Alta Audio Celesta FRM-2 User manual



Celesta
Owner's Manual

Congratulations
Congratulations on your purchase of the Alta Audio Celesta FRM-2 speakers. Your purchase indicates you are a listener
at the highest levels in the audio world. The Celestas will enhance your appreciation for all of the music you listen to.
They are designed to most closely match the sound of live music. Everything about this speaker has been designed with
only the highest level of performance in mind.
Before Beginning
Please make sure to inspect the speaker carefully. If you notice any damage please inform the dealer immediately. If the
loudspeaker was shipped to you, you must notify the carrier. Please save all packing materials. Should it become necessary to
transport this loudspeaker, proper packing will help to prevent damage. If the carton has strapping, slide the straps off. Do not cut
them so that they could be used for repacking if necessary.
Warranty
The speaker comes with a 90 day limited warranty extendible to a 5 year warranty when registered within 14 days of
purchase. The warranty is limited to defects in manufacturing and workmanship. Please be sure to operate the speaker
within its power handling parameters. Damage can result from overdriving the speaker, or the amplifier powering it, and
is not covered.
Full warranty information is located on the last page of this manual
Speaker Spikes
The speaker comes with ½ inch spikes that are cone shaped. They screw into the bottom just inside of the four corners. Four small
metal pucks are also included for the spikes to sit on. Be careful, the spikes are sharp! You may want to experiment with speaker
placement before putting the spikes on the speakers. When the spikes are installed you should hear increased resolution, detail and
control.
Ribbon Tweeter Covers
The ribbon tweeters have magnetic covers on them to protect them from stray metal pieces. Take off the grills and slide
them off before play. Save them for shipping.
2

Connection
The Celesta FRM-2 uses a standard + and – cable connection to your amplifier with high amperage shielded 5 way
binding posts allowing for several connections including spade lugs and banana plugs. It is recommended that you wait
until the speakers are broken in before experimenting with choice of speaker cables. Use of cable incorporating filter
networks is not recommended. The cleanest conducting cable will sound best. The speakers will clearly show you how
open and musical a particular cable is.
3
Breaking in the speakers
Although we start the break in process on all speakers, it takes about 200 hours of play before the speakers start to
display their full resolution with intimate detail and extended bass. The Celestas will continue to break in until about 500
hours of play. If they are left off for a significant period of time, they will need a few hours of break in again.
Room Acoustics
The acoustics of the room can be as important as any other component of your system. A good room is neither too live
(reflective) nor too dead (absorptive). Imaging is usually best achieved in a symmetrical setting with the walls behind and
to the sides of the speakers absorptive while the walls behind and to the sides of the listeners are relatively reflective.
This is called the live end dead end room (LEDE).

Positioning
We recommend that you experiment with loudspeaker placement in order to obtain the best spectral balance,
openness, and perception of depth. For good results the speakers should be no closer than 18 inches from the rear wall
with at least 2 feet to the side walls. The space between the loudspeakers should be free. Moving the system toward a
wall will increase bass level but may reduce imaging clarity and openness. Moving speakers too far into a room can
result in a thin overall presentation with loss of bass foundation. The speakers will normally work well slightly angled
toward the listener for accurate sound staging. While the openness of the Celesta allows for excellent listening from
most positions in a room, the sweetest spot is between and in front of the speakers from a distance equal to 1 1/2 times
the distance between the speakers with the tweeters aligned to ear-level.
Specifications
Height: 17 inches including spikes (16.5 inches without spikes)
Width: 10.75 inches (widest point)
Depth: 15.5 inches (widest point)
Weight: 55lbs
Impedance: 4 ohms
Rated power: 50-200 Watts
Sensitivity: 87.5db / 2.83 Volts @ 1Meter
Frequency Response: 29Hz to 47kHz
Configuration: Full Range Monitor
Alta Audio Technology:
- XTL Bass.
-DampHard Construction
4

Design Features
1. Exceptional Midrange/Woofer with Titanium Former:
Six inch woofer with a 3.1 inch diameter long throw voice coil using a high powered motor allowing for smooth
air flow melds seamlessly into the ribbon tweeter thanks to its low mass and high speed while performing
incredible feats in bass response thanks to the Alta XTL bass tuning system.
● Uniflow™ Aluminum diecast chassis
● Hybrid™ Neodymium/Ferrite magnet system
● Titanium coil bobbin
● 3″ Large Hexatech™ Aluminum voice coil
● Coppersleeve Neolin Motor
● High power handling
● High Xmax, Low Qts, Low Fs, High QMS
The Midrange/Woofer's former (bobbin) is made of titanium for smoother more extended dynamics,
power handling, and frequency response. Titanium's added stiffness also allows for a larger voice coil.
The voice coil is 3.1 inches in diameter. Titanium is an expensive and difficult material to work with,
but well worth it for the increase in quality and performance.
5

2. Ribbon Tweeter:
State of the Art Ribbon Tweeter
A ribbon tweeter unlike any other; this ribbon tweeter is the best performing tweeter we’ve ever
heard, or tested. Custom built to our specifications its clarity and dynamics are unmatched. The
Celesta’s remarkable tweeter also extends the high-end over an octave above the scope of human
hearing.
●Custom designed ribbon tweeter
●Extremely clear, fast, flat high-end response
●Extends over an octave above the scope of human hearing
3. DampHard construction:
What is DampHard?
As a designer, you try to design a cabinet that doesn’t resonate. Resonances cloud and distort the
music, and locate your speaker in space, causing you to hear the speaker and its location in the room
rather than the music itself. Standard design strategies involve putting heavy padding material inside
the cabinet to dampen unwanted resonances. Excessive internal dampening causes the lower
frequencies to become muddy and distorted, giving a booming, humming quality to the sound that
removes the clarity of the bass. When you have excessive dampening material, you’re hearing the
padding instead of the music.
6

Alta’s solution to this is our proprietary material DampHard: a multi-layered, multi-density material
that makes up the walls of all our high-end speaker cabinets. Where standard MDF or other materials
would allow certain frequencies to resonate the cabinet, DampHard remains dead to virtually all
vibration. This allows us to heavily cut down on a cabinet’s internal padding, maintaining the clarity of
the bass.
Coupled with our Alta XTL technology, DampHard allows us to create a truly superior cabinet that acts
like a musical instrument, extending the range and clarity of the bass, while keeping the cabinet
resonance-free. This combination in all our high-end speaker models creates an unparalleled bass
response complete with all the clarity and dimensionality of the music.
4. XTL Bass:
What is Alta XTL?
XTL stands for Extended Transmission Line, an Alta Audio proprietary technology used in all our
speakers. We developed XTL using specialized sonic geometry to tune our cabinets like musical
instruments, allowing all our speakers to deliver unprecedented clear, fast, and powerful bass.
7

Standard transmission lines can make the bass slow and distorted. The difference between Alta XTL
and a standard transmission line is that we tune the cabinet at multiple frequencies, not just one.
Think of it like a cello amplifying and extending the notes played off the strings. Our cabinets are
tuned to extend the bass of a driver, giving a clean fast bass response that is in a different class than
standard transmission line designs.
Coupled with our DampHard technology, Alta XTL shines to create a clear and musical extended
resonance free cabinet.
90 Day Warranty*
1. Alta Audio LLC. (hereafter referred to as Alta Audio) warrants to the original purchaser that this loudspeaker is free from defects in
material and workmanship under normal use and authorizes free service and/or parts replacement at an States of Alta Audio
authorized service facility for a period of 90 days from date of purchase (by the original purchaser only) in the United America.
2. All Parts except the cosmetics are warranted for 90 days from date of purchase and will be replaced if in the sole judgement of
Alta Audio they shall be deemed defective over and above that considered to be normal wear. This warranty does not apply to
equipment showing abuse or damage or to parts that in our judgement are not defective; nor does it extend to any equipment that
may have been tampered with, altered, or repaired outside an Alta Audio authorized service facility.
3. Proof of purchase (sales receipt) must be presented to the Alta Audio authorized service facility whenever any warranty service is
required.
4. Loudspeakers sent to Alta Audio for service must be sent in original packaging with freight and insurance charges prepaid by the
owner.
Loudspeakers will be returned freight prepaid.
5. In all cases of in-transit damage a claim must be filed against the carrier by the purchaser.
6. This warranty is in lieu of all other warranties expressed or implied and there are no other warranties valid. No one is authorized
to assume any liability on behalf of Alta Audio or impose any obligation on it in connection with the sale of any equipment other
than as stated in this warranty. Alta Audio shall not be responsible in any way for consequential or indirect damages or liabilities
resulting from the use and operation of the product covered herein or resulting from any breach of this warranty or any implied
warranty relating to the said product.
*This warranty represents a limited warranty as per definition of the Federal Trade Commission (Magnuson - Moss Warranty Act).
8

Extended 5 Year Warranty
To extend your warranty for a full five years you must register your warranty on the Alta Audio site within 14 days of the
date of purchase. Your warranty does not cover abuse - such as burned voice coils or ruptured cones - due to excessive
power or malfunctioning amplification equipment. This extended warranty contains identical provisions as the 90 day
warranty - but for a period of five years after the date of purchase to the original owner. This warranty must be
registered to be valid.
For full 5 year warranty coverage please register your warranty within 14 days of purchase at:
alta-audio.com/support/warranty-information
Mailing Address:
Alta Audio
139 Southdown Road
Huntington, NY 11743
Tel: [phone]
Shipping Address:
Alta Audio
540 Barnum Avenue
First Floor, Loading Bay 2
Bridgeport, CT 06608
Tel: [phone]
9