Magnepan 3.6r or Apogee Divas?

The Apogee Diva is hard to beat, given any other speaker, other than other big Apogees. Terry is right in saying amps that can power the Diva are plentiful. Given the Diva is a 4 ohm speaker, it has always been fairly easy to find tube and solid state amps that can drive the, Now, with the advent of digital, the very depths of these grand speakers can be explored quite inexpensively. I have the much more difficult to drive Scintillas powered by $3k H2O monos. this is a marriage made in heaven.

I have apogee caliper signature II's and Magnepan 3.6R, and the Maggies are way better than the calipers. I know the calipers are not Diva's, but it's the closest comparison I can give you. Maggies are also very amp dependant, I've been through quite a few amps, each time you unveil a little more of their potential. They are great with tubes, but Cary V12 Monoblocks at 200/watts do not provide enough power. I'm using a Krell FPB200 which has the power but not the warmth and finesse that is needed.

Rooze

I used to own Apogee Stages and ran them with a Krell amp. I now have Maggie 1.6 and use a McCormack amp. I much prefer the later combination.

Of the 3 different models of Apogees I have heard in my life (Diva, Duetta, Stages), I always found them to have a very narrow sweet spot. They were exciting speakers for sure and tended to give me "goose bumps" more than the Maggies (1.6 or 3.6), but that said, the Maggies are easier on the ear and draw me emotionally into the music more. My McCormack (DNA-1) amp tends to add to this with a warmer sound even though solid state in design. You should definitely talk to Steve McCormack at SMc Audio about the mods for his amps. Many here on the AGon are thrilled with the sound of them for the price. His amps will drive the Diva's or Maggies with grace and ease.

Good Luck,

R.

Thanks to all for the responses. There is a pair of Diva's up on Ebay right now from a guy who lives near me (he's a really decent guy - hope he does well with the auction). The Diva's had very good bass response and could put out more volume than I ever heard Maggies put out (although I haven't heard the 20.1's). However, I felt the upper mid-range and treble to be a little veiled relative to the Maggie 3.6R's. This could be the room though...Sounds very, very good...Thanks again! Bob

Buy the Diva, put a couple of H2O amps behind them, and you will never look back.