Celestion Ditton 15

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07-02-2009, 22:00
aquapiranha

Celestion Ditton 15

I iamgine there are a few people here who will remember celestions as being pretty common a couple of decades ago. It seems their popularity has waned throughout the years, though based on the quality of these examples I cannot think why. When you take into account the age of these speakers, it may be easy to assume that they are everything a modern speaker shouldn't be, yet my experience is qite the opposite. I have now tried quite a few "classc" speakers, and if I am honest I find it hard to see, other than fancy materials and a flash box, just what the newer ones offer that these don't. OK, we are talking about a "budget" speaker here, as they were when launched, but despite this they actually sound pretty good, and I can see why at the time they were so popular. Anyway, if anyone has any nuggets of information on this model, please post them here. I apologise for the dodgy quality of the pic, the 'phone I use to take the pics has a 5 MP camera on it, but they still always come out shite...

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/b.../Photo0044.jpg
08-02-2009, 00:47
leo

I got a pair of these in the garage, 3 quid from a charity shop, seemed a shame to just ignore them when walking by:)
08-02-2009, 10:49
aquapiranha

Quote:

Originally Posted by leo

I got a pair of these in the garage, 3 quid from a charity shop, seemed a shame to just ignore them when walking by:)

Indeed it would have been a waste had you not picked them up. However I find I now have several pairs of speakers, most of which cost me nothing, that are taking up too much space! I must offload some...
08-02-2009, 13:37
DSJR

The HF1300 tweeter can do some wonderful things in certain circumstances (the numerous BBC derivatives for example), but the Ditton 15 isn't the best speaker to hear it (it uses a more basic magnet assembly I think). I found the top end a bit "pinched" and "peaky" and ultimate extension is limited to a peak at around 14KHz followed by a swift roll-off, hence the "BBC" designs adding a super-tweeter by Coles, KEF or Celestion.

I think the Ditton 15 was of its time - the early seventies. By 1974 when I started in a serious HiFi shop, it was starting to sound very coloured by comparison with the likes of KEF Chorales and Monitor Audio MA7's for example.
08-02-2009, 13:58
Gromit

These bring back memories - my first ever set of speakers which I inherited from my dad when he upgraded to some Castles. :)

I loved them, although they were a bit dull at the top.
08-02-2009, 14:22
aquapiranha

Thanks for the commnets guys. As I say, i was not expecting these to be a erplacement for anything I have already, merely indulging in an interest in hifi gear from the past. Some thing I have noticed however is that despite the "Heath Robinson" appearance, some of these old things are surprisingly well built.

Oh look, it is snowing again!

:)
14-03-2009, 22:11
spendorman

I have a couple of pairs of Ditton 15, they do what was intended, make quite nice music from just a few watts input.

However, the Ditton 10 (same tweeter and a smaller bass/ mid unit) sound better to me, less coloured in the mid and tighter in the bass, and its only a bit bigger than LS3/5a size. The earlier 15 Ohm Ditton 10's have better cabinets due to heavy sound deadening material glued to the inside of the cabinet walls.