Castle speakers IAG


I wonder if someone can answer my question. I have always had a fondness for Castle speakers. The look of them. The cabinet work is fantastic. I wanted to try out and buy a new pair.

But Castle speakers are now owned by the IAG group and I am wondering if anything has changed for the worse or better?

Are they making all the Castle speakers now in China including their classic line?

If so does anyone know how they compare to when they were made in England sound wise and fit and finish wise?

Thank you
mezzanine
I tried getting in tough with IAG once before, suffice to say it's not as easy as it should be. They definitely need to do a better job on that front. This makes buying from a local dealer more attractive, since if you have a problem you can deal with them. Failing that, you can also try contacting the distributor for Castle products in your area.

I'm not sure about the binding posts on Castle speakers, but many speakers come with a little plastic cover that blocks the area where banana plugs would go. Try to see if your binding posts have this cover, if they do it'll take some effort to pry them off, but then the banana plugs will become accessible.
If anyone would like any detailed info on Castle, please email me and I would be happy to discuss via email. We were in talks with IAG to be the Castle distributor for the US and have sold several pairs of Castles on here in the past 2 weeks (sold the Warwicks to Mezzanine in this post). I have quite a bit of info on the speakers.
I really do like the sound of the of the Castle Warwick's and the fit and finish are amazing.

I am only disappointed with IAG customer service and the fact the Warwick's do not come with 5-way posts. I know many of the other Castle speakers do have them, while a few in the Classic range do not. I like the sound style so much that I am thinking of buying some of their more expensive models in the future.

Goldprintaudio, the store I bought them from was very friendly and also helpful to me. I think that makes a difference. It does help to buy them from a dealer that cares.
I have the latest Howard S3 and they are simply the best speaker in their price range. They (by a large margin) bettered Tyler, Dynaudio and Usher speakers, some costing twice as much.

Moving to IAG doesn't seem to affect the quality, mine has the most beautiful carbinatry and very nice 5-way binding posts. A piece of plastic insert sits at the center of each binding post will block any bananas, so you have to take them out before connecting any banana-ended cable.

The Howard S3 has the typical British sound without losing dynamics. The palpable midrange made all vocals sound real; the large-than-average soft tweeter never sounds harsh, and brings violin solo to life; the twin pipeline design combined with carbon fiber woofers really works, providing tuneful bass down to 30+ Hz and my guests walked around looking for a subwoofer. I won't call them the most neutral speakers but they've got taste, elegance and grace; I found myself listening much more without fatigue. I highly recommend the Classic line from Castle, or IAG. You get great value from a relatively small brandname which does fantastic job.
I also own the Howard S3's but if I were to start speaker shopping again I would not include Castle in my search since production moved to China. To me if it's not made in Skipton, it's not Castle.