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Best Amp to drive my Apogee Stages?

Greetings all.
I am wondering if I might get some good suggestions from anyone who might be firmiliar with the Apogee Stages. I have owned them for quite awhile, but due to blowing up my Krell (300i)intergrated amplifier more than once now (a $400 bill to fix it each time) I beleive that it is time to buy the right amplifier for the job. I need more power for sure, but my wallet is light these days. This means that I must minimize my purchase to something definitly under $2K and even more like $1200 price range. This seems to limit me quite a bit in my findings, but I am wondering if I might have missed something with my research so far? I have reviewed Krell, Levinson, Pass Labs and Threshold to date. Each have older options in my price range, but I am not certain if any will work better with my speakers?

Any thoughts out there?

Thank you in advance.

-LoveItLoud
loveitloud

Showing 8 responses by clavil

clavil
254 posts
 
02-11-10: Rrog
Jeff Rowland Model 5 is your perfect match. Currently listed on Audiogon for $1600.

or go class D, they will control them perfectly
clavil
254 posts
 
Class D would be fine for your second system Clavil, but there is no class D amplifier in the same league as the Rowland

oh yes there is the Rowland 312 ...

it would be very interesting to realize a blind test especially with all people who claim class D is not good enough
clavil
254 posts
 
Loveitloud

at your place I would try to borrow some class D amplifier for a few days ...

then you will have a clear idea of what happens, I bet you will discover a new couple of speakers in your Apogee ...
this happened to me with my Infinity which need also quite a bit of current

then you can try to find something which matches with your budget ... in class D there are a lot of alternatives even a Danemark based company (I can't remenber the name now) which is selling 1000 W / 4 ohms monoblocs for less than 1000$ !!

good luck ... let us know
clavil
254 posts
 
quote]Matti, why do you find the Rowland recommendation confusing? Is it because the Rowland 5, which I recommended, will deliver 600wpc into a 2 ohm load and it might be too much power for the Stage?
Honestly, Aragon is nothing more than a glorified midfi amplifier. Please don't confuse this product with highend. [/quote]

absolutely right
clavil
254 posts
 
but it won't be "too much" power ...
clavil
254 posts
 

I am driving my Stages with TRL GT-400 and I love it!!!!!!

I agree with So_good that a *good* 100-150 WPC tube amp can drive the Stage well.

A good tube amp to consider is Audio Valve Challenger. Its sound is lush and seductive.

that's fine but can you tell us how they sound when you hear Bruckner 8th symphony at realistic volume or some Puccini or Wagner opera ?

If you want to get the best out of these speakers you need to control them perfectly ...
and this was quite a problem in the eighties
clavil
254 posts
 
Clavil, How do you know when you have a speaker controlled "perfectly"?
The truth is you may never hear the true potential of a speaker like the Apogee. Because this is a hard speaker to drive there is no amplifier happy with the Apogee load therefore any amplifier connected to this type of speaker will never sound it's best.

than let's replace perfectly by best possible ;-)
obviously, a strong and stable amplifier at low impedance and with a high damping factor will do a better job than a weak one, and most of tubes or class A ...

considering the budget of our friend your suggestion choice of the Rowland 5 is good one and I am sure he will notice a big improvement

once again: I have been driving my Infinity for 14 years with an David Belles OCM (200 watts) + Treshold pre ... the day I tried Rowland (1000 Watt into 4 Ohms and Damping Factor 1000 at 1 kHz I was just schocked ... I couldn't believe my ears !

I discovered after 14 years how my Infinty can sound !!

clavil
254 posts
 
will do a better job than a weak one ... I should have added

in this case
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