Ditton 44s

[alnewall]

I was given a pair of Ditton 44s with one blown tweeter. The sheer weight of these made me think they were decent speakers and i had to try them out.

What puzzles me is the bass drivers. Both apparently work fine, but one has a stiff cone movement while the other is quite compliant. They look original and untampered with, so why would this be?
Nearly forgot to mention that i have a vintage pair of Sansui speakers with exactly the same characteristics.

[Richard]

Hi Al, Back then (late 70's) a friend had the 66's. Not sure about the 44's but am fairly sure the 66's were one active bass unit and 1 passive "auxilliary bass radiator" per cab. I imagine they will have different compliances. Is that what you mean or has one cab got a stiffer driver compared with the other?

[john & Jake the dog]

hi Al,
are these they,
If so one cab might not be airtight.
celestion%20ditton%2044%20loudspeakers.jpg

Interesting link as well
http://www.saturn-sound.com/history/...%20section.htm

[dave dove]

what fun

i think the tweeters were the same throughout the range
if so i may have a spare in the loft
my boy uses some 44s in his room
it does sound like there is a hole
maybe someone had the tweeter out
messed about and didn't bother to seal it again

dave

[Richard]

Ah, sorry, no abr, so cab airleak or off centre voice coil seem possible.
66's had the abr but unlike the kef ones it looks different so you'd have spotted that

[alnewall]

Aha, John has found a picture of them.
Leaking air, why didn't i think of that.
Because i'm not used to sealed cabinets, thats why.
There is indeed air being forced out around the dodgy tweeter which isn't properly seated. Surprised it makes so much difference. Thanks Richard.

Dave, if you do come across a tweeter it would be nice to hear these as they were meant to sound. But don't go to any trouble because i'm not sure if i'll keep them for long. The cabs are quite tatty but not too far gone.

I've had a brief listen, albeit with one tweeter and was quite taken with them. I might try some spare Morel tweeters just out of interest.
Thanks all.