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After spending two weeks with high-passed Celestion SL-600 reinforced with external LF section I would like to make some observations. I had a single SL-600 monitor (I always tend to use one for assessment purpose) on it’s original stands in the very middle of my room. The monitor was reinforced with a pair of LF line array on right and left. The monitor and the LF sections were more or less OK integrated (not perfect but survivable), set to be in phase with Celestion woofers. I did not do any measurements as I did not practically cared. The sound was generally very acceptable. Was it be the same as I was getting from the full-scale Macondo Acoustic System? Absolutely not! Macondo has very different presentation and deliver very different drama of presentation. However, the SL600  + all my additions did very good from a perspective of ordinary Hi-Fi. Do you remember how 50K-70K loudspeakers sounded in the rooms of your dealer or at your favorite room of any recent high-end show? The SL600 did more interesting in my room – more “accurate” and with no major sonic “mistakes”. It was perhaps to enough to say that it was as good as I expected but quite reasonable and acceptable for a second system. I have to tell you that I did not mean to put it as “ultimate monitor” as I have a well performing loudspeakers and I do not need two systems. However, the SL600++ might bean excellent low-maintenance “summer speakers” or the speakers that I can run while I am working (that is actually more complicated).

So, I was quite happy with result and I decided to put them at the location where I meant them to sit: to strap them to “fundamental channel” stand. The sunny part that in there the Celestion SL-600 turned into an absolutely unspeakable crap. I can’t believe how bad it was!!! I made some further experiments with them and surmised that they are phenomenally sensitive to everything. The listening distance is very important. If they sit a little too far then I have no HF, if they sit too close then I need to cross them very high, almost at 150Hz. If the SL-600 sit at the location where lower and upper boundary are too close (too tall stands) then the SL600’s woofer couldn’t be crossed at all and can run full range: it sounds very clan and with no distortions at all. However in this case the HF driver dose something astonishing. It begins to sound like you scratch a frying pen with knife with distortions that probably might be over 80%.  I never heard in my life: the “fundamental channel” stand could be moved up and down with a second and the sound of the SL600++ changes from very clean and accurate to absolutely faulty just my moving the speaker with 2 feet vertically.

Rgs,
Romy the Cat

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