Apogee's second speaker after the Full Range, was, and probably still is one of the hardest speakers to drive properly.

The early Scintillas were were configurable for a 1 or 4ohm load, the later models were 1ohm only (from 1987 approximately). While the 4ohm setting on the earlier models made the Speaker considerably easier to drive, according to the reviewers in doing so lost some of it's "magic".

They two models can easily be identified:
The 1 and 4ohm model has cuts in the bass panel spaced approx ¾" apart measured vertically (see picture)
The 1ohm only model has cuts spaced approx 1½" apart (double the normal cut spacing) - as the picture above.

The 1ohm setting is very vicious indeed, it has been reported to me that a Krell 250a (the recent "cheap" power amp from Krell) expired whilst trying!

Not as big as the Full Range but still they dominate a room, especially as they require considerable 'free air' around them so as not to sound bass heavy. The speakers are unusual as they have one midrange but four tweeter elements. The tweeter elements are arranged either side, about ½" in front and behind the mid/tweeter unit.

Still considered by some to be one of the best speakers in terms of vocal reproduction with crystal clear treble and very well extended bass, reaching a true 20Hz in test.

*Joseph Del Priore tells me "I had this problem with my KSA-80 but after calling Krell they advised me to send the unit to them and they would make an internal adjustment that would allow it to drive the Scintilla. This was done. When it was returned it worked very well and never shut down again".
The Krell KSA-50 is not happy with a 1 ohm load, but possibly there is a Krell modification similar to the one for the KSA-80.

I briefly tried my pair of Meridian 557 power amps (in bridged mode) with 1ohm Scintillas. After 1-2 minutes of playing fairly sedate music a low levels they got VERY hot, and these amps had a strong 2ohm power rating.
I spoke to the guy at Meridian who designed the amps before trying them out, his answer was "I wouldn't like to see them driving a 1ohm load, but if they melt, just send them back as say they just stopped working", nice not to be told if you try it your warranties void, which is what I had expected.

Thanks to Matts Hallgren for the pictures and amp information on the page link below

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or right click and choose "save target/link as"

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