These are the 4-8ohm version and uses the small magnet HF1300. From what I can figure out they are the second version (MkII) with the fabric grill cloth. However, I am not entirely certain.
I truly believe that speaker technology have come a long way since the 1950/60/70/80 and that each generations of speakers comes with improvement, especially with materials and engineering. However, that does not dissuade vintage speakers by any means. If they sounded good back in the day, they probably still sound nice today.
Over the past couple of years and transitioning from a house to condo living, I've begun to appreciate bookshelf speakers more. As well, not everyone wants a big or bigger set of speakers. While I've always kept my Bozak MB-80s and I do have a set of modern "stand mount" speakers, I still like to experience vintage bookshelf speakers.
The difference between the more vintage bookshelf and the more modern bookshelf or stand-mount speakers are, at least the way I know it, is how they are designed. Stand mount speakers are like how they're sound, they were designed to be on speaker stands. While, bookshelf tend to be used in bookshelves and may used the enclosed space to help with bass reinforcement.
I don't have a bookshelf so I use the Celestion on a pair of speaker stands.
It's been a very long time since I've heard a Celestion and I can't remember how the HF1300 sounded, though I knew about the 15k Hz roll off. So, when I went to audition them, I was pleasantly surprised. Yeah, the top end doesn't have the nice airiness or the upper harmonics but, everything else was solid. I was taken aback by how nice they sounded.
The frequency response is something like 45 Hz to 15k Hz. Bass was nice, they do go a bit lower than the Bozak and has a very nice midrange. Even being critical, it's hard to fault the Celestion. They are a fun pair of speakers that make music enjoyable. They are also fairly efficient for an acoustic sealed cabinet. I like them.
Inside there is a metal post/rob that houses the crossover, a single 12uf electrolytic and two inductors. The cabinet is braced and lined. The woofer is a 6" long throw woofer with an aluminum cast frame. I think the veneer is mahogany (?).
Dimensions: 12.75" x 8.25" x 6.75". Not small but, not large either. I think the biggest selling point is the retro design. They do look cool! They would look pretty nice in a bookshelf too.
Overall, they were in fair-good shape. They did have some nicks and scratches. One speaker is in better condition than the other, the other has some chipping of the corners. A good coat of oil helped hide the smaller imperfections. I think they look 100% better than before.
