Amp for Apogee Stage's

Bmotorcycle,

Although you can certainly drive the Apogees with a tube amp -
the low impedance of the ribbon drivers makes tube amps
problematical. There are big brute tube amps, but they are
expensive.

More moderately priced tube amps that would normally be very
sweet may have trouble with the low impedance swings of the
Apogee drivers - just a "fact of life" with tube amps.

Beefy solid state amps work well. Apogee recommended Krells
and Classe; but Aragon, McCormack, Bryston, among others..
are known to pair nicely with Apogees.

Now that you have a short list; it's time to trust your
own ears.

Dr. Gregory Greenman
Physicist

Doctor, I used a Jolida 1000, on the four ohm tap of my Stages. The Jolida
handled the load with aplomb. Yes, it was somewhat syrupy, but that is just
byproduct of lower echelon tube gear. I ran a Pass X150 on Duettas.

Apogee hasn't made speakers in eight years. We are left to our own resources
to mate Apogees with amps. These days, there are a lot more exciting amps
to chose from without relying solely on the iron dragons of yesteryear.

I know what I am saying isn't common knowledge. It seems audiophiles are a
conservative bunch when it comes to their gear. It doesn't help that Mags, like
Stereophile, still champion huge solid state, and tube amps.

I understand the resistance. I too became defensive, when a fellow Apogee
owner told me a little cold stainless steel triangular amp worked wonders on
his Apogee. I just had a hard time believing it. Howerver, there was
something in the fellow's earnestness that won me over. I tried one of those
amps against huge solid state monoblocks, 150lbs. apiece. He was right. It
was as if someone had whisked away an army quilt from my Apogees.

Paul Speltz makes a very good autoformer. I heard one used on a Martin
Logan system. The amp was a sweet 7 watt Audio Note. It worked fine, not as
good as a Llano hybrid, or an S-H2O, but good.

I've driven my Stages with several amps with good results. The load is not that difficult, as compared to some of the larger Apogee models.

Much depends on your tastes. I had the mentioned Aragoon 4004 MK II in my system for a short time. While it had good base control, the mids and highs lacked refinement and clarity.

I've had a Bel Canto Evo 2, Gen II for the last 8 months and I'm pleased with its speed, clarity and control on the Stages.

It's best if you can try out the amp to get a feel for its sound character, especially if it uses tubes.

Muralman1,

You can certainly run a small tube amp on the Stages, and get
something that "sounds" fine. However, when the Stage starts
to demand current - and if the tube amp can't provide it -
then accuracy is the first casualty. If the low impedance
load causes the voltage on the tube amp to sag below what
it should be - i.e. the product of the gain and the input
voltage - then you don't have accuracy.

If the amp can't supply the current the Stages want - like
the big amps that Stereophile, et. al. champion - then
you don't have accuracy - even if you like the sound.

I'm sure there are more amps on the market that pair well
with Apogees other than those that were around when Apogee
was still in business. I wonder how some of the newer
"switching" amps like the Bel Cantos do on loads like the
Apogees.

However, what the low impedance of the Apogee driver needs
is current. That's something that you are much more likely
to get accurately out of a solid state device for a price
that is reasonable, vis-a-vis a tube amp.

There certainly are tube amps that can handle an Apogee -
but with the current hungry Apogee - you are not playing to
a tube amp's strong suit.

Although a successful pairing of tube amp and Apogee is
certainly possible - it certainly requires more care and
attention.

It would be "safer" for the Apogee owner to stick with the
beefy solid state designs. A greater fraction of the
solid state amp market will pair well with Apogees, than
the fraction of tube designs that will.

Again, the current demands of the Apogees are just not the
strong suit for tube amps - although most certainly there
are tube amps that pair well with Apogees.

Dr. Gregory Greenman
Physicist

Doctor,

Have you owned the Apogee Stage? I found it a considerably easier load than the Duetta, and by a long shot, the Scintilla. RGocin knows what I'm talking about.

There are people happily using tube gear on all Apogees, but the Scintilla. There were people very upset at me for buying a Scintilla. One wrote, "Now, you will have to use solid state, and you will never be happy."

You know, I think he was right. I was not satisfied with the sound of solid state.

ICE powered amps provide the same naturalness as great tube amps do, adding prodigious power, speed, and dynamics. The H2O, with it's large analog power supply, leads the pack IMO.

It has been reviewed by 6Moons

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/h2o/m250.html