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Haselsh1
18-01-2011, 13:55
OK so I sold my two year old Dali Suite 2.8’s a short while back now and as a temporary fill in I have bought a brand new pair of Celestion F15 bookshelf speakers so that they no longer dominate the lounge. These speakers are sat on Atacama stands at just the right height and are now up and running.

So, here goes for anyone who may be contemplating buying a pair:

The initial impression was made listening to Sofie Ellis Bextor’s first album and was of a particularly grainy treble. Now I know that these speakers have a Titanium tweeter dome and these are usually remarkably good but the sound was bordering on coarse. I switched over to Melody Gardot’s album ‘My One and Only Thrill’ and the sound was now much, much better. Yes, these speakers could be accused of being dull but the midrange and vocal is superb. They do not show the level of detail that was obvious with the Dali’s and they have nowhere near the bottom end but they do sound like a really good pair of bookshelf monitors which of course is exactly what they are.

Brand New Heavies next. A really nice, rounded sound with a good bass response and a nice solid punch. The vocal again is first class with a fabulous electric guitar sound and truly excellent sax sound. The treble is very restrained and so natural it is almost dull. If you are used to a normal Hi-Fi tweeter then these speakers are going to sound quite dull in comparison. For me personally, they sound like real life which is rare for Hi-Fi.

The speakers have a nice well solid finish and are done in a white maple vinyl wrap which is of very high quality. They are about a foot high but quite deep at near ten inches. A rear port and bi-wire terminals complete the setup. These speakers can be used with banana plugs but the central plastic plug has to be removed.

When I eventually get myself set into a new career I shall be looking for a pair of mini monitors at just less than a grand but until then, these will do nicely.

Marco
18-01-2011, 14:13
Nice one, Shaun! Pics of them in situ would be nice :)

Marco.

John
18-01-2011, 15:53
Glad they are working for you

Haselsh1
18-01-2011, 18:51
Here are a couple of pics of things so far:


http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab240/Haselsh1/DSCF0661.jpg

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab240/Haselsh1/DSCF0660.jpg

With and without the front grilles

It'll be really nice though when I am back in fulltime employment and can afford those Sterling Broadcast Monitors in Ebony :)

Haselsh1
19-01-2011, 15:21
Paloma Faith ‘Do You Want The Truth or Something Beautiful’

Previously, through the Dali Suite 2.8’s I had described this album as very glassy, hard and brittle. Clearly through the Celestion F15’s this is not the case. With the treble of these speakers being so clearly restrained, the sound is now very rounded and quite smooth.

Amy Winehouse ‘Back to Black’

This album I previously registered in the same way as the Paloma Faith album, glassy, hard and brittle. Once again, not through the F15’s. Now let’s not get too carried away here. The Dali’s are a lot better than the Celestion’s with a much more transparent and open sound but the treble of the Dali’s was not to my liking at all. In comparison, the Celestion’s sound thick and congested with a very rounded, dull top end when compared to the majority of speakers I have owned in the past. Is that good or bad…? I suggest it’s very different to what I have become accustomed too. I feel that I would like to rip out the Celestion tweeter and replace it with a good SEAS unit. Kind of defeating the point really.

The stereo imaging is superb. The central image is fixed bang in the middle with lots of sideways stuff going on but there is little depth and next to no ambience. In the short term these will do but I already long for the day I can get things back together and buy a real pair of speakers. I am aware of what is available out there as I have listened to so much stuff in the past but I need to tread carefully as I clearly had issues with the Dali’s tweeters. If I could combine a very clear and concise sound with tons of ambience and depth and a critical stereo image I would have reached my goal. The slightest bit of glare or hardness would destroy the recipe.

dantheman91
09-04-2016, 11:56
Got a black pair of F15's being delivered in the next couple of hours we shall see how they sound :cool:.....Very good price cant say because if i dont like them i can sell them but reviews seem OK on these i dont need them its a case of cheap enough grab them...:)

dantheman91
11-04-2016, 05:34
Their a bit bass heavy in my room but need to experiment yet but they sound OK......i presume this era of celestion are owned by IAG?

Macca
11-04-2016, 07:45
From memory I think the A series and the F series were the last ones they did before being bought out. 'A' was the flagship range and 'F' was the standard range. The styling is similar but the drivers are different.

dantheman91
11-04-2016, 10:58
From memory I think the A series and the F series were the last ones they did before being bought out. 'A' was the flagship range and 'F' was the standard range. The styling is similar but the drivers are different.

Hi Martin,

Sounds about right dude....which were the A series ones you had if i remember?

Macca
11-04-2016, 11:03
I had the A2

There was the A compact, the A1 A2 and the A3 - the A3 was a serious big banger.

dantheman91
18-04-2016, 14:27
Does any have 2 gold plated plates for the bi wiring so i can single wire them they only came with 1 pair of gold plates and is proving difficult to wiring them up?:scratch:

twickers
19-04-2016, 20:51
Does any have 2 gold plated plates for the bi wiring so i can single wire them they only came with 1 pair of gold plates and is proving difficult to wiring them up?:scratch:

Just use some short runs of speaker cable to replace the bridging links. Usually sounds better anyway.

dantheman91
19-04-2016, 20:56
Just use some short runs of speaker cable to replace the bridging links. Usually sounds better anyway.

Seems the best option cheers paul...