Apogee Duetta vs Mangnepan 3.6r

You cannot go wrong with the Apogee Duetta Signatures you can get replacement parts from Apogee Acoustics of Australia They will not sell the bass ribbon to you direct but they do have two authorized repair stations that can intall the bass panels. You can change the Tweeter Ribbon easily and that part can be purchased directly from Graz of Apogee Acoustics of Australia. The Duetta Signatures with the right amp will kill the Magnepans 3.6s. I just sold my Duetta Signatures which I have owned for 5 years to upgrade to Apogee Divas. I have not had a chance to set up the Divas yet but I will find out soon if the Divas are better in my system and room. I have listened to many planar speakers and the Apogee's are far better than any of the Magnepans. The only Magnepans I really could get into are the 20.0 or 20.1. which are huge but have the right tonal balance, image like planar speakers should and are truly amazing speakers but still no Apogee.

I went from a modified Magnepan 3.6r (rebuilt xovers, rewired new terminals etc) to Duetta sigs which I completely refurbished and brought up to 21 century standards.

If you go for it with the 3.6r and fix the xover and stands etc, you will have a hell of a speaker. But the Apogee if updated with the latest ribbons etc will be capable better dynamics and volume although even more critical of the electronics in front. I would say the 3.6 is a little more forgiving. My Duettas were sublime and a great speaker if powered correctly.

Agree with Dave. I owned both Caliper and Duetta.

The 3.6 are outgunned by both.

No contest.

IMO

Hello Coxhaus,

I own Apogees (three pairs and a center) and have owned Maggies in the past. I have heard the Magnapan 3.6R's and think that they have potential. Read the North East Wisconsin Audio Society review of the 3.6R for potential upgrades, (newaudiosociety dot com) and then keep in mind that the author sold his modded 3.6's not long after writing the article.

I have heard my friend George's system (previous poster Thesoundhouse) numerous times which included stock Apogee Duetta Signatures, a Sota Star Nova and Pass Labs electronics, and have been drawn in by the Duetta's transparency and detail. The Maggies tend to lack both those qualities unless you perform some serious upgrades to the stands and the crossovers.

Apogees require a good bit of clean power to make them sing, so don't expect to get by with low power or low quality amplification.

There are a Richard Murry restored pair on Audiogon today if you have about $7900 to spend on your drug habit (I meant audio system). I heard a Richard Murry restored pair three years ago at RMAF and it was the best sounding system at the show.

Regarding the "North East Wisconsin Audio Society review of the 3.6"...I remember him from several forums, and he did post here very often....(Rooze).

He tried very hard to get the Maggies to surpass his Apogee Calipers (the Apogee were bright yellow!)...he sold the Maggies and kept the Caliper. He did like the Maggies for the most part though.

I'm pretty sure that he moved on to some BIG HORN type speakers after a while (but still has the yellow Calipers).

Dave