Best Amp to drive my Apogee Stages?

I realize this thread is fairly old and I have gotten some wonderful responses already, but I looking to receive some more feedback.

I am thinking about buying a Threshold amp and there are currently 2 on Audiogon for $800. There is an older Threshold 400A (100W) versus a newer SA/3 (50W). Which of these amps would do a better job for my Apogee Stages?

Thank you for any and all responses.

LitL

Whoa,
It has been crazy-fun to read all of your postings. I have been enjoying the comments and opinions so much. And, I have researched many of these ideas.

I still have not made an amplifier purchase due to my 4 month old daughter joining Day Care. With 2 kids in Day Care now I am looking at around $3K/mo.

Recently I have run into a Krell KST-100 amplifier ($750) which seems like it would drive the Stages just fine, but after reading all of these postings I might think about saving more money to get more. I really want to be able to experiment and listen to some of these great quality amplifiers to get more of a reference sound. My Dad owns a Levinson, but he will not let me take it out of his house. I can't blame him for that.

Does anybody have an opinion on the sound differences between mono block amplifiers versus a stereo amp? Financially it seems like I can get more of a quality amp. with 2-channel, but reading past Stereophile articles has brought my attention to the old B&K M-200 as well as the Adcom 565 mono blocks.

Thank you all for participating in this thread. Keep on writing.

LoveItLoud

Gallant_diva:
I have never heard anything finer than the Apogee Fullrange. Why play with stages when you have the REAL thing?

-LIL

My only 1 issue with my only listening experience with THE Apogee was the way it highlighted the flaws in every recording I listened to. It was so defined that I could not play any of todays music due to the limited digital range of the recordings. Some were worse than others, but it made me realize how important the recording process is when you are any kind of Audiophile. I really consider myself an audio enthusiast: meaning just a guy who loves listening to any genre of music, but not very technical at the same time. But BOY, when I heard a good recording nothing could touch what I had as a reference before that experience.

As far as my Stages, I have only driven them with my Krell KAV-300i so far. I can't wait to experience them with an amplifier that matches them correctly. I sure do know what you are referring to with the vocals. They are magic for sure.

By the way what do you drive the Fullrange with? It seems like you need some heavy duty fire power for those.

-LitL

Hey Gallant_diva. 144 tubes must light up (and warm up) your listening room quite well. That is amazing and fun. My Dad worked for Ampex back in the 60's, but he went to solid state when he bought his Apogee Studio Array back in the mid 90's (when those were the latest from Jason Bloom). He had never heard either the Fullrange nor the Divas until about 1 year ago. It was a teriffic day indeed.

I will keep looking for the Krell KSA-100. That seems like a perfect option for me. If I do find one I have a certified Krell Technician under my belt who can re-cap an one of these older Krell amplifiers for me.

I would love meet you and come listen to some music with you some day? Good recordings seem very hard to find so if you have any vinyl suggestions (any genre) I am open.

LitL

Hello Dave/All,
Are there any sound differences between the original Apogee stages vs. the mini-grand (top portion) speakers? Besides age of course. I do know that the build is slightly different. Is that as far as it goes or it there more to it?
-LitL