Updated 1st April 2001

Quote from Apogee Acoustics website

'Founded in 1981 Apogee Acoustics developed and produced a line of high quality Full-Range Ribbon Loudspeakers. Apogee speakers were Voted "Best Sound at the Show" for several years at both the Consumer Electronic and Stereophile Shows. Currently Apogee speakers are on display at the Smithsonian Institute and were demonstrated at Disney World Epcot Center'.

Apogee Acoustics product history

Apogee Acoustics produced speakers from 1982 until the closure of the company in 1998.  Apogee was one of only a few companies to have produced full-range ribbon speakers, and their speakers were, and still are, unique in their design and purity of sound.

Apogee Acoustics first, and biggest full range ribbon speaker was the Full Range also referred to as "The Apogee". These were started in production around 1982. They were manufactured for the longest period of time of all of Apogee’s models, up until around 1994-1995, but, in the latter years Fill Range speakers were mostly exported in limited numbers to the far east where the "big is beautiful" concept sold best.
The Full Range had a very large trapezoidal bass panel (Apogee's "trademark") a two-inch wide midrange ribbon, and twin back to back tweeter ribbons, both of which were the same height as the bass panel - some 76 inches tall. Full Range speakers had outboard impedance matching crossovers, as the impedance of the panels alone was around 0.3 ohm!

Although you will need to dig deep in your pocket to buy amplifiers that will really do them justice, Full Range speakers are considered by some to be the best Apogee ever made.

The second Apogee speaker to be produced was the Scintilla in 1985. Scintillas were large and very difficult to drive, due to their extremely low overall impedance (1ohm, early models also configurable for 4 ohm setting) and very low sensitivity. Understandably, magazine reviewers writing for audio hobbyist publications called these speakers “amp burners.”
The Scintilla design was effectively a "one-off," as they used a single midrange unit similar (but shorter) to the one used in the Full Range, but flanked by 2 pairs of tweeter elements. I have yet to find an accurate description of the way these were wired, but assume the front and back pairs of tweeters ran out of phase with each other, effectively creating a null effect between them. I am not exactly sure how long Scintillas were in production but from information I have received I think they were made until around 1991.

A more "affordable" model came next, the Duetta in 1986. These were considerably smaller than the Scintilla. Although not easy to drive, the choice of possible amplifiers was less restricted. They were the first Apogee 2-way model with a large trapezoidal bass panel and a 48" long mid/tweeter ribbon, composed of 3 aluminum segments on a Kapton backing to help yield a reasonable impedance.
In 1987 the Duetta was revised to the model Duetta II to make the sound more compatible with compact disc. In 1987 Apogee also released their cheapest and smallest 2-way model, the Caliper. I use the word "cheap" in a relative fashion, as they still required an expensive amplifier to get them to work at their best. While a Krell KSA-50 was just about up to the task, according to reviewers - bigger, higher current amplifiers were more suitable.

In early to mid 1988 Apogee brought out what was to be their most expensive speaker at the time, the  Diva. At around 74 inches tall, the Diva was slightly smaller than the original Full Range, but not by much. A 3-way speaker, the Divas had the familiar large trapezoidal bass panel, a long midrange ribbon, and a separate 3/16" wide tweeter ribbon.
The Diva crossover was housed in an external box as the Full Range, and offered adjustment of the bass, midrange/upper midrange and tweeter levels via toggle switches. The speaker was supported by substantial aluminum legs incorporating spikes, these were very important as the vertical alignment of the speaker is critical for good imaging. The Diva, though expensive, sold in high numbers until the end of its production in 1995.

Towards the end of 1988 the Duetta model was re-worked into the Duetta Signature. Although very similar in size and appearance to the Duetta II, the Duetta Signature was essentially a new speaker. Revisions to the driver’s design and the crossover made the speakers impedance and sensitivity more amplifier friendly, along with improving the sound quality quite considerably.
Another welcome addition to this design were more substantial aluminum support legs and spikes like the Diva, as opposed to the relatively flimsy base plinth and rear outrigger feet of the Duetta I & II. This, no doubt improving the bass performance and imaging of the speaker.  The Duetta Signature was one of Apogees best selling (and popular) speakers even though it was only produced until late 1992.

Shortly after the last Duetta revision, in early to mid 1989, the Caliper was similarly revised into the  Caliper Signature. In this case, the main framework of the speaker was the same. So, it was possible to get a Caliper upgraded to Signature status by replacing both drive units and the crossover. Again, the revisions made the speaker more efficient and easier to drive, along with flattening the tonal balance. The Caliper was produced until around the same time as Duetta Signature production ended, in late 1992.

In 1990 Apogee released the Stage. The Stage was far and away Apogee’s most popular speaker, manufactured from 1990-98. A great many Stages were manufactured and sold over this 8 year period.
The Stage was considerably smaller than all the previous models and an easier load for amplifiers. This was achieved by making both the bass panel and the midrange/tweeter ribbons double sided. The bass panel was a major departure for Apogee as it was etched aluminum, as opposed to hand cut. The Stage's midrange/tweeter was also revised during the production run -- see the Stage page for more information.

Hybrid Ribbon Speakers

In 1991 Apogee introduced their first line of hybrid ribbon speakers.  This line of speakers all carried the Centaurus or Centaur name. These hybrids had higher impedances and were somewhat easier to drive than the full range speakers.  They were also less expensive.
  The Centaur Minor had a single 6 ½" woofer and a 26" ribbon.A larger speaker, the Centaur had a single 8" woofer mated with the same 26" ribbon, and the  Centaur Major had a 10" woofer coupled with a 40" midrange/tweeter ribbon. The 26" ribbon in the Centaur Minor and Centaur is the same as the later model of the Stage.

Grand Series

The Grand series started in 1992 and marked the end of the Caliper and Duetta Signature speakers. The Grand series was comprised of three models.
The Mini Grand was essentially a Stage speaker with a dual 8" subwoofer "stand". Included in the package was an active crossover. This splits the line level signal into the required frequency ranges, which are then fed to the separate power amps for the Stage and subwoofer sections.

Constructed along the lines of the Mini Grand, the Studio Grand was a ribbon array mounted on top of a dual 10" subwoofer. As in the Mini Grand, an active crossover was included in the package so the required frequency ranges could be supplied to power amps that drive the ribbon array and the subwoofer independently.
[The ribbon array portion of the Studio Grand was also available as an independent speaker model, the Studio Ribbon Array. Instead of using a subwoofer as a base, the Studio Ribbon Array had a bottom support panel containing the crossover. This support panel also raised the midrange/tweeter and bass ribbons further from the floor than those in the Duetta Signature, and was felt to offer improved bass reproduction.]
Ribbons used in the Studio Grand and the Studio Ribbon Array were virtually the same size as the ribbons used in the Duettas, but very different in their electrical and acoustic characteristics, as they had etched ribbons with sinusoidal traces as opposed to hand-cut ribbons (see below).

Apogee also produced a speaker simply labeled, the Grand. This speaker was Apogee’s tour-de-force, a truly gigantic 3 way panel speaker, set on-top of a dual 12" active subwoofer, with active crossovers and full remote control. Carrying the largest price tag of all Apogee speakers, some $85,000, only around 25 pairs of Grands were made between 1992 and 1998.

Later Ribbon Hybrid Speakers

Apogee introduced their “Slant” series of speakers to replace the Centaur hybrids in around 1994 - 95. Two speakers were made to replace the three Centaur speakers previously manufactured. The  Slant 6 had a 6½" dynamic cone woofer and a 26" ribbon. The larger hybrid, called the Slant 8 had an 8" woofer, coupled with a 40" midrange/tweeter ribbon. Slant 6’s and Slant 8’s were highly praised by audio magazines, and they were very popular.

The Cepheus 6 and Cepheus 8 speakers were the last of the Apogee hybrid speakers. Designed as replacements for the Slant 6 and Slant 8, the Cepheus speakers featured additional woofer drivers to increase bass power handling.
The enclosure featured a slanted outside edge, probably an intent to style them like full range ribbons, with wood accent strips either side of the midrange/tweeter ribbon. Plus they were available in a choice of optional wood veneer finishes.

Home Theater Speakers

As home theaters became popular, Apogee, like most other speaker manufacturers designed speakers specifically for this purpose. One of the early speakers designed for home theater use was the Centaurus Column, a tall, slender speaker with a 6½ inch dynamic woofer and a 26 inch ribbon.
Floor standing and covered in a “sock” of grille cloth, the Column featured an unusual backwave deflection design to divert the dipolar ribbon’s rear output obliquely to the side of the speaker. The Column could thus be positioned either into the room as ordinary “main” dipolar speakers, or pushed back against a wall as rear channel speakers.

Apogee also manufactured a large “LCR” monitor speakers for use as Left, Center, and Right channel speakers in a home theater system. A well built, large 40 pound monitor speakers, the Apogee LCR’s contained two 6½ inch dynamic woofers in a D'Appolito configuration around a 4 inch ribbon which was “rotatable” for use in either vertical (center) or horizontal (left or right) placement. In 1998 the speaker was re-designated Perseus.

Another home theater speaker was the Apogee Ribbon Monitor. This was a essentially an LCR without one of the 6½ inch dynamic woofers in a proportionally smaller enclosure, I believe the Hi-Fi journalist Ken Kessler uses 2 pairs of these in his home theatre setup.
The 1998 Cassiopeia speaker was essentially a re-styled Ribbon Monitor, designed to match the Cepheus series with a slanted outside edge, available in wood veneer finishes. To allow "bookshelf" use the bass port was relocated to the front of the enclosure.

On and In Wall Hybrids

Ribbin-wall and Ribbon-wall speakers consisting of a 6½ inch dynamic woofer and a 26 inch ribbon were also produced. The Ribbin-wall version of these speakers could be built into the walls of a room so the front of the speaker enclosure fitted flush to the wall. The Ribbon-wall version were constructed in a shallow enclosure for wall mounting. In 1998 the speakers were re-designated Auriga S and Auriga F.
The Capella used the same driver units as the Cassiopeia in a necessary shallow enclosure for in-wall installation.

Etched Ribbons in later speakers

Older full range Apogee ribbons speakers (Full Range, Scintilla, Calipers, Duettas and Divas) utilized hand-cut ribbons of aluminized Kapton.
Beginning around 1990, Apogee started using aluminized Mylar to make some of their ribbons. Mylar is less prone to absorbing moisture from the environment, hence more stable over time than Kapton. Virtually all electrostatic speakers use Mylar panels in their drive units for this reason.
The etched ribbons were able to have a sinusoidal cut pattern, instead of the hand-cut straight lines of the originals. The sinusoidal pattern was said to provide a reduction of standing waves in the bass panel, resulting in a cleaner sounding, more accurate speaker.
The bass panels used in the Stages, Studio Ribbon Arrays and Studio Grand were etched aluminized Mylar.
The Stage's original double sided tweeter was aluminized Mylar, later changed to the single sided Kapton version - see the Stage page for more information.

The electrical and acoustic behavior of these new etched ribbons differed from that of the older hand-cut ribbons, mainly because there of the great number or traces.

The text above was originally supplied by Prentice Geddie (Apogee Acoustics User Group) but has been revised by myself as I have gained new information.

Apogee Acoustics - Listen to This... newsletter (1991)

Ribbon Speakers article from The Absolute Sound

Pictures taken at Apogee Acoustics Inc. factory Randolph, MA in 1992, thanks to Jerry Richards for these.

The following Apogee brochures are in Adobe Acrobat format
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or right click and choose "save target/link as"

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