Amp for Apogee Stage's

Muralman1,

You can certainly run a small tube amp on the Stages, and get
something that "sounds" fine. However, when the Stage starts
to demand current - and if the tube amp can't provide it -
then accuracy is the first casualty. If the low impedance
load causes the voltage on the tube amp to sag below what
it should be - i.e. the product of the gain and the input
voltage - then you don't have accuracy.

If the amp can't supply the current the Stages want - like
the big amps that Stereophile, et. al. champion - then
you don't have accuracy - even if you like the sound.

I'm sure there are more amps on the market that pair well
with Apogees other than those that were around when Apogee
was still in business. I wonder how some of the newer
"switching" amps like the Bel Cantos do on loads like the
Apogees.

However, what the low impedance of the Apogee driver needs
is current. That's something that you are much more likely
to get accurately out of a solid state device for a price
that is reasonable, vis-a-vis a tube amp.

There certainly are tube amps that can handle an Apogee -
but with the current hungry Apogee - you are not playing to
a tube amp's strong suit.

Although a successful pairing of tube amp and Apogee is
certainly possible - it certainly requires more care and
attention.

It would be "safer" for the Apogee owner to stick with the
beefy solid state designs. A greater fraction of the
solid state amp market will pair well with Apogees, than
the fraction of tube designs that will.

Again, the current demands of the Apogees are just not the
strong suit for tube amps - although most certainly there
are tube amps that pair well with Apogees.

Dr. Gregory Greenman
Physicist

Doctor,

Have you owned the Apogee Stage? I found it a considerably easier load than the Duetta, and by a long shot, the Scintilla. RGocin knows what I'm talking about.

There are people happily using tube gear on all Apogees, but the Scintilla. There were people very upset at me for buying a Scintilla. One wrote, "Now, you will have to use solid state, and you will never be happy."

You know, I think he was right. I was not satisfied with the sound of solid state.

ICE powered amps provide the same naturalness as great tube amps do, adding prodigious power, speed, and dynamics. The H2O, with it's large analog power supply, leads the pack IMO.

It has been reviewed by 6Moons

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/h2o/m250.html

I have a friend driving her Stages to great effect with Plinius 8200 Integrated.

Back in the day, Apogee had some Meitner MTR101 MkI or MKII monos driving the Divas at shows. These beautiful little amps are high current, inexpensive and can cope with any impedance the Stages could throw their way. There's folks doing mods on them for even better performance, but a pair won't set you back over 1k or so.

Murahman1,

Yes - one of my current systems is an Apogee Mini-Grand.

I've done extensive testing with several amps - monitored
the voltage and impedance... I've seen the response of
tube amps vis-a-vis solid state.

I currently drive the Apogee ribbons with a Class A
'x'-series stereo Krell.

Dr. Gregory Greenman
Physicist

Muralman1,

I'm not saying that one can't use tubes - or that one won't
achieve a satisfactorily sounding system.

I'm saying that the impedance dips of the Stages, although
not in the same class as the Scintilla - ARE there and that
has an effect.

Although it doesn't sound bad - one may even have a preference -
but when you encounter an impedance dip - and the output
of the tube amp sags somewhat - then you just are not
ACCURATE!!

Some may like the sound - it rounds off the "edges" - gives
you a more "liquid" sound - but it's not accurate - real
music does have edges.

If one is a stickler for accuracy - then one is more likely
to find that with solid state on something like the Stages -
although I reiterate - there are plenty of tube amps that
can handle the Stages without blinking - but they cost.

Then there are tubes that are not as beefy - but they
sound nice to some even though they are struggling to
provide the current into the relatively low impedance load.

Tubes are generally more happy with the higher impedance
speakers.

Dr. Gregory Greenman
Physicist