Any love for Celestion in the BFM camp?

[VTypeV4]

Very nice although I didn't realise there was a distinction between the guitar / bass and pa versions.. Bit like the Elelectrovoice EVM I suppose?

[Charles Jenkinson]

There were just 2 versions - my post was ambiguous. There was a guitar version (those (normally) 6 string things, where you have to strut when you play), and there was a combined bass/PA version (stand still and/or twiddle knobs). The main identifier difference was the surround material.

I possibly didn't have the most appropriate version for a bass cab, but it works; 20 years ago, access to info. and resources was not as good. I tried to design my own cab using vance dickason's loudspeaker design cookbook and I required something like an 8ft long 4" port. I resorted to just going to Macclesfield Audio, where he ran a design for me where the port was 18mm deep, a sensible diameter, and if you buy this celestion sidewinder off me it'll work. It works, but is a bit thin on the low B of my 5 string.

[VTypeV4]

I have a G15C Spider frame unit from the '70s that I'm gonna put a box around to hone my woodworking skills with. There's no data -even from Celestion- on this unit so I'm gonna make some wild assumptions based on how it performed in my 1x15 WEM cab.

When I had it, it had a slight rub but I managed to cure it by carefully removing, re-aligning and re-installing the magnet assembly with a newly cut gasket peice.

[AntonZ]

I possibly didn't have the most appropriate version for a bass cab, but it works; 20 years ago, access to info. and resources was not as good. I tried to design my own cab using vance dickason's loudspeaker design cookbook and I required something like an 8ft long 4" port. I resorted to just going to Macclesfield Audio, where he ran a design for me where the port was 18mm deep, a sensible diameter, and if you buy this celestion sidewinder off me it'll work. It works, but is a bit thin on the low B of my 5 string.

I took a similar approach but somehow managed to come up with numbers that were feasible. Here's what I made, with two vertical ports on either side of the woofer.


My cab wasn't made for low B either, but other than that it wasn't bad for a home made cab (I guess more luck than wisdom went into it).

[VTypeV4]

Loving the series 6 Trace Elliot..

I was a long term user of Trace stuff until quite recently having owned lots of 7-band, 12-band and V-Type models including the big 600SMX with (Celestion loaded) 1048H and 1153 also V4 and the wardrobe sized 1084.

I have a plan to build some direct radiating vented bass guitar cabs using Celestions to help my wood working skills and expand my overall speaker building experience.

[AntonZ]

I bought it new, back in the late 80s or early 90s. Used it for many years, never failed, still have it as a backup amp. Using lighter stuff now. Which is funny because back in the day that 200W Trace amp was considered just about the lightest you could go and still make some good noise.

[Grant Bunter]

Just coming back to the topic for a tick lol...

Eminence, mostly, is very expensive here in Australia.
I spent literally days trying to find cheaper alternatives of other brands.
It ended up being wasted time. There are very few drivers out there that match up to those in the plans. Sure you might find a driver that falls into the criteria as far as TS specs go, but invariably, when you look at the charts, or for some other reason, they just don't match up.

So it's not a hate Celestion thing lol, it's just that lots of other drivers don't make the mark, and you have to remember the recommended drivers are and intrinsic part of the design...

[VTypeV4]

I think it'll ultimately wind up being a Celestion in the T48s and a Celestion compression driver for the tops but finding a 12" for those OT12s has proved to be quite tricky. As such, I'll probably stick with an Eminence in that application because the only Celestion I can find with a rising midrange is a bit marginal.

I'm opting to bi-amp the tops with a compression driver opposed to the piezos as it's something I'm far more familiar with and have had plenty of experience doing.

[BrentEvans]

I think it'll ultimately wind up being a Celestion in the T48s

After reviewing Celestion's Pro line of 15s, there isn't one that's suitable for T48. On most, multiple specs are way off (20-50% difference from recommended).

That's not to say that they're bad drivers... quite the opposite. Some of them look quite nice, but aren't ideal for this application. Horn loading puts extra pressure stresses on the cone, and you wouldn't want to shred a perfectly good (and expensive) driver for no reason.

I see no reason not to use a Celestion compression driver if you want (and it fits appropriately). Be aware that the horizontal dispersion of the diffraction horn is less than the piezo array. If that's a non-issue... go for it.

[VTypeV4]

I think it'll ultimately wind up being a Celestion in the T48s

After reviewing Celestion's Pro line of 15s, there isn't one that's suitable for T48. On most, multiple specs are way off (20-50% difference from recommended).

That's not to say that they're bad drivers... quite the opposite. Some of them look quite nice, but aren't ideal for this application. Horn loading puts extra pressure stresses on the cone, and you wouldn't want to shred a perfectly good (and expensive) driver for no reason.

I see no reason not to use a Celestion compression driver if you want (and it fits appropriately). Be aware that the horizontal dispersion of the diffraction horn is less than the piezo array. If that's a non-issue... go for it.

Interesting, I thought the FTR15 4080HDX looked spot on..

[Chris_Allen]

Interesting, I thought the FTR15 4080HDX looked spot on..

It is well within spec but I can't find it for anywhere near the price of a 3015LF or Lab15.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

Interesting, I thought the FTR15 4080HDX looked spot on..

It is well within spec but I can't find it for anywhere near the price of a 3015LF or Lab15.

Within spec, but both the 3015LF and LAB 15 are superior.

[BrentEvans]

Interesting, I thought the FTR15 4080HDX looked spot on..

I guess I clicked on another one twice.

[VTypeV4]

Interesting, I thought the FTR15 4080HDX looked spot on..

I guess I clicked on another one twice.

Not to worry, it's all good..

Maybe my T48s will be Eminence loaded..

I was always surprised they didn't make the Kilomax 'strong' enough to live in a horn.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

I was always surprised they didn't make the Kilomax 'strong' enough to live in a horn.

That would be because it wasn't designed with the intent of being loaded in a horn. Once you get above 500w or so special features, such as those on the LAB drivers, are required, especially with eighteens. But as eighteens don't really make sense in horns anyway we don't use them.