True Sound Works Apogee Diva Ultimate - Any Good?

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-

Many thanks for everyones comments, very helpful. Re difficult load to drive, I here ya. This is why I have kept my faithful Krell KSA-250 amp; one day it will drive a pair of Apogee Divas!

Oops; hear ya, not here ya!

11-30-13: Rlwainwright
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.

How do you know this, Rlwainwright? Did you own Apogee Divas at any point in your ownership of various audio gear? AFAIK, the Apogee Diva is a much easier load than, say, the Apogee Scintilla 1-ohm version. Here is a review from Stereophile from 1988 that shows an impedance plot (unfortunately no phase plot) but you can see that the Diva's impedance is, for all practical purposes, flat at nearly 4 Ohms. It does dip down lower at 20KHz but the program material power at 20KHz is likely to be very little.
http://www.apogeespeakers.com/reviews/diva_stereophile_august1988.htm

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....

again, may I ask how you know this bit of info??
Thanks.