Celestion Ditton 44

Got these speakers from a house where an elderly gentleman had sadly passed away.

The cabinets were in good condition but the foam around the 12inch bass was in powder form at the bootom when the grill was removed.

I oiled the teak cabinets washed the grills cleaned the driver units and waited for everything to dry.

It was worth the wait. WOW Wow !!

The first song I played on half power was Toni Braxton Un break my heart...

Fab rich bass wonderful mid-range and the top end incredible.

I am blown away...... what a find

If anyone out there can get hold of these DO IT you wont be dissapointed

I have had a pair of 15s for 40 years only 15w RMS but still good but this bigger brothers blew my socks off !

I am, at last the proud owner of a pair of these legendary speakers and they are simply divine in every respect.

There are few modern speakers that could hold a candle to these iconic units.

Even with my very modest amplifier, they return a sound quality and warmth that is almost untouchable.

I now need an amp to drive them properly.

Any suggestions?

Beasts! They rock! They sing! They are there.....WYSIWYG..No bull! No wonder BBC used them as monitors. listened to Simon and Grafunkel live, they where in the living room.

I've got a pair from my grand father some days ago, though to put them on ebay, until i plug them in my own sound system, usually i am a full bose enthusiast, (bose 301 serie 1 and 3) and i nearly fell in tears. the sound is astonishing !

The wooden case were a little beat up but after some love and furniture polish the wood finish is amazingly great! with some gold reflects, they are amazingly nice for the eye!

The front grills are not anymore fresh, the spongy had passed to dust long time ago, but they are still looking great!

Now i understand the hype about them, great speakers! let the legend continue!

(mine are Celestion Ditton 44 First edition.)

I have two sets of the amazing 44s. One set has been in my life for 28 years and has large domes on the bass units with the ROLA LTD badge on the back at the top of the box the other has the smaller domes and lived with me for about 15 years. Both sets look identical with full wood finish apart from dome size. There sound is unfailingly faithful to bring joy to my ears the midrange vocals are perfect on jazz, Eva Cassidy & Nora Jones and rock music too. I run my two sets on the Marantz pm 350 amp and Marantz EQ 340 equaliser at 4 ohms with 30 watts per channel. These speakers seem too sound sweeter with all four playing at once the expressive bass extension is mind blowing. The only fault with the 44S is that of the original CELESTION OF ENGLAND that sold out and stopped making them what a bloody shame some companies are so short sighted. The Legend lives on.

I have purchased a pair of these truly wonderful speakers. I paid over the odds (so I thought) but on collection it was if the had just come out of the boxs. I was chuffed! & even happier once connected. My amplifier was always on the bright side but these smoothed everything out with warmth & detail + true bass. I had previously thought to get this sound I would have to spend a small fortune, so if you get a chance to hear or buy them Go for it!

The Celestion Ditton 44 is a true three way design using a 12” base drive, a 6” mid & a HF-2000 tweeter, (or the HF-1300 on some units). Note No ABR was used in the 44.

Power handling was linked to the model number in this range, so Ditton 44= 44 watts (rms) however the mk2 version was listed as being rated up to 100w ( likely peak).

The mk2 version had a slightly different crossover, which was not as highly regarded as the original crossover. However the Mk1 crossover used five of the notorious “Hunt” type of capacitors, which should be changed at once (2uf 150v poly).

The 44 is capable of delivering a really great sound, with a well controlled bass, accurate mid range, & a pin sharp well defined treble. Listed as a floor stander at 30” high, they do sound at their best when placed on stands that raise them about 14-16” inches off the floor, makes a Big improvement!

Their current (2013) secondhand price of around £200 makes them a real bargain!

To find a modern day speaker packing 12” bass drives with the same make up & quality of reproduction of the Ditton 44 would not be easy, and would likely cost thousands of pounds! Grab them while you can!!!!

Believe everything you've EVER heard about these cos they're all that, and then some. I've sold over 200 pairs of speakers from fancy makers on ebay but it'd have to be a cold day in hell before i ever sold these. The midrange and tweeter on these are to die for and that 12 inch driver will make mincemeat out of any bassline. All them speakers i mentioned that i sold were all put on a sound test before being sold and judged on their ability too match these, and though a few came close they never quite managed it, especially on a longer listen. Plus most of them were speakers that were fancy enough to make over £400 on thE bay. If you can live with the understated looks then you'll probably never part with them. Or you could do what i did with a perfect pair of mk2's and spray them black. Ah if only i'd known these were a bit special first :)

These are superb. Rich, warm and balanced ... they pack a pumch too. best for the music they were made for - rock.

A 12 bass. yes 12". Put them on stands and wow!

Very large -- you need a large room , but if that is no problem - enjoy!

I HAVE HAD MY 44S FOR ABOUT 40 YEARS NOW AND THEY STILL SOUND EXCELLENT.I HAVE SOMETIMES CONSIDERED REPLACING THEM BUT SIMILAR WOULD COST A LOT OF MONEY. I PAID 137 POUNDS GOOD VALUE.