MKI Celestion Ditton 44 - Rebuild & refurb

[karma67]

to get the right values!

[Made in 1968]

No need like ive pointed out the originals were +/- 10%. Ansar are available in that required value..

My last post on here anyway people are complaining..

[Marco]

No need for it to be your last post, Andre. Just keep things constructive

Marco.

[spendorman]

I believe that a good upgrade for the 44 is to fit the 66 dome midrange unit, no crossover mods required. Speaker then has the mid of the 66, but with tighter bass.

[DarrenHW]

@Marco - That's Rudolph Hucker? He looks like such a nice old man, not the twisted, arrogant, narcissistic lady part that pollutes our little community. Appearances certainly can be deceiving.


Hi Ben,

Sorry for the late response, I only picked up your PM yesterday and I've just had chance to read through the thread.

I don't know if you've seen Ken's thread (https://theartofsound.net/forum/show...ight=celestion) but all the answers you need regarding recapping are here. Yes, this is relating to the 66's but the Tweeter and Bass are the same drivers. To my ears the combination of Alcap (Bass), Mundorf E-Cap + Ansar bypass (mid) and Ansars (Tweeter) was the winner.

I had two pairs of 44's, one with 30uF and one with 27uF in the mid. I think I preferred 27uF, but can't remember, it was 2014! I did post on here, possibly in Ken's thread so you may stumble across my opinion, but that's all it is, so treat it as so.

I did actually end up swapping the mid for MD500's, as per Alex's suggestion above, it was him that sowed the seed in my head then. I tried both the MD500 and MF500 and agreed with Ken, that the MD500 had better integration, but both were a major step up from the stock 44 mid. As other's have stated though 66's are a better starting point, unless of course the journey's more important than the destination? I learnt a great deal from messing around with these speakers and had fun with it at the same time. The Beovox 5700 used to be a good source of HF2000 and MD/F500 drivers for a low price, so worth keeping an eye out for a donor pair.

I also swapped the HF2000 for the SEAS unit as I found it a bit smoother with a bit more sparkle.

It is worth mentioning that they really need good power, stands and space to sound their best.

I've mentioned the SEAS and MD500, but my advice would be to start with a basic recap and see if you like them and if they like your system and room. As with all things audio, there's a compromise with these and pretty much all Celestion speakers of the era* which is a trade off between the mid range and the bass which some people just can't live with, better to find out early before getting too invested. I personally still have mine and listen to them every day, albeit Bi-amped with external XO, SEAS tweeter and MD500, I know they're flawed, but I love their sound and don't know what I'd replace them with other than a complete DIY build.



*Before I get flamed by André I've never heard the coveted 33's, my experince is limited to 66, 44, 11, 15XR, UL8. I'm only taking this piss André, it's genuinely good to see you on here again (if indeed you are still on here?) HiFi forums just aren't the same without you, but you'll always be "The Barbarian" to me.

[Marco]

@Marco - That's Rudolph Hucker? He looks like such a nice old man, not the twisted, arrogant, narcissistic lady part that pollutes our little community. Appearances certainly can be deceiving.

Lol!

He's only a year older than me!!

Well, it's often the case that the most (superficially) innocuous, snivelling looking old weasels, are the biggest keyboard warriors! Not just because they're cowardly and so love to hide behind said keyboards (which is why I've taken such delight in 'exposing' this particular weasel), but because they've got more hangups/emotional disorders and chips on their shoulders than Captain Charlie the Chipmeister from Chipville!

Anyway, you have a PM!

Marco.

[DarrenHW]

Well it's good to see I haven't lost my ability to kill a thread

Have you flounced off again André? (I hope the answer is no!)

He's only a year older than me!!

You're doing a better job of rolling with it, I thought your avatar was Louis Walsh, that's the only reason I read your sig!


Sorry for thread drift Ben.

[HD Goofnut]

No problem

I have tried sending you a PM Darren but your inbox is full. Could you clear a little space please, thanks.

[Made in 1968]

Flaming hell Ben your hard work mate

Ive already sent you a shopping list. Seems that people are just making thing a bit too confusing when its a dead easy job.

[HD Goofnut]

Shopping list received, much appreciated thank you.

I wanted to chat with Darren about his Quad 405 mono block.