Stand Loudspeaker Reviews

These babies were true imaging champs.

The Hi Fi store demo speaker of a lifetime.

I am sure this was used almost universally....I am pretty sure it was this album...that Flim & the BB's track with a bicycle coming toward the listener on one side, then turning in front of the listener, and then proceeding away in the other channel.

It was pretty uncanny.

Thanks for the splendid memory.

And it positively oozed the audiophile look!

I still lust after them...I wonder they would hold up today?

I read ( in the early 1980s ) about your experiences with these Celestian SL6 and bought a pallet full. I sold them thru a Classified Ad. in the back pages of Audio Magazine. I ( B&K ) Imports, probably sold over a couple hundred pair, ( all that I could buy from regional distributors in the UK ).

Interestingly, I didn't like them as much as the ProAc but they did compare quite favorably to our regular Saturday Audiophile Comparison group meetings where all the Smaller Loudspeakers were compared: LS3/5a, Linn Kann, Spica TC-50, Quad ESL63, SL6 & SL600, the still outstanding ProAc Tablette original, along with everything else we would toss into the mix. VPI Player, Sumiko Arm, Koetsu, Electrocompaniet, Audible Illusion, Conrad-Johnson Electronics, Monster & MIT-750 cabling.

I miss the camaraderie of those wonderful days of exploration.

and I miss the John Atkinson Editor of HFN&RR.

Tony in Venice

I was working at a big box retailer in the late 80s and got these at cost - $650 was a lot to a poor college kid. They sounded great but were hard to drive loud. I enjoyed the heck out of them, and managed to get a pair of SL600s which were even harder to drive.

32 years later and I’m still enjoying high end gear. I do miss the many SPhile writers who have left us too soon.

Amazing connection yesterday as since the 1970's and early 1980's I have used the Audio Research SP3a (pre-amp) and D70 (amp) with an original and similarly old Martin Logan speaker. But, in my piano playing room, I listened to my own (high amateur) and professional recordings with the Celestion 6s, that I had bought when new, and was played with a good but not great NAD and/or Rotel electronics. The Celestion 6s sounded good but not great in several ways as it was only a few inches away from a back wall. My Martin Logans had broken down a few weeks ago. The Celestion 6s was moved to work with Audio Research to be used until I ordered a Martin Logan replacement. I thought I would order Magnepan, but more and more I began to like the Celestion 6s at a high level (it not only had come off the wall in my piano room but now were about 5 feet from a wall in a 17 x 21 room and were working with great tube pre-amp and amp). I think I will order a KEF 350 or something that can go in either room because I may continue to use the Celestion 6s with the audio research amp and pre-amp (I mainly listen to cd and old records of classical piano but do listen to most classical music, some jazz, and some old rock music). Now the Celestion 6s produces music with emotional appeal. What a coincidence to be deciding this about a speaker I bought decades ago and get to be influenced now by an old Stereophile article (which I probably read back then!).

I bought a pair of these in 1988 when I lived in England. I paired them with an Exposure X (ten) amplifier and loved the sound. It was my first "hi-fi" setup and I think cost about 1,000 pounds altogether.

I still have the speakers and amp though I haven't listened to them in many years. I remember writing a letter to Exposure asking them how to convert the amp to 110V. They responded - also by letter!

... could instead have opted for the Spendor BC-1 or SP-1.
Or, the under $1,000 box speaker I preferred, at that time, which was the ADS L880/2.

after a brief experience with the original SL6, I lived with the SL600 for many years in the 80s. And I believe we were both using the Audio Research SP10 preamp and D250-II amp (250 watts of tube power). I have moved on to various setups, some very expensive, but that SL600-based system was the most musically satisfying I have ever owned. All the small Celestions required a lot of power, but the Aerolam cabinet of the SL600 was magic. I've often wondered why no subsequent speakers from any company have used that material.

Bought a pair in Hong Hong when it first came out. That was like 33 years ago. I still remember the Taxi driver warned me with the SL6s speaker stand. He goes "Make sure your stand don't scratch or damage my seat LOL.

Here is the latest picture of my SL6s along with the Wharfedale EVO 4.4
https://ibb.co/L684HyX

We used to sell the Celestions at our HiFi store but they never did it for me.Hard to drive and the sounded compressed. I prefered the Spendor BC1 and SP1's as I recall for stand mount speakers. Just IMHO :)

These belong in any list of "Hall Of Fame" speakers. Truly classics.

The review is of the SL6S (aluminium tweeter 1987) but the pictures show the SL6 (copper tweeter 1982). ????