Apogee Duetta II Signature Crossover Caps Recommendations

I know True Sound Works is legit. I have come across a fair number of Apogee owners over the years that were all raving about the quality of workmanship and were surprised with the improvements across the frequency spectrum from the originals. They even offer replacing the magnets with stronger magnets for more bass and better efficiency (both shops check magnet alignment/strength as part of their rebuilds). I would call them. When I talked to them a while back it went right through to Rich. Graeme (aka Graz) can answer all of your questions as well. Due to time difference you should expect to hear from him within 12 hours. He works with both shops all the time as well. He’s not in it for the money. He’s always had a love for Apogees and is most concerned about quality builds, keeping Apogees alive and in use (including totally new models) and frequently comments on forums where people are giving bad advice. He actually made a very details comment yesterday on a diyaudio forum I commented on re: subpar ribbons coming out of Asia and Germany to other Duetta owners. When these speakers are running at their best and are well matced up with their components they are absolutely marvelous. Every day there are moments when they take me to nirvana with really good music that has great engineering - such as anything from ECM or 2L (Norwegian label). Cheers!

@gmosley and @parker65310 

I have a pair of Apogee Duetta Sigs which I purchased new approximately 30 years ago. I still marvel at how well they sound and I, too am a new fan of BAT - I use a BAT VK 42se preamp and a BAT VK 250 power amp. I have driven the Duettas with many configurations in the past including Forte pre and power amps, Proceed PRE and Bel Canto power amp, including a pair of Ref 1000 monoblocks. 

My question, if it is not too personal, is this - how much do you expect to pay for a ribbon rebuild by Bill Thalmann? I have attempted to get in touch with him, but have had no luck. After 30 years of use, I have to believe that my Duettas would benefit by a new ribbon rebuild.

I used to be on the original Apogee forum many years ago when Graz started supplying ribbons and building his own Apogees. We used to exchange Christmas gifts back then - in the form of CD's. He sent me a pair of mid/tweeter ribbons one year along with a great CD another year.

Any info on the rebuild cost would be helpful - Thanks

Richard Moscatelli

Hi Richard, from scratch you should roughly expect to pay $2,500 for all of the needed ribbons, acoustic foam, front and back socks, and wiring kit (for mid/high ribbons which includes (much improved from original) tension clamps) and Bill’s labor is a flat fee of $2,500. They also have an auto shop they use for painting that typically costs $1,200 (I’m doing a semigloss satin black). The only thing left would be to swap all of the Sprague capacitors which is typically about $1,400 when using caps they recommend (the speakers use a lot of them) and potting the resistors with epoxy. If you need shipping crates built they run $600+ from someone like Navis. Bill Thalmann is super-busy and the best way to reach him is via email at bill@musictechnologydotcom (typed out dot due to Audiogon’s filter). Cheers! 

Parker65310...thank you very much for the detailed information. At least now I have a good idea what to expect should I choose a rebuild.

Richard

You’re welcome. Feel free to message me privately if preferred. Same goes to anyone else looking for specific info that may not be appropriate for a public forum. No need to track it all down yourself when I’ve already done countless hours of my own research and amassed various top quality sources and articles.