Great vids. I really like the vinyl wrap (in a kitsch, 70s way). Looks very cool! I had a pair of 44s, pretty much intact. Got them for £35 about 15 years ago. I was well ahead of the curve. Sold them for 200, ha (behind the curve). Lovely speakers.
Okay Matt, I am going to add my comment. First, I really respect and enjoyed watching your skill and craftsmanship as you tackle this project. I have one observation - not that it really matters of course- but, I think you missed the boat by covering the speakers with vinyl. I think you're a little too concerned about some of the spots on the veneer. After you had sanded everything and had it prepped, the fact that there remained some stains or imperfections after years of use just adds to the patina of the older speaker. Similar to the way many car collectors are finding that they like the patina of the original paint that a car that's been stored for years may have. There's a certain elegance about it. I also don't think in any way it would have reflected poorly on your workmanship had you elected to seal the veneer once you had sanded it down as much as possible. Obviously this is a personal thing it won't have any impact on the sound of the speaker but I just make this observation. Believe me if I had your skill I would do it the way I wanted as well and I appreciate it's always easy to sit back and criticize so I don't mean this as a criticism just an observation I really enjoyed the video and I'll watch for the next one.
Hi. Really appreciate the comments and I completely get where you are coming from. It was a difficult call to take the route I have. I've refurbished so many pairs of these in the last few years and they have all been sanded back and oiled. I think this time I wanted to do something different and as they are mine though I'd try it out. A few people have said if I'm going to do this then I might as well build my own cabinets. That is something I my do in the future. Appreciate your comments. Its all constructive and good to hear. Next video should be up soon. Cheers. Matt
Nice work Matt, great job on the wrap, looks great. One thought, I have had success getting black or water stains out of veneer with Oxalic acid. I had something similar with a pair of Kef Conertos. Cheers.
Thanks John. Your right there are a few ways of getting the stains out or bleaching them. Unfortunately in this case it was all to far gone and I really wanted a good finish. The vinyl wrap also has the bonus of making the cabinet virtually air tight 👌
Hm... For the Baffle: I had a pair of JBLs with deteriorated foam on the Baffle. They had glued a thin layer of foam on the front to reduce the diffraction, and as we know this stuff turns to nasty glueing stuff with the years. Unbearable to get it off the front, but I must do it! So, after I removed this nasty old foam, I took a self-adhesive thin felt and put on a layer on the front. It looks good, and it serves well to reduce diffraction! Anyway, I think, it would have been better than the glossy stuff you put on your celestions! But, have you ever thought about such a solution?
If you watch some of my other videos you will see that I use felt to cover the baffles for the reasons you mentioned. It works really well on smaller speakers and creates the gasket for the drivers to. I built a few pairs of 2 ways with rear mounted woofers where the felt rolls into the back again forming the gasket. However felt does have its down sides I've found. It can reduce baffle gain which reduces bass. I built a big pair of 2.5way speakers using old Export Monitor cabinets and it played havoc with baffle step loss. I get the gloss finish on these 44s won't be to everyone's liking. However the young couple who brought these from me loved them. Sold for really good money to 🤩
@@haycrossaudio5474 If the customers liked the glossy surface, it´s OK. Who am I to discuss personal taste lol... But, the main reason I like felt isn´t just Baffle gain, but the smooth surface. Glossy stuff brings every little imperfection to light... and that´s something I cannot stand in my workpieces...
Many thanks. I do sell my own refurbs from time to time. As well as my client work I do love my own projects and building one offs. Mine normally end up on ebay. These unique 44s ended up with a young couple from Wales
By the way: The Baffle is really thin at the celestions. Wouldn´t it be an idea to put on a second layer of, let's say, 12mm MDF, to strengthen the material? As they are now, the baffle must vibrate a lot when playing louder than room temperature lol... And you have a nice smooth surface too with the new MDF baffle...The vinyl wrap looks really good! But, as usual, the thick vinyl always makes round edges...lol. It doesn´t matter, and only people who work with vinyl themselves recognize this when they see it. Anyway, it is a sign of high-quality vinyl!
No just worked with the original cabinets and baffles. It was a long time ago now. I think I added some bracing inside but can't remember without watching these again lol. Bracing pushes cabinet resonance higher up the frequency range so you have to be careful. Sometimes deadening is better
@@haycrossaudio5474 OK, I never had celestions on my workbench, so I can´t say something about the cabinets. But my JBL 4341 Clones I built are more massive than the originals. 25mm Cabinet material + 6cm Hemp-Insulation+1,5mm Acoustic fleece. And heavy bracing too, certainly lol. These Cabinets are totally dead! Like the Dead Sea in Israel. I have a Turntable standing on them, and with full power, not the slightest disturbance of the cartridge appears. I am just a fan of dead cabinets. I even build bookshelf speakers with 25mm Material. For one of my next speakers, I am thinking about a compound baffle of 19mm MDF + 3mm Bitumen + 19mm Particleboard. The sides and Back I want to build similar, but slightly thinner. 16mm+3+16mm... AND: I also like speakers Built with 22mm Particleboard and then an additional sheet of 19mm Massive wood. Like Bamboo or Acacia Sidepieces. The Back just in 22mm again. By the way: Particle Board is the better material than MDF. 16, 19, and 22mm Particle Board is made in 3 Layers. Surface layer, then a lighter-filled middle Layer, and then the second surface layer again. This has better damping characteristics than MDF, which is totally homogen.
Great vids. I really like the vinyl wrap (in a kitsch, 70s way). Looks very cool! I had a pair of 44s, pretty much intact. Got them for £35 about 15 years ago. I was well ahead of the curve. Sold them for 200, ha (behind the curve). Lovely speakers.
Okay Matt, I am going to add my comment. First, I really respect and enjoyed watching your skill and craftsmanship as you tackle this project.
I have one observation - not that it really matters of course- but, I think you missed the boat by covering the speakers with vinyl. I think you're a little too concerned about some of the spots on the veneer. After you had sanded everything and had it prepped, the fact that there remained some stains or imperfections after years of use just adds to the patina of the older speaker. Similar to the way many car collectors are finding that they like the patina of the original paint that a car that's been stored for years may have. There's a certain elegance about it. I also don't think in any way it would have reflected poorly on your workmanship had you elected to seal the veneer once you had sanded it down as much as possible. Obviously this is a personal thing it won't have any impact on the sound of the speaker but I just make this observation. Believe me if I had your skill I would do it the way I wanted as well and I appreciate it's always easy to sit back and criticize so I don't mean this as a criticism just an observation I really enjoyed the video and I'll watch for the next one.
Hi. Really appreciate the comments and I completely get where you are coming from. It was a difficult call to take the route I have. I've refurbished so many pairs of these in the last few years and they have all been sanded back and oiled. I think this time I wanted to do something different and as they are mine though I'd try it out. A few people have said if I'm going to do this then I might as well build my own cabinets. That is something I my do in the future. Appreciate your comments. Its all constructive and good to hear. Next video should be up soon. Cheers. Matt
Excellent work as usual Matt.👍. These 44s certainly looks like classic BC 1s especially with the grilles on.
I like the Velcro ‘edge.’ Looks good and may help sound.
The full edge is a cleaner look and the bracing on those baffles is a great improvement.
Nice work Matt, great job on the wrap, looks great. One thought, I have had success getting black or water stains out of veneer with Oxalic acid. I had something similar with a pair of Kef Conertos. Cheers.
Thanks John. Your right there are a few ways of getting the stains out or bleaching them. Unfortunately in this case it was all to far gone and I really wanted a good finish. The vinyl wrap also has the bonus of making the cabinet virtually air tight 👌
would have loved to gave been the lucky customer to have purchased them...Are your new H38 going to sound as good or better than these?
Hm... For the Baffle: I had a pair of JBLs with deteriorated foam on the Baffle. They had glued a thin layer of foam on the front to reduce the diffraction, and as we know this stuff turns to nasty glueing stuff with the years. Unbearable to get it off the front, but I must do it! So, after I removed this nasty old foam, I took a self-adhesive thin felt and put on a layer on the front. It looks good, and it serves well to reduce diffraction! Anyway, I think, it would have been better than the glossy stuff you put on your celestions! But, have you ever thought about such a solution?
If you watch some of my other videos you will see that I use felt to cover the baffles for the reasons you mentioned. It works really well on smaller speakers and creates the gasket for the drivers to. I built a few pairs of 2 ways with rear mounted woofers where the felt rolls into the back again forming the gasket. However felt does have its down sides I've found. It can reduce baffle gain which reduces bass. I built a big pair of 2.5way speakers using old Export Monitor cabinets and it played havoc with baffle step loss. I get the gloss finish on these 44s won't be to everyone's liking. However the young couple who brought these from me loved them. Sold for really good money to 🤩
@@haycrossaudio5474 If the customers liked the glossy surface, it´s OK. Who am I to discuss personal taste lol... But, the main reason I like felt isn´t just Baffle gain, but the smooth surface. Glossy stuff brings every little imperfection to light... and that´s something I cannot stand in my workpieces...
absolutely gorgeous and I'm sure they sound beautiful... do you sell products that you refurbish?
Many thanks. I do sell my own refurbs from time to time. As well as my client work I do love my own projects and building one offs. Mine normally end up on ebay. These unique 44s ended up with a young couple from Wales
Ever compare the 441a with the 442? Is there much difference?
By the way: The Baffle is really thin at the celestions. Wouldn´t it be an idea to put on a second layer of, let's say, 12mm MDF, to strengthen the material? As they are now, the baffle must vibrate a lot when playing louder than room temperature lol... And you have a nice smooth surface too with the new MDF baffle...The vinyl wrap looks really good! But, as usual, the thick vinyl always makes round edges...lol. It doesn´t matter, and only people who work with vinyl themselves recognize this when they see it. Anyway, it is a sign of high-quality vinyl!
No just worked with the original cabinets and baffles. It was a long time ago now. I think I added some bracing inside but can't remember without watching these again lol. Bracing pushes cabinet resonance higher up the frequency range so you have to be careful. Sometimes deadening is better
@@haycrossaudio5474 OK, I never had celestions on my workbench, so I can´t say something about the cabinets. But my JBL 4341 Clones I built are more massive than the originals. 25mm Cabinet material + 6cm Hemp-Insulation+1,5mm Acoustic fleece. And heavy bracing too, certainly lol.
These Cabinets are totally dead! Like the Dead Sea in Israel. I have a Turntable standing on them, and with full power, not the slightest disturbance of the cartridge appears. I am just a fan of dead cabinets. I even build bookshelf speakers with 25mm Material.
For one of my next speakers, I am thinking about a compound baffle of 19mm MDF + 3mm Bitumen + 19mm Particleboard. The sides and Back I want to build similar, but slightly thinner. 16mm+3+16mm...
AND: I also like speakers Built with 22mm Particleboard and then an additional sheet of 19mm Massive wood. Like Bamboo or Acacia Sidepieces. The Back just in 22mm again. By the way: Particle Board is the better material than MDF.
16, 19, and 22mm Particle Board is made in 3 Layers. Surface layer, then a lighter-filled middle Layer, and then the second surface layer again. This has better damping characteristics than MDF, which is totally homogen.
Nice 👍 Celestion Ditton 441a 😉
Loving that model number 😍
Can you tell me the cleaning agent and solvent softener for the speakers? where can i buy them?
Thank you so much
May I ask where you sourced your speaker stands?
I used to make them. Sold loads for the 44 and others but it just wasn't cost effective to continue
@@haycrossaudio5474 would you perhaps do a bespoke order? 1 off? I can't find any anywhere and would be happy to pay so you make a profit