case@b11.ingr.com (Bill Case) (11/16/90)
Like many others of the obsessed, I prowl old Stereophiles, AbSounds, Audio classified, and the juicy Audiogram in search of the "right" system, and visit the local Stereo Shoppe whenever I'm in a far off city. Having done all this, one system struck me as a real joy to listen to, and now that I have a newly finished basement...., well although I'll trust my ears, it's sometimes difficult to get combinations of equipment to the ear. So, I'm here to ask for devil advocacy. The system that struck me was an Apogee Duetta Sig, powered by a Counterpoint amp/preamp, fed my a Denon CD player, and (this seems strange) a Velodyne SubWoofer. Since then, I've also heard the Stage and the Duetta with Rowland amps. Now I read that the Classe DR9 is a great amp for these speakers. My general impression was that the Stage's produce an absolutely phenomenal soundstage. I could sit six feet away from them and have no clue as to whether the music was coming from the Stage's or the Calipers sitting next to them. The Calipers weren't as good as the Stage; A kind of listening fatigue or blurring that wasn't there in the Stage. The Duetta's are better is differentiating loud and soft sounds. At one point, I played Neil Young's "Helpless", (which can sound unpleasant on many sytems), and the difference between the Stage and the Duetta was great (Should be for a $2000.00 delta:-). So my dream system is a Theta Pre feeding some used (Audiogram) amp (a DR9?), going into the Duetta's, sitting in an 18X24 windowless basement. So, o What's wrong with the Duetta's? o Anyone had good luck matching the amp? Someone who should definately know included the reasonable Aragon 4004 SERIES II (they made a big deal over the series), in the list of great amps. The others which were listed as good matches were the ML27 and Krell KSA150, though the Krell may generate too much base for a basement. o Since the Duetta's tend to have a mellow, slightly heavy sound (not unlike a KEF?), does the DR9 have a brightness which some people think "make the Apogee come alive"? o What's the feeling on McIntosh amps, nowadays? They almost seem cheap in comparison. No good for low impedance loads? I remember when nothing sounded as good as a McTube. Any suggestions or warnings are appreciated. Thanks, Bill Case ...uunet!ingr!b11!case!case (UUCP) ingr!b11!case!case@uunet.uu.net (ARPANET) case@ingr.com (Internet)
sgg5e@dale.acc.Virginia.EDU (Stephen G. Graber) (11/20/90)
In article <7697@uwm.edu> case@b11.ingr.com (Bill Case) writes: > > o Anyone had good luck matching the amp? Someone who should > definately know included the reasonable Aragon 4004 SERIES II > (they made a big deal over the series), in the list of great amps. Could someone in the know please comment on the existence of the Aragon 4004 SERIES II, (I suppose over SERIES I or whatever), what the sonic differences might be, and how the series can be identified. I ask becuase my brother and I both have Aragon 4004s bought at nearly the same time from different dealers. His was available in stock and mine had to come from Aragon which took 3-4 weeks. We've noticed some slight differences betwixt the two- the power on LED on mine fades as soon as the power switch is turned off while his remains glowing for several minutes. We both use AR preamps- I hear an audible click when I activate my mute while he maintains that he hears no such click. So I'm wondering what there is to this SERIES business as I'd been led to believe that all 4004s were the same and that Aragon was good at maintaining quality although manufacturers have obviously changed. BTW, we both like the sound of the Aragon a lot- clearly there are others that are better, but for the price these seem hard to beat. Steve Graber work: (804) 924-9976 UVa Dept. Pharmacology home: (804) 973-1283 sgg5e@dale.acc.virginia.edu