Amp for Apogee Stage's

Go to www.iceh2oaudio.com

This is a amp that I own that was designed and voiced with Apogees.

Carlton

The Stage likes tube amps. Another winner would be one of the new ICE
amps. I'm using one of the more expensive ones, the H2O, on the Stage's big
brother, the Scintilla. Jjaz makes a less expensive ICE amp. it's a honey for the
price.

Tubes are a must for the mids and highs, but the impedence is such a killer on them that I see the dilemma. I had heard them paired well with Llano hybrids, the counterpoint np hybrid amps etc. A tube pre will help further. From more recent gear, I would think that the LAMM hybrid and within SS the Rowland or Boulder gear would be pretty remarkable too...

My Stage had a lot of great bass matched with a tube amp. One shouldn't feel nervous about an Apogee. The Stage does not need a brute amp to sound great. It is more important to have a clean sounding amp that is at least moderately strong. You don't need to spend the bank, either. If you want it all, then look into the ICE amps. There is no more powerful amp, that I have heard of, than the ICE amps mentioned above. The H2O shares the best sonic attributes of tube gear, with the muscle of the biggest Krell.

I am currently using a McCormack DNA-1 rev B amp on my Stages. I'm very happy with the sound and don't plan on changing it anytime soon. In the past I've used less powerful amps, such as smaller Brystons and Counterpoints. The bass and dynamics of the speakers weren't what they are now. Plus, the McCormack to my ears is just a much more musical amp.
Another thing to keep in mind concerning system synergy with the Stages is speaker wire. The sound from this speaker is more dependent on the wire used than any other speaker I've owned.
Good luck.