I have owned a pair of Diva Ultimates for about one year. I traveled to Nevada and spent the day with Rich which proved to be a very rewarding experience. We discussed at length his design philosophy. I had previously owned a pair of Duetta Signatures and have heard stock Divas quite some time ago. Prior to hearing the Diva Ultimates i would have chosen the Duettas. Historically there have been many critics who have taken issue with the sonic presentation of the original Divas. Midrange coherence and integration with the film tweeter were problematic as well as bass panel issues. Rich has addressed these areas with great success. Specific redesign and upgrades can be addressed more completely by Rich. Some major changes were the midrange ribbon which is now a pure metal film without the backing, not unlike that found in the Full Range. The crossover had to be completely redesigned, eliminating the transformers. The bass panels now have more powerful and better aligned magnets. The bass impact and definition is quite remarkable, obviating the need for my JL 112 in my case. With all due respect the the Duetta Sig, the Diva Ultimate is indeed a significant sonic improvement. The only reason I would consider the Duetta would be a smaller listening room, where the benefits of the Diva would not be fully realized. A step up from the Diva Ultimate is the Full Range. Of course there is another camp of Apogee adherents who embrace the Scintilla. That is a very polarizing subject. Some elevate it above all others. Many feel the sound is unique and flawed due to phase anomalies in the midrange band that colors the presentation significantly. I have not heard it so i cannot offer a personal opinion one way or another. I have heard the ML CLX and do not feel that it is in same class as the Diva Ultimate. I listen mostly to Classical, chamber and Jazz. I am fortunate to live in an area where i can attend world class performances.
As an aside i have built some custom horns based on a JBL 375 with aftermarket beryllium diaphragms. I actually prefer this system with vintage jazz recordings from the the 60's. The immediacy is reminiscent of my visits to many jazz clubs in New York and San Francisco. My point is that no one speaker system is perfect for all occasions. But the Diva Ultimates comes pretty close.
Pass Labs X350.5 and Modulus 3B pre-amp. ( Evolution Acoustics MMMicroOne and Audio Physic Virgo III )
As an aside i have built some custom horns based on a JBL 375 with aftermarket beryllium diaphragms. I actually prefer this system with vintage jazz recordings from the the 60's. The immediacy is reminiscent of my visits to many jazz clubs in New York and San Francisco. My point is that no one speaker system is perfect for all occasions. But the Diva Ultimates comes pretty close.
Pass Labs X350.5 and Modulus 3B pre-amp. ( Evolution Acoustics MMMicroOne and Audio Physic Virgo III )