To go straight to the heart of the matter, these speakers are quite

To go straight t o the h e a r t of the
matter, these speakers a r e q u i t e simply
among t h e best a v a i l a b l e today
not giving them mt~ c hof a workout.
Moving the speaker!3 farther from the
back wall than th e 18 inches the
manual suggests in!creases the imaging and seems to strengthen the
bass somewhat.
Construction
he Celestion SL 700SE
!oudspeakers bring the
thrill and seductive
p l e a s u r e s ,of r e a l
music from the studio
or hall into your listening space.
Their yonderfully alive sound makes
orchestral music sweeping, subtle
and transporting - the timbre of
each instrument remarkably true,
the orchestral body full and breathing. Rock music is pungent and vivid
- the bass accurate and demanding. the guitars stinging or resonant,
crooning or screaming.
Small jazz or classical ensembles
take up their places in your room,
or so it seems, a s a result of the
clarity and Lransparency of these
speakers. Definition is extraordinary
throughout with excellent imaging,
space and air. The wide dynamics
are exciting. Timbre and color - the
characteristics that make a guitar
sound like a guitar. a saxophone like
a saxophone - a r e remarkable.
These are among the world's finest
speakers available today. Their
retail price of $3.300 with specially
dedicated stands make them speakers of choice.
In loud passages, particularly in
the upper registers, the 700SEs are
sensational, never rolling off or
becoming harsh or strident. Their
bass is firm and realistic, providing
t h e drive a n d r h y t h m t h a t a r e
music's central core. The midrange
is open and sweet, full of nuance
and detail. While the owner's manual seems to caution that high-powered amplifiers may cause some
problem for the 700SEs, especially
a t higher volumes, our reference
Audio Research D-115 (100 watts
per channel) power amp was clearly
Dynamic speake.rs have always
been known for th eir cabinet resonance and resulting colorations. To
address this, Celest ion first designed
its SL 600 speaker with Aerolam, a
material used in a ircraft construction. Aerolam dam ps vibration and
resonance, the twin problems of cabinet speakers. Last:r interferometry
has shown that speaker cabinets
undulate in tune with the sound
waves created by 1.he drivers, thus
causing serious colorations and distortions. By buil ding t h e entire
speaker cabinet of Aerolam and by
making the box a s !small a s possible,
Celestion h a s crleated a unique
speaker.
The SL 7 0 0 Spc:cia1 Edition is
handsome in gray matte and without even the preter Ise of grille cloth.
The face of the spe:Lker is grooved to
further reduce u nwanted sound
reflections from the drivers. The single 6.5" Cobex mid /bass driver with
two-piece surroun d is placed just
below center. Abokre it is the 1.25"
aluminum dome t weeter which i s
HIGH PERFORMANCE REVIEW SUMMER 1991
REVIEW
Dire Straits. Alchemy (Part I). Warner
Brothers 9 25085-2
An astounding and absorbing lisLening experience. Seldom have the
guitars of Dire Straits sounded so
full and piercing, with the powerful
emotional kick of terrific rock music.
The instruments were rich in timbre
and had an effect that was pungent,
even hinting at wildness. With excellent attack and dynamics, the interplay among instruments and voices
was lucid and exciting. The drums
had great strike and rumble. The
overall sound was much less polite
than that of our reference Quad ESL
63 loudspeakers, the bass more convincing for this recording.
The 700SEs reveal the enormous
expressivity of the guitar's many different moods. They also reveal levels
of complexity in the music's emotional content that were smoothed
over by the Quads. This is the most
involving kind of listening experience. one that is fresh and alive.
Mozart. Coronation Mass, K.317 and
Missa Solemnis, K.337. King's College
Choir, Cambridge. English Chamber
Orchestra. Argo 41 1 904-2
Among the virtues of using this CD
as a test piece are remarkably fine
hall ambience, massed strings that
can get unbearably edgy with very
little encouragement, a splendid chor u s + ~ ad female soloist whose
throat has a life of its own. The
700SEs took on this formidable disc
and rendered us ecstatic.
Hall ambience and overall spaciousness compare well to electrostatic airiness. The softer passages
of the choir sounded delicate and
involving. The high registers including the louder, massed strings
- were so liquid a s to be almost
angelic. Among the best we've heard.
And the soloist voice was round and
full, alive with the breath and muscle of a live body. The beautiful, full
tones spinning out of her throat
became almost palpable. The pin-
point imaging and exquisite detail
made us more aware of the exchange
and interplay between singers and
orchestra.
James Taylor. JT. Columbia PC 3481 1
When singing "Terra Nova" with
Carly Simon, Taylor's voice is full of
a throatiness which is persuasive
and changeable. The acoustic guitar
was vivid and the silky harmony of
Taylor and Simon singing together
was rendered with fine definition
and detail. With their lifelike image.
the 700SE speakers are very transparent - there is no grain to interfere with the rich, alive sound.
The bass was well-defined without
being deep. Taylor's music is not
kickass rock. and the 700SEs crystal-clear treble underscores the soft,
melodic folk rock in a way that can
only be described as beautiful. There
is no trace of undue brightness,
harshness or stridency. The timbre,
color and life-ness of the instruments and voices which are neither
enhanced nor subtractive, are the
sine q u a non of superior audio
equipment such a s this model.
Beethoven. Violin Concerto in D,
Op.61. Arthur Grumiaux. Concertgebouw Orchestra. Colin Davis. Philips
6500 775
One of the first pieces we auditioned on the 700SEs, this LP at flrst
lacked the room-filling quality of the
full o r c h e s t r a we enjoy on t h e
Quads. In this area, the more power
you can supply lor the 700SE speakers, the bigger, richer and more
impressive the sound becomes. The
700SEs provide a very high level of
definition and detail with a fine
sound stage. The smooth tones of
the violin, especially in the upper
registers, were realistic, expressive,
delicate and insistent. As the orchestral strings massed in crescendos
and the solo soared, there was only
Beethoven's beautiful music without
any harshness.
Harry James & His Big Band. The King
James Version. Sheffield Lab CD-3
When the horns let go, they soar
into loud, brassy passages that are
deliriously alive. This is sharp and
p u n g e n t b r a s s , m e a n t to p u s h
against the limits and threaten to
tear loose. In our listening, the bass
was v i b r a n t a n d rhythmic, t h e
engine throbbing within James' great
jazz orchestra, while the detailed
brushing of the cymbals was as delicate and glinting a s a stream on a
s u n n y day. The 700SEs outperformed the Quads in dynamic contrasts with a full-bodied and powerful orchestral sound.
On "Cherokee," the hallmark drum
piece, the whole rhythm section
pounds out energy without sacrificing detail - the instruments are
heard each separately and together,
Throughout, the treble is big and
vibrant, providing perfect timbre for
the sizzling and ripping trumpet of
Harry James. In these timeless virtuoso performances by James and
the orchestra that echoed,
responded to and competed with
each soloist, the expressive and dazzling horn seduces, dances, wheedles and pierces the air.
Benny Carter. Opening Blues. With Ben
Webster and Barney Bigard. Prestige
MPP 2513
The 700SE speakers catch t h e
spirit of jazz on this well-recorded
disc. The extraordinarily expressive
saxophone sounded full of breath its reedy tones playing against the
hollow body of the instrument. With
a coherent and liquid tone, the jazz
ensemble's music came across alive,
i t s mellow r i p p l i n g h o r n s a n d
sonorous clarinet set against the
finely brassy beat of the cymbals.
The bass was soft and mellow, providing a resonant sound.
On the Test Bench
Because of their fairly low sensitivity (82.5 dB SPL at 1 meter from a
HIGH PERFORMANCEREVIEW SUMMER 1991
2.8-volt rms pink-noise source), the
Celestion 700SE loudspeakers are
especially well-suited to being driven
by the high-power, low-distortion
amplifiers that are so popular with
serious audiophiles. Since these
speakers are capable of delivering
truly room-filling s o u n d even i n
larger listening rooms, they do call
for at least 100 watts of amplification. We found that a 170-watt solidstate amplifier in a smaller room (14
x 11 feet) in no way overpowered
these small but wonderful speakers.
If you enjoy a big sound in a larger
room, a powerful amplifier would
probably be a good choice, especially
if bass dynamics are important in
y o u r m u s i c a l p r e f e r e n c e s . In a
smaller room, a 100-watt amp would
be quite adequate. If you have the
opportunity, however, audition these
speakers on a truly powerful amplifier like a Krell. You will be amazed
at the exciting sound that will result.
Impedance is quite uniform with
frequency and remains at safe levels
across the spectrum. It dips below 8
ohms only at 20 Hz and around 150
Hz; average impedance is substantially greater t h a n 8 ohms. As a
result, the Celestion 700SEs should
be a relatively easy load for amplifiers to drive.
The on-axis frequency response
with the speakers on their dedicated
stands placed 39" from the wall is
very good from 125 Hz right up to 20
kHz. There is a modest dip in the
2 0 0 to 250 Hz (21.4 to 2 2 . 8 dB)
region that is likely due to a reflection from the floor, and a similarly
shaped peak at about 500 Hz (29.2
dB). As you would expect from a
s m a l l , two-way s p e a k e r , b a s s
response begins to drop off significantly at 50 Hz (17 dB) and falls to
8.4 dB at 25 Hz and 2.6 dB at 20 Hz.
This is nonetheless a n impressive
bass response from a small enclosure speaker, and we found no lack
of bass impact and excitement on
rock music: Dire S t r a i t s '
I
R E V I E.W
Frequency
2d Harmonic
3d Harmonic
Total
31 Hz
40
50
63
80
100
125
160
200
250
315
400
500
630
1000
1600
2500
4000
6300
10000
"Alchemy,"Bruce Springsteen's 'Tunnel qf Love," J o h n Hiatt's "Stolen
Moments" and Rolling Stones' "Sticky
Fingers,," among others. Off-axis
response figures show a peak at 500
Hz a n d a s m o o t h l y d e s c e n d i n g
response below 125 Hz. The overall
figures for on- and off-axis are very
good - q u i t e a c c e p t a b l e for a
speaker of the highest quality.
Near-field analysis of the woofer
shows a response of 14.5 dB at 20
Hz, a gradual increase of response
reaching 30.2 dB at 6 3 Hz and 32
dB a t 80 Hz, and a falloff reaching
24.8 dB at 2000 Hz and 17.4 dB at
2500 Hz. At 3150 Hz, the woofer
response is an insignificant 7.8 dB.
16
The near-field response curve for the
woofer is smooth, showing no peaks
or significant dips. The near-field
tweeter response shows results of 32
dB at 4000 Hz and a surprising 33.3
dB a t 20 kHz.
Harmonic distortion test results for
the SL 700SE speakers are relatively
well-controlled at the SPLs of 8 5 and
90 dB, which are the normal or comfortable listening levels for most people. At the 8 5 dB SPL, representative
second harmonic distortion levels
are ,32196 at 100 Hz, .167% at 250
Hz, .02% at 1000 Hz, .084% at 2500
Hz and .126% at 10 kHz. The third
harmonic r e s u l t s a r e somewhat
higher a t some frequencies: .247%
at 250 Hz, .403% at 1000 Hz and
.117% at 2500 Hz, but this did not
appear a s roughness or any lack of
smoothness in the extensive listening sessions.
At t h e 9 0 dB SPL, t e s t r e s u l t s
showed modestly increased distortion in second and third harmonics
a t some frequencies b u t the only
especially notable i n c r e a s e s
occurred at 50 Hz and below, reaching 9.55% a t 31 Hz. Of course, the
output of these speakers is so low a t
31 Hz that the distortion will not be
noticed under most circumstances.
However. at an extremely loud level,
9 5 dB SPL, distortion does reach
16.3% at 40 Hz and 24.9% a t 31 Hz.
HIGH PERFORMANCE REVIEW SUMMER 1991
CEAESTION
One could say that the SL 700SE
speakers are not intended to play
organ music a t deafening volume.
C l e a r l y t h e a r c h i t e c t s of t h e
Celestion 700SEs have successfully
designed a virtually full-ranged
speaker using only two drivers and a
small, very high-tech cabinet. This is
a profound achievement a n d i t
places this speaker in the highest
class of audiophile components.
Conclusion
Only the best audio equipment can
recapture the life of music with its
t i m b r e , i t s colors a n d r h y t h m s
woven into patterns that inspire,
entertain and enrich us. The
Celestion 700SE loudspeakers offer
m u s i c a l delights t h a t a r e inexhaustible. Achieving transparency
usually only heard on electrostatic
speakers, Celestion has designed a
On-Axis (dB)
02.6
08.4
12.4
13.7
17.0
21.6
22.5
22.8
24.4
25.7
21.4
22.8
24.9
27.8
29.2
25.9
25.0
25.7
27.1
27.0
26.5
24.0
24.2
26.1
26.3
25.9
25.1
26.1
25.0
22.9
26.8
Off-Axis (dB)
03.4
08.5
11.4
13.7
18.0
20.3
22.5
26.2
27.4
27.3
26.4
22.5
23.4
27.0
29.3
25.0
24.3
24.6
25.9
25.7
25.0
22.9
23.7
26.1
25.7
25.4
24.3
24.5
22.5
20.5
23.4
rich, realistic speaker system with
compelling bass, thrilling dynamics
and a superb treble. The 700SEs are
for the serious music lover and their
price is considerably more reasonable t h a n competitively high-end
speakers.
Associated Equipment
Sony 650ES compact disc player,
Arcam Black Box, Carnegie I cartridge, Zeta tone arm, Linn Sondek
12 turntable, Audio Research D- 115
s t e r e o power a m p l i f i e r , Audio
Research SP- 10 preamplifier. Audio
Research cables and interconnects,
Quad ESL 63 loudspeakers.
Test Equipment
AKG CK2 Measurement Capsule
(custom calibrated by AKG) AKG
C45 1 Measurement Preamp. UREI
Model 21 System Preamp. Custom
Designed Digital Noise S o u r c e .
Eventide THS224 Real-Time Analyzer (modified to increase dynamic
range] Apple [I+ Computer. Custom
designed software to accumulate
and average 250%-octave spectra.
General Radio 1 5 6 1-A Precision
Sound Level Meter. General Radio
1560-P5 Sensitivity Microphone.
General Radio 1562-A Sound Level
C a l i b r a t o r . S o u n d Technology
1400A Sine Wave Signal. General
Radio 1450-TB Decade Attenuator.
Schlumberger SM-4100 Frequency
Counter. Modified Dynaco Stereo .
416 & Modified Hafler 500 Power
Amplifiers, Monster Cable Speaker
Cable. HP 3580A Spectrum Analyzer. K i k u s u i 5 5 16ST S t o r a g e
Oscilloscope. UREI Model 200 with
UREI Model 2000 Sine Wave Frequency Response Module C h a r t
Recorder. Fluke 8060A True RMS
Multimeter Measurement Meter.
Techron TEF System 12 Audio Anal y z e r / C o m p u t e r . Bruel & Kjaer
2209 Sound Level Meter. Bruel &
Kjaer 4133%" Laboratory Calibrated
Condenser Microphone. Crown PL-4
I
Power Amplifier. C