I own a pair of Duetta II's, which I bought new in 1987. In 2008 one of the bass panels failed. i took them to Rich Murry of True Sound Works. He replaced all the ribbons in both speakers with the replacement ribbons made by Graz in Australia. He also replaced the existing capacitors and did something to strengthen the frames. Cost: $5,000 total. Was it worth it? Absolutely. These are my all-time favorite speakers. They sound as good if not better than when I first bought them.
Apogee Duetta Signature Series II - Upgrade Recommendations
Hi All,
Big dilemma. UPS dropped my left speaker very hard in transit and now there is a buzz at certain low frequencies in the bass panel. I’ve spoken to both Rich at True Sound Works and Bill Thalmann at Music Technology. I see my options as spending around $4,500 to replace/upgrade the ribbon and bass tweeters/(magnets) with Graz (and replace the acoustic foam). The overall sound will be improved while, as I understand it, staying true to the original sound. My other option is to more piecemeal start by upgrading the bass unit on both speakers with the goal in the end of building Duetta Ultimates. However, this route also means they are being re-engineered. Input from anyone with real world experience with both or one of these upgrade paths is greatly appreciated, even if with a different model such as the Diva or Scintilla. I’m very weary of losing that magic of these speakers I grew up with, something that Apogee owners know so well (my dad was the first and only owner since ‘88 until I finally acquired them about 5 months ago). Here is my current system for reference...
https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/7119
Big dilemma. UPS dropped my left speaker very hard in transit and now there is a buzz at certain low frequencies in the bass panel. I’ve spoken to both Rich at True Sound Works and Bill Thalmann at Music Technology. I see my options as spending around $4,500 to replace/upgrade the ribbon and bass tweeters/(magnets) with Graz (and replace the acoustic foam). The overall sound will be improved while, as I understand it, staying true to the original sound. My other option is to more piecemeal start by upgrading the bass unit on both speakers with the goal in the end of building Duetta Ultimates. However, this route also means they are being re-engineered. Input from anyone with real world experience with both or one of these upgrade paths is greatly appreciated, even if with a different model such as the Diva or Scintilla. I’m very weary of losing that magic of these speakers I grew up with, something that Apogee owners know so well (my dad was the first and only owner since ‘88 until I finally acquired them about 5 months ago). Here is my current system for reference...
https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/7119