any thoughts on apogee centaur speakers?

Cool. I used to own Centaur Minors-with a 6 inch driver. I had a difficult time getting a solid soundstage outta mine so I got rid of them over 10 years ago. I drove them with Aragon electronics and a cheap NAD cd player (it was 1995)In hind sight, the cheap cd source could be the reason for the poor performance. I wish I has a pair now to try thm again because all the reviews commented on how great the soundsage was.

Lucky guy, i owned 2 pairs of Apogee Major and 1 pair of the Minors, sold them all in mint ciondition, What a dummy i was. They are great speakers, KEEP THEM.........

Thanx for sharing your thoughts,I am keeping these!

I just purchased a pair and love them. What amps do your recommend?

I have owned a few pair of Apogees over the years, most recently the last hybrid ribbon model Cepheus 6. I agree that Apogees are special speakers, especially the larger planar models. Your Centaurs are similar to the Cepheus, a little less efficient and with only a single low end cone driver. They speakers can sound remarkable, if you have the right room and associated amp(s) to drive them properly.

While the hybrid ribbons are much easier to drive than the planar models, but they still required plenty of current for in order to accommodate the room size required for these speakers, complex music, and higher volume levels.

I tried several combinations of amps, settled on a Krell (remember them?) and finally a pair of reworked McCormack DNA-1 speakers bridged into mono. If I were doing it now I think that it would be interesting to test out the Job 225, preferably a pair of them.

I never had much success with tubes and Apogee speakers, but some have reported good results with the larger Atma-Sphere MA-series OTL amps. I assume that you would need to use an autoformer such as the Zero in order to match the impedances.

BK I have a set of Slant 6s that I use (and I'll never part with 'em!) When I first got them I switched over to Aragon 2004 that produced outstanding results for me (Bi-wired) and imaging just blew me away! I changed my entire system and then used a Yamaha AX900U integrated with no problem then I switched (to my now) Classe CAP 151 with an ARC front end. Cables WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE with Apogees. With my Slants I am using Grover Huffman ICs and speaker cables. Back to the amp... the Classe doesn't have the heavier bottom as the Aragon did but, is cleaner (not as dark) and just a touch softer on the top and I can listen to hours with no listening fatigue at all and I listen to all sorts of rock, blues, new age music. Your room plays a huge part in the sound staging and positioning is very important as well for your staging. They are very special speakers for sure enjoy and contact if I can be more help. And as a caveat these are strictly my opinions only.

I always loved my Centaurs. Stunning imaging. Extremely neutral presentation with lots of shimmer. Very picky about set up.

They're sitting in the garage, and have been for 10 years. Maybe it's time to see what they sound like today with a totally different set of electronics!

A lower Manhattan retailer had the 8" version (IIRC) on demo when I happened in there +/- 20 years ago. I remember thinking that it was the best soundstage/image I'd ever heard from a planar. Reporting now - 20 years after the fact - my impression of a two minute eavesdropped demo... so FWIW ;-]

I just purchased a pair of Minors and absolutely love them. I have them mated with a Nad 325bee and Marantz SACD player. I want to upgrade with smp/preamp any suggestions?
Brian

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I know this is an old post but I bought a pair of Centaurs about 3 yrs ago and love them. I have sold some good speakers but these I believe are my keepers.

Agree. I owned a pair about five years ago or so and thoroughly enjoyed them. Drove them with an Audio Research 100.2 and ModWright SWL 9.0 SE. Was a very enjoyable system that didn’t cost a lot on the used market. Those three components I maybe had $2,400 all in. Cambridge 851C with all Clear Days cables and Kimber power cords. Was a nice system to get back into the hobby with from a lengthy absence. The Clear Days really worked great on the Centaurs. Enjoy your Centaurs mexibeetle.