If you can find a pair second hand you will be in for a treat. Of all the speakers i have owned only a few come close to the A3's. In the right room with the right components these will really sing. All of the A series are great. I have the A1's and have had the A compacts, never had the chance to own a pair of A2's. I enjoy the sound of the speakers greatly.

I've used these speakers for a number of years, and agree with a lot of the comments already posted.

The speakers were well undervalued when marketed and are now hard to replace with out spending 10K +, anything I've heard below that price point can be described as different rather than better.

The tweeter sound is clear and bright, which is to be expected due to the titanium used in the tweeter construction. It's not an over bright sound though, it just reproduces musical instruments that are up in that frequency range.

The mids are equally as good as the highs too, which is where the largest proportion of musical instruments and the human voice sit. If a speaker can't reproduce well here it's not really a speaker is it.

The bass frequency range is what most people criticise, wrongly, in my opinion. The bass is there if your partnering equipment is up to it, and if the bass is on the recording. It's a bass that is precise and not flabby, so if you want a speaker that adds anything down in this frequency range this isn't going to please you.

When you look at partnering electronics it's obvious that the better the equipment, the better the control on the speaker. I started out with a solid state100w integrated, then added a matching power amp, which gave improved speed, control, dynamics etc. I then added a valve pre and used the integrated as a power amp along with the second power amp. For me this gave a better sound, although it got no more performance from the speakers it did progress my system. I then moved on to 150w valve mono blocks and a matching valve pre. This gave better control again, I then added a second pair of mono blocks, and each time I progressed through the upgrade path I feel that the speakers gave more and the overall sound got better and better.

So, I have a brilliant set of speakers that are now probably giving me everything they can possibly achieve, and to get any better than this it's going to cost some serious cash. I'd now be looking at Revel Ultima Salon 2, B&W 802, KEF Reference 207/2 or something similar, maybe Eggleston Works Andra 111.

Hi there and thanks for dropping by. I have owned a pair of Celestion A3's for over 10 years now and if there is one thing I truly fear..... and that is having to replace them. Let's face it, we've all been guilty of wanting to upgrade or better our system and the musical experience we gain from it all, agreed? However, just out of curiosity, I recently approached a BADA approved dealer whom i have had many years of both solid service and advice, to ask what would I have to spend to BETTER the Celestion A3's. The advisor said the Celestion A series were REFERENCE quality speakers at BELOW Reference type prices. He said that to keep the qualities of the A3's and better them, would mean something along the lines of the KEF 207/2's and they cost a whopping £12,000! In comparison, the A3's at their price peak were about £2,500 and I got a new pair when they were being discontinued for just £1,500.
The A3's benefit greatly from a powerful amp with plenty of drive. They are very power and current hungry, but with beautiful, full and open results. They need plenty of room and are NOT suitable for flats, square rooms or where there is likely to be a complain to the Noise Abatement Society ;-) I think it's a crime what the new owners have done to Celestion as they had the history and heritage going back MANY generations and built their reputation in music studios where only the best survive.

I'm no audiophile, but have been interested in hi quality sound systems, since the early days of home cinema, and total 'sound immersion' starting with simple prologic; having been joined at the hip to my mission 770's and Feeedoms for a very long time (since university in fact), several years ago I saw a pair of A3's in black ash at a small hi fi shop in Nelson UK.

The sheer size took my interest; then a demo blew my socks off, almost literally; and they were priced for 2nd hand sale !!! So I saved up, paid a deposit, saved a bit more, and eventually became the proud owner, borrowed an estate car to get em home, got some friends in to help me move them into position; hooked up em to my trusty YAMAHA RXV 1000 RDS; plugged in my Yamamha CD player CDX 493 (optical) and starting to listen..

The only way I can describe these brilliant units is .. I no longer listen to music, I simply see and feel music; the accuracy in the high ranges enables to to imagine the sound source; make little difference if its a home movie, hi quality CD etc .. and it doesnt really matter about the music style; classical, pop or whatever; when it needs to fast and crisp it is, when it needs to be mellow and warm it is, when it needs to be fierce and hard it is... and it certainly moves volumes of air .. :)

I think I may have got lucky in that the RXV1000 is also very accurate so the combination is simply staggering.

My favourite demo CD track is the Corrs Forgiven not Forgotten, and in particular track-9, Toss the Feathers, its a fast Celtic Instrumental with a really short but powerful drum piece; play it loud; its like a religous experience ...

I will never change these speakers, not ever ... :)

As above

None

Awesome ! One of my best purchases. The sound quality and performance is breathtaking ( price is in pounds BTW ) This is a very high quality loudspeaker that has a very substantial build quality and weight. The speakers are very involving, yet pace/rhythm and dynamic range stand out more than most other speakers. This is not at the expense of clarity and transparency. I preferred the A3s to the B&W 803s and virtually everthing else that I tried in this price range. They are superb on rock / classical / jazz. Once you've positioned them correctly ( I found that they worked best with a little re-enforcement from the back walls, but I've always had this problem in my room with all speakers, so this is probably just my room Five stars no question.

Similar Products Used:

B&W, Kef , Quad, Sonus Faber

Mid bass coverage, weight, balance, taseful grace, moxy(when needed), open sounstage, depth of sound.

None whatsoever at this price.

Have had these two years. An absolutely beautiful speaker, with many unique characteristics, especially considering the price. For what you are getting, nothing, absolutely nothing comes close. I would summarize as follows: -Very, very precise, open, focused tweeter that produces amazing amount of detail. You will need to re-listen to almost everything you have to hear what you have missed. The original review in the now defunct Audio magazine made light of this per one of the test recordings; that the soft rumble of a passing bus was picked up during the record recording. Very revealing, but graceful at the same time, yet not in the sense that inferior hardware/recordings will be unattractively highlighted. Not as open as the Focal TLR, but in this 3 way design the sound is again very distinct and pleasing. Offers at times tunning reproduction of piano keys and female vocal, depending on the source quality. -Mids are very detailed, open and warm with depth. -Drummers take note: with the three 8s, coupled with the 7” midrange, you are getting an enormous, monstrous amount of COVERAGE in the mid bass areas. Kick drum reproduction is phonomenal and very realsitic. This is one of the areas where this speaker is unique and truly shines. So much detail in mid bass which I find is omitted/overlooked by other designs/brands. -Bass is very fast, sweet and at times simply overwhelming. But I find that this is VERY dependant upon the source material. With regards to the bass issue, I find these to be very finicky with rock & roll. For upright bass per jazz material, the lows tend to seem to be a bit deeper with more bouquet. This is the reason I upgraded to a Krell KAV-250a (500w/channel @ 4 ohms) from a 400w/channel Rotel. I find that the Krell is getting everything possible out of these in the bass department, where depending on the recording, I believe that I am getting lows down to 30. But again, especially with rock, it depends on the recording. No chuffing or decadent rumble from the bass sound at any time. No boom. Celestion said that the speakers are mica flaked, which helped prevent distortion and preserve sound quality at high levels. What ever the reason, I found this to be true. -Favorable to all kinds of music: jazz, classical and especially acoustic guitar and female vocal. In some ways, more suited to jazz vs. rock. But again, plays very accurate at high volumes. -Ability to play loud, very, very loud with absolutely no compression or sonic wilt. I agree that for loud rock, these speakers have balls. 300+ watts for Live at Leads or Van Halen is truly a moving, almost religious experience. But, at the same time, great balance, nuance, and subtlety is offered up when listening a -The larger the room, the better. Mine is 20x20 ft. I would love to hear these speakers in a 40x100 ft. room. A room that size would also enhace lows. -Crossovers blend very well, but agree with stereophile about the “suckout” as you move off axis. Overall, the sound is at times forward, and crisp. -Yes, very natural sounding. Have experienced little listening fatigue, even after 3-4 hours. -rated at 89 spl, but I find them harder than that to drive. With my Krell, they begin to bloom at level 3 on volume. -Most amazing thing about these is the huge open, effortless sound. Soundstage is big and roomy, lots of air around instruments. But the biggest thing/difference that I find with the sound of these speakers is the VERTICAL depth in the soundstage. The forward presentation is very layered, very three dimensional. Some speakers have good sound stage, but sound as if all the musicians are standing on a horizontal line that is drawn from one speaker to the other. In this respect, these speakers truly amaze me. -Cabinetry is flawless. Very large flitch of Santos rosewood was used. -Addition of Synergistic Master AC coupler power cord made an improvement to bass focus and level of lows. These are very responsize to quality components. Would love to try Burmeister or Spectron equipment with these. -my setup: Krell KAV-250a, Acurus Rl-11 pre, Nohr tube output CD player, Nordhost Red Dawn interconnects, Synergistic Master AC coupler power cord. IXOS speaker cable. Crying shame that Celestion crapped out and dropped the A series.

Similar Products Used:

PSB, Paradigm, Thiel, Talon, Eggelston, JM Lab, Martin Logan, Vandersteen, and Aerial Acoustics.

Power , clarity and warmth . I get plenty of bass .

At this price ?

Just had the A3s about a year now . What's to add to other reviews here , they are excellent . Having upgraded from A1s I am very pleased . I use them with Pink Triangle Integral and Krell 300CD . Sound . Sound great whether blasting out Zep or getting soulful with Laura Nyro . Nailed a great deal on last of new Rosewood examples . I should say there has been a great improvement on detail , control and punch since I also upgraded from Arcam cd and amp set up .

Similar Products Used:

A1s .

Very smooth sounding thru the whole frequency range. Excellent detail even in the bass & mid-bass region.With the rigth gear (especially the amp) the impact (punch) of these speakers is impressive.Good build quality, very solid for a large box.

For some people with cramped space the size could be a problem. These speakers play better in a large room.

I have owned this pair of A3's for 2 years now. Bought them used but they still looked brand spankin' new and at 2000$ for just under 2 years old. Great deal .I've also changed my whole system ( CD, Amp & pre-Amp) in the last year and because of this what I'm about to write should be of interest to a lot of reviewers such as Mr. Szabo, Bruczkowsi, duke, Lacoste to name a few. So guys here goes. First these speakers will play well even with a good amp of 100W/Ch. But they will do better with a good 200 - 300W/Ch. And again the higher end the amp the better also. But as any informed audiophile knows Watt figures for amps don't mean much. It's the engineering and build quality that counts and the current output that matters (amperage). A Parasound HCA-3500 spec sheet is impressive and the size of the amp also but for driving A3's to their full potential it doesn't cut it. First it doesnt like to drive 4 Ohm nominal load speakers at high volume. I did the test with my previous amp (SIMAUDIO CELESTE 4250 Reference) against a friends HCA-3500. He changed the HA-3500 soon afterwards. Now I drive my A3'S with a LINAR 250 along with it's stablemate preamp (Model 2 ). The sound is awesome. And guys hear ( read ) this; WITH THE RIGHT AMP YOU DON'T NEED A SUBWOOFER. If you find the A3'S lack bass (punch) try another amp. Here are a few that will do the job; LINAR 250, PASS LABS X-150, KRELL KAV 250, MARK LEVINSON # 33 just to name a few. Put the right gear behind the A3's and they will not deceive. In my opinion for the price; one of the best bang for the buck. To beat these you will spend a lot of extra $$$. Associated gear; LINAR 250 Amp LNAR Model 2 Pre KRELL KAV 250 CD Interconnects and Speaker Cable; PRO 1 by conceptor Patrice Albert.

Similar Products Used:

Tannoys, KEF Studio 2, Theil CS 5.3

Octave-to-octave balance. Detail--and the detail extends into the bass. Astonishing.

Slight lack of transparency but only when compared to electrostatic sources.

Actually, I have four (4) A3's in an array at the wide end of a rectangular space. I also have a pair of A1's for ambience and a pair of Sunfire subs for lf extension. MIT wire, re-clocked Elite cd player, Elite front-end, and Spectron digital amp running the A3's and a Sunfire driving the A1's. My comparisons have been with vintage IMF transmission lines, Tannoy Autograph Pro's, and Stax E/S phones. I listen to opera and classical music almost exclusively and I settled on this sytem with the mentioned transducers in mind--a layered presentation with a large wave-front with bottom weight on an orchestra in full flight with SLAM. Did I say SLAM? These speakers have it in a way that I have only previously seen on speakers considerably north of $10,000. Try Shostakovitch, Mahler, or Vaughan-Williams on these. They do need a good amp. I use a Spectron. The only other amps in the running would be Burmester or Lamm. I like these speakers.

Similar Products Used:

Tannoy Autograph Pro's, Tannoy Belvedere Sr's, IMF III, Double Advent, Rectilinear X (6), Rectilinear III (4), Klipschorns, KLH 9

Wonderfully fast, clean, dynamic speaker

Somewhat undernourished bass, does not like too bright amps and sources

This is a follow-up to my original review on those pages. At the time I wrote that what the Celstion A3 needs is a subwoofer, even though it may be hard to believe looking at its impressive array of woofers. Nevertheless, the designers of the A3 have erred a bit on the overdamped side. The bass is very fast, precise, tuneful and the sensitivity very high - the usual price to pay for such choices is the sheer quantity of bass and its extension.

I have tried two subwoofers with the Celestions. First - Paradigm Reference Servo-15. This worked well and I ended up ordering the sub. 10 months later, after Paradigm told me for the Nth time that they have "delays" and they don't know when the subs will ship, I cancelled the order. So much for Paradigm. My next attempt was with M&K and REL, finally I settled on REL Storm III. Here, I hit the jackpot.

The REL subwoofer complements the Celestions beautifully. I don't know if this has something to do with both being made in the same country... but there is a definite synergy, at least in my listening room.

Yes, friends audiophile brothers and sisters: it all depends on the listening room. Don't even try to listen to a subwoofer in a dealer's showroom, it's a waste of time. If you can, get a home demo. If you can't (like myself), read the reviews and hope for the best...

After calibrating the subwoofer cutoff point and level I could enjoy a full-bodied sound from the Celestions that I have been hoping for from day one, and tried to achieve by a variety of other means: cable selection, accessories, etc. I set the RELs to the lowest cutoff point they can produce and, of course, I'm running the Clestions FULL RANGE - their woofer array really does not need any limiting from the bottom of the spectrum, they completely don't mind strong, low-bass signals (it's just that they DON'T REPRODUCE THEM, which is why you need a subwoofer).

It's amazing how much WARMTH can a good sub add to speakers like Celestions. They A3s are still fast, fast, fast, but now they are no longer clinically cold to boot. I love this new combination. I'd give the Celstions 5 stars if mated to a good subwoofer. As it is, I'll have to keep my rating of 4.

Best Regards,

Martin Bruczkowski