nothing about them at the time but it was explained that his were 4 ohm versions as opposed to an 8 ohm version. My understanding was the 4 ohm version came first and the 8 ohm version was produced later and created primarily for the North American market. Supposedly the two versions sounded quite different.

 

[montrecott]

To the OP: there is also a Celestion Owners thread and British Audio thread here. You may have better luck getting information there. I have owned the Ditton 33 (very good speakers) and several other Celestion models, but know nothing about the model 66, other than that they were top of the line.

 

[DocMontana]

I didn't know Celestion also made speakers for home stereo..Duh!

I use nothing but Celestions in my Marshall amps. 25 watt Greenbacks, awesome speakers!

 

[Mr Boochie]

I didn't know Celestion also made speakers for home stereo..Duh!

I use nothing but Celestions in my Marshall amps. 25 watt Greenbacks, awesome speakers!

My favorite Celestion speakers are Vintage 30s (UK made).

 

[DocMontana]

My first Marshall cab had Vintage 30's in it..Great speakers!

I found that I preferred the Greenbacks though, and eventually sold it..Or rather, used it as part of a trade for my '53 Martin D-28.

And I prefer the U.K. made ones as well..I have some of the Chinese-made Greenbacks in my '74 A cab that I bought empty and reburbished, and they sound good, but I think the U.K.-made are better-sounding speakers..I'm eventually going to have it loaded with all U.K.-built, and use the Chinese ones for spares.

 

[Mr Boochie]

My first Marshall cab had Vintage 30's in it..Great speakers!

I found that I preferred the Greenbacks though, and eventually sold it..Or rather, used it as part of a trade for my '53 Martin D-28.

And I prefer the U.K. made ones as well..I have some of the Chinese-made Greenbacks in my '74 A cab that I bought empty and reburbished, and they sound good, but I think the U.K.-made are better-sounding speakers..I'm eventually going to have it loaded with all U.K.-built, and use the Chinese ones for spares.

UK made ones have a richer tone, in my opinion. Good match with amps that have Mullard (UK) EL34 or Bugle Boy EL84 output tubes.