Wanted - Celestion A-series tweeters
Discussion
Funk said:
There's a pair of cherry A3s on eBay at the moment with the early tweeters. Currently at £570 with a couple of days to go.
Yes, they'd be mine 
By way of feedback to the earlier posts, I've now had the Ref 4.2's running alongside the A3's for a week or so. I've run some A/B comparison with same material and amp (Bryston 7B mono's) and source (Aurender S10 ---> Arcam D33). The Kefs are definitely more revealing but also have a smoother top-end - quite a trick to pull off. They also offer a larger soundstage and appear to image better, but this of course may be the room and/or placing. The surprise to me is that the A3's still win out at the bottom end - not only in terms of outright hertz, but also speed and slam - not by a lot, but enough to be noticeable. On balance the 4.2 is the better speaker 90% of the time, but it just goes to show how good the A3's are - and in terms of second hand pricing - they offer better bang per buck.
Those KEFs are absolutely gorgeous.
I see your A3s are up to £600 which seems to be about right. Would be tempted if I had the amp and space to make the best of them.
To be fair to the KEFs, they do seem to have smaller drive units (and fewer of them!) than the Celestions so I'm not surprised the A3s hit harder at the bottom end.
Which KEFs would be equivalent to the A2s in your opinion?
I see your A3s are up to £600 which seems to be about right. Would be tempted if I had the amp and space to make the best of them.
To be fair to the KEFs, they do seem to have smaller drive units (and fewer of them!) than the Celestions so I'm not surprised the A3s hit harder at the bottom end.
Which KEFs would be equivalent to the A2s in your opinion?
Edited by Funk on Sunday 8th March 15:00
I'm hoping for £700+ but you never know with Fleabay! I suggest you start bidding
Actually the Kef's have TWO 10" drivers inside teh cabinet in a push/pull configuration, so it's 2x10" vs the 3x8" of the A3
I would imagine the the A2's probably sit somewehere between the Ref 2 and 3. The Kef's are more flexible to position though due to lack of rear ports and the boundary compensation widget.
Actually the Kef's have TWO 10" drivers inside teh cabinet in a push/pull configuration, so it's 2x10" vs the 3x8" of the A3
I would imagine the the A2's probably sit somewehere between the Ref 2 and 3. The Kef's are more flexible to position though due to lack of rear ports and the boundary compensation widget.
They're doing well! £740 now. The last two pairs (rosewood and black) went for £670 and £490 respectively although the black pair had a shagged tweeter on one of them. The rosewood was the later 3-bar tweeter as well.
I think I'll stick with what I have for the time being; as I say, I think there are limitations to the room size and my amp probably isn't even really up to the job of the A2s so might be the first port of call when I come to look at upgrading again in future. Hope the sale completes successfully for you!
I think I'll stick with what I have for the time being; as I say, I think there are limitations to the room size and my amp probably isn't even really up to the job of the A2s so might be the first port of call when I come to look at upgrading again in future. Hope the sale completes successfully for you!
StuH said:
Yes, they'd be mine
By way of feedback to the earlier posts, I've now had the Ref 4.2's running alongside the A3's for a week or so. I've run some A/B comparison with same material and amp (Bryston 7B mono's) and source (Aurender S10 ---> Arcam D33). The Kefs are definitely more revealing but also have a smoother top-end - quite a trick to pull off. They also offer a larger soundstage and appear to image better, but this of course may be the room and/or placing. The surprise to me is that the A3's still win out at the bottom end - not only in terms of outright hertz, but also speed and slam - not by a lot, but enough to be noticeable. On balance the 4.2 is the better speaker 90% of the time, but it just goes to show how good the A3's are - and in terms of second hand pricing - they offer better bang per buck.
Interesting.By way of feedback to the earlier posts, I've now had the Ref 4.2's running alongside the A3's for a week or so. I've run some A/B comparison with same material and amp (Bryston 7B mono's) and source (Aurender S10 ---> Arcam D33). The Kefs are definitely more revealing but also have a smoother top-end - quite a trick to pull off. They also offer a larger soundstage and appear to image better, but this of course may be the room and/or placing. The surprise to me is that the A3's still win out at the bottom end - not only in terms of outright hertz, but also speed and slam - not by a lot, but enough to be noticeable. On balance the 4.2 is the better speaker 90% of the time, but it just goes to show how good the A3's are - and in terms of second hand pricing - they offer better bang per buck.
No doubt down to room and placement but my 4.2's go deeper than the A3's and equal them on 'slam'.
As it happens you've touched on the main reason for swapping mine in the first place - that Kef top end sweetness and lovely, open midrange.
Still, both great speakers and absolute bargains at the prices they can be had for on the used market - similar cost to a couple of new SONOS things
legzr1 said:
Interesting.
No doubt down to room and placement but my 4.2's go deeper than the A3's and equal them on 'slam'.
As it happens you've touched on the main reason for swapping mine in the first place - that Kef top end sweetness and lovely, open midrange.
Still, both great speakers and absolute bargains at the prices they can be had for on the used market - similar cost to a couple of new SONOS things
Well I'll get more time to fiddle with placement over the next few weeks. Although quite chuffed with price A3's went for - I guess it shows with the older gear it's a question of buy on condition.No doubt down to room and placement but my 4.2's go deeper than the A3's and equal them on 'slam'.
As it happens you've touched on the main reason for swapping mine in the first place - that Kef top end sweetness and lovely, open midrange.
Still, both great speakers and absolute bargains at the prices they can be had for on the used market - similar cost to a couple of new SONOS things
Yes unbelievable amount of speaker for the money - although i'm going to try and track down some spare drivers to keep as spares - they're thin on the ground these days. I think to get something as good as the 4.2's in todays market you'be be looking at the Ref 5 now - http://www.audioaffair.co.uk/kef-reference-5-speak...
Out of interest what amp do you use to drive your 4.2's?
Probably a good idea to source spares now if they're going to be 'keepers' - luckily the weakest parts (UniQ drivers) are common to the whole .2 range but they should be matched in pairs - Kef explained that they're matched to within +/- 1.5db in 0.5db steps although that could have been a ploy to sell a pair for £370 + vat several years ago
I drive mine with a Musical Fidelity A308 power amp which copes well with 4ohm loads - basically a pair of well spec'd monos in a single case.
I'd guess your Brystons won't even break a sweat driving them.
I've got the matching 308 pre and 308 CD player too but normally feed the amps with a Cambridge Audio SM6 streamer/renderer which is quite excellent (at a third of the price of the 308 CD player).
I drive mine with a Musical Fidelity A308 power amp which copes well with 4ohm loads - basically a pair of well spec'd monos in a single case.
I'd guess your Brystons won't even break a sweat driving them.
I've got the matching 308 pre and 308 CD player too but normally feed the amps with a Cambridge Audio SM6 streamer/renderer which is quite excellent (at a third of the price of the 308 CD player).
legzr1 said:
Probably a good idea to source spares now if they're going to be 'keepers' - luckily the weakest parts (UniQ drivers) are common to the whole .2 range but they should be matched in pairs - Kef explained that they're matched to within +/- 1.5db in 0.5db steps although that could have been a ploy to sell a pair for £370 + vat several years ago
I drive mine with a Musical Fidelity A308 power amp which copes well with 4ohm loads - basically a pair of well spec'd monos in a single case.
I'd guess your Brystons won't even break a sweat driving them.
I've got the matching 308 pre and 308 CD player too but normally feed the amps with a Cambridge Audio SM6 streamer/renderer which is quite excellent (at a third of the price of the 308 CD player).
Nice. I've had an MF A1 - way back when! And some a Nu-Vista 300 in the late early noughties.I drive mine with a Musical Fidelity A308 power amp which copes well with 4ohm loads - basically a pair of well spec'd monos in a single case.
I'd guess your Brystons won't even break a sweat driving them.
I've got the matching 308 pre and 308 CD player too but normally feed the amps with a Cambridge Audio SM6 streamer/renderer which is quite excellent (at a third of the price of the 308 CD player).
I'll be moving the 4.2's into the lounge at the weekend so see how they work out in a much better acoustic environment.
Let us know how you get on.
I've never listened to the pre/power nu-vistas but liked what I heard with a friends nu-vista integrated but find the 308 pre/power better in the bass regions losing a little sweetness at the very top - I'm guessing the 300 nu-vistas would add the 'missing' guts.
I think my days of 'box swapping' are over - I tend to just throw another album on rather than constantly browse the forums for the next great thing (going FLAC and NAS notwithstanding).
Still, I feel an itch every time I see some of the mighty Krells come onto the market - I love what they can do with large current hungry floor standers (and that was just the 300i baby integrated!).
Oh, and PMCs driven by 14 or 28b's are something to behold.
And 800D's driven by Krell FPB 600's and a full DCS rig.
I've never listened to the pre/power nu-vistas but liked what I heard with a friends nu-vista integrated but find the 308 pre/power better in the bass regions losing a little sweetness at the very top - I'm guessing the 300 nu-vistas would add the 'missing' guts.
I think my days of 'box swapping' are over - I tend to just throw another album on rather than constantly browse the forums for the next great thing (going FLAC and NAS notwithstanding).
Still, I feel an itch every time I see some of the mighty Krells come onto the market - I love what they can do with large current hungry floor standers (and that was just the 300i baby integrated!).
Oh, and PMCs driven by 14 or 28b's are something to behold.
And 800D's driven by Krell FPB 600's and a full DCS rig.
legzr1 said:
Let us know how you get on.
I've never listened to the pre/power nu-vistas but liked what I heard with a friends nu-vista integrated but find the 308 pre/power better in the bass regions losing a little sweetness at the very top - I'm guessing the 300 nu-vistas would add the 'missing' guts.
I think my days of 'box swapping' are over - I tend to just throw another album on rather than constantly browse the forums for the next great thing (going FLAC and NAS notwithstanding).
Still, I feel an itch every time I see some of the mighty Krells come onto the market - I love what they can do with large current hungry floor standers (and that was just the 300i baby integrated!).
Oh, and PMCs driven by 14 or 28b's are something to behold.
And 800D's driven by Krell FPB 600's and a full DCS rig.
My FPB600 wouldn't play nicely with my 802's - I could never tame the brightness. I've never listened to the pre/power nu-vistas but liked what I heard with a friends nu-vista integrated but find the 308 pre/power better in the bass regions losing a little sweetness at the very top - I'm guessing the 300 nu-vistas would add the 'missing' guts.
I think my days of 'box swapping' are over - I tend to just throw another album on rather than constantly browse the forums for the next great thing (going FLAC and NAS notwithstanding).
Still, I feel an itch every time I see some of the mighty Krells come onto the market - I love what they can do with large current hungry floor standers (and that was just the 300i baby integrated!).
Oh, and PMCs driven by 14 or 28b's are something to behold.
And 800D's driven by Krell FPB 600's and a full DCS rig.
Agree re dcs and pmc though. MB2 on the shortlist when we move if I can get the Mrs to live with the looks!
Does anyone know how B&W 683s would compare with the A2s? There's a pair up for sale locally and I'm intrigued. My brother just purchased a pair of 604 S3s which seem to be very impressive for the money.
Never heard the 683s, wondering if they're worth a punt. There's also a pair of CM8s not far away, should I be considering those too?
Never heard the 683s, wondering if they're worth a punt. There's also a pair of CM8s not far away, should I be considering those too?
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