Utah Celesta - Could this be the Coolest vintage driver ever?
- Thread starter Redboy
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Doctordirt
Silence is Broken
I saw those in Barberella, I think?
Strangeband
AK Member and Ale Monger
I can see why you found them appealing. Celesta. Just had to type the name once.
An Alternate Opinion From A Former Owner...
...At the beginning of my ongoing audio adventure I ran across these things in an Allied Radio catalog and had to have them because they looked so cool. The catalog description and specs were also impressive. I purchased a pair and built ported boxes per Utah's recommendations. Short story: they were the worst sounding speakers I've ever heard. A very coloured nasal/honky cardboardy sound that was extremely fatiguing to even my novice ears. No high end either. This experience soured me on home brew speakers for probably a decade. I don't think you'll like them but who knows.
Apart from their crappy sound there are some design issues that limit applications: 1. The frame design effectively prevents front mounting. 2. The cloth surround was (is?) very limp which probably rules out open baffle apps unless you add an HP filter. 3. Although the frame is visually appealing, you won't see it in a proper box so ultimately it's for naught.
Bottom line based on my experience is that these speakers are sonically unredeemable. Either keep them for static display or flip as fast as you can and don't look back. If they were mine they wouldn't be for long.
...At the beginning of my ongoing audio adventure I ran across these things in an Allied Radio catalog and had to have them because they looked so cool. The catalog description and specs were also impressive. I purchased a pair and built ported boxes per Utah's recommendations. Short story: they were the worst sounding speakers I've ever heard. A very coloured nasal/honky cardboardy sound that was extremely fatiguing to even my novice ears. No high end either. This experience soured me on home brew speakers for probably a decade. I don't think you'll like them but who knows.
Apart from their crappy sound there are some design issues that limit applications: 1. The frame design effectively prevents front mounting. 2. The cloth surround was (is?) very limp which probably rules out open baffle apps unless you add an HP filter. 3. Although the frame is visually appealing, you won't see it in a proper box so ultimately it's for naught.
Bottom line based on my experience is that these speakers are sonically unredeemable. Either keep them for static display or flip as fast as you can and don't look back. If they were mine they wouldn't be for long.
Arkay
Lunatic Member
Mount them in a clear Plexiglass box, like those old display speakers in the hi-fi shops. Mount a Heil AMT on top of it, and add another driver or two - midrange and a woofer - as well. The other drivers don't have to look spectacular, just nice enough. Make the other speakers functional, and you'll get great sound from them, but can still ogle the cool-looking Celestas, which will simply act as passive radiators. Probably won't suck too badly at that function! 
If you add dummy wires going to the crossover, most people will never notice that the Celestas aren't actually playing.
You could even mount the Celestas inside a large clear plastic tube that juts into the box (like a port tube), so they would sculpturally "hang in space" inside it. If the tube ran all the way through the box instead of just jutting into it, it would create isolation, taking the Celestas out of the sonic picture entirely, but making it seem as if they were an integral and high-tech part of the design. If you are really good with plastic, you could flare the ends of the tube and join them seamlessly with the box, reflecting the curve of the back of the Celestas. Such a design would LOOK really impressive, regardless of how it sounded, and as I mentioned above, adding other good drivers (to actually make it sound good) would fix that issue, too.
Great sound, neat looks! Just a little "cheating" involved.
If you add dummy wires going to the crossover, most people will never notice that the Celestas aren't actually playing. You could even mount the Celestas inside a large clear plastic tube that juts into the box (like a port tube), so they would sculpturally "hang in space" inside it. If the tube ran all the way through the box instead of just jutting into it, it would create isolation, taking the Celestas out of the sonic picture entirely, but making it seem as if they were an integral and high-tech part of the design. If you are really good with plastic, you could flare the ends of the tube and join them seamlessly with the box, reflecting the curve of the back of the Celestas. Such a design would LOOK really impressive, regardless of how it sounded, and as I mentioned above, adding other good drivers (to actually make it sound good) would fix that issue, too.
Great sound, neat looks! Just a little "cheating" involved.
mhardy6647
Lunatic Member
They are nice looking, but are nothing special sonically (I think I may be being charitable).
Yes, they're high Qts drivers and they'd work on open baffles. At least those are the coax versions, not the twincones.
Now, there are plenty to debate, but I think 'coolest vintage driver ever' would be one of this coax's family.
Yes, they're high Qts drivers and they'd work on open baffles. At least those are the coax versions, not the twincones.
Now, there are plenty to debate, but I think 'coolest vintage driver ever' would be one of this coax's family.
Duffinator
Spin The Black Circle
Wow those Utah Celesta speakers are cool looking. But I have to agree with MRH on the Altec 604 duplex speakers being the coolest. 
Don't you guys know that every old driver sounds good and EVERY open baffle does too?
