Who owned Apogee Speakers back in the day?

**Mike** · July 31, 2018, 10:44 PM

Who owned Apogee Speakers back in the day? Could they still compete today?

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**joeinid** · July 31, 2018, 10:51 PM

I had Apogee Duetta II back in the day with Counterpoint SA-220 amps and 3.1 preamp. What a wonderful system.

**MRJAZZ** · July 31, 2018, 11:38 PM

Originally Posted by Mike

Who owned Apogee Speakers back in the day? Could they still compete today?

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They can easily compete with the best panel speakers currently available. Had numerous pairs
( Diva’s, Duetta’s, Stage). They do need current and power to bloom.

Cheers....

**Mechnutt** · August 1, 2018, 01:03 AM

There was a guy from europe that goes by the name of Florian that has a pair of Apogee Grand's that he raved about. I think he got tired of how temperamental they were and sold them and went with a huge pair of horn speakers.

**Rayooo** · August 1, 2018, 06:02 AM

Apogee Duetta Signatures, Driven by Krell KSA-150.. One of my first "real" systems.

It was a case of once I heard Planars, I'd never go back.. and I didn't. I ran the Duettas into the ground and had they managed to survive, I may very well own them today.

What a hoot it would be to hear a pair of the originals with what's out there today.

**Try1256** · August 1, 2018, 06:44 AM

There is a member at Space Coast AS that still uses Apogee's

**annapolis Raider** · August 1, 2018, 07:22 AM

Apogee Scintilla/Krell and a few other amps. Would love to hear a pair driven by modern much better sounding amps than we had "back in the day".

**RickS** · August 1, 2018, 07:39 AM

I still have a pair of Mini Grands.
Unfortunately my listening room is too small now to use them.

**sleepysurf** · August 1, 2018, 08:30 AM

My foray into the high end started with a pair of Stages in 1989! They sounded fabulous, even driven with mid-fi (Adcom) gear at the time. Unfortunately, I didn't have room for them, and reluctantly parted ways.

**IAmRael** · August 1, 2018, 11:31 AM

I have had these for a couple of years.......they were rebuilt by True Sound Works Audio http://www.truesoundworksaudio.com/a...storation.html and sing along with the best IMO.

**Dizzie** · August 1, 2018, 11:48 AM

I owned Stage speakers and then added Apogee subs to make MiniGrands. Yes, they could compete today especially with a crossover upgrade.

How many speaker manufacturers have stood still? Most have upgraded materials in drivers, magnets, and electronic components. What would Apogee be like today if they had survived and evolved?

**Jim Smith** · August 1, 2018, 01:42 PM

I had the original Full Range Apogees back when Apogee just got started. When set up properly, they were one of the two or three best speakers I've ever heard.

**nicoff** · August 1, 2018, 02:21 PM

Never owned one. Only listened to them at a dealer. Not sure which model it was but it was in the late eighties. I recall the sound being fantastic. Why did they go out of business?

**Alpinist** · August 1, 2018, 08:01 PM

I purchased Apogee Duetta Signatures back in 1992 and ran them with a Bryston preamp and amp. The vocals and piano were amongst the most lifelike I’ve ever heard.

The interesting part was that I knew virtually nothing about Apogee speakers until I attended one of Jason Bloom’s events. Jason was a terrific guy, very knowledgeable and a true audiophile. He demonstrated the Apogee Diva’s with the big Krell Class A monoblocks. I still maintain that this system was the most lifelike I ever heard. At the end of the event they gave away a pair of Apogee hybrids. I won the speakers and put that money towards the Duetta Signatures. And the rest is history.

Ken

**wisnon** · August 2, 2018, 09:51 AM

Chris in Leichtenstein has the Studio Grands as his 2nd system and hORNS.pl Universums in his main system. Acustat as his third system and Odeon Horns as his rotating first system speakers. He had the Scintillas before driven by Krell. Some hybrid (tube/SS) Lamm amps drive the much less demanding S-Grands. He LOVES them.

**wisnon** · August 2, 2018, 09:51 AM

Those were the old Scintillas above.

**wisnon** · August 2, 2018, 10:01 AM

SG vs Scinnie

**laynesaddiction** · August 2, 2018, 02:28 PM

We had two sets of Apogees come through our system over the years (Calipers and Duetta Signatures) with the Duetta Signatures staying for many years until around 2011. I remember the first time I heard the Apogee Divas (with Krell KSA-250, SOTA TT, etc.) as it was a "shot heard round the world" moment for me in audio.

While I was less enthusiatic with their later offerings (Centaur, Stage, etc.), the earlier lines were up there with anything in their day. Just outstanding. However, a PITA to setup and get the most out of them. It took until 2011 for us to find something so much more compelling to swtich off them. So at least to our ears circa 2011, they still competed just fine at a certain level.

**Jim Smith** · August 2, 2018, 02:57 PM

As good as the Scintillas & Duettas were, I felt that the original Full Range model operated at an entirely different level. They did require more space & better electronics to truly perform at that level, however.

My shop at the time was one of the first three dealers in the world for Apogee (after Mike Kay's Lyric Hi-Fi & Peter McGrath's Sound Components). Working with Jason Bloom was always a pleasure.

I've not heard the more recent versions from Australia. They could be very good indeed.

**wisnon** · August 2, 2018, 03:04 PM

Please note that all Chris's Apps were remade by Graz in the NLs. Perhaps superior to stock.

**a.wayne** · August 2, 2018, 10:16 PM

Originally Posted by Jim Smith

As good as the Scintillas & Duettas were, I felt that the original Full Range model operated at an entirely different level. They did require more space & better electronics to truly perform at that level, however.

My shop at the time was one of the first three dealers in the world for Apogee (after Mike Kay's Lyric Hi-Fi & Peter McGrath's Sound Components). Working with Jason Bloom was always a pleasure.

I've not heard the more recent versions from Australia. They could be very good indeed.

Agree , a direct non traced ribbon is very serious ....

**Ctsooner** · August 9, 2018, 08:35 PM

I got to hear the full range. I think it was them. I used to go to Ocean State Audio and Bruce (the owner) and I were good friends. We are still in touch at times. We got to hear them with those huge Futterman's if I recall as well as the massive Krell amps. I had the Stages and the next one up in the house back in the day. I loved them, but you had to be careful with the match ups.

**Mark Ceraso** · October 18, 2018, 03:15 PM

Originally Posted by Jim Smith

As good as the Scintillas & Duettas were, I felt that the original Full Range model operated at an entirely different level. They did require more space & better electronics to truly perform at that level, however.

My shop at the time was one of the first three dealers in the world for Apogee (after Mike Kay's Lyric Hi-Fi & Peter McGrath's Sound Components). Working with Jason Bloom was always a pleasure.

I've not heard the more recent versions from Australia. They could be very good indeed.

I bought the original Duetta from Jim's shop ( Hi Jim)in Homewood Alabama. They are still in service to this day. They still sound great. Had to get the bass panels replaced after my cats decided they were giant scraching posts. I had to attend a training class in Boston so I loaded them in my company car and dropped them off at Apogee to be repaired. I will likely never get rid of them and hopefully one day get them restored. After having these for so long I finally got them dialed in only a few years ago using laser levels and later a cheap digital level from Harbor Freight. Once they are adjusted at a micronal level is when the magic. Begins. They image beautifully. Thanks Jim. I really miss hanging out at Audition all those years ago.

**joeinid** · October 18, 2018, 10:57 PM

Welcome to the forum, thank you for joining.

**bonzo** · October 19, 2018, 02:30 AM

Originally Posted by Mechnutt

There was a guy from europe that goes by the name of Florian that has a pair of Apogee Grand's that he raved about. I think he got tired of how temperamental they were and sold them and went with a huge pair of horn speakers.

He still has the Grands. He went from Duetta, Scintilla, Divas, to Full ranges and Grands. I visited him a couple of years back.

**bonzo** · October 19, 2018, 02:38 AM

The best restores today, using Graz ribbons, seem to come from Henk in Netherlands, and probably Rich Murry in Nevada. I have heard Rich's duetta at his client's house in NY which was quite good. There is another there with Dagostino amps that I will listen to sometime in a couple of months.

I have heard Henk restored Scintillas, Full Ranges, and his own grands. His own big Grands, modded at his place for almost 10 years, are one of my favorite three rooms. The FRs and the Grands need massive room though. FR and the Scintillas have pure ribbons making their mids that much more pristine. Scintillas and Duettas are size wise competitive for normal use. Stats are easier to set up if you want mids and small scale music, but cannot do the bass and slam of these guys. Analysis Audio also came out with an apogee copy which is nice in the mids but more laid back and not as exciting on the powerful stuff. Easier to drive though. Apart from the Scintilla and the FR, the Duettas today are easy to drive. I have never heard a good pair of Divas, and I have heard around 5 systems with them.

**bonzo** · October 19, 2018, 02:39 AM

My report http://zero-distortion.org/odeon-hor...gee-scintilla/

Originally Posted by wisnon

SG vs Scinnie

**BendingWave** · October 19, 2018, 10:42 AM

Originally Posted by Jim Smith

As good as the Scintillas & Duettas were, I felt that the original Full Range model operated at an entirely different level. They did require more space & better electronics to truly perform at that level, however.

My shop at the time was one of the first three dealers in the world for Apogee (after Mike Kay's Lyric Hi-Fi & Peter McGrath's Sound Components). Working with Jason Bloom was always a pleasure.

I've not heard the more recent versions from Australia. They could be very good indeed.

I worked at Lyric when this was going on and we were very involved with Jason( a client of ours) when the speaker was being developed. The speakers were extremely hard to drive and only a small handful of amplifiers good handle them. We decided to Part ways with them in lieu of our other product lines at the time like Infinity

**Bob Lewis** · February 16, 2020, 03:42 PM

Reading some of the posts I`m surprised some people think Apogee Acoustics no longer exists.The ex-pat Brit Graeme Keet resurrected the company in Australia 20 years ago initially supplying better than original CNC cut replacement ribbons.He now builds enhanced versions of Duetta Sigs,Divas,Scintillas and Full Range models.The only drawback is they are relatively much more expensive than the old models due to the use of more expensive materials like stainless steel,aluminium and Corian instead of MDF for the back panel and front cover.These enhanced versions and refurbished old ones are more than competitive sound quality wise and are really only matched by the likes of the similar Alsyvox ribbon planars.I myself have refurbished and modified(panel stiffening,panels rigidly bolted to damped granite bases) actively driven Duetta Sigs.

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