The KEF Celeste was the first ultra compact speaker system designed to give true high fidelity performance combined with good sensitivity and high power handling. Its introduction in 1962 revolutionised the whole conception of bookshelf speakers and many thousands of Celestes were sold all over the world - its superb qualities being praised by musicians, enthusiasts and technicians alike.

 

The outstanding features of the Celeste were its very smooth frequency response, transparency and wide treble dispersion, which set it apart from all other speakers of comparable size and price. 

 

Two separate units were used to cover the entire audio frequency range, the B139 bass driver and the T15 tweeter, both of unique design and responsible for the outstanding performance of the system.  The diaphragm of the B139 was formed from expanded polystyrene with aluminium foil laminated to the front and rear surfaces. The T15 tweeter used a hemispherical diaphragm of Melinex to radiate the high frequencies smoothly and with wide dispersion to beyond 20kHz. The two units were integrated at 1kHz with a printed circuit board crossover.

 

The cabinet was finished in hardwood veneer with a choice of American Walnut or Teak, with a coffee fleck Vynair grille made exclusively for KEF by ICI.

 

A mark 2 version was released in 1966 with the latest versions of the B139 and T15 drive units and the system stayed in production until 1972.

 

Specification: K2 Celeste
System type: Two-way, bookshelf
Enclosure type: Closed box
Size: 24 x 15 x 9.5 inches (610 x 381 x 241 mm)
Weight: 48 lb (21.8kg)
Input impedance: 15 ohms
Maximum input power: 15W rms, 30W peak
System resonance: 45Hz
Frequency range: 30-20,000Hz
Input connections: terminals
Drive units: B139 bass unit (Mk1), T15 tweeter (Mk1)