There is an awful lot of clap trap talked about Apogees IMO.
There are thousands of pairs out there with absolutely no problems with the ribbons.
However replacement ribbons are available for all models if needed. They come complete with fitting instructions and all fitting aids, CD Roms with all fitting instructions are also available (maybe also DVD's).
Amplifiers are only a problem with the larger models, The Full Range (also known as THE Apogee), Scintilla's and Diva's. Although the Callipers requires some careful matching but don't all speakers.
I have a pair of Mini Grands and they are awesome especially in the Bass and sheer believability of the mid range. I also have a pair of Yamaha NS1000's they are good but the Bass is a couple of octave short of the Mini Grands. I even drove the Stages with a Leak Stereo 50, gorgeous sound.
Duetta's are no real problem to drive.
Do not under estimate the hybrid Apogees (Centaur Range) I think there was 3 models, you get a good 90% of the beauty without the WAF problems.
There is a guy in the states that has developed new amps, Stereo for $2000, Monoblocks for $3000 a pair. They were designed to drive the 1 Ohm Scintilla's everybody that has heard them is selling the usual amps, (Krell, Classe' etc.) They are called ICE H2O. You can find details on the Apogee Acoustics Users Group website. I have ordered mine, yes 240V/50Hz. Anybody fancy a Krell or Classe' power amp?
If you want the ribbon sound but don't fancy the Apogee size, try the Perigee FK1. There are suppliers in England and Switzerland, anywhere else, contact the manufacturer, (he is the same guy that makes all replacement parts for Apogees). He is called Graz, you can find details on the Apogee Acoustics Users Group website.
Lastly don't be fooled by people telling you that the Maggies are as good or better and easier to set up and drive, they are not, most people I know of got to Apogees via Maggies (me included) there is no going back.
Two links;
Apogee Acoustics Users Group
http://audioworld.com/cgi-bin/sw/fo...+Users+Group&number=1&DaysPrune=45&LastLogin=
Apogee Speaker Users website
http://www.apogeespeakers.info/
If you are interested, get out there and listen to them and the alternatives, there are plenty of Apogees for sale, in England at the moment I know of Diva's, Duetta's Stage's and Mini Grands.
) material on the mid/tweeter domes are quite special apparently and comparable with panel/stats for transparency so say the fans? I've often wondered about the integration and coherence side of things, seeing as it's a 3 way design, it's the one thing I've become particularly choosey on i.e. not being able to hear the join between multiple drive units. I was particularly disappointed with the Sound Lab Millenium 3 stats I heard once which use multiple panels each to cover different frequencies ranges just like a conventional multi way, the sound was big and disjointed - yuk. So far Quad ESL's (especially the 989's) are the only thing I've heard which do it for me. Have yet to actually hear an Apogee. Again this is only reiterated through hear say, but isn't the sweet spot supposed to be quite narrow with the bigger Apoggees?
