Introducing My System

A quick update: myself and a bunch of my hi fi buddies have been evaluating the refurbished Apogee Duetta and the Marten Mingus Orchestra in a direct head to head duel.

As things stand now, Marten is tucked away at my storage and I’m immensly enjoying the completely refurbished Apogee Duetta. To be perfectly honest, I was reluctant for many reasons — price, prestige, the build quality of Marten Mingus Orchestra vs. the wiffs of DIY in the Apogee Build, etc. However, with all its faults what the Duetta does right, Marten cannot achieve. The directness, the emotional involvement with the music, the almost analogue tone (not quite sure why) with the same digital front end on both speakers caused this change in the system.

The Rel 31 is now paired with the Duetta quite successfully, adding just the fundamentals without taking away anything from the pureness of the sound.

Down the road, I think the Clarysis Studio Plus, along with Alsyvox Boticelli are the only true contenders.

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Another hot planar speaker tip. Acoustat. Old now and not expensive but really damn good! In fact I replaced my Apogee Caliper Signatures with a pair of Acoustat 1+1 (with medallion transformer upgrade) and later Acoustat Spectra 2200. IMO, these did everything the Caliper Signatures did plus better low level resolution (and therefore coming alive at lower volumes) and better coherence (they were single driver afterall). Find a pair of those, particularly the Spectra series, and you will be again blown away at how much speaker you can get for so little money. The best part of Acoustat electrostatic panels is that they never go bad, unlike most other brands. That is how 40 year old speakers can still sound like new.

There were also some early Acoustats, like the Acoustat X, which is direct drive and come with their own OTL high voltage amps. There is a company in the Netherlands that can rebuild and upgrade these amps but I am told (haven't heard them) that this is the most unbelievable sound in terms of transparency, resolution, tone etc. There are guys in the US that bought them new 45 years ago and never had any urge to try other things.
 
There were also some early Acoustats, like the Acoustat X, which is direct drive and come with their own OTL high voltage amps.

Listened for many hours to a friends pair , great fun , Particularly fine with vocal as one would expect however very good with large scale classical in the main due to a manufacturer claim of 30hZ , which whilst being perhaps a touch optimistic certainly not far off ! Even a touch of ‘plasticky panel’ when driven really hard didn’t spoil the enjoyment , the self contained Servo-Charge OTL amplifiers are very interesting tho I seem to recall the Quad Drive running the 6HB5’s a tad on the toasty side.

https://user.faktiskt.io/lennartj/Audio/Acoustat X.pdf
 
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You should try recording a single speaker (possibly with your microphone closer to your speaker) to get better sound.


Not necessary , you can move closer to the speakers-best is usually about 5 ft to avoid reflections and closer offset to one side a bit than dead center..
 
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Another hot planar speaker tip. Acoustat. Old now and not expensive but really damn good! In fact I replaced my Apogee Caliper Signatures with a pair of Acoustat 1+1 (with medallion transformer upgrade) and later Acoustat Spectra 2200. IMO, these did everything the Caliper Signatures did plus better low level resolution (and therefore coming alive at lower volumes) and better coherence (they were single driver afterall). Find a pair of those, particularly the Spectra series, and you will be again blown away at how much speaker you can get for so little money. The best part of Acoustat electrostatic panels is that they never go bad, unlike most other brands. That is how 40 year old speakers can still sound like new.

There were also some early Acoustats, like the Acoustat X, which is direct drive and come with their own OTL high voltage amps. There is a company in the Netherlands that can rebuild and upgrade these amps but I am told (haven't heard them) that this is the most unbelievable sound in terms of transparency, resolution, tone etc. There are guys in the US that bought them new 45 years ago and never had any urge to try other things.
Thank you for the great advice, @morricab
 
Guys, alea iacta est… We’re going full planar. Apogee Duetta are the main speaker until the Clarisys Studio Plus get here. Stay tuned.

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Sweet , whats the amplification being used currently ..?
It’s the NAT Symbiosis New, a single ended otl hybrid design with about 100w of power. It works astonishingly well with these Apogees. Through the years I ran several different Apogees in passive and active configurations, as well as Magnepans, and for a passive configuration I’ve never heard the Apogees driven so well. I have no issues with control, SPL, bass, nothing, while retaining the sweet elements of the design’s sound signature. This goes against any of my previous experiences with these speakers, but to be fair this is the only fully restored one I’ve ever owned. All others were original designs with Graz ribbon replaced MRT drivers.
 
It’s the NAT Symbiosis New, a single ended otl hybrid design with about 100w of power. It works astonishingly well with these Apogees. Through the years I ran several different Apogees in passive and active configurations, as well as Magnepans, and for a passive configuration I’ve never heard the Apogees driven so well. I have no issues with control, SPL, bass, nothing, while retaining the sweet elements of the design’s sound signature. This goes against any of my previous experiences with these speakers, but to be fair this is the only fully restored one I’ve ever owned. All others were original designs with Graz ribbon replaced MRT drivers.
Is there an online link to the Symbiosis New?
Can you post a closer pic of it?
Ta muchly.
 
Why do you feel you need to go to the Clarysis? Don't the Duettas pretty much get you 95% there as things stand?
 
This goes against any of my previous experiences with these speakers, but to be fair this is the only fully restored one I’ve ever owned. All others were original designs with Graz ribbon replaced MRT drivers.
Who did the restauration and with what parts?
 
Why do you feel you need to go to the Clarysis? Don't the Duettas pretty much get you 95% there as things stand?
Something I’m wondering myself. I don’t think that’s the case though. Being VERY familiar with the Apogee design in and out, I think everything that Clarysis does is what I would do if I had to redesign the original Apogees myself. With everything I know has been done with the Studio Plus I don’t think even these refurbished Duettas get to 95%.

On the other hand, these Duettas are voiced unlike the Duettas Signature I owned before. I prefer this voicing, which may lack some extension in the highs, but it more than makes up for it with its tremendous midrange.

That said, I am keeping the Duettas as well. Thoroughly impressed with them and in no need to sell them.
 
Is there an online link to the Symbiosis New?
Can you post a closer pic of it?
Ta muchly.
Think there’s no online link yet. If you take a look some posts back you’ll see I’ve posted the info Dejan gave me on the amps. I have some pics from Dejan where you can see better close ups, I’ll post them tomorrow when I dig em up.
 
Thanks for the Info.
Have you ever heard a fully refurbished Apogee from Henk?
Unfortunately, no. On the upside, this one at least compared to the original (which I have a lot of experience with) is clearly better.
 
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Think there’s no online link yet. If you take a look some posts back you’ll see I’ve posted the info Dejan gave me on the amps. I have some pics from Dejan where you can see better close ups, I’ll post them tomorrow when I dig em up.
I'm fascinated you say that a hybrid OTL is close to indistinguishable from one of the most powerful SETs out there.
I get that it's the same designer.
But no-one's ever "confused" (lol) an OTL for a SET before.
Even more so, a hybrid.
 

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