So Many Apogees for sale, and so few takers

Essential Audio we gave the Lazarus H1A's a good try unfortunately it never came to pass. Hope you are doing well. Bob

Josh358,

"few areas an apogee will beat a tympani"

Depending on which Apogee you mean I doubt the Tympani could do dynamics like an apogee. The sound of rattling on bass drums would soon appear with the Tympani.

I had both apogee and maggies of all sorts. I loved them both. The Apogee with all new drivers and modern xover is hard to beat. Having said that a decent xover in a maggie is up there too, but those older maggies couldn't take dynamic swings. Although still a fabulous sound if a little constrained and woody.

I too was looking into pair of older apogees a little while back. But, after talking to an expert about restoring an older pair(cant remember the name), he mentioned that ALL the original condition apogees need complete makeovers nowadays given their age. So, unless you buy one fully restored, you are in essence purchasing a project speaker that will costs thousands to get back up to spec not including the shipping costs. Granted, they will sound freaking amazing i am sure once completed, if you have the funds.

Just an FYI for those buyers looking for a bargain apogee. There are none. Buyer beware.

Nismo,

That is absolutely not true!!! All is much too broad of a generalization! I have Mini Grands that look and sound great. Original owner and handled with TLC and high quality amplification. They have many years left in them before they need any doctoring.

Chadeffect,

I had Tympani 1-D's for many years, and used to play them at fuse-blowing levels with a wide range of material -- classical, rock, movies. I never heard them rattle on a bass drum. The only time the 1-D's woofers ever got into trouble was in the cannon shots on the Telarc 1812.

The Tympani IV's and IVa's play even louder and deeper. Satie, over on the Audio Asylum measures >120 dB SPL's on his modified Tympani IV's (midrange replaced by BG Neo-8's). He uses a 2500 watt pro amp on the woofers to get those levels. As I recall, Satie does give the biggest Apogees a slight edge in dynamics over the Tympanis,, but complains that the Apogee midrange ribbon can become unstable and shrill at high SPL's.

In any case, in my experience, the Tympani bass isn't at all like the single panel bass in this regard, which is why I have a pair of IVa's now. To me, the Tympani woofers have the ideal combination of near-dynamic SPL's and extension and planar naturalism. Now, if only I could score a pair of Apogee midrange ribbons to put in them. :-)