Celestion 300 Review - How good are old speakers?

[@NickP333]

Yet another excellent vid, Tarun. Great comparison and explanation between the Celestions and Bucharts. Btw, your name was brought up a few nights ago on Sean from Zero Fidelity’s live stream, if you hadn’t heard. Sean and a bunch of other people were talking about how great your vids are and how much we enjoy them. It was also said that you have one of the best HiFi related channels on KZbin. Looks like everyone loves you, Tarun! Thanks so much, and keep up the phenomenal work! 🎶🔊👍😁✌️

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Nick, I wasn’t aware of that. Sean is one of the guys who inspired me to start this channel. He is one person on KZbin who you can bet you house on being spot on with his review, setting as standard that others, including myself, aspire to 😉👍

[@NickP333]

A British Audiophile Couldn’t agree more, Tarun. I watch a lot of HiFi channels, but watch a good amount of their content with a grain of salt. You’re one of the very few exceptions. I actually really listen and pay attention to what you say. Thanks for your hard work, drive, and passion. It definitely shows through.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank is extremely kind of you to say Nick and very much appreciated.

[@juanjedidiah5250]

I guess im randomly asking but does someone know of a tool to log back into an instagram account..? I was stupid forgot the login password. I would love any help you can offer me!

[@nathanalfred4361]

@Juan Jedidiah Instablaster :)

[@ranelime]

,I really appreciate and like that you're tackling a much avoided topic by reviewers, which is value for money of vintage vs new speakers. Seems like KZbin reviews are really pushing us to convert watching to buying by saying how every single speaker they review is amazing and that this is a renaissance for "budget" speakers, without giving any references to what was before. Seems that these kind of reviews really push u to read between the lines, while most of the time there's nothing there. Pushing reviews without any real reference is just a matter if creating marketing buzz and essentially, confusion. I also have to mention that not-so-glamorous reviews are providing real reference and broad perspective to us, which is why we watch reviews to begin with (I hope...). Thank you again for a very pleasant, informative and honest perspective.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Astro. You have pretty much summed up my approach 😉👍

[@seeyoujimmy188]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 Is there any way I can get in touch with you directly ?

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi SeeYou Jimmy, at the moment just so that I can manage my time I am using this comments section as a way of interacting with my viewers. I have a email that I use for talking to manufacturers/dealers/distributors. What did you have in mind?

[@bobiras96]

I have owned the Celestion 300s for 23 years. Amazing speaker. Still love listening to them. I have them paired with a McIntosh MC752. The bass from the transmission line design is hard to beat. I compare their performance with my modern day B&W 704S2 and I still like the bass from the Celestions. I was surprised to see a review about them. Thank you so much!

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for watching bobiras96 😊

[@mrmobsi527]

Thanks for the review. I'm glad you found the 300s fun to listen to. I had a lot of fun designing them too. Much credit must go to my colleague who had created their smaller brother the 100 as I had a superb set of drivers to work with (also the crossover remained unchanged from that model).

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Mr Mobsi. I would love to chat with you about the design of the 300s in more detail sometime. The quality and extension of the bass is exceptionally. No doubt due to the TL design. I had the 100 for a while as well 👍😊👍

[@mrmobsi527]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 Of course. Although this was work from about 30 years ago I can still remember the general details.

[@rutgergooszen9774]

One thing I do not understand is why the ports are out the back. Wouldn't it be more convenient to let them breathe forward so you can place them against the wall? This might also help the spatial image of the sound. You might argue it spoils the looks but it is the sound and flexibility in placement that prevails in my opinion.

[@mrmobsi527]

@@rutgergooszen9774 they were not designed to be placed against a wall. The port is at the rear as it made cabinet construction easier and more rigid (The design was the subject of a patent application but in changes of management at the company following its acquisition by Gold Peak - together with the collapsing KEF - the new finance director forgot to continue the application. I was not pleased.)

[@rutgergooszen9774]

@@mrmobsi527 Ok If they were designed on purpose to be placed away from the wall it makes sense. Thanks for your answer.

[@patl709]

Thank you for another great video. I really enjoy the comparison of good old designs against good modern designs. And your technical explanations are both educational and interesting at the same time. Not an easy thing to pull off. Btw I put together a power cord following your power cord video and from being a little agnostic on the benefits of such cords I am now convinced of their benefits in a suitable system. Many thanks.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Patrick. I am working on getting the balance right. Trying to explain technical aspects in a way that informs but is easy to understand. You have summed up perfectly what I am hoping to achieve. Thank you for watching and your support 😉👍

[@LazyMonkey8]

Thanks for the very informative review. I own this pair of speaker before I moved to UK in 1995. I am still using it with my Mcintosh MC7150 and a pair of Quad II as bi-amp setup. I still happy with the sound it gives.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for watching and sharing your experiences Eric 😉👍

[@winesourcing6350]

I am also using Celestian 300 with MC7150(C36). Still satisfied.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

@@winesourcing6350 I am not surprised 😉

[@TheRealWindlePoons]

Hi Tarun. Thanks for another engaging video. Thought provoking in many aspects, hence the extensive comments below. Celestion: I remember my first listen to a pair of SL6 Celestions with their 1.25" copper dome tweeters. Perhaps the most affordable speakers to approach my reference at the time (Yamaha NS1000m). Super-clean sounding without being overly bright. Old speakers: The laws of physics mean a really good speaker design doesn't get worse because it is old. My own speakers were introduced in 1962 (£113 & ten shillings - about 6 weeks wages). The design is still made to order in Far Eastern cabinet makers' workshops. I treated mine to the latest drive units and internal cables in 2010 because all Lowther drivers are pretty much the same Thiele-Small parameters and mounting hole pattern so you can upgrade in this way. Crossovers: Ferrite cored inductors frequently get unjustified criticism. When used within their design limits I would challenge you to hear an improvement replacing it with an air cored equivalent. If the core saturates you have picked one which is too small. Often overlooked is the insertion loss of air cored inductors which generally have higher DC resistance for a given inductance. Some of the most costly and esoteric (cost no object) designs use laminated iron inductor cores (like a transformer) to maintain efficiency. Transmission lines: My Pro9-TLs worked fine with every amp I owned from 100 watts of transistor power to 4 watts of single-triodes. Transmission lines tend not to be a reactive load and seem to suit any amp, despite their relatively low efficiency for their size. Comparison to modern speakers: Some aspects of speakers simply age. Internal foam damping degrades and the polymers used for cone/dome suspension change characteristics with age. This is why there is a tiny industry restoring speaker internals and replacing drive unit surrounds for some of the old high-end speakers still in use. If you are buying an old pair, listen first. If they have been stored at extremes of temperature or humidity they may have aged to the point of being beyond economic repair. I bought mine cheaply but have done a lot of restoration work on them.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you John for sharing your experiences and extensive knowledge. Much appreciated 😊👍👍

[@faridmaruf3102]

Hi Tarun, I have been watching many audiophile videos in youtube over the years -- "Hi, my I'm Farid... I'm an internet audiophile porn addict" -- I must admit I love your channel at the first sight. Your substance and delivery are excellent. Good balance between technical and common sense for the mere mortal like the rest of us. Slow cooking with very tasteful result. It's like auditioning your kid dry run of his/her first public speech: well prepared content, careful pace, tiny nervousness that add flavor. For me, sometimes it good to shift from too self confidence, overly zealous or rant / thinking out-loud of style presentation like other audio pundits use.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Farid. I decided that if I was going to do this I would have to be myself rather than put on a show for the camera. Thank you for watching and commenting 😉

[@jimgardiner1558]

I really enjoyed this video ( as I have your previous video's). This one particularly appealed to me because I currently have a pair of transmission lines that I designed and built about 10 years ago. It was my first attempt at building a transmission line and i believe they turned out very well (it was a lot of hard work and tweaking and maybe a bit of luck). I used a 5 1/4" Focal woofer (with a solid aluminum post as a phase plug) and Focal inverted dome tweeter (also with phase plug). They have amazing bass for the size of the woofer (doesn't start to roll off significantly till below 40Hz). The bass was very clean and detailed (I believe this can be partly credited to the low Qe of the woofers). I haven't built speakers since (mainly because I am satisfied with these). Now that I am retired I am planning to build another pair of transmission lines. Thanks for the great video!

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Jim, I really enjoyed reading your comments and learning about your experiences building TL speakers. Thank you for watching and sharing 😉👍

[@kamhalla]

At last, somebody who sounds right and looks at gear of my vintage! Thank you for you making a great vid, and going into a suitable level of detail without putting me to sleep! Thumbs up, you've made a subscriber of me 😊

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you. Much appreciated 😊👍

[@amusikpoem1071]

This is a great subject for review that you've chosen, Tarun...glad to hear those Celestions could still be a lot of fun to listen to today...there are some real gems for almost bargain basement prices in the used speakers market, but you're right, you should know what to look for and who/where to buy used from...I have a pair of KEF Reference 2 floorstanders that I bought used several years ago...they are about 25 years old now, made in England and built like a tank...I paid less than $1000 CAD (less than 600 British pounds) for them, which is less than 25% of their new price. These KEF Ref 2s still sound very good...KEF used a fabric dome tweeter in a Uni-Q array for these, so they are more laid back than their modern day counterparts.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi amusikpoem, I remember lusting after those Kefs as we used to sell them at a hifi dealer I worked at. I am not surprised you are still enjoying them. Thank you for watching and sharing your experiences 😉👍

[@gerttichelaar8441]

Great review Tarun, i recognize my own speakers. My system is a Krell 300i, Sony XA55ES cd player as a transport with a NOS Mini DAC Duo, a Thorens TD 160 with Yamaha mc 7 cartridge and NAD phono preamp pp2, audioquest NRG z3 power cables and Oehlbach speaker cable SP-25 loudspeaker cables. Real vintage now and i like it.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Sound like you have put together a great system Gert. Thank you for sharing 😉

[@woopimagpie]

I bet that Thorens / Yamaha MC / NAD preamp combo sounds great. Those little NAD units have a lovely sound. I was using a valve preamp for a while but went back to my NAD 1020 cos I reckon it sounds better. You could spend a heap more money and end up worse, the NAD preamps are hugely underrated in my book.

[@イエンスヨハンセン]

Again - exceptional distillation of a complex topic! Looking forward to the next one.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you 😉

[@Stelios.Posantzis]

Another excellent review that's a joy to watch/hear. I really like the balanced content split between the science, technology aspects and the audio appraisal. One thing Id like to comment, referring to the crossover presentation, is that I don't buy the "in the signal path" - "not in the signal path" distinction used in analog electronics quite frequently. As far as I'm concerned every component in an analog circuit affects the signal, especially in a speaker crossover.The extent to which each component alters the signal is of course dependent on the component itself and it's role in the circuit, so some may affect the signal less than others or just differently than others. With careful crafting, "differently" may mean imperceptibly.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Stelios, I have to say I agree with you. I should have been a little less keen to stress the iron core inductor as not being “directly” in the signal path and mentioned that it was in a less critical area of the circuit. Sometimes I can tend to oversimplify things a little too much in order to not get to bogged down in detail. Thank you for watching and sharing 😉👍

[@Stelios.Posantzis]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 Yes, I think a gross analogy would be to think of the circuit a system of interconnected levers and push-rods or gears: just because a particular rod doesn't appear to move as much as the rest that doesn't mean to say it's effect on the outcome is any less significant. One can imagine a particular gear x in a car's drive train: no-one ever states this particular gear doesn't affect the way the acceleration feels when I press on the gas pedal the same way as gear y. Now, that is grossly over-simplified but the basic principle applies equally to both systems. A somewhat similar analogy would be if, say, gear x feels grittier than gear z in the gearbox because it is damaged or has a rougher finish but let's be careful here: when discussing the effect of a part on the audio signal we're generally not referring to the noise added unless we expressly state that it is noisier/less noisy than another equivalent. There's another hidden element in this parts discussion: general cost of construction. A crossover with four caps and two inductors would be quite hard to make for less than 40 or 50 pounds give or take if using film caps exclusively. We choose to focus on the parts because we're discussing audio. We often forget the individual part cost is apportioned from the total cost and both the former and latter are controlled by marketing decisions. For example, a speaker without a vinyl or other veneer, sculpted external woodwork features or expensive binding posts would be far less expensive to make but people would simply not buy it - regardless of its sound qualities. I.e. it's all in the mix. So I always appreciate the statement "it's what you'd expect to find in a speaker of this price". It gives a sense of perspective and a reference to reality (let's face it: manufacturers charge based on what they can get away with compared with the competition) and thus cannot be under-emphasized.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Stelios 😉

[@ajvboston1]

Excellent! Thanks for sharing. Hopefully I pick up my 300’s today.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for watching. Hope you enjoy them 😊👍

[@danielcline7413]

Your mastery of using descriptive English to describe the sound of your speakers has astounded me!

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Daniel. That is extremely kind of you to say. I appreciate you watching and supporting the channel 😉👍

[@williambiggar1054]

Tarun, another excellent video, the best on the net, thank you, keep um coming, Will

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Will. I appreciate you watching and your kind words of support 😉👍

[@jonathanpalmer155]

I can feel the concentration you were putting in to not add a extra "r"... Well done and appreciated!

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Did it show that much??? 😂😂😂

[@alexdewsbery3832]

Hi. I messaged you about these a few weeks ago. Wish i had kept them. I had them in the mid/late 90s while i was still trying to get into CD. Needed a lot of power to really get them going, i used a NAD 208 and 218 with a Concordant exquisite Valve pre and an oh so cheap but fantastic Pioneer 505 precision CD. I have yet to hear anything that comes close to the scale presented by the 300. Using LS50W now, much better resolution, but not nearly as much fun. Thanks for a fantastic channel. I have enjoyed every Video you have posted.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Alex. I appreciate you watching and supporting the channel. You are absolutely right. There is something really enjoyable about these speakers even though they have obvious flaws. 😉👍

[@woopimagpie]

Great video as always. Your explanation of the inherent differences between the different speaker box designs is great, and very similar to what I went through when deciding to build the "Monoliths" I've mentioned before in other comments. The TL design can indeed give the best of both worlds (or even three worlds, if you also include the compression horn design) BUT, like you say, it can be tricky to get right. Fortunately it is somewhat forgiving in that if you haven't calculated the line dimensions accurately the wave speed and diffusion can be altered after the fact by playing around with padding and baffling - material used, placement location in the line, quantity of material, and density of the packing can all alter the end result, so in effect any mistakes can be somewhat corrected. This also goes for the room the speakers are in - the ability to adjust the baffle allows you to tune the speakers to a room - an advantage which no other design has. In regard to the ceramic resistors - in theory metal film resistors are better, but there's a couple of reasons a ceramic may be preferred. Firstly they can handle a lot more power, so an accident with the volume, or an electrical surge, or, perish the thought, a transistor lets go in your amp with a loud noise (as I've heard them do) it will be less likely to fry the resistor and render the crossover useless. In regard to inductance, maybe there's an argument to be made, but imho it's splitting hairs, and perhaps the manufacturer has found the ceramic resistors higher inductance can actually introduce a variable or colouration in combination with their chosen drivers, i.e. it allows for something in the sound that a metal film resistor cannot provide. A stretch I know, but not impossible. The other factor is that a wire-wound ceramic resistor will continue to resist at its rated value for considerably longer than a metal film resistor. They're just more reliable. It's that simple. Really interesting to hear what you said about the mid-range of the Celestions too - upon first listen I found the mid-range of our "Monoliths" to be too prevalent, and had to play around with them to tame it, and it's still their greatest strength. I'm not concerned by that though, in this time of "all down the bottom and all up the top" style reproduction a little mid-range is very nice to have. It also makes for a less tiring listening experience. But I digress. I have no doubt the mid-range issue could be solved by tweaking the crossover or swapping the driver out. In regard to the high end, I have found the high end of Celestion speakers to be fairly prevalent in all the ones I've heard, which admittedly isn't that many. Maybe it's a thing with them? Myself I have a few different tweeters I use - they are in an external box so it's easy to swap them. Mostly the Scan-Speaks are the go-to, but I also have a pair of metal dome Vifa tweeters that have a lovely soft tone, and for that old school sound I'll sometimes revert to some old paper cone tweeters I grabbed from a trashed pair of old something-or-others on the sidewalk. Nice nostalgic sound they have. BUT - if you get into the game of swapping drivers, are they still Celestions? I'll leave you with that. Cheers, Andy

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Andy, thank you for taking the time to post this. Really fascinating to read your insights and hear about your experiences. Your thoughts about the use of ceramic resistors mirrors what I was told by a speaker manufacturer. The ceramic vs metal film resistors still seems to be one of those areas where people have strong views in opposing camps. What you say makes perfect sense to me. With so many speaker manufacturers competing in a relatively small market space, if there was a significant advantage to changing their ceramic resistor to metal film, why haven’t some of them upgraded their designs for a couple of £ and stolen an advantage on competitors? However, I am sure there are other considerations that I am not aware of. I will try to keep an open mind until I have tested it out myself. Thanks again 😉👍

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Navjot, I like sealed box type enclosures as well. I think the popularity of vented enclosures is down to aesthetic reasons. Most people wants speakers to be as visually unassuming as possible. A sealed box enclosure has to be a lot larger than a ported speaker in order to get the same bass extension. There is no doubt that a sealed box has much faster bass with a gentler roll off. If space wasn’t an issue, a sealed box or transmission line is the way I would go.

[@martyjewell5683]

Wow, these speakers have changed. I had a buddy in 1979 that had these outstanding Brit speakers. Celestion Ditton 300. They looked nothing like yours. His Ditton's were in the large bookshelf design and had great sound. Full bass, good dispersion, smooth extended highs and they could get freakin' loud. He powered them with a Pioneer SX-850 and had a Technics SL D2 turntable. The transmission line or labyrinth design has been used for many years. Very popular here in the states in the later 1970's was the Realistic T-70. While a bit bass shy, it was a splendid sounding speaker. Celestion also used "cutting edge" technology back then with some pretty spectacular results. A shameless plug for my favorite speakers, I have Ohm Acoustics model L systems in my 1,700+ cu/ft living room and Ohm model H systems in the 1,750 cu/ft dining room. I wish you guys could get more American speakers to compare to your Brit stuff. ADS, Genesis, Polk, Ohm Acoustics, EPI, AR and Allison all built some swell speaker systems. Would be a neat test.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for watching and sharing your experiences. It is a shame that some American gear is not so easy to get hold of here 😊

[@martyjewell5683]

@@abritishaudiophile7314, probably just as difficult to obtain European systems here in upstate NY. Back in the late 1970's while living in Brooklyn I recall seeing speakers built by Cabasse, Celestion Ditton, Heco, Kef, Wharfedale and Visonik. Nice video, thanks for posting.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Marty 😊👍

[@lorindamikaela]

I always wanted to try Celestion speakers. I love the sound of vintage British speakers >>> smooth, rich and laid-back. Currently I own 2 pairs of British built speakers by "IMF" from the 70's. 1. IMF - Super Compact [bookshelf] 2. IMF - RSPM [floor-standing] which are fully rebuilt, restored and upgraded and sound superb and are very well balanced with bass down to 17Hz and sensitivity of 94db. These are from 1971 [49 years ago] way ahead of the game !!! From an aesthetics point I love the simple design look of the Celestion 300. I've owned many speakers over the years but always come back to transmission line. I totally agree about good bass produced by transmission line designs. You gave good simple easy to understand explanations of hard to grasp concepts. Love the Video Tarun and always look forward to your videos.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Good to hear from you buddy 😉 Thank you for sharing your experiences with the IMFs. Stay safe. Off to bed now, it is approaching 2am in the U.K. 🥱

[@Conservator.]

Wow! 17Hz and 94dB that’s more than great. You hardly need an amplifier with those numbers 😉 (no sarcasm). Nice to read that you rebuilt and upgraded old speakers.

[@QoraxAudio]

@@Conservator. I concur, from personal experience; I have two 96dB sensitivity speakers hooked up to a 950W true RMS amp and my neighbors like it 😜

[@fletchermunson6225]

Hi Tarun, Good through job as usual. I had some SL600s back in the day. I put a 20 pound bag of lead shot on the speakers and the focus and imaging improved markedly. I guess it coupled them to the stand and maybe dampened cabinet resonance. For the audiophiles, it was No.7 shot. :)

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thanks Jim. That must have been tricky to locate in a transmission line speaker 😊

[@fletchermunson6225]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 Im confused. I didn't think the bookshelf SL600 speakers were transmission line. The shot as in a canvas bag just placed on top of the speaker.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

@@fletchermunson6225 you are right. I was thinking of a different Celestion speaker 👍

[@thomas21000]

I really like Celestion speakers. I used to have a pair of Celestion 3 from the early 90's, great speakers too, loved their sound. It's a shame they stopped making home loudspeakers.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

I agree with you Thomas. I had the 100s as well before selling them to my then boss! 😉

[@ginopagnani7286]

A British Audiophile: way back in the 1960’s my first speakers were Celestion Ditton 15’s. I still have them and my turntable the Connoisseur BD2, purchased from Lasky’s and shipped I the USA.

[@KINESKI-SINDIKAT]

Kef ..buy Celestion 👍

[@superdougie10]

You are simply the best for covering these grand dames.....really. I was very fortunate to obtain from a friend before he passed away and now I own a pair of Celestion SL6si bookshelfs with all the manual and audio test strips with the EKG looking waves recorded from the factory. These were from the original owner to me. These give many many speakers a very good run for the age and original cost for sure. Of course they are on stands in my bedroom and they are gorgeous and Lush sounding they don't go too low because their bookshelves they're not transmission line ported they are completely sealed with out ports. They're gorgeous and I have them in the bedroom these are great about 10 inches from the wall and toed in a bit and they're just amazing I work from home these days and I am enjoying this so much and I own several sets of speakers even large floor-standing horns and I love my celestions. I will never let these go because of the incredible sound and my personal history of how theu came my way. If I decide to not use them, well I can simply place them in the walk in closet on the shelf and pull them out when Im ready again.....they are gorgeous. And thank you thank you thank you for your wonderful review.....you are brilliant and very well spoken with your passion for audio. Thanks again I just subscribed permanently to your channel.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you SuperDougie M. I really enjoyed reading your comments and greatly appreciate your support of my little channel. I had a successor to the SL6Si that you own called the 100 model. It was very similar to the SL6Si in being a sealed box, bookshelf. Thank you for sharing 😉👍

[@TheRealWindlePoons]

I remember having to queue for a place in Celestion's SL6 listening room at a HiFi show, they were such an innovation when introduced.

[@evowhite777]

NIce review Tarun I missed not getting one from you last week,you were obviously putting this in depth beast together. In some of your videos you have a sound demo(of sorts)intro,a little sound demo of your Celestion`s would`ve been nice either at the start or at the end of this video juet to tease us(lol). Anyway good to have you back on screen with a new vid,cheers buddy. #hifi4ever

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you ev. Unfortunately, now the channel has grown, I can’t do sound demos anymore due to copyright infringement issues. Although, I don’t believe you can judge a system through KZbin compression and through another system, I did enjoy doing them. I think sound clips are entertaining and good way to showcase music. I hope you are not too disappointed. Thank you for watching and commenting 😉

[@evowhite777]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 Ok i understand about the copyrights fair enough,but I don`t go along with the hole "youtube SQ thingy". Your clips were clear & are easy to hear the sound quality,but no worries just keep those vides coming you`re growing man,you`re growing.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you ev.

[@markphilpot4981]

The Celestions that I remember were the Ditton 33s. These were lovely speakers as I recall. These speakers you reviewed took me back to the ESS AMT3s. Similar cabinet design but used Heil Air Motion Transformer tweeters and had two 8” woofers. They were called the Rock Monitor speakers. Played loud and proud. Your reviews always seem to take me back to my days of audio store work and that makes me most happy. Excellent video Tarun!😊👍🏻

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Mark, great to hear form you as always. Stay safe my friend 😉👍

[@markphilpot4981]

A British Audiophile, thanks Tarun! We have no choice. Covid’s kicking up again.

[@ianpdavis]

The celestion 300's used to be a pipedream back in '92 as a student. Had to be satisfied with my Tannoy 607's. Bit of a hifi nerdgasm going on here...enjoy the channel.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Ian, I had the Tannoy 607s back in the early 90s as well. Thank you for watching me get my geek on 😉

[@ianpdavis]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 Ahh but did you get the matching stands as well.. what am I saying... of course you did.

[@copeloni]

I got my celestion 7 Mk 1’s in 92, all my separates bought at that time have been replaced when they packed in! but these just keep on going, can’t imagine having to replace them.

[@espenwanvik7516]

Thank you for a very interesting video. I learn something new from all of your videos:) The one thing I would love to see or hear is to include a sound demo in reviews of speakers. I understand that there will be reasons for not doing this. Still it could give a fuller and better impression of a prodct meant for listening;)

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Espen, I quite like sound demos. I don’t think you can judge sound quality by listening to a system through another system but they are good entertainment value and great for showcasing music. Unfortunately, I can’t get them past copyright. Thank you for watching and your kind words of support 😊👍

[@espenwanvik7516]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 thanks for commenting back👍Wonder if I can ask you for a piece of advice.? I have a Primare i22DAC and are looking for sone second hand standmounters (old as in pre 2000 are fine). Do you have any reccommendations for good alternatives (up to £500)

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Espen, that will depend on the rest of your system and what type of sound you are looking for 😉

[@paulbruce3779]

Love these - got a passion for old school British monitors and floor standers especially Mission. Great video👌

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Paul 👍

[@5tever7272]

I have a pair of mission 753. I won't be replacing them any time soon.

[@thisisnev]

There's a lot to be said for older speakers, so thanks for this review, Tarun. Nothing irritates me more than when people dismiss older kit with "it has that warm vintage sound". Vintage gear is as varied as modern, and I'm glad to see that you judged the Celestions purely on their merits without slipping into clichés.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you thisisnew. The new Buchardt’s are warmer than the 28yr old Celestions. Good to hear from you 😉👍

[@markgoulding2767]

Hello again, and thank you for your channel, your obvious depth of knowledge and enthusiasm is a breath of fresh air. I have two questions for you, but a little bit of background if I may, Im in my mid 50's and have been an audiophile for most of my adult life, in the early 80's i went down the Linn LP12/naim/mk1 Kans route, then later (after much gear changing) i landed upon a combo i was really happy with - I kept the LP12 but had a Dynavector 10x4 (mc) cartridge/Meridian component amp and i bought some Epos ES14 speakers, which still have. I parted with the Meridian and the LP12. I abandoned all my vinyl for CDs. I am currently using a Marantz Player with Cyrus vs2 pre and monoblocks and Castle Harlech s1's. anyway i dug out my Epos Recently and they are an old Robin Marshall design with a hefty mid/bass unit and metal dome HF unit. They attracted my attention originally as they dont use a crossover as such - The bass unit rolls off naturally at around 3k and has just an Alcap capacitor before the HF unit. I want to replace the (metal foil i think) capacitor with something better -and here ia my first question - what type would you reccomend, and is the exact value as the original critical? my next question - my experience with valve amps has been mimimal until recently, I met up with an old friend who like me plays CDs and also has a similar Marantz player to mine (be it an older CD67) partnered to a World Hi-FI (kit) valve amp using 'sinle ended 300B)' valves and i must say i was very impsessed! my second question is: will you be doing a video on valve vs transistor amps? many thanks again Tarin and my apologies for my long blab. kind regards Mark.

[@markgoulding2767]

OOPS! Many apologies for my sloppy typing above (and mis-spelling your name)

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Mark. I really enjoyed reading about your experiences. It was an interesting approach that Robin took with those Epos ES series speakers. I am sure you are all to aware of how problematic crossovers can be in a passive speaker unless carefully designed. Robin was relying on good mechanical properties of the drivers rather than needing to make corrections electrically. For this to work the tweeter and the mid/woofer had to be very well matched and needed to have soft break up nodes. From what I recall he made a very good stab at it. I wouldn’t mess with changing the value of the cap when replacing it. Also, I do plan to review some valve amps soon 😊👍

[@soularpower6203]

Glad to be an early follower of your show good to see how it’s grown keep it up. Speakers well my favourites and I’ve had many none costing more than £100 mostly vintage and spares or repairs till recently but I won’t go into that for now but I’ve got great memories of my then setup of 4X line transmission IMF Kef drivers in a 3 or 4 way driver setup I’m sure just one could blow away your neighbours into another dimensional space I also had a pair of Wharfedale e50 sitting on top of of a pair of the IMF for extra destruction I guess you can work out the rest cheers.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you L Barnaby for sticking with me. I really enjoyed hearing about your experiences. Thank you for sharing 😉

[@soularpower6203]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 oh thanks there is a long list and mishaps, B&O 5700 wonder if you have come across there 20hz -20khz pretty hard to beat I inherited a pair from Leo sayers studio tannoy studio monitor large floor standing oh I blue a pair of super reds oh dear how about lowthers pm6 in acoustica bins early wharfedale diamonds and a few more, lastly I’ve done 3 of the power cables and the power strip and ferrite cores decoupling rubbers in your hifi tips sorry had to make the speaker stands With a 3 legs version look great next to my fireplace don’t panic it’s a bit worrisome. See you soon matey

[@milesdufourny4813]

I remember hearing a pair of the SL 600 speakers in the mid eighties - a fantastic speaker (they were driven by Krell electronics). One of my all time favorite transmission line style speakers were the IMF TL 80s from the seventies.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for watching and sharing your experiences Miles

[@robneil6372]

My favourite speaker of all time the iconic aerolam sl600...so accurate incredible soundstaging!!!!

[@S_Rizvi]

Another educative yet interesting video. Thanks Tarun. Your every video reminds me of my Physics Mechanics class of my uni days😀.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Syed. I hope it is not too painful to watch 😂

[@Dan-iy8ig]

Taren, you know what would be cool? A video that explains speaker specs, crossover etc and how these specs translate to how a speaker sounds and their price. This is especially important for ppl buying over the internet without hearing speakers which many do these days

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thanks Dan, I have been thinking the same thing to be honest. Understanding speaker specs and what you can and can’t learn from them 😊

[@zzt231gr]

EXCELLENT VIDEO!!!! As for the crossover,seems like a 2nd order and 3rd to the other driver.The big iron core coil must be in line with the woofer.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for watching and sharing 😉

[@SuperMcgenius]

Thank you for a great review as always, I’m a big fan of transmission lines and owned two IMF speakers in the past. As far as bass response upper and lower a transmission line does a fantastic job compared to seal boxes or ported speakers. Open baffles also have some benefits if executed properly. Looking at the speaker box I’m thinking the outer edges are causing Defraction problems which companies like Vandersteen of America took into account. Regarding crossover design and part Quality I have found building speakers in a high resolution design that much better quality resistors parts and wiring will have an audible difference, but less so in mid fi. Thank you for your well balanced reviews. Montreal Canada

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you my friend 👍

[@Sebastian-zm2rw]

Thx for interesting vid:)! Adding my 3 humble cents… owning them since 1994. Although I moved on big time still keeping them for that base! One thing: had to replace upper suspension due to the cracks. Overall like You said: hard to beat with secondhand prices IMHO.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for sharing Sebastian 😊

[@AmazonasBiotop]

I watched GR research video there he debunked the myth of there are not ANY component in the cross over that are NOT in the signal path. He backed that upp with wiring diagram and measurements graphs and points out components that are considered as not in the signal path. That they were actually in the signal path when looking what changes of them make frequency response in the graph. So bottom line all components ARE in the signal path. So when knowing that the "logic" that it does not matter "so much when it is not in the signal path" is a false logic. Thanks for your great videos. I appreciate your style and effort to drive our community forward. 👍

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Optimize, you find in this hobby that everything makes a difference but not to the same extent. Component directly in the signal path are more critical than those not in signal path. I hope Danny will agree. The iron core inductor here is likely to be a notch filter and it is debatable as to how much difference an air core type would improve things in this application. It will probably need to be quite large and therefore expensive to get the higher inductance value. Thank you for watching 😉

[@gregoneil3523]

Good review Tarun and breakdown of their English build and sound. I remember going to my local shop to hear the SL6 when it was first released, it sounded so flat and dull until you realised that it was missing a lot of the overtones of other drivers. Very neutral and very clean, very forgiving of dust on an album. Yamaha had the NS1000M with Beryllium mid and dome tweeter at the same time, you heard every dust particle. If you could get a pair to listen to, so different. Celestion made a quality product that stands of time. Thanks

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for sharing your experiences Greg

[@edwinsim7206]

Nice review of the 300s Tarun. Still own 'em (cherry finish like yours) as well as the SL600s and SL700s. KEF 104/2s. All classics. Played within their limits, they compete well with speakers cost many times more. Have decided to get off the merry-go-round of countless so-called upgrades only to realize that often times the "improvements" were not quite that perceptible. Hearing a difference and thinking you can hear a difference are 2 different things as I have learned lol. We need to impress ourselves most.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Great to hear you are still getting so much enjoyment from those speakers. Thank you for watching 😊

[@chevyimp5857]

Transmission line goodness.. Great comparison.. have you had the opportunity to listen to any of the Wilmslow Audio transmission line unit's.. they use extremely high quality drivers and crossover components.. I have to say I'm tempted to embark on a new project..

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you. I have heard of the brand but I don’t recall ever hearing one of their speakers. Sound intriguing though 😊

[@bshah4831]

Thank you for interesting and insightful review. Just shows if buy quality gear it can be tremendous value. My only equivalent of old gear is my LP12 which I purchased in 1987 and still going well (well most parts replaced or upgraded!).

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you B Shah, you are right. Quality gear stands the test of time. Some of those older components were built to last a lifetime. 😉👍

[@kirarittberg5088]

Totally unfair comparison. Ok, it was a totally good review , and can be justified as a comparison of the speakers as they are. The issue, and why I think it is unfair is because it is very possible that the Celestions may not be performing as designed due to the age of the capacitors. "If a capacitor is old enough to vote, it should be replaced". Also there are better caps available now than there were decades ago. Audiophiles should (ideally) consider capacitor replacement part of long term ownership of speakers maintenance. I would like to see you do this review again with refurbished crossovers. I suspect that the high frequencies would have far more detail and imaging would also improve. Impressive to see the performance of the Celestions was decent regardless of the aged caps. Glad to see you do this vintage vs modern review.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Kira, I had the speakers checked out last year as I had to replace the tweeters (little fingers poking metal dome tweeters😪). All crossover component working perfectly. Poly caps, resistors and inductors should last a lifetime without degradation as there are no electrolytic capacitors in this crossover to dry out. Thank you for watching 😉

[@kirarittberg5088]

A British Audiophile Thanks for the clarification regarding the crossovers. I still think the caps would be worth an upgrade on those speakers. Poly caps have gotten much better since those speakers were made. For the price there is no other upgrade that will improve your system as much as a cap replacement IMO. Caps used in mid price speakers are usually not high end caps. Little fingers and drivers definitely don't mix well !

[@naibafabdulkobor4301]

@@kirarittberg5088 - Audiophiles come in all different flavours: Some are hunting for old capacitors as if they were the holy grail (admittedly, those are usually after paper-in-oil capacitors). Some want to replace _any_ capacitor, just because it is "old". To put it clearly, I disagree. All foil type capacitors do *not* age noticeably. Your rule of thumb is very well suited to electronic capacitors, but not to foil type capacitors. Also there is little to no invention in the passive components industry driven by "high-end" audio. MKP is still on the highes end, as it was 30 years ago. Back than the second best choice were MKT caps. You won't find them nowadays, they have been completely replaced with MKS caps. Why? The worldwide demand for polycarbonaTe foil went down so much that they simply stopped making it. Even the demand in the entire electronics industry for foil capacitors was still too low! Consequentially, manufacturers had to adapt their processes to using poyStyrene foil. MKS is not any worse than MKT, don't get me wrong, but the change wasn't made for better quality. It was made because of lack of alternatives.

[@stevenjackson8226]

Ah, vintage. I have owned quite a few pieces of audio, carrying them along my audio path, for a long time until they are certainly at the point of being vintage. These pieces tend to be better products, like C-J and ARC amps and preamps (I'm watching the prices climb, especially for some of the C-J gear I used to own), and a VERY select number of speakers, and I have my old turntable. I also held on to some of the big Adcom amps for a while, and some of the high-end Sansui gear. Audio has just gotten better across the board, and we're living in the best audio age ever. Speakers and digital have gotten vastly better, and with digital, as you've pointed out, it's gotten vastly better even the last few years. The quality variance of gear was quite wide. Much less so today. Speakers? Big variance in the past. But there are a few speakers I also feel are very good. I have some Spica TC-50s and a pair of Angeluses I feel are still excellent. My brother has a pair of Snell Type EIIs and Type Cis which are still very good. I love any of the BBC LS-3/5As for all its limitations. You could easily do worse than many of even the older the Magnepan models. Some of the more ambitious Infinity models... With all the great gear available today, and the value for money, besides the nostalgia factor, I'm feeling less and less inclined to seek out much older gear or to hold on to stuff. I do have more recent kit, and it may well now be long past due to pass along the vintage gear I have.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for sharing this Steven. Very interesting 😉👍

[@timspence6771]

Celestion were a leader in their price range in the 1970's, in terms of sound per pound and advanced technology sorbothane and neoprene rubbers and coated or doped cones. Together with Wharefedale the two companies accounted for 90% of all sales in the Hi-fi shops. By the early 1980's Celestion were squeezed out of the top echelons by an explosion of new manufacturers like Mission who actually managed to improve the technology of the day. In the late 1970's I had some white woofer UL10's which were astounding. Later, I had Yamaha NS1000's and JBL L96 in a 4 speaker system thanks to a big lounge. If you ever get the chance to listen to some old Leak 3080's, Celestion UL10's, Mission 770's or any of the defunct RAM speakers, you might be surprised. But one of the most important things about loudspeakers and enjoying music is this ; it's not just what sounds they do right, it's what sounds they don't do wrong.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Great to hear about your experiences Tim. Thank you for watching and sharing 😉

[@patrickmckoy5491]

I have a pair of 300s & SL6,copper dome run by my Denon Pma 70w/ch amp, absolutely love the combination of both sets, I built my new house with 8.5m by 11m lounge room to suit the system. Whole system is 90 to 1992 & is Denon apart from Celestions. I honestly can't see myself changing any of it at all

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

That is great 👍

[@QoraxAudio]

"Aluminium dome tweeter" ahhh *finally* a youtuber saying aluminium instead of aluminum! The quality is in the details! 👌 The point of using those cement resistors is that the average cement resistor can handle more power than the average metal film resistor. If that coil is part of a notch filter, its frequency band is probably at the resonance frequency of the speaker cone to dampen that resonance peak. As far as I know, the spring effect of air pressure within sealed speakers can cause irregular resonances that can be dampened very effectively by using a servo system; an amplifier with a high damping factor also helps to properly control the speaker cone movement. Just my two cents of general knowledge... Your comparison between the Celestion and Buchardt comparison is very well articulated, I liked it.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for sharing your insights Qorax 😉

[@eknaap8800]

Only lazy people use 'aluminum'... 😁

[@QoraxAudio]

@@eknaap8800 😆

[@geoffhaylock6848]

I had a pair of SL6's way back in the day. I started with used Garrard turntable with a strange linear tracking arm. A used Rotel quadraphonic amp from my dad. I replaced the Turntable with an LP12 slowly working up to the Ittok arm and Troika cartridge plus several updates. Amplifiers went through numerous changes. Musical Fidelity Synthesis was one I remember. Final setup was a NAC62 and NAIM 135 mono's. I never changed the the SL6's though, I was very happy with the sound.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

A classic speaker. Quite collectible these days. Thank you for watching and sharing your experiences 😉👍

[@donk1822]

Very interesting talk and review. As with your Celestion 300's I have found my TDL Studio 1 TL's are not unduly unbalanced being fairly close to the rear wall, 30cm in my case. Possibly because the TL mouth faces forwards, not rearwards as on the 300's. Your speakers are in splendid condition, hopefully good for another 30 years.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

I hope so. Let’s hope I am still around to enjoy them. Thank you for watching and sharing Donk 😉

[@geoff37s38]

Thanks Tarun. I am not familiar with these Celestions but I built a pair of TL speakers about 40 years ago which sounded really great. Design was published in Wireless World by Dr Bailey. I used KEF B139/T15 drivers. Not the easiest to construct but worth the effort. I recall there was very little sound output from the port, only the really lowest frequencies. Certainly no honking that some reflex/ported designs are prone to. They were not efficient and could not handle more than about 20 Watts. I lent them to a friend who blew up a B139 with 70 Watts of David Bowie!

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Geoff, really interesting. Thank you for sharing your experiences 😉

[@johnkettlewell4854]

Great Channel! I would enjoy if you could do a review of epos es 22 or epos 14. Robin Marshall was a genius with the first order crossover of his designs.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for the suggestion John. I remember the ES11s many years ago. Thank you for watching and commenting. 😉👍

[@naibafabdulkobor4301]

If I remember correctly, at least the Epos 14 did not even have any coil in series with the woofer, so not even a 1st order crossover. He fully relied on it's natural roll-off. Back than, I wasn't a big fan of that approach, because designing a mid-woofer with a soft *and* highly consistent HF roll-off was really difficult. However, I remember the sound as being very pleasant, purely based on what was demonstrated on HiFi shows.

[@flashcorp76]

Hi Tarun, you seem to have quiet a bit of echo in your listening room. You might want to put up a couple(or more) sound deadening panels😁✌️otherwise I like your reviews, clear, unbiased (mostly🤪) and concise👍

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you 😉

[@haycrossaudio5474]

Great video. All components are in the signal path be it in series or parallel. I doubt the iron core inductor is part of a notch filter. Looks like it's part of the low pass filter on the woofer so probably 2nd order 12db. The air core will be on the tweeter. Looks like 2 caps on it to so a 3rd order high pass filter 18db. Love the videos

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Matt 😊👍

[@haycrossaudio5474]

I come across a lot of speakers which use 3rd order on the tweeter circuit and 2nd order on the woofers. Especially Roger's speakers. Interesting stuff. Vintage speakers are great. I've spent a great deal of time the last year refurbishing a lot of them. So much better than a lot of modern 'price point' stuff. Thanks. Loving your videos

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

@@haycrossaudio5474 I would love to get hold of some more vintage speakers to take a look at 😊

[@jeremytravis360]

Good advice. When I worked in the Hi Fi trade I would sometimes take in speakers as part exchange. As long as I knew the customer and the speakers had not been abused they could be good value for money.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Jeremy 😉

[@carljung9230]

would love to see you do a video on the classic Klipsch Horn speaker :)

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Working on it 😊👍

[@yvesboutin5604]

I am sorry to contradict you on this one, but the ferrite inductor is directly in the path of the woofer. I changed the same inductor on a SL6 speaker 20 years ago because the sound became edgy at high volume. Also, the tweeter has conventionnal ferrite/ceramic magnet not neodinium. The rest of the video is a pure delight! When we compare older designs, we can see they put more time and research in their product than today (and this is not because most of them are built in China). I made a transmission line speaker as a prototype 30 years ago and the bass response was fabulous. Sadly, I couln't find a carpenter who could build them for a reasonable price (800$ was a hefty price 30 years ago).

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Yves. Noted 😉

[@shimofo1]

Regarding the crossover - just by looking at it, it suggests 18db slope on tweet (cap, inductor, cap) and 12 db on the woofer (inductor, cap). In addition, all components are in the signal path regardless if they are in parallel or series to the driver. This is because we're dealing with AC rather than DC. AC as you know goes back and forth rather than in one direction. So for example, an inductor in parallel (between + and - signal paths) would affect the driver when the "backward" part of the AC signal goes toward the negative terminal because it would cross the inductor and make its way to the positive terminal.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Alex, thank you for sharing. The components in the signal path are certainly more critical than those in parallel. As you say, everything makes a difference. They question is how much of a difference. This is hard to say unless you have done the upgrade and listened before and afterwards.

[@naibafabdulkobor4301]

@Alex Hristov - You are correct, it requires _at least_ 3 capacitors *and* three inductors to make an _electrical_ 3rd order 2-way crossover. However, Celestion is probably still right stating the 300 employs a 3rd order Butterworth high and low pass. They are referring to the acoustical slope of actual SPL from woofer and tweeter. And this is what counts in the end. If you look really carefully you will find that the low pass filter doesn't even provide a full 12dB/octave slope, since the 2.7ohm resistor is in series with the 10µF parallel capacitor. This flattens out the slope to be effectively less than 12dB. This design takes into account the natural roll-off of the woofer. That's the _only_ approach to design a correct crossover. And yes, the iron core inductor *is* connected in series, directly in the signal path. Regarding the importance (or lack of) of components wired in parallel it's not quite that simple and it has little to do with AC vs. DC. If a component is wired *directly* in parallel to the driver, the voltage across the driver is *exactly* the same as the voltage across that component at every single point in time. If that voltage was distorted from the desired ideal, then the input voltage of the driver would be equally distorted. However, e.g. in the 300's crossover there is no such single component that would be directly parallel to a drive unit. And even a cheap electrolytic capacitor (often used in the low pass path of woofers) does quite a reasonable job of presenting a high impedance to "low" frequency signals, read: within the woofers pass band. It might not work that perfectly well at "high" frequencies, but these are within the woofers stop band, so all it has to do is to short out the woofer (while the inductor will provide a high impedance to the amplifier anyway). Why did Celestion go with the "cheap" iron core inductor instead of an air core inductor? The reasons are always the same: Lower price, lower series resistance, lower space requirements. Price and space probably being the important drivers, even for speakers in the £1k price range. Btw., even iron core inductors of good quality aren't really cheap, they are just much cheaper than air core inductors of the same inductance and series resistance, which are plain costly. :) One last thing regarding the other resistor: As can be seen from the connectors and traces on the PCB, the 3.3ohm resistor is wired in series upfront the high pass divider network.

[@naibafabdulkobor4301]

Heck! I just found out that there is a full sketch of the actual crossover (with all components listed) in the user manual (which is available e.g. from HifiEnginge). 😀 That has been fantastic customer service! Luckily, everything I said about the topology from just looking at the PCB was correct.

[@shimofo1]

Naibaf Abdul Kobor Naibaf Abdul Kobor I'm watching this in my phone screen so ALL the details are not obvious. And yes you are correct - it's the acoustic rolloff that they're talking about. I did not take this into account. You bring up a lot of good points on crossover design. And yes the differences in inductors and the reasons for their specific usage are spot on.

[@paulevans2998]

The crossover is the same as the 100, with an iron core inductor for bass, both 3rd order and no notch filter. I just replaced the binding posts and the original contact between them and the crossover board is the weak point; using a steel ferrule soldered through the board. Removing the ferrules improves this contact. Power handling is low in reality because the long throw woofers are overhung and bottom out audibly. These speakers are designed to work best with a subwoofer. At low volume though the bass is very good.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for sharing your experiences 😊

[@coolcarbon4709]

Nice review of old school. My old school are a pair of Kef 104.2s, they're different too...

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

I remember those 104/2s fondly. I used to sell them but couldn’t afford them at the time 😉

[@richardwest8353]

Really interesting to hear your views on these and how you think they compare with newer offerings. I have a pair of the 100s (standmount version) and although they're a sealed box design the baffle and drive units are the same (so I guess the internals are too...?). For comparison, I'd say the 100s have a fast if not massively extended bass, as you'd expect, but the stereo image and placing is still some of the best I've heard in comparison to some more modern £1000 speakers. I agree that on bright/harsh recordings they can sound a little forward, but with decent recordings I find them ruthlessly detailed and accurate. Here's the best part though: I bought them new from a liquidation sale for £200 in 1999 when I was a student, and to say that they trounce newer £200 speakers I have in a second system is an understatement! I just hope they keep going for a good few years longer as I can't afford anything which will equal them for a while... Thanks for posting - really interesting video. 👍🏼

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Richard, I had the 100s for a good few years before changing them to the 300s. From what I understand they both have the same drive units and crossover. The only real difference being the transmission line enclosure vs a sealed box and the resulting difference in bass performance. I agree that you will have to spend more that £1,000 today to better their performance. I hope you continue to enjoy them for a long time. Thank you for watching 😉

[@steverees1936]

A good in depth review of a classic British speaker. Thanks for sharing your information on these interesting and cleverly designed speakers Tarun. I personally like front ported speakers, which I have at the minute. I can get away with putting them close to the wall. There is a case for speakers with the passive radiator design being the better all round design when done correctly, but like anything it will be down to personal taste.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Good to hear from you steve. Thank you for watching 😉

[@shannonharris2816]

Excellent explication, Tarun.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Shannon 😉👍

[@Vuchswax]

I'd be very interested in your opinion/comparisons of the Magico A3 speakers. I have Infinity RS4b speakers from 1985. I've greatly enjoyed these speakers over the years. Last year I upgraded my amplifier from a Yamaha A-1000 (1985) to the Yamaha A-S3000 last year. My speakers have never sounded better since the upgrade and it made me think upgrading my speakers would perhaps produce an ever greater improvement in sonics. Initially I chose the Magico A3's because they have roughly the same design and dimensions as my Infinity RS4b's namely one tweeter, one midrange and two woofers. I did hear them last year at an audio store and was very impressed. However it was a different integrated amp than mine and they were set up in a room which I'm sure every detail was addressed as far as room treatments. As a side note I do want to listen to the Magico A5 speakers which are new this year. They have three woofers and are an inch or two bigger than the ones in the A3's. They also have a redesigned midrange speaker. BTW, I am sharing your video to the FB group: Hi Fi and music media releases. facebook.com/groups/379437442610026/

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Vuch Videos, thank you for watching and sharing your experiences. I haven’t heard the A3s, they aren’t commonly available in the U.K. There is UK distribution and I would love to hear them sometime. Thank you for sharing the video with your Facebook group. Much appreciated 😉👍

[@khalid969]

Excellent presentation as always. On a completely different subject, I am surprised that you call your channel "A British Audiophile" rather than "THE British Audiophile". The latter sounds a lot more powerful. Besides, If I were to recommend your channel to someone, it sounds weird telling them to go and watch the A British Audiophile channel. And if memory serves me right, when Sean at Zero Fidelity recommended your channel, he called it The British Audiophile channel because that's what one would expect a channel to be called. Go Ahead and claim it. You have my blessing :D

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Khalid, thank you for the suggestion. What could be more British and self-effacing than calling it ‘A British Audiophile’ rather than ‘The British Audiophile.’ I appreciate you watching and your support 👌👍

[@boris994]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 people are not accustomed to class these days

[@Gary_M]

It's not like he's the only one.

[@BadMonkeyFinger_Audio]

Another good video, Mr. Tarun. I am curious, however... I notice your room sounds quite lively, and there's a bit of an echo to your voice. Since this video is 2 years old, I wonder if you've treated your room since then, just out of curiosity. Cheers from Canada!

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you. I was having mic conversion problems at the time. Newer videos don’t have this problem 😊

[@BadMonkeyFinger_Audio]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 Oh, I see I see. Thanks for responding. I appreciate that. Love your channel, man. Keep up the great work.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

@@BadMonkeyFinger_Audio thank you kindly 😊👍

[@dednside5229]

Perfect Explanations We had a Company in the US Called Acoustic Research that made a holographic series that perform like these for cheap used . Mark Levinson used the AR-M1 with a 12k$ Cello amp in the first ever known inverted speaker amp dollar ratio to rave reviews at SEMA I had a pair , they were unmatched as bookshelves for peanuts.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi DED NSIDE, good to hear from you. Thank you for 👍

[@Yikes06969]

Nice job. The 300's are nice. I ran the with a Acurus A250 one issue, replacement tweeters are made of unobtanium

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you. I managed to get a spare pair over twenty years ago. I don’t suspect I could get some today. The problem is there is not protection to the Aluminium cone. They have been pushed in more than once. Had to take them apart and push them back out again 😢 Thank you for watching 😉

[@Capitan_Cavernicola_1]

Great stuff!! If only manufacturers would listen more to consumers/reviewers. Please, more DIY (speakers, amps, etc.), upgrades/repair and hack videos. which are the 10 best selling speakers between EUR 200 and 2000 in the last 5-10 years?

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for watching and your suggestions Walter 😉

[@KCYT2010]

I still have my pair of SL6 and bring them out for fun on occasion. As I recall they were known for their imaging as well as the detail from those tweeters. I didn't know about the 300. I wonder how many of those made it across the pond ?

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Kirk. I am not sure. The SL6 is a bit of a legend this side of the pond. Thank you for watching 😉

[@mgsboedmisodpc2]

nice review...the crossover section of the review were those pictures of the crossover components from your loud speaker and if so for such an old loudspeaker what was the condition of those components.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi, the speakers were serviced last year and all components were working to spec. They shouldn’t need changing as there are no electrolytes. Thank you for watching 😉👍

[@hugobloemers4425]

I am a bit late to the table because I just saw this video now. Thumbs up for the review as well as the subject. I find it refreshing to honestly hear what a vintage has to offer when compared to a modern speaker. What I seem to hear a lot from reviewers that of all the audio components the speakers have made massive improvements (mostly referring to Elac speakers which I have nothing against) and that any entry level high end speaker (which sounds like an oxymoron but this is an often used phrase) will blow something like for instance this Celestion out of the water. At this point I always wonder if parallel universes really exist and that is why I like this review. There is one aspect I do not completely agree with and that is the transmission line. Full disclosure, I like them. But they have their own issues which can be partially mitigated (agree if properly designed mostly by having a 1/6th lambda cavity where the speaker sits) In any case they will not only amplify the tuned frequency but also the harmonics so there are quite some notches if you look at the frequency response. The Karlson resonator is partially a wide band transmission line that does away with this but it colours for different reasons. Personally I think the best of all worlds is a back loaded horn but size and price is the issue here. Regarding the latter, that is why those speakers are mainly self build or build by a carpenter.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for sharing Hugo. I think that very good speakers from 20 or so years ago still hold up very well today. It is a little different at the entry level end where modern materials and mass manufacturing in places like China have resulted in quite noticeable improvements. Thank you for watching and commenting 😉

[@hugobloemers4425]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 Thanks for your reply. I enjoy the format of your channel and hope it will grow. So my understanding from your reply is that besides some evolutionary improvements, speakers have benefitted the most from a revolution in cheap manufacturing which has pushed the mid range speakers in to the budget category. If my understanding is right here, that would make a lot of sense because if you compare speakers of the 80's with those of today they are conceptually the same.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

You are absolutely right 😉

[@jeffbigbear1766]

Im curious to hear your views on Castle brand of speakers. I own a pair of Avon 2’s with ribbon tweeters and think the brand is hugely underrated.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

I haven’t heard any for a few years. Beautiful cabinets. They used to make cabinets for other brands too .

[@gaville901]

Love these videos.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you gaville 😉👍

[@mikaelmllersnnichsen539]

@A British Audiophile: Why aren't more speakers built around a transmission line bass principle, given its obvious virtues? Is it because of size requirements, build complexity, added cabinet weight, does it "eat away" sensitivity, so to speak, or other reasons? Thanks for a fine review/comparison.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Mikael, basically not enough manufacturers understand how to do a TL property, it is more complex and costly to build and all the additional expenditure is on the inside where a consumer can not see a benefit. Easier, cheaper and more marketable to stick with bass reflex, biggest bang for your buck!

[@Zockopa]

Personaly i doubt that a lack of knowledge is the main reason why TL´s are rare. In the late seventies-early eighties they were not that rare and the laws of nature havent changed since then. Imho the main thing is they arent cheap to build. The enclosure is way more complicated and expensive to manufacture than a standart box. Also they are large. I mean the Cel-300 is just a small 2-way. The compact version of a TL if you will. TL`s are better suited for a 3-way concept with a bassdriver of at least 10 inch. That way you can get a decent SPL and a real deep and clean bass,while the driver is also relieved of middletone duty. Well,of course ,such an enclosure is way beyond the wife acceptance factor in most cases,and probably just not suitable for your listening room.

[@zjzozn]

Nice vlog Dave 👍

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you 👍

[@robertdavis5714]

Appreciate info of this Mfg. Own a pair of celestion ditton 66 (used with Kenwood 9000G) and are my 2nd favorite of my 19 pairs of speakers. Naim sbl #1.

[@angi733]

And a pair of Celestion Ditton 66 are still impressive today!! Especially in terms of Bass response. Not heard them but I do have a pair of the related Ditton 44 that I bought from of all places cash converters, sound great in the garage! Never much like the sound of the SL6 though, need a lot of power. The 300 I had not heard of, they do look nice.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for watching and sharing your experiences angi733 😉

[@hrvojekant9415]

Very, very nice and interesting well balanced and plesent...easy to listen presentation !...

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Hrvoje 😉👍

[@adaboy4z]

Old speakers still sound great. Refoamed some 39 year B&O Beovox S80 and they sound great! My main speakers now.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for watching and sharing your experiences 😉

[@grahamstrahle4010]

Sounds an anathema, but would swapping out the dome tweeter for a more modern design be a good idea? I've done this on a pair of 80s TL speakers made here in Aus. They used all KEF drivers, and in their place I have a Fountek ribbon tweeter and SB Acoustics mid. KEF B139 woofer stayed. Needed a new x-over, and that helped too. Tremendous sound.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

There are probably a few tweaks you could do on the 300s. Thank you for sharing 😉

[@grahamstrahle4010]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 And thank you for another really great video. Your reviews are so refreshing from the other audio review channels in your depth of knowledge.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you. That is very kind of you to say 😉👍

[@richardhollingsworth8342]

Another great video. Have you ever had any experience with or owned electrostatics?

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Richard, never owned them but heard Martin Logan’s many times. Not in recent years though.

[@ford1546]

interesting comparison and revue. My favorite factory-made bookshelf speaker is the canton fonum 50. there are not many factory made speakers I like the sound on, there is always something wrong.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank skrotkalle 😉

[@Joshualbm]

That seems like a pretty reflective room. You can hear your voice echoing off hard walls and floor within a large space with high ceilings and, possibly, an adjoining room, like a great-room situation or hallway

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Joshua, it is a little on lively side but not too bad due to quite a lot of furniture which brings down the reverb nicely.

[@ProfessorJohnSmith]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 he just told you he can hear your voice echoing. I can too. It needs to be fixed.

[@vandemon9643]

Isn't that CelestRion Tarun? Sorry mate, couldn't resist. I had the 66s. Love your stuff.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

It is. It have been mispronouncing it for 30 years 😂

[@vandemon9643]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 We still love you!

[@jked7463]

What a transmission line does is in very the phase from the rear of the speaker so it becomes in phase with the front of the speaker. The port in a ported speaker does the same thing but it does it differently. The phase is forced into phase over a very short frequency range. The sudden phase shift is what is objectional to people who can hear it.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for watching and sharing John

[@jaytee1660]

Interesting, another informative discussion. So a blend of old and new is the best? Is there a modern speaker around 1-2k that meets that requirement you can review for us, or even something sub 1k for those of us with a little less cash?

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

I am planning to do exactly that Jay 😉

[@massimodallocco3577]

Hi, I'm not able to find out the vid of comparison between 4 different designs you talk about. May you help me?

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Massimo, link below 😊 kzbin.info/www/bejne/nWWwZKWYbbaAibc

[@massimodallocco3577]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 Thanks a lot, very helpfull.

[@louishamilton9648]

If at all possible, would you please review the ae500 standmounters.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

I have reviewed the floorstander 509 😊

[@TheOritek]

Thanks for another well-organized and very informative video. You like the bass and recognize the strengths of the tweeter, so what's left... the crossover. .. It wouldn't cost much to modernize the parts and possibly upgrade the mid and treble clarity. Possibly even pull it outside the box for flexibility. That upgrade would be a good bang for the buck, oops, euro, oops again, brexit times... pound...

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

I may well do that at some point 😉

[@richardherbert3519]

Another great video.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Richard 😉😉

[@Roosville1]

One problem with older speakers is the inevitable fatigue of the surround on the bass unit, the 300 being no exception, can suffer from splits in the surround.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

True 😉

[@scottdavis0801]

I own 2 pairs of European speakers and love them. I eventually will get something very nice like you own. But for now, i have the Epos Epic 2s, and the Triangle BRO3s. Both very different, but i think very good!

Nice video. I have a pair of Wharfedale E30 from the 70s. They have warm midrange sound, specific to old vintage speakers from that period. Although they work just fine I'm concerned for the crossover components. Components in there are almost 50 years old. Any thoughts on that? Thanks.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Josip, it may be worth an email to Wharfedale to enquire if their were any electrolytic capacitors in the crossover. If there are then they will probably need replacing but if not then the other components won’t degrade over time and you are good to go.

@@abritishaudiophile7314 Thanks for your suggestion. I will contact Wharfedale and see what could be done. Thanks once again, much appreciated and keep up with interesting videos.

[@lewis72]

Back in the late '80s & early '90s, Celestion, KEF & Mordaunt Short were the brands to go for a quality hifi speaker.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

They sure were 😊

[@NiceWindow]

any opinion on Linn gear ? Im building up a fairly oldish set-up, 5125 x 2 with aktiv cards... marketing ploy or worthy contender for an audiophile ?

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

It is good stuff Gavin, fast clean but need to partner with the right speakers or can be a little bright. Good luck 😉

[@cybergod77]

saw some demos on youtube for the Celestion Ditton 66 speaker...sounds great!

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Classic speakers! Thank you for watching 😉

[@massimodallocco3577]

I have a question if I may. Have the opportunity to buy Celestion 300 or B&W CM4 more or less at the same price (350 euros). Are those two comparable in your opinion. Do you have any advise about it or videos or reviews to look at?

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Massimo, I haven’t compared them or heard the CM4s but I am fond of my Celestion 300s. The bass is incredible even if the mids and highs aren’t as refined as some modern counterparts. If they are in good condition, 350 Euros seems good value 😊

[@beetooex]

So on a bit of tangent- does anyone know if the performance of a bass port is affected by the material it is constructed from? I looked inside my old budget floor standers and saw a cardboard tube! It's got a 90 degree bend in it to fit the shape of the cabinet and the end is cut at the same 45 degree angle as the joint to obviously save on material and manufacturing.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

The reality is that everything makes a difference but not to the same extent. A lot of budget speakers had ports made from cardboard. I wouldn’t dismiss it as being poor quality just because it is a cheap material.

[@beetooex]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 You're so good at replying to our questions and comments Tarun. It's really appreciated. Thank you. Next step is to badger Kef to advise me how to get the drivers out without damaging anything so I can get proper access to the internals. I can usually figure it out but these ones are a right arse. Good thing about running old cheap speakers is you feel brave enough to mess with them!