Panel Lovers What Do You Own ?????

Bachtoven said:
I have a pair of Martin Logan Theos. In the past, I've owned Quad ESL 63, Maggies (forgot the model), Acoustat 1100, and ML ReQuests. When I got married, I had the ML Requests, which completely dominated our new living room, so to make my wife happy, I sold them and bought a pair of B&W 804. When the Theos came out, their size had a greater WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor), so I talked her into another pair of 'stats! She's starting to think that even the Theos are too big, so the search for an adequate replacement may soon commence!
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I know that in the english language there is a saying that goes like this - - - Happy Wife Happy Life - - - being a macho frenchman i also have a saying It's My Way Or The Highway.:D
 
Currently in my collection: Apogee Duetta, Martin Logan CLS 2z, Stacked Quad 57, Quad 989, 1 pair of Audiostatic ES100 and SW100 woofer panels. Have owned many panels over the years, and heard many more. One of the great benefits of being in this business :)
 
My first set of panels. I've listened to the Magnepans over the years and IMO they finally got it voiced right. Not sure what sauce they used, but it is very special!
Now most times I hear speakers with enclosures I can hear the enclosure affecting the bass tone.

P8193322_zpsd37f8f31.jpg
 
The one thing panels seem to do far better than most coned speakers is they get the continuity better from top to bottom. Not all do this quite as well as some, but after listening to my Apogees for quite a while now I always seem to hear the discrepancy between the tweeter and mid and woofer on most other speakers, and it bothers me.
 
BobM said:
The one thing panels seem to do far better than most coned speakers is they get the continuity better from top to bottom. Not all do this quite as well as some, but after listening to my Apogees for quite a while now I always seem to hear the discrepancy between the tweeter and mid and woofer on most other speakers, and it bothers me.
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+1 Agreed. I've owned many dynamic cone speakers and hybrid ribbon-cone speakers and there is better continuity with whole panels and no phasing issues.

Adrian Low said:
Beautiful speakers, Rod!
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Thanks Adrian!:hey:
 
Congratulations! Not since my Duetta Signatures from the last Century have I been this happy with a set of speakers!


rszk said:
My first set of panels. I've listened to the Magnepans over the years and IMO they finally got it voiced right. Not sure what sauce they used, but it is very special!
Now most times I hear speakers with enclosures I can hear the enclosure affecting the bass tone.

P8193322_zpsd37f8f31.jpg
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Congrats!

would love to hear how you compare your old Apogees to these Maggies. I am starting to look at the Apogee Grands, Analysis Audio Orions and am most curious as to your views here. I also recall Jacob Heilbrunn owned Maggie 20.7s for the longest time before becoming a Wilson Alexandria 2 (and now XLF) owner.

Thanks for any comparisons!!!
 
LL21 said:
I also recall Jacob Heilbrunn owned Maggie 20.7s for the longest time before becoming a Wilson Alexandria 2 (and now XLF) owner.
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To my knowledge he owned 20.1s -- the 20.7s didn't exist -- with a custom tube crossover. It will be interesting to see how long he has Wilsons before moving on.
 
LL21 said:
Congrats!

would love to hear how you compare your old Apogees to these Maggies. I am starting to look at the Apogee Grands, Analysis Audio Orions and am most curious as to your views here. I also recall Jacob Heilbrunn owned Maggie 20.7s for the longest time before becoming a Wilson Alexandria 2 (and now XLF) owner.

Thanks for any comparisons!!!
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My Apogee Duettas are from the late 1990s, so comparison to anything current like the Analysis Plus would not be "accurate". Having said that, my Apogee is also highly modified. The previous owner took out all the crossover parts and had custom transformers made for the bass/mid panel. There is no crossover for the tweeter. When I connected it and played at low level (so that I don't damage the tweeter), the sound was outstanding, very transparent and coherent. A little dark at the highest frequency compared to a Magnepan 3.7 or speakers with the AMT tweeter. Bass is very powerful and goes very low. Imaging is similar in type to the Magnepan, ie more line source, big, than point source.

Be careful if you buy Apogee speakers used. Many/most ribbon foils have sagged over the years, and many also buzz at specific frequencies. Sometimes this is due to little magnetic particles that have come off the magnet arrays and are now attached to the foils. Other times it's just the foils themselves. If you are considering the Analysis Plus, Jeff Wells at Audible Arts sells them. He also makes the amazing Wells Audio amps. He can help you if you have questions. Good guy
 
Adrian Low said:
My Apogee Duettas are from the late 1990s, so comparison to anything current like the Analysis Plus would not be "accurate". Having said that, my Apogee is also highly modified. The previous owner took out all the crossover parts and had custom transformers made for the bass/mid panel. There is no crossover for the tweeter. When I connected it and played at low level (so that I don't damage the tweeter), the sound was outstanding, very transparent and coherent. A little dark at the highest frequency compared to a Magnepan 3.7 or speakers with the AMT tweeter. Bass is very powerful and goes very low. Imaging is similar in type to the Magnepan, ie more line source, big, than point source.

Be careful if you buy Apogee speakers used. Many/most ribbon foils have sagged over the years, and many also buzz at specific frequencies. Sometimes this is due to little magnetic particles that have come off the magnet arrays and are now attached to the foils. Other times it's just the foils themselves. If you are considering the Analysis Plus, Jeff Wells at Audible Arts sells them. He also makes the amazing Wells Audio amps. He can help you if you have questions. Good guy
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In what way? I owned duetta signatures, and felt the analysis epsilons I heard recently were very much cut from the same cloth but more neutral. the duettas had an elevated bass response that made them sound 'fuller' more so than any Maggie of the day (but not as severe as the scintilla). The way the ribbons are supported in the epsilon they're more pistonic over large excursions and an improvement over the apogee, large drum thwaks are cleaner and more realistic with the analysis speaker.
 
I think that is the one drawback on my Duetta Sig's. They have "panel" bass, but not "cone" bass. They go low and the bass is certainly present and tonally accurate and detailed, but I miss that thump in the chest feeling.

I do have a sub and it helps but it is not the same.
 
Just being careful. As you point out, the Analysis Plus speakers are configured differently. While they are obviously similar to the Apogees, I assume they have improvements and are made differently, and not having directly compared in my own space, I don't like to be specific. You are quite right re the tonality of the Apogees. Definitely darker in character, lots of bass which in some respects is a good thing since you can position it and smooth it out, whereas panels that start off with little bass extension or a lot of cancellation give you no options.

Did you ever try raking the speakers forward so that they are vertical or even leaning forward more than vertical? The sound is absolutely amazing when you do. Discovered this back in late 80s. The sense of being there in the original venue (with appropriate recordings) is spooky. I still do this with the Martin Logans and any other panel I play
 
BobM said:
I think that is the one drawback on my Duetta Sig's. They have "panel" bass, but not "cone" bass. They go low and the bass is certainly present and tonally accurate and detailed, but I miss that thump in the chest feeling.

I do have a sub and it helps but it is not the same.
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Hi Bob, what sub are you using? If it is powerful enough and of good quality, you should be able to get both deep and tactile bass. We use Martin Logan subs in the store and they are fantastic, especially the Depth and Descent. We just got some new Full Balanced 210 and 212 subs but I haven't connected them yet.
 
I have my Apogees starting to roll off at 50Hz (NAD sub crossover unit between the pre and the amp). I use a REL Strata III crossed over at about 35Hz - which is where it seems to integrate best. The REL is incredibly fast an integrates seamessly, but I know it would be better if I had 2 (but no room in the room). Maybe at my next house.
 
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