The Marco-boy main system, as of August 2020

Good stuff, matey... Now THAT is a TV!!:eek::eek::D

Marco.

Only a 65 inch :D

Did you model it on your waistline?:lol:;)

Marco.

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Originally Posted by Marco

Did you model it on your waistline?:lol:;)

Marco.

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Never quite reached those dimensions in spite of my best efforts!

If I get much slimmer I'll disappear ;)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...9635ae26_o.jpg

I'd bang it:eek::bum:

Marco.

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Originally Posted by Marco

Yeah defo, Andy. You've got XRs though, haven't you? They're good, but the originals are better, IMO (as I've outlined). TBH, very rarely have I heard speakers get better with more modern incarnations of the same, as cost-cutting inevitably enters the equation (where at one time they just built stuff using the best of what they had available, regardless), and quality suffers accordingly.

The original Ditton 15s (these ones I'm using from the 60s) are from Celestion's 'golden era'... Here's an interesting link to read, outlining the history of the company: https://www.bygonetones.com/the-hist...celestion.html

Sadly, most of these great British loudspeaker companies have long gone, or are simply trading under the brand name, but are now a shadow of their former selves., often now Chinese owned. I think the only ones left are Spendor and Harbeth, still doing things in the time-honoured tradition.

Marco.

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I had a pair of 15XR's (two pairs in fact) then I went onto the original 15's many many moons ago, a slightly later version of yours but with the pressed metal surrounds on the drivers and the HF1300 tweeter. I also use a pair of Super Tweeters with mine and a few others mods, recap, rewire, new binding posts etc. I might be tempted to do some more modding at some point.

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Originally Posted by Roy S

Never quite reached those dimensions in spite of my best efforts!

If I get much slimmer I'll disappear ;)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...9635ae26_o.jpg

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too much hair, and tits are too small :ner:

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Originally Posted by REXTON

I had a pair of 15XR's (two pairs in fact) then I went onto the original 15's many many moons ago, a slightly later version of yours but with the pressed metal surrounds on the drivers and the HF1300 tweeter. I also use a pair of Super Tweeters with mine and a few others mods, recap, rewire, new binding posts etc. I might be tempted to do some more modding at some point.

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Good stuff, Andy. With these early 15s I'm not going to rewire them, as I don't want to change their character too much. A cap upgrade, yes, if it works out. If not, I'll put the old ones back.

Sometimes with these old speakers, the 'voicing' (and subsequently) their musicality is achieved by them being the SUM of their parts, and so you can adversely disturb that (and their balance) by messing around too much. TBH, there's not a lot wrong with them in stock form. The worst part of their design, which was simply a sign of the times, is their rather flimsy (but well enough made) binding posts.

However, I've ordered some decent small spade-connectors, which will improve the connection over that offered simply by wrapping bare wire around the terminals, and if that sounds ok then I may leave them 'as is', as I'm using thin speaker cables, so don't need hefty terminals... Anyway, we'll see how it goes!:cool:

Marco.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Marco

Sadly, most of these great British loudspeaker companies have long gone, or are simply trading under the brand name, but are now a shadow of their former selves., often now Chinese owned. I think the only ones left are Spendor and Harbeth, still doing things in the time-honoured tradition.

Marco.

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Hmmm, the likes of Proac, PMC, ATC, Acoustic Energy and even good old B&W might argue with that! ;)

Yes, but what I meant was making speakers in the 'BBC tradition', as in traditional standmount designs seen in the likes of Spendor's 'classic' range, SP1/2s, etc, and the whole of the Harbeth range, plus true timeless classics, such as the LS3/5a.

How much of that sort of stuff, and crucially *VOICED* as it once was, with the same sonic goals, is still currently being made?

Whereas at one time, you had Rogers, KEF, Wharfedale, among others mentioned, and yes Celestion making truly wonderful sounding examples of such, and which got the human voice *so* right - and it is precisely in that area where these original Ditton 15s shine:)

Nowadays, at least whenever I've heard examples purporting to be what I'm referring to, from the companies you mention, such as Proac, PMC or ATC, their voicing/sonic balance is TOTALLY different, and in my opinion nowhere near as natural sounding or musically accurate. It's more 'hi-fi' than music.

In my view, we've lost our way, in that respect, in terms of designing speakers that, above all else, sound MUSICAL, rather than simply 'sonically impressive'.

Marco.