A spectrometer assembly (10) is disclosed. The assembly includes a light source (11) with a continuous spectrum. A pre-monochromator (2) generates a spectrum with a relatively small linear dispersion from which a spectral portion is selectable, the spectral bandwidth of the spectral portion being smaller than or equal to the bandwidth of the free spectral range of the order in the echelle spectrum. The centre wavelength of the selected spectral interval is measurable with maximum blaze efficiency. The assembly also includes an echelle spectrometer (4) with means for wavelength calibration, an entrance slit (21) at the pre-monochromator (2), an intermediate slit assembly (50) with an intermediate slit (3) and a spatially resolving light detector (5) in the exit plane of the spectrometer for the detection of wavelength spectra.