OK guys, I purchased a pair a Apogee Duetta signatures that I’m going to get restored. These are my favorite speakers from back in the day. Also, considering the purchase of a Krell KSA or FBP amp to go with them. Am I crazy to think the Apogees will sound better than my Magnepan 3.7i or the Krell might sound better than a BHK250???
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Former KSA and FPB owner here. The FPB was a step backward in my opinion, but boy if you find a clean KSA for your Apogees … well, that’d be a heavenly retro rig.
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I had Apogee Stages and Duetta’s with a KSA 250. I should have kept both . My recollection is the the KSA 250 will sound better than a BHK 250. But bigger and warmer ( heat). They show up every now and then on the boards.
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I was just gifted a pair of KEF 105/3’s. But the midrange Uni-Q has tired out voice coils on both cabinets. The “Cavity Coupled” Woofers with that funky rod in between them is in good shape but one of the Woofers resonates like Hell. Screw tightening may or may not fix this. The Tweeters have been replaced and the Crossover’s Electrolytic Capacitors throughout are are still within their original values based on the LPF board that I’ve changed out (cap kit also gifted to me). On it’s own they sound pretty good except for the midrange Uni-Q buzzing like crazy. Removed the Woofer/Uni-Q/Woofer front “Pod” (baffle, I guess) and all screws are tight.
Unpulugging the the Uni-Q midrange driver and leaving the Tweeter connected sounded horrible but proved that both midranges are hosed.
The “Cube” EQ is missing but miniDSP to the rescue. Looked up the original Cube curves for the 105/3’s online customized a curve suitable to my room and bypassed the LPF (Crossover) for the Cavity Couples Woofers. That’s when I heard the Woofer buzz. The 5.5" midwoofer’s are in good shape but I found the overall sound too warm even with the nasty midranges when not buzzing.
I plan on ripping everything out probably next year and going to Parts Express and order just the 8" inside “Subs"and maybe the 5.5” midwoofers and a tiny metal dome Tweeter while keeping the Uni-Q midrange disconnected but still acting as a Waveguide for the Tweeter . These boxes sadly will be an eyesore to my Wife (and me) until we buy a house later this year. A Gift is a Gift and they are 30 years old with no internal foam rot on the inside Woofers.
The whole thing will be miniDSP/ICE Amps controlled. These Speakers were an odd design 30 years ago and I love odd designs and the challenges they present playing back today’s HiRes PCM and DSD/SACD material.
I’ve heard the Apogee’s with the Bass Bins and they are amazing !
Enjoy.
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I have Duetta Signatures and Divas. To my ears the Duettas are superior to the 3.7s that I heard. I also own a pair of recapped Krell KSA 250s that I use to biamp my Divas during the colder months. Excellent amps by any standard. For the summer months I use a pair of Emotiva XPR-2s. These amps pair well but do have a distinctive warm coloration in their sound reminiscent of tube amps.
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