Raven Audio Celest’ First Impressions

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by dgcurtis36, Feb 13, 2020.

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  1. dgcurtis36

    dgcurtis36 Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Sun Lakes,AZ
    I recently purchased a pair of Raven Audio’s amazing Celest’ Tower Speakers to go along with my Blackhawk MK3 Tube amp. I have had the speakers for a little over a week, and the Blackhawk since mid November. I wanted to let the speakers break in for awhile so I could have a better idea how they would ultimately sound before writing down my impressions of them. I believe I have around 100 hours on them now and they have opened up significantly, though per Dave Thomson they will continue to loosen up and become even more real sounding over the next 700-900 hours.

    When I first heard the Blackhawk I was struck by how clear, detailed and musical it sounded right out of the box, and how easily it drove my 86db speakers, especially given its 20 watt power rating.

    One of the first things I noticed was how, to my surprise, I was suddenly hearing lyrics that with prior amps just seemed to get lost in the noise. This phenomenon has taken another leap with the Celest’ speakers, which are incredibly transparent and accurate in their own right. The result of this greater clarity of the lyrics has really added to my enjoyment of the music I listen to, and is something that I would not want to live without now that I have experienced it.

    At the same time, it is not the charity of the lyrics that caused me to want to share what I have been experiencing with the Celest’s, it is the incredible music I hear coming out of them. Not being exactly sure where to start I will just list various elements of the sound that stand out to me, in no particular order, knowing that I will not be able to adequately convey how special these speakers are.

    Bass - The base is powerful, dynamic, accurate and responsive. It just seems to want to jump out from the speakers when called upon. The bass also has tremendous depth and slam.

    Tonality - The instruments sound more real than anything I have heard in my home before. This is one of those things I have a hard time putting in words, but the depth and richness of the sound is just wonderful and has to be experienced to truly appreciate.

    Percussion - The various drums have amazing depth, dynamics and accuracy. The cymbals are clear and open. Even the triangle I heard in one song was crystal clear.

    Soundstage and imaging - The soundstage is both wide and deep in my room. In fact it is the deepest I have experienced.

    Detail, accuracy and transparency - These speakers are very revealing, and especially in combination with the Blackhawk, really excel in this regard. The background is black and the instruments are alive and separated from each other.

    Overall impression - I haven’t listened to every genre. Mostly a singer songwriter type, so can’t comment on classical, R&B, jazz (other than Diana Krall), country etc. However I have listened to some classic rock and other dynamic music and it all sounds good to me. Much of the music I listen to I have listened to for years and not only does it all sound better than I have heard it before, I am hearing new details and even instruments that I haven’t heard before, and that alone has made it worth the investment.

    Greg
     
  2. dcurtis71

    dcurtis71 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Spokane Valley, WA
    Couldn't agree more, the CeLest ,Black Hawk combination is just amazing. Having had numerous high end systems I can honestly say I've never purchased any equipment that was near this good at anywhere close to the price! Chris Jones Automobiles and Roadhouses album sounds truly amazing with the CeLest!!
     
  3. Clay B

    Clay B Forum Resident

    Fascinating. What do you think the chances are that we would receive two very complimentary reviews of the same speaker from respectively, Curtis (dg36) and Curtis(d71).

    Enjoy.
     
    hi_watt likes this.
  4. dgcurtis36

    dgcurtis36 Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Sun Lakes,AZ
    Brothers. One in Spokane and one in Phoenix, with very similar experiences. Hopefully the fact that we are brothers doesn’t invalidate our opinions. Neither of us would write something we didn’t believe.
     
  5. dcurtis71

    dcurtis71 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Spokane Valley, WA
    dg36 is my brother sorry for any confusion that having two posts from a Curtis may have caused. I bought the CeLest about 3 weeks before he got his. We live in different states so I shared my thoughts about the CeLest and the Black Hawk with him before he decided to buy them .Now we are able to share our mutual excitement with the Black Hawk and CeLest albeit from a distance!I love the combination of the two and from his review he obviously feels the same. The objective of the posts is to express the joy we have with the new additions to our respective systems and the desire to share the knowledge of these fine products. When I come across something like the CeLest and the Black Hawk it's nice to share with people, also I would like to add that the customer service we experienced from the guys at Raven Audio was about as good as it gets. Hopefully this will bring some clarity for you Clay sorry if you thought there may be something shady going on I'm a 72 year old man and he is 69 not much time for playing games or being dishonest:)
     
    Last edited: Feb 13, 2020
  6. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    you guys need avatars so we will know for sure:)
    that and pics of your systems!
     
    hi_watt likes this.
  7. dgcurtis36

    dgcurtis36 Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Sun Lakes,AZ
    I would post a pic but am not sure how. New to this forum.
     
  8. dcurtis71

    dcurtis71 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Spokane Valley, WA
    Thanks Avanti didn't have a clue how to do that but walla!! I got lucky and found out how thanks to you mentioning the avatar, thanks
     
  9. Guildx500

    Guildx500 Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    The listed specs on the Raven website do not match their picture of the speaker. Spec says one tweeter one woofer but there certainly appears to be two woofers.
     
  10. dgcurtis36

    dgcurtis36 Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Sun Lakes,AZ
    You are correct about the specs. Per Raven the Celest’ speakers are 2.5 way, meaning tweeter, full range woofer and bass woofer. They are in the process of reviewing their product pages for omissions and errors. I will alert them to this one and appreciate you pointing that out.
     
  11. Clay B

    Clay B Forum Resident

    LOL. Not shady, in fact a nice review leading me to look them up. But I could not resist checking my intuition.

    Cheers
     
  12. dcurtis71

    dcurtis71 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Spokane Valley, WA
    I'm with you Clay probably would have checked on it myself. Glad to hear that you looked into the Raven line they have some pretty good videos out on youtube that you may find interesting.
     
    Joe Spivey likes this.
  13. Joe Spivey

    Joe Spivey Forum Resident

    Happy Raven Audio Osprey owner here... I'm been interested in their line of speakers since they were announced. I missed Axpona show here in Chicago last year but hope to make it this year. Hopefully they'll be showing their gear again this year.
     
    dcurtis71 likes this.
  14. JoeyGA

    JoeyGA Active Member

    Location:
    30277
    Gents I have the same setup as the brothers and love how the system sounds. Being new to tube amps and using SS receivers with 40 year old speakers I felt it was past time to "modernize". Took a giant leap of faith with Raven and am extremely satisfied with the result! Raven is a class act, very niceAmerican made products!
     
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