Is Apogee in a class by itself among planars?

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.