Very clean, accurate sound, especially in bass,.
Imaging
Detail
Accurate timbres
Connectors and crossovers for biwire or biamp if that's your thing
Come with great matching stands
Unique aerolam cabinet
Sound nice with tubes, though remember they need power.
Very Bwiddish

Bass extension not as deep as some cheaper speakers
Inefficient - 82db
Can't play super loud, even with a big amp
Mounted on their stands they will NOT fit gracefully into your living room!
Require a higher quality and more powerful amp than most speakers
Lead filled stands weigh a ton and have sharp spikes (though you can remove them)
Sl -700se and Kingston models might be slightly better versions of the same concept, though opinions vary.
These are hard to find and not cheap despite their age.
Don't make bad recordings sound good.
Lack of factory or aftermarket support - you're relying on ebay. I think the woofer and tweeter match the SL 6 si so you maybe you could swap in one of those if need be.

I bought these used for $1200 from a dealer. They had been traded in by a fellow who was buying Magnepan MG3.5s - I think that's the model - it was 2nd from the top of the Maggie line. I believe the speakers were made until 1992 or 93, when the very similar 700se came out, and then the Kingston, which retained the 2-way configuration but went to an alphacrystal enclosure that always reminded me of a shrimp or something.

The whole Celestion SL line features pretty much the same 6.5 woofer and 1.25 metal dome tweeter. The 600, 600si feature a copper tweeter and a little less bass extension than the SL 6si, SL 700, and SL 700se, which have an aluminum tweeter,.

These were originially $3000 new including their very deluxe stands. They are finished in what I would call battleship gray nextel. So they are not beautiful unless you are into the look of exotic audio gear. They are meant to be used without grill cloths. The 700s sound a bit different from the 700se's. I remember the se's as being just a little sweeter sounding, to my ears.

The efficiency is only 82db so you need a good amp. They weren't meant to play super loud, however, so I think 100wpc is fine, as long as the quality is there. They really sound a lot different with tubes - much bigger and fuller - but with solid state they are still very enjoyable for their precise, detailed, neutral, and spaciious sound. The aerolam cabinets are a large part of what you pay for and they really do make a difference. The absence of cabinet vibration permits a very transparent sound. While the bass doesn't go terribly deep, it is exceptionally tight. I think these are among the best speakers ever for reproducing drums. Bass drums sound really tight. The absence of slush makes them sound deeper and more powerful than you would expect from the frequency range. They can also make clarinets and other woodwinds sound really smooth and woody, which is a surprising effect coming out of a gray metal cabinet! Somehow I expect them to sound metallic, but they really sound like whatever they're reproducing. The inner detail on symphonic music is excellent. To my ears they don't sound at all congested, as is sometimes claimed. But they need good amplification and enough power. Take the trouble to set them up properly and you will really notice a lifelike image, on good material. On the other hand, mediocre recordings sound like what they are. This is a grown-up speaker for serious audiophiles. It is not just another bright sounding small speaker. They are hard to find on the used market, and command a good price. Also, don't expect the Celestion factory to help you out if you blow a woofer, because the company was sold years ago and they don't seem to care a fig about the old customer base for what was a luxury product in its day.

Customer Service

Nonexistent as far as I know. As I said above, you can sometimes find parts on ebay or look for an SL6si which (I think) used same woofer and tweeter. I emailed the company a couple times and never heard back. I think they're over in Asia now, but who knows.

Similar Products Used:

JR-149
B&W CM1
NHT 1.6
EPI 100
NHT Super Zero
Celestion 2-way ribbons

very transparent, smooth, imaging, sound stage is incredible, better than Dynaudio Contour 1.3 SE, Audience, B&W, and Thiel 1.6. Bass very precise and tight.

I wish the bass a little bit deeper.

I have known Celestion for more than 15 years. My first Celestion was SL6S, I acquired when I was still in college. For the last 3 months, after being apart from audio industry for 15 years, I started to be interested again into acquiring a new sound system. Therefore, I started to read and talk to people about stereo system. Finally, I narrowed my selection of monitor loudspeakers that are under 2K into two, B&W and Dynaudio. I went to a dealer carrying these two brands. The first one that I listened was B&W 805, within seconds, I eliminated this one right away. It was annoyingly bright. Music does not sound like that. Then I tried Dynaudio Contour 1.3 and Audience 52, I was hoping that Contour will sound just a little bit better than Audience 52 so that I can live without Contour. It was not the case!! Contour is very smooth and has a very deep bass extension for a small speaker. The price, however, 3.5K. I remember that Celestion has very similar sound as that of Contour 1.3SE. After searching tirelessly, I finally found SL700SE that still sounds and looks good. I have to honestly say that this old 12 year old SL700SE sounds as beautiful as a 3.5K Contour 1.3SE, especially in the imaging and sound stage as well as control. Considering the monies that I spent, I believe I made an excellent decision eventhough the price was kind of high. If you are searching for a pair of monitor speakers, you should try Celestion SL series. The SL6 or SL6Si sound pretty good, but they do not have good control as SL700SE's or SL600's.

Similar Products Used:

Dynaudio Contour 1.3 SE, Audience, B&W, Thiel 1.6, Celestion SL6, SL6S, SL600

Focus, soundstage..

Only 82 db!!

Very goods speaker. In my little room is good the estreme low bass!! The soundstage is fantastic.

They have an acoustically accurate presentation with fine dynamics and quite astonishing realism. These speakers have exceptional bass abilities considering cabinet size and give and they impress down to their lowest note. With the addition of a good subwoofer they become part of a bargain full range audiophile system on many music styles. Midrange is exceptionally revealing and natural.

Not much.. lack of extreme low end. I listen to many styles of music and they play from Radiohead to Drum and bass with equal ability.

A truelly fabulous speaker.

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I've never heard anything quite like them. Hard to put you finger on it really. Better than my B&w 802's and they made my Linn Isobariks sound terible in every respect apart from in the bass region where the Isobariks are true masters of control.

Amazing imaging and soundstaging

In an absolute sense, restricted low frequencies. Given their monitor design, none.

For years I have been a fan of English mini-monitors of the Celestion ilk. Many speakers aspire to do everything right and most of them fall short. The SL6S, SL600 and SL700 get two parts so right that I've always been able to forgive them the third. Their treble and mid-range are so pleasing that I've foregone the low bass. I have tried many subs (Velodyne, Vandersteen, etc) and they all 'slowed' the Celestions down too much.

If female vocals, strings, or natural jazz make you smile, then these have the highest of recommendations.

Take great care of your choice of ancillary equipment. These speakers reward proper choices and really punish innapropriate ones. Excellant stands are a must. I use them clamped to lead-filled Sound Anchors.

For reference, I run them with a Beard Audio Valve amp, Audio Research SP8 (tube), a VPI MKIII w/a SMEV arm/ClearAudio Veritas, and a modified tube Sony ES CD player. Van den Hul interconnects and bi-wires.

Yes, I can keep my Maine home warm through the winter, running this stuff!

They are a little pricey. Worth every single penny, and then some.

Similar Products Used:

Celestion SL6S, Mission 700s, Celestion SL600

Celestion are the best speaker in that range of product.

none

I think that this speaker is very natural with all kind of sources.It is very important to choose a good amplifier, i use it with a Pioneer Cz-Mz and is fantastic.
If the amplifier isn't top of line, the sound is poor and the definition too.
I use this speaker with a single ended 2A3, a single ended EL 34 and 6BM8 Amplifier. Ther'is a good affinity with valve state amplifier. The basses are rich and full,like a speaker of another dimension.
The sondstage is real and great.
The cabinet is very well built.

Similar Products Used:

sl6s, Dl4 ii and other.

I've been listening to my CELESTION SL 700 for six years now. These gems are made of Aerolam, a metal used for aircraft flooring for their rigid yet lightweight advantage. To reduce resonance and diffraction, it has figure-of-8 internal bracing and grooved front panel. The SL 700 are a 2-way design with a 1-inch aluminum tweeter and 6.5-inch Cobex woofer. It sports 82dB/w/m ( ouch!) at 8ohms nominal impedance. Separate internal crossovers are employed so bi-wiring and bi-amping are accomodated.
World renowned for their imaging and dynamics, these gems will also assimilate your listening criteria and priorties to the point that, the effort of finding other comparable full-range loudspeakers is no reward.

I use CEC belt-drive transport, Wadia Decoding Computer and Music Reference RM9 Mk II tube amp (4 EL34/side, 125W/channel) to drive them to insanity. Consistently, I've been told by my salespersons that I had been deeply conditioned by the sound of the CELESTIONS, so much that many excellent loudspeakers will represent a far cry from the CELESTION method and characteristics. I agree with them wholeheartedly.

The sound of the CELESTIONs is relentlessly unlimited dynamics, excellent soundstaging. I used Krell KST-100 with KSL-2 to drive them for 2 years, and found the sound bright and unmusical. Then I changed to Sonic Frontiers SFL-2, SFD-2, and the Music Reference tube amp, then it was transformed into a holographic godzilla. Lately, I replaced the Sonic Frontiers gears with a Wadia 27 going straight into the MR, the dynamics and soundstage remain, and the music sounds more natural and details become richer.

Still, the CELESTIONs are minimonitors, and like Stereophile once said, "almost full-range. Almost."

Now I'm using a single Genesis 12B subwoofer with my CELESTIONs. Very full-range. Anybody want to sell a Genesis 12B subwoofer to make me whole ?

I'm also considering getting the Genesis VI or B&W 801 S3....what about horns ?!

My memory fails me. Going my files, I found the on-axis responseof the SL700SE had a 5 db dip at 15 kHz. Celestion has discontinued
the product; I've seen these speakers at as low as $700/pr in the
second hand market, a bargain.

I bought my SL700 before the "Special Edition" to which I laterupgraded. The bass resonance of the SE measures 2 - 3 db lower.
Free-standing, the SL700SE is flat on axis from about 65 Hz to
over 15 kHz, except for a dip near the cross over region.
Before the SL700, I was using the SL6, which I still keep.
Celestion USA provides excellent customer service. They sent me,
free, first the SL6 manual, then the SL700 retaining nuts, which
I had lost during house moving.

The SL700SE reproduces all instruments truthfully, and excels
particularly in voice and string. It does soften
the string tone and compresses sharp attacks, compared to my B&W801
Matrix. It can also become muddy in loud, complex music. Imaging
is first rate.

It is the best speaker, I will ever know.