An Epic Tale Of Two Celestion Ditton 66 Refurbishments

[Pharos]

Alan Shaw has posted much about how he thinks many current speakers are toppy.

One of my main concerns ATM is that, I certainly, and probably all of us, become conditioned to a particular character of sound, and then everything else can sound wrong in comparison

[ToTo Man]

Alan Shaw has posted much about how he thinks many current speakers are toppy.

One of my main concerns ATM is that, I certainly, and probably all of us, become conditioned to a particular character of sound, and then everything else can sound wrong in comparison

I've always suffered from this issue, - my ears get accustomed to the tonal balance of the speaker I'm listening to, then when I switch to one of my (many!) other speakers it's quiet jarring until my ears become acclimatise to that speaker's presentation. And then when I revert back to the other speaker it's that one that now sounds 'wrong'. It's fascinating the tricks one's brain can play on oneself!

I do agree that modern living has a lot to answer for when it comes to messing up the acoustics of a domestic hifi system. I am bemused by those who spend inordinate sums on boxes and cables without giving a second thought to their listening environment. I had my room kitted out in bass traps and first reflection panels in 2013 and could not contemplate going back to listening to music without them.

[Macca]

Some people are stuck with a communal room and don't have the option of using bass traps or other treatment. And if the wife is wearing the trousers then they probably can't put in carpet, rugs, big sofas or anything else that might help unless the aesthetic is to her taste. No wonder the speakers sound bright.

the other reason could be that modern speakers over a certain price point are pretty good i.e they have ruthless clarity. So the problems with mediocre sources and amplification are shown up. It isn't brightness they are hearing, it's distortion.

[ToTo Man]

Time to resurrect this thread once more!

After experimenting with in excess of twenty HF2000 tweeters, I have now settled upon a matched pair for my original 2015 refurbished 66s. I suspect this will be as a good as it gets when it comes to high-frequency pair matching.

1-metre FR before:


1-metre FR after:


This is how the new driver combo measures from the listening seat before & after EQ:

Listening seat FR before EQ:


Listening seat FR after EQ:


Listening seat average FR before & after EQ:


Was it worth the effort? I'm hardly going to say no, am I??!! The latest tweeters have smoother FR and less output than the previous ones and to my ears integrate better with the mids and draw less attention to themselves. Not a night and day difference, but still worth the hours spent listening to and measuring numerous pairings. Imaging has become even more stable and holographic as a result.

I've also changed how I listen to these speakers. The plywood plinths have been temporarily ditched and I now have them sitting directly on the carpet but tilted backwards. I've discovered this provides exactly the same benefits to midrange-treble cohesion as elevating the enclosures on 25cm plinths, but with the added benefit of making it FAR easier to move the speakers out of the way when I want to listen to my Tannoys! Ideally I'd love my Tannoys to be on castors so that I could wheel them out of the room and place the Dittons closer to the wall, as the bass sounds a little anaemic to my ears (I suspect it's being adversely affected by SBIR, but that's a topic for another day!...).