Apogee acoustics website

[treblenbass]

Hi all

 

I was wondering if anyone can shed some light on apogee acoustics which is based in Australia (https://www.apogeeacoustics.com/index.htm)? The website has not been updated in a long time and i have not heard much about them. Do they currently make speakers  or is it only ribbons? Has anyone heard any of the creations?

 

Cheers

[David A]

Yeah their website evidently hasn't been updated in some areas for many years. The last time I corresponded with Graz was 3 years ago. At that time, they had two new production (not restored) speakers - the Diva A9 and E9, with the E9 being a more extreme 200kg version. And as far as I know they still restore old Apogee speakers and sell parts for those speakers.

I haven't heard any Graz-restored or new production speakers, so I can't offer any opinion on their sound. That said, if I was going to buy a resto-modded Apogee speaker in current production, i'd go for these speakers which use Graz ribbons and are priced circa $30kUS -

It's also worth mentioning that Greg Takesh from GT Audio Works has two planar magnetic/ribbon speakers in the advanced design stage, including the Model 2 priced at $15-$20kUS (tbc) and Model 4 priced at $50-$75kUS (tbc, though I believe Greg is aiming to keep the price down to $50kUS). These speakers will be sold direct, and thus will have very high cost/performance compared to the big players like Alsyvox and Clarisys Audio. I have renderings of these speakers if you're interested. Though Greg advised me recently that due to family circumstances, he is uncertain if these speaker projects will be realised. I hope they are, as from all that I know about them, they would be stonking bargains at their respective price points.
 

Edited August 9, 2024 by David A

[treblenbass]

Thanks for the great information David, helps to fill in the gaps. I have never heard of GT Audio Works, they sure look interesting. If you could share the renderings of their hopefully forthcoming speakers, that would be great.

 

Cheers

Ray

 

[David A]

@treblenbass I was going to post this reply last night, but the site went down.

Fyi most of the following information is from my correspondence with Greg Takesh. The Model 2 speakers will be 198 cm h  x 36 cm w x 3.5 cm d. They will be a 2 way design which differs from all other planars, in that the main driver which is 183cm x 24cm is driven directly without any crossover or electrical filtering of any kind. Therefore the coherence of such a design allows for a power response and phase accuracy not possible with multi driver systems with electrical filters. This panel covers the meat of the music from 45hz to 5khz. And since this driver is connected directly to the amp without any caps, coils or resistors in the way, that allows the image height and soundstage, immediacy, transparency, dynamic contrasts and resolution to come through.

Beyond 5khz, only a single tweeter is needed. And it needs to be able to handle a 1st order crossover for the best phase and power handling integration with the main panel. This short tweeter is not a line source which has poor vertical dispersion, so its vertical dispersion characteristics are superior. Greg commented that he was evaluating the Radian LT6 planar ribbon tweeter which has shown promise. The speakers will offer extension between around 45Hz - 30kHz. The early prorotype of the Model 2 employed a Fountek tweeter and is already a better speaker than the Reference 3 for a lot less money. And the Radian tweeter should be better again. The speakers will ship in wooden crates which can be unscrewed and stored flat. See rendering below.

Regarding the Model 4. Greg has finished the prototyping stage of development which took more than a year, and has settled on a design which he is in the process of building. The new Model 4 (final name tbc) will consist of;

 

4- 20"x14" planar bass panels placed in an 80" line source with no x-over. Greg will use the same method of mechanical damping and frequency response manipulation as he did on the full range panel for the REF3. 

 

4- 20"x3" wide band mid range planar panels. X-over points are not set yet, but Greg said he may go as low as 150hz, and out to 5khz on the top. It will be a wide band driver for excellent coherence and resolution.

 

4- pure foil ribbon tweeters wired with an 8 ohm impedance matching transformer to cover 5K to above audibility. 

 

The 6- 12" open baffle dipole sub modules per channel will most likely cross over around 50 hz.

 

Sensitivity will come in around 94db and an easy flat 6 ohm load.

 

Greg’s listening tests with the prototypes have demonstrated they outclass the REF3's by a mile. Paired with his 100 wpc Manley Snappers, they blew the walls down. The subs are powered by the same external Audio Control RS 100 bass amp as the REF3.

 

This will be a large system taking up a lot of floor space. The panels and woofer towers will be about 88" tall. The panels will be about 30" wide and the sub towers about 15' wide. The system will be as large as an infinity IRS V.

Specs -

 

- Efficiency - 94db

- Impedance - 6 ohms

- Bandwidth - 40Hz - 40kHz (planar magnetic panels), with bass to 15Hz (open baffle subs)

- Active subs powered by a pair of 1000 watt Class D mono blocks with DSP EQ

- Finishes - Available in exotic wood veneers or automotive paint finish in high gloss clear coat

- Dimensions - 86" h x 30" w - 2.5" thick (main panels), 86" h x 14" w x 14" d (subs)

- Warranty - Lifetime warranty on the speakers for the original owner

 

Here is the rendering..

Edited August 10, 2024 by David A

[ganache]

I replaced my midrange and tweeter ribbons on my Apogee speakers about a year ago.  They were purchased from Graz of Apogee Acoustics.