Apogee diva setup

[Zero000]

Good luck, Al. For upgrade ideas just follow my Duetta Interstella thread from years back on this forum. Search will bring it up.

If you have the budget, what I did with a restorer was chuck everything away apart from the magnet arrays and rebuild everything to a higher spec.

Don't worry about neo magnets. Whilst it allows lower power amps, quality high power amps are easily available. Also, the Apogee magnets were huge and stuck to a heavy perforated high mass back plate. Lots of mass is what you want for sonic results i.e. it keeps the speaker inert. But it's a pain in the arse when you need to move them.

I also think I documented stuff like bass clamp upgrades, but in different threads. Those clamps mass damp the bass panels in a manner MDF ones cannot achieve. Well worth it.

I think there are some excellent design choices made by Florian and Daniele. But TBH get those Divas sorted properly and their designs don't actually sound massively better. Their bigger designs will give scale beyond a Diva, however. But Duetta/Diva sized speakers give decent scale and better cohesion that the biggest Clarisys.

It's just physics and no one can beat its laws. All they can do is make various design choices to come up with a decent compromise. I am pretty sure a well sorted pair of Divas will be within the top one percent of speakers out there. In 2025.

 

[christoph]

Thank you!

Does he post here?

I loved what he did and hope he is well.

There are a pair of Grands of his for sale, if I only had the budget! This is where I would put 75,000 grand if I had it.

Apogee Grand – info

Apogee Grand Detailed Info

www.hifi-advice.com

Florian is the mastermind behind Clarisys.

Clarisys Audio Global

www.clarisysaudioglobal.com

Florian posts rather rarely here on WBF, his username is @ClarisysAudio

 

[christoph]

I bought the speakers from 'Stereo +' in San Francisco in 1993. They also carried Krell at the time, and that's sort of the amp line that was associated with Apogee then, so I started with the normal DAX and used Krell KSA 300(S) amps with a Krell KRC (2? HR?) preamp. The amps just didn't please me. Then, I tried semi-vintage McIntosh 2205 amps...which were more fun, but I was sort of simmering about what to do next. (I upgraded the caps.) Those amps did a good job, but gave a sensation, purely subjective,' that the drivers were kind of hanging out with the amps rather than being 'driven' by them. I know, sort of nutso Hi Fi talk.

I even tried some crown amps - it was interesting, because they sounded like playing CD even when playing vinyl - it was antiseptic. But, that was just goofing off - although it solidified how the speaker/amp interface is so compelling.

Then, I met a guy from Montana, who did things to Adcom amps. he loved their transformers and caps, and he did mods to a couple of Adcom 565 amps that knocked my socks off, and they stayed. I am trying to recall his name, he may be retired now, but he had skills.

Later on, I was always slightly dubious of the tweeter ribbons doing a bit of a "wave" at higher volumes, and I met Rich Murry of True Sound Works and went the whole hog. I recommend him, he's amazing.

So, I changed to a three way crossover from Pass Labs and after Rich worked on the woofer box...I use a Dayton Audio amp for just the woofers! It feels wrong, but he really integrated the woofers to the panels in a great way.

Now, I use some Mac MC275 amps, some Acrosound UL-II, and still those Adcoms. (I will try and look up that guy's name....he really did great work) All stereo amps running one per speaker. Rich ran the tweeters with an 8 watt tube amp and they were just fine.

Sorry for the long answer. (HIs mods 'improve' the impedance curve, so they are not such a load.)

As part of my tendency to hoard, I also have a pair of Mini Grands that are great in smaller rooms. Currently, Wyred For Sound amps.

I hope we meet some day!

Thanks for your extensive answer.

The Studio Grand is by far the easiest to drive Apogee with almost linear 6 Ohm over the whole frequency range.
I drive my Studio Grands with as little a 30 tube SET watts with excellent results.

But I don't use the integrated subwoofers at all, so I use my SG quasi as Studio Ribbon Arrays with the subwoofers as bulky stands.

Can you show some pics of your SG?

I hope Al does not mind the little digression.