I know the original Apogees had a reputation for being hard to drive. I think that was primarily due to the Scintilla, where Krell was the only thing that would handle them. That's not the case now though - lots of great amps and the other models have crossovers that are not so demanding, though more so than a regular speaker. The reworked speakers and crossovers offered by the Apogee repair guys are more efficient still.
Yes, they can be transparently revealing, and setup is super finicky. But when you get it right they truly sing like nothing else.
Hi Guys, I just wanted to say a quick hello to Bob (thanks for the kind words), and everyone looking in.His [above] statements are absolutely true: the True Sound Works rebuilt Apogees are essentially everything you could wish for along with the added bonus of being much more flexible with your choice(s) of power amps. When Bob runs his DNA 500 through his current Duetta Sigs (as described with his crossover upgrades, etc) the speed, effortlessness, and sheer drive are all there in spades, especially with his vinyl rig.
Apogees still have a great relationship with solid state powerhouses as it has always been an ideal match but the TSW Ap's now give you the added
option of choosing tube amps as well.
As an essentially stable 4 ohm load and approximately 87 db efficiency my Duetta Ultimates have been a great match with tube amps such as the Ref 75 (running KT 120's), Cary SA280 V12R (100 wpc running EL-34's or 6550's), as well as any number of seriously High Power tube amps such as my Tube Research Labs Golden Triode 200 monoblocs...
When you mention the Maggie 20.7's I can only remember hearing the 20.1's years ago and can say I still have a very soft spot in my heart towards maggies. The 20.1's I heard at Lyric in NYC and they sounded wonderful but considering my first "High end" speakers were MG 2B's from ages before until I lived with MG 3A's for many more years...I'll always love Maggies but the advantages of what TSW has done for Apogees must really be heard to fully be appreciated.
Room size should be your single most determining factor for which model will fit ideally for you. As a general rule the perfect match is of course, ideal. But : if you're fortunate enough to have a bigger room than the ideal sized speaker for it you're much better off with a smaller Apogee designated to an 'area' of it and upgrade speaker size as the $$$$$ allows later. What I mean to say is DON'T try to shoehorn a bigger Apogee into a room which is too small for it! I learned that the hard way. My rather moderate sized room (although purely dedicated) at 13'x18'x8' fit the Duetta perfectly. Perfectly. But like an idiot I couldn't help giving in to an "Opportunity" to try the Diva in place of it. Long story short...I tried for a year to make it work. Everything I could possibly try. Nope. Just couldn't quite get it right. Flipped the Divas, returned to a Duetta: Big Smiles and happily ever after.
Moral of story: Apogees want a perfect match of speaker model to room size. Yes, I know this is common sense but Apogees want EVERYTHING ideal for them. They are fussy, finicky and expect to be catered to. Electronics, cabling, room set-up...attention to detail in every aspect. They're sweet-spot speakers... (Yes they can sound really cool from another seat but they only sound "Startling" from THE listening throne...). So: if you have a 'guest', he/she gets "THE Chair" and you spin the tunes... They're pricey (but ultimately Under-priced once completely dialed in), they're a PITA to ship (Heavy, fragile, Expen$ive), You need to be very patient with set up...very. Whatever you can think of that'll make a speaker be a lot of work...these will probably check the box. But. Here's the BUT:
After all that... All the hassles, expenses, catering to...Sweat, concern...dialing...dialing...dialing... tweaking, tweaking, tweaking...(Is it really that much? : YES)....But
When you're finally finished...and the stars all align in your room 'just so'...then ALL that crazy effort will just fade away because the 'Events' you'll be experiencing from that designated throne of YOURS...will be all worth it. Once you hear it, you're SOLD, hook line and sinker.
In a nutshell (pardon my enthusiasm but if I can be so bold): Apogees...are it. You're done.
Happy Lissn'n.