APOGEE CENTAUR MAJOR VS B&W MATRIX801S2 WHICH IS T

Zd542, search this forum with my username & you'll see that I have contributed a lot over the years that I have participated here. I re-state: you remain ignorant.

I was recently at RMAF2013 & listened to a lot of loudspeakers incl those that were made from original RCA drivers from the 1950s. Those speakers beat the pants of almost all the other speakers I heard at the show.

I don't subscribe to any of the audio rags; I trust my ears more than some audio press reviewer; I also have a good understanding of electronics & so I believe that I know what I'm saying.

You don't have to like to the Apogee speakers (or for that matter any other speaker) other than the ones you own but to write on this forum that "speakers have come such a long way since both of those speakers were in production, that there's no reason to have to put up with the flaws of either one" shows me that you have no understanding of this subject. On the contrary, I would say that you need to pull your socks up & contribute something useful to the discussion.....

Bombaywalla,

Well here we are again. This is one of those situations where I'm starting to feel embarrassed for someone else. That would be you. I doubt we can end this but I'll try.

Apogee speakerss: Are very difficult to drive. Don't have great bass. Are hard to place. Don't have the volume or dynamic range that most other speakers have. The company has been out of business for well over a decade. Anything that someone buys used will almost certainly need some type of service or repair just due to age, if nothing else.

I guess all that's not too bad. They do have a nice midrange, but so do a lot of other speakers. Now, just to be clear, I consider the above comments common knowlege. The OP already knows this. I assume he's asking if its worth all the trouble to buy a pair of these speakers. I still say no to these and the B&W's.

Now for the last part. What is it that you know? You made it a point 2x's to say that I'm ignorant and don't know what I'm talking about but don't tell me why. Given your ego, you have to have some subjective info that proves my subjective info wrong. So what is it? You used to work for the company, own the speakers, fix them, heard them at the big show..... What is it that makes your opinion right and mine wrong? Also, I have no idea why you would compare vintage cone speakers to ribbons. Just because they are both considered vintage products, maybe?

Bombaywalla
I have had the privilege of hearing BOTH of these speakers when both were in their prime and with no doubt in my mind you are pitting 2 very strong contenders against another. My taste went to the Apogee Major (I own Slant 6s myself) In my very humble opinion I just preferred the bi polar radiation and imaging more than what the B & W provided for me. Should I have to depart with my Slants today I would gladly accept EITHER into my listening room but, of course I would prefer the Apogee Majors.

The B&Ws *can* offer superb sound to this day, but again, imo, it will fall just short of the 801Ds and 800Ds. As well as the high end JBLs and Tannoys. They're quite a bargain on the used market! The Apogees, no big deal on those. I consider them slightly above average. Plus, the company's out of business, which can never be a good thing overall...

"11-11-13: Dave_72
The B&Ws *can* offer superb sound to this day, but again, imo, it will fall just short of the 801Ds and 800Ds."

How do you deal with the tweeters in those old B&W's? The midrange is excellent. Its clean and fast; no problems at all. I found the tweeter to be painful. I tried all different things to fix them, but could come up with no reasonable solution short of just getting a new pair of speakers. They ended up being a very good learning experiance, but a very costly one.