electrostats vs ribbon drivers

just to give you a bit of correct history. The only patent issue Magnepan had with Apogee Acoustics was with regard to the Apogee DIVA ribbon tweeter. This was circumvented by backdating the serial numbers on the DIVAs. Apogee did not go out of Business because of Magnepan. I have/had contacts to the inner circles of ex-apogee and the story was the high competition and demand for more commercial speaker systems. The downfall came with the Apogee GRAND. The engineering and production cost were to high and the numbers sold too low. Had nothing to do with Magnepan. The models that Magnepan has/had only employ in some cases an actual ribbon. Just for history purposes i have/had several models from both companies Apogee (Caliper Sig, Scintilla, Stage, DIVA and The Grand) as well as Magnepan 0.5, 1.6 and two pairs of 3.6s.

Cheers

Hello Nandric,

sure, i can give you a bit of an overview: The first model was called the "Fullrange" which is until today the largest model they made which employes only ribbons (or planar magnetic bass / people agree to disagree on this point). The Scintilla came second and was a bit of a Fullrange cut in half but with a unique midrange tweeter system that sat in the same slot. With one large pure aluminum ribbon in the middle and 4 ribbon tweeters around it. Later came other models such as the Caliper and the Duetta (smaller 2 way systems) followed up the new replacement 3 way Apogee DIVA (never reached the Fullrange) in sound tough. Although i only allow myself this remark with respect to other Apogees. Later came some hybrid models and the smallest Apogee called the "Stage". The hybrids such as the Mini Grand and the Studio Grand where hybrids where the bass panel stopped at around 70Hz and a subwoofer was employed. These are generally very good and capable of higher dynamic swings and could be used on lesser powered amps. In the early ninethees Apogee developed a speaker called "The Grand" which is a 4 way fully active ribbon speaker. Tweeter ribbon, midrange ribbon, woofer panel and basically a Krell Master Reference Subwoofer below it. Its about a 1300lbs without the packaging and comes with 4 built in krell mono amps for the subwoofer and (user selectable) woofer or tweeter. The customer has to apply additionally 4 channels of amplification so the system uses a total of 8 mono blocks to fire the speakers. Comes with built in displays and computer systems to adjust the rake, user presets, phase etc.... of all the drivers individually. About 7 pair or so were ever made costing over 85000$ in the early nineties. Extremely rare and to my ears the absolute pinnacle of sound. I had a Scintilla before and have friends who have them. An extremely good speaker and less space consuming then the Fullrange or Grand. Graz in Australia makes the spare parts in very high quality and excellent customer service. He even make a new Scintilla which can be driven by tube amps. :-)

Nandric: Hello and thank you for your response. Yes it seems that the best always die too young or go out of business. Which one is my baby? Well, i have 3 babies: One pair of Apogee Grands, one pair of Apogee Calipers and one pair of Apogee Stages. There is also one electrostatic, an Acoustat Spectra 11 which i enjoy.

The smartest choice i believe in the Apogee lineup is a Caliper or a Duetta. All Apogees require very good equipment to make them sing, but they represent, at least to me, the best compromise of size and sound.

Cheers

Nandric: Yes, the Grand is indeed my pride an joy. We used to live in a sort of palace but moved close to Switzerland and out current house does not have a room to do them justice. But thats ok, one day they will get another room. Here is a picture of a set of Grands.

http://gallery.audioreview.com/data/audio//500/3099_3099_wallpaper.JPG

A heater is not necessary because the equipment is more then enough. It is powered by four internal Krell mono amps with external power supplies and a set of four Krell KRS 200 monoblocks (110kg each). The source is a Watec Analog Turntable with an Ortofon MC Rondo. The digital source is a Sphinx Labs Project 32 which feeds into a Monarchy Audio Upsampler and Dip combo which feeds into the new Monarchy Audio NM24 DAC. The preamp is a CAT SL1 MKII that goes into the Grands.

As far as to which baby is best, there is really no competition. Soundwise its the Grand. Then comes my second favoriete which is the Stage. Incedentially the Grand is the largest Apogee ever made and the Stage is the smallest. Third place take the Apogee Calipers followed by the Acoustat Spectra 11. The electrostatic has a very good midrange and high frequency. Very much like the Apogee but lacks dynamics and the edge. The subwoofers in the Spectra 11 are rubbish, but the larger Versions which are none-hybrid like the 1+1, 2+2 and larger are very very good speakers. Sometimes can be found for almost nothing, a true bargain and almost indestructable.

Graz lives in Australia and makes all new parts and also some new models. Definetly interesting to check it out :-)

Nandric: I am not quite sure that i can follow you. Please excuse my english, it is not my native language. I am a German who lives in Switzerland. My pair of Grands is in my house as well as all the other speakers. I just use the Grand as my main system. There are only approximately 7 pairs worldwide and none more in France. The last pair which was in Paris were sold to a Gentleman in America.

And no natural babies ;-)