Celestion hosts open day at HQ for centennial celebrations

Celestion continued its ongoing celebrations marking 2024 as the company’s centennial year by opening its doors at its Ipswich headquarters to host an open day on September 13, featuring factory tours, technology demonstrations and tours of the museum onsite.

The morning of the Open Day was dedicated to friends and family of the Celestion staff, and also included students, colleges and local societies and community groups. The afternoon was reserved for Celestion customers and VIP guests to visit.

The open day focused upon the show-and-tell areas of technology such as FEA (Finite Element Analysis), 3D printing, laser doppler interferometry and Celestion’s own bespoke speaker design software.

The full factory tour included the new state-of-the-art fully robotic PA woofer production line and a guitar demo of speakers that have been the ‘Voice of Rock & Roll’ for decades, famously used by the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, AC/DC, Queen and many other artists. The day was completed by the demonstration of a PA system featuring Celestion’s special Lens guide technology and a 24” woofer – the largest manufactured in Europe.

All visitors and staff had an opportunity to visit the Celestion museum onsite, to see the variety of vintage gear from the last 100 years. And everyone enjoyed lunch from the on-site gourmet burger stall and traditional English Ice-cream van.

The BBC News was also onsite to report on the various demonstrations, take the factory tour and visit the museum, as well as interview several employees and speak with managing director Nigel Wood. A special segment on Celestion and the company’s 100 years aired on the BBC that evening.

Over the past 10 decades, Celestion has made countless breakthroughs in loudspeaker technology and is well known for innovating the modern guitar amp speaker, as well as having the most iconic PA system brands featuring Celestion speakers at their core. Throughout the years, the company has set benchmarks in hi-fi, instrument amplification speakers, and sound reinforcement, always with a solid focus on innovation and acoustic excellence.

During the past 100 years, Celestion’s core values remain the same as they were when the founders pioneered one of the world's initial cone loudspeakers. Through its continuing pursuit of sonic perfection and drive for innovation, Celestion has left an indelible imprint on the landscape of sound technology and solidified a legacy that resonates across generations of musicians and industry professionals alike.

Here, managing director Nigel Wood sheds light on the profound evolution that has shaped the company’s legacy and the pivotal role it has played in shaping the sound of generations of music, and what the future holds for the brand.

Here, Headliner looks back on the company's 100 years of innovation, decade by decade.