Magnepan 3.6r or Apogee Divas?


There is a pair of Apogee Diva's (and coincidentally Duetta 2's) nearby for sale. I have just heard the Magnepan 3.6r in an excellent room with new Macintosh 501 monos (sounded excellent). However, I do not have experience with the Diva's or Duetta's. How sonically comparable are these speakers (Maggie vs. Apogee) in your exerience? Is service a problem for the Apogee's now they are no longer in production? Thanks to all for your advice!
campbelr
Aloha from Hawaii.

I am looking for a pair of Apogee myself, to buy. I just posted an ad on AudioGon looking for some.

Apogees are known to be hard to drive, but many more recent high current solid state amps can do the job. Bi-polar amps rather than Mosfet.

See www.apogeeribbons.com and www.apogeespeakers.com for info on repairs, models, etc. Condition is a key issue in the speakers you are considering.

Hope that helps. Where are you located? Feel free to email me at: sapaudio@hotmail.com

Aloha

Terry
The Apogee Diva is hard to beat, given any other speaker, other than other big Apogees. Terry is right in saying amps that can power the Diva are plentiful. Given the Diva is a 4 ohm speaker, it has always been fairly easy to find tube and solid state amps that can drive the, Now, with the advent of digital, the very depths of these grand speakers can be explored quite inexpensively. I have the much more difficult to drive Scintillas powered by $3k H2O monos. this is a marriage made in heaven.
I have apogee caliper signature II's and Magnepan 3.6R, and the Maggies are way better than the calipers. I know the calipers are not Diva's, but it's the closest comparison I can give you. Maggies are also very amp dependant, I've been through quite a few amps, each time you unveil a little more of their potential. They are great with tubes, but Cary V12 Monoblocks at 200/watts do not provide enough power. I'm using a Krell FPB200 which has the power but not the warmth and finesse that is needed.

Rooze