Is Apogee in a class by itself among planars?

Eldartford...from the Apogee forum regarding the Apogee magnet layout:

"Apogee bass panels are single-ended...(Magnets on one side only) As the panel moves backward toward the magnets,
the magnetic field gets stronger. As the panel moves away from the magnets - the magnetic field gets weaker. Therefore, there is an asymmetry to the reproduction of the compression waves vs. the rarefactions.

If the panels had TWO sets of magnets; one in front and one in back - then there would be
no asymmetry. As the panel moved away from the back magnets - it would be moving closer to the front magnets and visa-versa. There would be no asymmetry in the production of the compression waves vs. the rarefactions."

"The classic or "true" ribbon like the Apogee MRTs is "double-ended". There are magnets
on both sides - left and right - of the MRT and as the ribbon moves forward and backwards
there is no asymmetry in the magnetic field that the ribbon experiences.

In essence, the MRT ribbons look / work the same if you turned them around front to back.
Thats not the case with a single-ended driver like the Apogee woofers. The compression /
rarefaction asymmetry changes if you flip them around"

"the trapezoidal shape is for control of resonances or vibration "modes"
Because of the shape - the width of the ribbon is not constant with height.
Therefore, the resonant frequency is not constant with height. So resonances are "spread out".

Dave

i have not heard the analysis plus or the quads. i have heard the duetta sigs powered by a huge rowland from a good dac. i wsh the systems i heard at the last two rocky moutain audiofests sounded as good as this kit, but they didn't. i could hear the amp, which was very good. the speakrs were not the limitation of this system. best i've heard, by alot.

Muralman1...This sounds the same as Maggies, except the magnets run in horizontal rows instead of vertical rows.

Sogood51...Having magnets only on one side (front or back)of the panel does theoretically give an asymmetrical drive, but, because the panel excursion is so small this effect is also small. Also, keeping excursion small by using a subwoofer minimizes the asymmetrical drive situation. This would logically improve midrange performance...more so than with a cone driver where assymetrical drive is not an issue.

As I understand it (correct me if I am wrong) the magnets of a ribbon are located IN THE PLANE of the ribbon, to the left and right. This only is possible if the ribbon is narrow.

Eldartford, I believe you are correct in your last statement.

And, our longtime Audiogon Apogee experts Muralman1 and Sogood51 have checked in, and I will say that none of us can compete with their knowledge regarding the product.

Someday, I'll own a Stage, Grand, or Duetta variant. Came close a couple of times, but so far, I have always been beaten to the table. I have always been MOST enthralled with the design and execution of this much missed brand.

Thanks a million to all the audiogoners who took the trouble let me know I'm not alone in my thoughts here and provide all this fascinating background info. I appreciate it.

I now have Kharma 3.2s because they also are among speakers that can often drop the 4th wall away as my Stages did (to my ears, at least). And, like the Stages, the 1-word review of the Kharmas is Clarity. But of course, it is a completely different experience from the Stages.

It was noted above that someone used an Aragon 4004 amp (I used an Aragon 8008)--it was amazing how realistic the Stages could sound with a $2500 amp.

I did listen to Quad 988s and did appreciate their wonderful purity and the way they could isolate each image in its own envelope, but felt that the overall sound was a bit foggy, not like the open-air, distortionless feeling of Apogee. I had a similar feeling of distance, of hearing the music through a glass window, with Martin Logans. There was nothing really wrong with these speakers, but felt like I wanted to open up that window and hear real, live sounds.

I think the closest thing I ever heard to having equivalent vocal reproduction was a pair of Dynaudio Evidence towers. The Apogee vocals were LARGE, actually larger than life, so they they were not really spatially accurate, but boy was it compelling.

I remember putting my ear right up to the ribbon and not being able to hear where the music was coming from. It was the ultimate driverless sound, I think.

I finally moved on from the Stages because the left woofer began to buzz, and 3 trips back to Apogee failed to fix it.
Thanks again, everbody.