Celestion 3000/5000/7000, Anyone remember these?

I have a pair of 7000s coupled to a class A-B valve amp which I built using GEC designs, they sound extremely coarse and edgy with the transistor amps that I've tried. The bass is very controlled and very extended, on some early recordings one can detect vibrations from passing traffic! The treble is clean and and highly directional - having the ribbons buried in slots doesn't help but is of course necessary to suspend the ribbons between the magnet pole pieces. The achilles heel is the necessity for a matching transformer because of the very low resistance / impedance of the ribbon. As my PhD was in Electromagnetics I'm going to dismantle my pair and try and wind improved matching transformers, I think this is necessary as the fine detail is not as clear as from some speakers I have built using Bandor metal cone units; even so, the 7000s are better than Quad 57s and Tannoy Lancasters - I owned pairs of all 3 at the same time and the 7000s were audibly better.

I have a pair of 3000's that are bi-wired to a luxman LV-105 that gives a warm, clear sound all the way to the top ranges. Not cold and sterile or harsh. At the end of the day after them being on all day I can still sit down and
enjoy listening to them with out having enough. Some times I wish I had also purchased some of the the larger speakers as I use a powered sub for the lows.

I have a pair of 7000s and have owned them for 20 years. Still sound great but I do wonder if

the ribbons give out where I might find a pair.

I have a pair of 3000s and I like them, they have the best high mids I've heard so far. I'm also listening to Piega with coax ribbons but the 3000s ribbons have much more body, the Piega sound is thinner, more detailed and extended but the 3000s ribbons have such a nice body, I guess that's because of their size. As for the mid-bass driver, it can be better. Maybe the bigger cabinet of the 7000s are helping the woofer but in the 3000 it's not that great. They need a high current amp or better, two amps.

I own a pair of 5000 and really like them but would love to improve them. I was thinking of installing the tweeters onto an open baffle and let them radiate in both directions. I was also thinking of bypassing the crossover and maybe even the transformer if possible to run the tweeter and woofer with active filters. Finally, I'd like to put the woofer into a TL enclosure to get a bit lower in the bass.

What do you reckon folks?

Dean.