True Sound Works Apogee Diva Ultimate - Any Good?

No you are not delusional. I also would love to own a pair of Apogee speakers some day and the first place I would look is True Soundworks. I have spoken to Rich a few times and he certainly knows these speakers very well and how to properly refurbish them. He offers a warranty to support is work. As an alternative The Analysis Audio speakers are very intriguing. While not true Apogee's they are very close and some have said improved over the original.

Original Apogees tended to lean a bit to the warm side of neutral, but they were fast, quick, & dynamic and have incredible imaging and transparency when set up properly in a room. The new revamped Apogees are quicker still and more transparent in the neutral camp.

Analysis Audio speakers tend to be a little lean on the bottom, to my ears vs the Apogees.

But in either case, you need a high current amp to drive them. But they will blow away any other panel speaker you can think of. No, they don't have cone speaker bass, which is why you should hear some of those others you mention and decide which presentation style meets your own needs.

The speakers you listed are all very different from each other. Which one you choose will depend on your room and associated equipment to a large degree -- some require a large room, and some require enormous power and/or biamping. I have not heard Apogees recently so cannot comment on them compared to say the Sound Lab U-1PXs here.

As an owner of Reconditioned Apogees I would suggest not only should you hear them, but you should be aware of the differences between the various models.

The Diva has its own issues as do the others. But with the latest ribbons, decent amplification etc, an apogee is hard to beat. It is more a question of which? You should contact Graz. He knows a thing or two about the pros and cons of each.

My Duetta signatures with new outboard xovers, new ribbons, wiring and connectors were and are devastating. The Diva needs a lot of care to come to life IMHO. It can sound congested or polite compared to the others at reasonable volumes.

IIRC, the Apogees are a *very* difficult speaker to drive properly. My reading indicates that they can drop as low as 1 ohm at certain frequencies, thus they are very taxing for 99% of the amps out there. Also, they present a very reactive load to the amp. And not very many amps are happy with such a load.

Additionally, they are known to have a *very* small sweet spot and positioning and setup are absolutely critical if one wishes to achieve the best listening experience....

-RW-