Do any of you fine people know anything about these speakers? I've just acquired a pair off a friend but am not very sure what they're about. I do know they're relatively large beasts and were once the top of the 'Classic' range of Castle speakers but nowt much else. Google's thrown up very little information sadly - a reasonable amount on the S3 but nothing on the 2.

Thanks for any info.

A fine loudspeaker!!

Only bettered by the earlier versions,but better than s3 varients,do make sure all the drive units are "nipped up" and the plinths are nice and tight,driven by the right equipment you will get many years of enjoyment!!

Regards

Steve

Many thanks Steve - that sounds most encouraging. A mate of mine was having a clear-out and just said 'did I want them'. Something about mouths and horses' gifts or something sprung to mind. :D

They need new grilles apparently but are otherwise in vgc. If I end up selling them we'll just split the sale price between us.

As a slight aside: I'm still saddened at the folding of Castle Acoustics. :(

Sorry nearly forgot - when you say 'right equipment' what would that be? I've my big Exposures or the little old Sugden A21 (which is currently in use and sounding sweet-as) to have a play with.

Castles are lovely, currently running Durham900s on the end of a XV in the lounge, the lack of components in the crossover (two inductors and two caps) gives an eery direct realism thing, very fresh!

I think you'll like the Castle sound.

Both your amps will work,the transparency and sweetness from the little sugden v the grunt and grip from those exposures,my bet is that for jazz/classical/easy listening the sugden but owt else the exposures!!

Have a listen and let us know!!!

I have had a pair of Castle Avon floorstanders for a few years now and have been really pleased - at the moment on the end of LP12/AAA5, Avondaled NAC32.5 & A260Z/APX2T - sounds pretty good BUT....I have always fancied moving up to Harlechs or Howards!!! So if you don't get on with the Howards let me know and I might make you an offer (cherry finish preferred!) - interested to hear how you get on with them anyway of course, good luck.

Cheers

Anthony

Thanks for the input guys - looking forward to hearing them. Will report back when they're up and running :)

Only downside is that I'm fairly sure they'll be a tad bass-heavy in my room, although that'll be where the Sugden's tone controls will come in handy ;)

Anthony - these are in a yew finish unfortunately. I'm guessing at the moment that if I don't get on with them my dad may have them. Once my mum sees the yew finish (all their furniture is mostly antique/yew etc) she'll fall for them.

... these are in a yew finish unfortunately.

Not unfortunate at all, as you will no doubt discover when they arrive. I had a pair of Series 3s in yew & they were simply exquisite to behold.

The main reason that I sold them was ....

... I'm fairly sure they'll be a tad bass-heavy in my room ...

... that they were in my room too.

bass heavy...
... that they were in my room too.

I've managed to 'doctor' my Quads (which were very bass bloaty and slow) so they now sound quite tight - the Castles could be an altogether trickier proposition though due to the down-firing port.

If the design of the Series 2s is the same as my Series 3s, you could try reducing the gap between the speaker cabinet & the base plinth (through which the bass port exhausts) by replacing the supplied spacers with thinner washers.

The effect should be similar to stuffing old socks etc. in the rear firing ports of other designs, but without the unpleasant smell .... ;)

The effect should be similar to stuffing old socks etc. in the rear firing ports of other designs, but without the unpleasant smell .... ;)

:D

I'm probably going to get some large bits of sponge and rest the speaker on it before bolting it to the plinth.

We'll see how it goes when I pick them up either tomorrow or monday.

Putting sponge (natural, dolphin-friendly, eco this and that type) in the Quads' rear ports has helped hugely. The bloat has totally gone, to be replaced by bass which whilst still 'there' is but much quicker and tighter. To my pleasant surprise it hasn't removed body from vocals and wind instruments either.

Got the Howards home - it was fun & games getting them down from my mate's loft; they're a bit big.

Anyway, got them home - the grilles could do with re-covering and the speaker cabs have the odd little scratch here and there. They're actually the original Howards as it turns out.

Connected them up - they sound quite sweet albeit bass-heavy (nothing which can't be cured by a bit of bass cut on the A21), although one big problem: One of the upward-firing drive units ist kaput. Tried to remove the offending driver but it's nigh on impossible to prise it out of the cabinet, and I didn't want to damage the wood surround. Eventually got it out though by pushing from the underside once the terminal panel's removed. Had a fiddle with the connections and there's no life in the driver at all.

There's a chance we may sell them on for a stupid-cheap price anyway to anyone who could fix them up, they really are way too big for my room althoug they do look quite handsome. Not sure if the drivers are still available though, being as Castle are no longer with us. Anyone have any further knowledge on the availability of spare bits? Thanks for any help.

I got a refurbished driver for about £40 about 6 months ago for my Harlech's, but now that Castle are no longer operational you may not be as lucky. Have you tried calling them? You never know.....

My Harlech's are bassy but the bass is never slow or ponderous, it's just that it doesn't suffer from a lack of depth that other speakers I have had do.

Mind you, they are being fed from an NVA A60 which has massive amounts of grip. They also sounded excellent when fed from my Exposure VIII

Hi DF - Castle's phone number is now kaput unfortunately. :(

I have been in touch with Wilmslow Audio who are currently dismantling a pair of original Howards to ascertain what driver equivalents they stock which would be suitable replacements. Seems I'm also not the only one with upward-drvier failure as they'd had another call the same day regarding the same matter.

I am (or was) driving mine with a IV Dual-reg Exposure which even with the duff driver sounded rather nice. Only other downer is that the Howards really are way too big for my room, both in sound and looks!

Hi Gromit,

if you decide to part company with the castle's and
if your father does not want them and
if you're anywhere near the north west and
if they're at the right price and
if there's any more variables to throw into the mix..

then I may be interested....

only may be mind.... ;)

Gromit
I had a pair of the original Howards in maple until last year, when they were finally sold on. The sound is less "hifi" than some because of that upward firing mid-range unit. I drove mine either with a Quad 909 or an Emille integrated valve amp and they were fine with either. I did move them out into the room about 20" from the back wall and a lot more from the side wall.
In many ways I was sorry to see them go but they just were too big for my down-sized living room. If you can get them sorted they will reward you.

Thanks for the input Chris - the most I can get these from wall boundaries (without them sitting on top of me!) is around 2 feet. I'm still waiting to hear from Wilmslow Audio re the drive unit, but will hopefully have some news fairly soon.

The grilles on mine are also looking a tad shabby (the frames are totally solid though) so will need to get some material to do them too.

Who knows, I may put them into storage for a year or two until we move into a larger place. They do certainly look rather fabulous even though they're not in the first flush of youth.

James - I'll let you know how things go. :)

Richard.

Hi guys.

Can anyone help me with some descriptions regarding what the difference is between the Castle Howard S2 and Castle Howard S3?

Difference between their sound and so forth?

Thank you in advance.

Still hoping someone could help me out with this question, so I'm bumping this up.

Hi

I stumbled accross this thread by accident. I have a pair of the original Castle Howards (S1) and the left up-firing speaker 'blew', getting it out was no problem.

Mission now own the Castle brand name and they directed me to Mike Laister Audio Repairs. Mike re-coned the unit and sent it back for less than £90 and it sounds great.

My S1 Howards are connected to Musical Fidelity CD/AMP...but the biggest change came when I fitted a pair of Chord Anthem 2 interconnects...after a Van Den Hu 'First Ultimate'...its staggering how good this system sounds now.

My room is only 14' square but the floors are solid...the bass extends really low but is clear, fast and refined and not at all boomy. I have replaced the original spikes with (M8) SoundCare speaker spikes...again it made a big difference to the bass tightness.

Mike Laister can be contacted on 01904 761043...he's a great guy.

I hope this helps.

I hope this helps.

It most certainly does! :)

Many thanks for that - reckon I'll get onto this asap as the Howards are just sat in my garage under a load of old blankets at the moment.