Built like tanks.Good friendly warm sound. Plenty of bass.Excellent treble units.

Probably a bit dated now. 1970,s technology.Being so old, probably need some new wiring bits etc etc.

I bought the Celestion Ditton 25s when I upgraded from the modest Tannoy Eclipses.Second(third or fourth) hand 3 years ago, for a mere £93.Standing about 2and 1/2 feet tall, weighing a ton, and sporting real wood veneer, they are classic 70,s speakers.They go down to 40 Hz, using a 12 inch bass unit,and a "bass radiator" also 12 inches in diameter..a sort of drum head affair. The mid range is handled by 2 excellent closed units, and the tweeters are up to BBC standards, according to the old Celestion history page.The jump in quality from the Eclipses to these Dittons, especially in the amount of bass was well impressive.I play almost anything and everything, from Bach to the Beatles, Sex Pistols and Techno, and the Dittons perform admirably with the lot.Remember these cost £700 in the mid 70,s !!!

Bass performance, sweet mid/treble, dynamics and sheer grunt

no serious ones - finish not quite as good as modern high end.

I inherited these Ditton 66/2s a few years ago, when my system was a humble Linn Basik TT with Musical Fidelity B200 amp.. Sounded at least as good as the previous Kef 104/2s to my ears, with better low bass and even more "BBC" mid-range - only weakness was slightly less "air and space" type imaging. However, the set up has evolved into a Clearaudio Revolution/EAR834P/Lumley Reference passive pre and Lumley Reference LM120 valve monoblocks.. The Dittons are still in place, despite auditioning many more expensive modern speakers. All I can say is fantastic! I would have to spend over £5000 to get a modern speaker which I like as much, and will do low lows (i.e. 20ish Hz) and dynamics in the same way!

Similar Products Used:

Kef 104/2, Audio Physic Virgo, ProAc Response 1.5, Naim SBL, Duevel Jupiter

resonant sound...Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds sounds EVEN better than on my father's 44's...Lennon, Pink Floyd, everything sounds as it should do.

Pricey, these days, and rare. And where do you go from here? As a previous reviewer says, takes the fun out of buying new speakers...

Celestion Ditton 66's - these were the speakers my father refused to upgrade from Ditton 44's to in the 1970s, so when it came to my own purchase, what else? Incomparable.

Similar Products Used:

Celestion Ditton 44 KEF Cadenzas

Solid room shaking bottom end. No fooling arount here. Easy to listen to. Clean sounding. Accurate. These speakers are good to look at with the grill covers off!

A little power hungry. Parts could be a problem if you have to replace speakers.

I have been listening to my Ditton 66's since I bought them in the late '70's. They come with a 12" base driver with a passive radiator, cross over at 500hz to a domed compression driver and an excellent tweeter for cycles above 3000hz. If you come across these speakers, buy 'em. I suspect they're hard to come by now. They listed for $1200CDN in the late 70's so I not sure how many were sold in North America. I ran them with a Denon PMA500V 80 Watt/8 Ohm per side, but now use a Marantz 3200 Pre Amp with a Marantz 140 Amp 75 Watts/side. They transitioned well to the world of CD's. The bottom end can be described as a little mushy, and are not as fast as some Altec or JBL's I've heard but are rock solid to the lowest frequencies. Midrange is soft, compared to typical compression drivers and the highs are smooth. You will not experience any listen fatigue with this speaker. All in all they are very accurate. They don't take up a lot of floor room but are about 4 ft. tall, but cosmeticaly look good so the have a reasonable Wife Acceptance Factor. Best investment in audio I have made.

Similar Products Used:

None. My other speakers are Altec Santana's, a different kettle of fish, but so good!

The extreme precission, the dynamic, the low bass which is PERFECT even when the amplifier is at very low volume

Weight and size

I bought a pair of 66's begin this year My sister has a pair of these since begin 80's. I've always been impressed by the sound of them. Visiting several stores and listening to a lot of speakers i could never decide wich one to buy. I always compared them with the sound i used to hear at my sister's place but there was never a speaker that had an edual or better sound. Begin this year i went on searching on the internet for a pair of 66 because i knew i wouldn't want any other speaker. I found an ad on a French audio-site where a guy who owned 2 pairs (66 and 66-2) was selling the 66 serie. We eache drove around 350 km... You can guess the rest... It's driven by a Denon PMA-1060 (2x105w-8ohm - 2x180w-4ohm) These speakers need an amplifier wich reacts quickly ! In combination with a Denon they run perfectly ! Come and listen Since i have them i can listen to music instead of a speaker !!! Yes, if i listen to music, i want to hear music and not a speaker !

Musicality! Forget speaker specifications .... just listen. Most efficient speakers lack precision. Most precise speakers lack dynamics. The 66s are a good compromise offering both,

Delicate tweeters. These speakers were designed to last forever and allow easy reconing if required. BUT ... the parts are no longer avaialable. Also the size and weight.

After my stereo was stolen in the 1970's while in university, I extensively researched and auditioned speakers and finally selected the Celestion Ditton 66 "Studio Monitors". I have never regretted this purchase. Although most of my stereo has been upgraded, I have not yet, in 2003, found any affordable speakers that are more musical. Every 5 years or so, I decide that modern technology MUST offer something better than what was available in 1970 but .... I have not yet found better overall sound. Last week I auditioned a set of Paradigm 100 Studeo monitors. While crisp, tight, precise, and ultra clean thay still lack the dynamics and musicality of my old Celestions. Plus you need 200+ watts per side to run them properly. So I will continue to wait for something better and affordable to come along. As an axtra bonus ... their high efficiency (96 Db - 1watt@1m) allows concert levels with moderate amplifier power. My 150 watts per side can produce painful volumes. My 66s have been upgraded with new precision capacitors in the crossovers and high-end tweeter to replace the original ones that were fried due to a failed capacitor. The new tweeters brighten the sound a bit (which is probably good with my aging ears)

Similar Products Used:

Many, many, speaker auditons ....

Smooth, articulate, no coloration. Built like a tank. Polypropylene drivers, no foam surrounds to wear out.

So good they take the fun out of looking for new speakers.

Celestion Ditton 33. Buying these is like joing a very exclusive British gentlemen's club and finding out Ozzy Osbourne is its president. These are a smaller version of the legendary Celestion 66s with same drivers minus one woofer. They are amazingly versatile units capable of handling anything from chamber music to heavy metal with equal aplomb. Zero listener fatigue. Very authorative on classic rock, which is no surprise since Celestion makes most of the speaker drivers used most guitar gods. Furniture grade real teak cabinets are even finished inside the baffle.

Similar Products Used:

KEF, LINN, HEYBROOK

full range speakers delicate enough for complex classical strong enough for earth shattering sub base from the likes of nitin sawney

not enough of them available

i have been buyimg and selling hi-fi in the uk a while now(as a hobbie)... and have had various pairs of speaker and amp selections but just cant help returning to the celestion66 studio monitors... i now power them with apair of quad11 mono block valve power amps fronted by a meridian 206 delta sigma... and reside in hifi bliss

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tannoy lancasters, spendor monitors

Smooth-Warm-Musical

Only 80 Watt Power capacity

I have found the cure for digitalitis-hard grating annoying mid range haze. The solution a Celestion Ditton pair of speakers. The ones I am using are the Celestion Ditton 250s. Just like most everyone else in this forum I find these incredibly smooth. Superb midrange, Excellent high end-completely unfatiqueing. The bass is extremely tuneful. Most bass heads would add a sub. Not me. I have an excellent Pioneer Cd player-PD-65 that synchronizes with these perfectly. Great for Jazz,Classical(subdues the digital nasties on violin and brass)fine for rock. Overall excellent balance. It is incredible that people practically give these away thinking they are antiquidated. Do not be fooled by the probable low price that these are usually offered for- they are still great speakers. One could quibble and say they are not as detailed as many high end bookshelfs of today. That is essentially true but their musicality truly overides this minor critique. If you see them for sale-audition them- they just might be your cup of tea. If anyone has any info regarding this model. Please e-mail me. Ive looked all over the web and can find nothing. Celestion has deleted their museum page from their site and they never answer e-mail request for info. Thanks

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Celestion 7, Celestion DL 8-series II,EV Sentry 100s-auditioned many others,many very high priced- none come close to their midrange

Detail, weight, speed, looks.

Heavy, binding posts are able to take thin wire only.

After changing my mind about selling some Cresta 2's to a freind I went out of guilt to the free-ads. I had heard of Celestions and these were advertised as 'old but good'. Bloke was selling them as his father (died recently) had had them for years. The dad had never played much beyond smooooth jaz, and never loud. They were coated with tar from years of smoking. Cleaned up and at home with Marantz PM4000 KI Amp and Marantz CD6000 KI source, they ruled. Immiediately sold the Cresta's. The grills come off to expose BEAUTIFULLY finished baffle, name plate and twin drivers (big and powerful). The sound is very rich but smooth and never brash. If you ever get a chance to buy a pair, do so. Note! Don't try to clean drivers at all. I almost considered doing so, but was firmly advised against by all in the know. Made in 1965 they are legendary, already!

Similar Products Used:

Cresta 2's