Celestion Ditton 44 - External Crossovers?

[HD Goofnut]

With my pair of 44 cabinets needing to be rebuilt would there be any benefit to moving the crossover externally, fitting three sets of binding posts (Cardas CCBP) instead of the usual one and wiring those up to each speaker?

[HD Goofnut]

:confused:

[The Black Adder]

I'd say yes. Give it a go.

Nice quality speakers. Also, if you haven't already, swap out any aging electrolytic caps.

[HD Goofnut]

Thanks for the reply :) I wanted to move them from the back of the sub but couldn’t find anywhere internally to put them so hoped this would be a good alternative.

Is there a recommended distance from the speaker when going with external crossovers?

They will be rebuilt before it all goes back together, now things are starting to open up again I can get this project moving.

[graham67]

Hi Ben, just to play devils advocate....
If you are going to go active, I can see the benefit however if passive, the probably small benefit of having an external crossover should be weighed against the extra cost, additional boxes, speaker cable, floorspace required, general untidyness and probably a reduction of resale value.
I only say this as I remember when kevin introduced the IBX internal xover version of the living voice avatar and thinking how much less fussy they were compared to the external covers of my obx.

[HD Goofnut]

Hi Graham.

Playing devils advocate is fine with me, it’s nice to be able to bounce ideas off people and chat about pros and cons.

The speakers wouldn’t be going active, I would just be removing the crossover from directly behind the woofer. I agree it’s a lot less fussy with everything inside the box but with the 44’s internal space is a commodity.

The extra boxes wouldn't be much of an issue as the room is quite large, I was thinking about making them out of reclaimed hardwood with dovetail joints and an acrylic lid, then French polishing the wood to help with the untidiness factor.

Value wise is a tough one. The speakers are in good condition, the tweeter will be rebuilt as will the crossovers, albeit sympathetically. But the cabinets are rough. I will be remaking those so the patina will be lost in that respect.

[Wakefield Turntables]

Cap values for the 44 cross over has been discussed zillions of times, they all come to the same conclusion, stick to the original values, just a friendly piece of advice to stop you from going down a rabbit hole.

[HD Goofnut]

Cheers Andrew but we weren’t discussing cap values. Just the idea of moving the crossover from inside to outside of the cabinet :)

[graham67]

Hi Ben,
Your approach sounds logical to me, so good luck with the venture :thumbsup:

[Lawrence001]

I've often thought about pimping up a good quality pair of vintage speakers to show that fundamentally they can still hold their own against more recent designs in most respects except maybe pure SPLs. Good luck with this.

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[karma67]

Cap values for the 44 cross over has been discussed zillions of times, they all come to the same conclusion, stick to the original values, just a friendly piece of advice to stop you from going down a rabbit hole.

i agree with the above,also dont get too excited,i have recapped 3 pairs of 44's and 1 pair of 66's and replaced the stock wiring inside,ive never heard the night and day difference thats banded about on forums.
with that in mind id just change the electrolytic caps and put them back in the cabinet.

[The Black Adder]

To externalise makes sense. And it's a good experiment to try.

To go active is also a great idea so long as you have done your research.

I think it's fair to say it's an experiment which is personal to you which makes it interesting to others. It would be great to see how it goes. Lot's of pics would be great. :)

And yes... regarding values which goes without saying, have the crossovers re-built to the original specs or as identical as possible. Those guys at Celestion knew what they were doing.

[HD Goofnut]

Righto guys, points taken onboard with the caps. Andre made his thoughts felt when this popped up some months ago :D

If going with the external crossover is there anything I should be aware of with regards to distance from the speaker or isolation?

[Wakefield Turntables]

Anything I should be aware of with regards to distance from the speaker or isolation?

Keep all wire length as short as possible to decrease impedance. Don't mount your cross over box on the speaker, you would loose the main reason for externalising it.

[The Black Adder]

Just keep them away from any vibration. Not too close to the cabinets.

Regarding cable, 1m max.

Make sure you use quality cable too. Connections from the crossover to the cabinet should be quality binding posts and use spades rather than banana plugs.

Or you can hard-wire the crossovers from the speakers which will remove a set of connections.

[HD Goofnut]

Should I build isolation feet into the bottom of the crossover box? I’m thinking it should be a given.

[Wakefield Turntables]

Should I build isolation feet into the bottom of the crossover box? I’m thinking it should be a given.

Yes.

[HD Goofnut]

Perfect & thanks again for the advice guys. I’m off to hunt for some reclaimed Burmese Teak, wish me luck!

[The Black Adder]

Well, if you want to, yes.

I wouldn't say it's an absolute assuming it's an experiment at the moment. But if you wanted to really go for it, try to lift them off the ground, about 6" should be fine. It would make sure the coils have enough space.

Are you going to simply re-build them on the same board or are you going for a re-design?

If the latter, then you could do well by making sure the coils have at least 20cm distance from each other depending on orientation.

[HD Goofnut]

As I’m looking to move the crossovers due to their placement I’m thinking I should follow this theory through and do things “properly” which is why I was thinking of isolating them as best as possible.

The idea was to rebuilt them on their original boards. I don’t want to stray too far from the original design but if it can be tweaked in a positive way then I think it will make for a decent project.

[Wakefield Turntables]

You could decouple then yet again by decoupling them from the box itself. Mount the PCB on silicone or sorbothane.

[spendorman]

A good mod for the 44 is to fit the dome midrange units from a 66.

[HD Goofnut]

You could decouple then yet again by decoupling them from the box itself. Mount the PCB on silicone or sorbothane.

Why not! Funny you should mention that as I was pondering it already :D Maybe site them on granite plinth too...


A good mod for the 44 is to fit the dome midrange units from a 66.

I discussed this a while back, I’m going to keep the 44’s as close to stock as possible. I don’t want to be changing out the mid for the 66 or the tweeter for something else and the caps are going to stay the same.

If I’m unhappy then I’ll put them up in the classifieds and look at Tannoys offering from the same era.