Apogee Stage/Mini Grand

The Stage stands are a bit on the "cheap" side, construction wise. Even with the bases fully weighted, I felt that they could be easily knocked over.

I duplicated the height and width of the Mini-Grand subs to retain the look and sound of the original. The custom subs are about 9 inches deeper than the original and weigh over 90 pounds each. They are built out of 1.5 inch MDF, heavily braced, glued, and screwed. They provide a stable base and are not going to get tipped over.

Instead of the dual 8" drivers of the Mini-Grand in a port loaded configuration, I used a single 11.5" in an acoustic suspension cabinet with some light equalization at 25 Hz. The sound is cleaner, tighter, and more powerful than the original.

I tried the subs away from the Stages, but their size makes them hard to place without causing family problems.

Thanks for the information everyone. Rick, if you don't mind me asking, why didn't you keep your Mini-Grand tops with the Stage stands and build standalone subs? It seems you would have more design flexibility and placement options with standalone subs.

Mike

I second Rgodin

The speakers are the same, though the Mini-Grand models tend to have a higher-end cosmetic finishes. I'm not sure if mounting brakets differ between the Stage with stands or the Stage with Mini-Grand base.

I used my Mini-Grand tops with Stage stands for a couple of years. Later, I built my own subs to replace the Stage stands.

The Duetta Sigs are a different beast. They are taller, wider, lower impedance, and less efficient than the Stage. The sound is more laid-back than the Stage.

Setup is a time consuming process, but the rewards are there for those that invest the time.

Rick

They are the same. I think they're somewhat tweaky to set-up.