Apogee Calipers for sale

ptmconsulting · « **on:** 3 Jul 2012, 11:57 am »

Apogee Calipers For Sale

$700 - including upgraded air coil inductor and upgraded Mills resistor, per restoration notes below.

I recently picked up and refurbished a pair of Apogee Calipers. The sound on these is glorious and the only reason I am putting them up for sale is because I have the opportunity to step up to a pair of Duetta Signatures and I'm taking it.

The panels were in fair shape so it was worth the effort to restore them. I revamped the crossover with new boutique parts (ERSE air-core inductors, Mills resistor, refoamed the panels) and refinished the scratchy and banged up cabinets with some wood filler, a lot of sanding and some nice metallic grey paint (aka Wilsons). There was some repair/tuning done to the tweeter and woofer ribbons also, but all is functional and singing nicely now.

If you haven't heard an Apogee before then here are some comments comparing it to conventional cone driver loudspeakers:
- more transparent but still not forward sounding, that forwardness or over etched sound and discontinuity with the rest of the speaker kept me away from ribbon tweeters in the past, but that's not the case with these at all
- more dimentional - side to side and front to back
- a very nice focus point in the middle for sounstaging and imaging, almost like there is a center speaker
- just about as much dynamic pop, which I never heard from a panel before vs a cone speaker
- more "of a kind" or "continuous" meaning top to bottom wholeness - no sense of a crossover point or of a different sound between tweeter and woofer - it is all true ribbon
- they take power, and more power, and more power to drive - high current amplifiers only since they are 3ohm speakers and about 86db inefficient. But with a decent 100-200 watt amp able to handle this load they sing like nothing else.

These now look and sound wonderful and I am wondering if I am making the right decision to purchase the bigger model. Please contact me directly if you are interested because there are several ways we can go about this sale. These are 20 (25?) year old speakers so I've rated them at about 6/10. Local pick up from 11762 preferred, otherwise buyer will need to arrange for pickup and shipping. I do have a wooden crate for them and will do my best to ensure they are packed well, but insurance is a must.

Thanks,
Bob

rollo · « **Reply #1 on:** 3 Jul 2012, 03:11 pm »

Moving on up eh. Heard these speakers and for the money take the crossovers as well.

charles

jonbee · « **Reply #2 on:** 3 Jul 2012, 03:30 pm »

Having owned a pair of Calipers (and Divas), I can recommend these totally for the price. A no brainer if you live in the east and have the room for them. The upgraded crossovers are worth the extra $. Apogee "ribbons" give you the transparency and boxlessness of the best 'stats, but the range, dynamics and volume of large dynamic speakers. It was a huge loss to the hobby when they went under.

Lissnr · « **Reply #3 on:** 4 Jul 2012, 04:10 am »

I agree with the above posters...Apogee was waaaaay ahead of its time and still not only competes with the current best of the best but actually surpasses most of em.... Obviously you've got a lot of labor-of-love into those Calipers and I'm certain they sound just as described...Calipers happen to be a great value in the Apogee line due to their ability to play well in small to medium sized rooms yet still deliver the amazing vocals, imaging and overall soundscape most other speakers can only dream of...I find their "open-ness" so realistic it simply must be heard.
Sounds to me like you've got a great deal going (especially with those upgrades!?!) and I wish you the best of luck with them ...but I'm not surprised you're sticking with the Apogee line for your follow-up...once you're hooked on their sound it's virtually impossible to "go back" to anything else.
BTW Nice color!

ptmconsulting · « **Reply #4 on:** 5 Jul 2012, 12:29 pm »

Thanks for the good word everyone.

Yeah, the Apogee speaker line is truly special. I've heard a lot of speakers over the years and these take the cake. Yes, Maggie's do provide probably the best bang for the buck in speakers currently being produced, but these Calipers blow them away, especially for the price I am asking.

They just have to be heard and you will be a convert.

Clio09 · « **Reply #5 on:** 5 Jul 2012, 03:38 pm »

Nice Trumpet, the Hagerman that is. If I lived back East where I could pick the Calipers up they would already be in my listening room.

ptmconsulting · « **Reply #6 on:** 7 Jul 2012, 12:25 pm »

I also have a large wooden crate/box for these which comes with the sale. Certainly sufficient for transporting, but I still wouldn't trust these to a shipping company.

Davey · « **Reply #7 on:** 7 Jul 2012, 01:20 pm »

Bob,

"Refoamed the panels." Are you saying these have new woofer ribbons installed by one of Graz's certified installers?

Cheers,

Dave.

ptmconsulting · « **Reply #8 on:** 7 Jul 2012, 09:33 pm »

No, the ribbon foam is original, but in reasonably good condition. No obvious buzzing unless you are trying to push pounding bass at high levels, which I wouldn't recommend on any planer.

The inner panel has a foam gasket that isolates it from the front panel. This was all but gone, so I replaced it with a new gasket. This allows the inner panel to be tightly coupled to the ohuter "shell" making a far better union of the two.

The original design also uses velcro to keep these two panels coupled together. This seemed klugy to me, so I instaled aluminum L brackets on the back to better press and keep these 2 pieces together. The resulting improvement was a far better integrated cabinet.

ptmconsulting · « **Reply #9 on:** 10 Jul 2012, 12:49 pm »

Here's some individual pictures of the left and right speakers

Left

Right

ptmconsulting · « **Reply #10 on:** 11 Jul 2012, 11:13 am »

posted on Audiogon also

Clio09 · « **Reply #11 on:** 12 Jul 2012, 01:02 am »

PM sent.

ptmconsulting · « **Reply #12 on:** 13 Jul 2012, 01:07 pm »

Still available for sale.

ptmconsulting · « **Reply #13 on:** 16 Jul 2012, 02:53 pm »

Here's a link to a site that shows pictures of an original Caliper crossover (not mine). If you wanted the lower price I would be willing to take out the upgraded Auricaps and Sonicaps I put in there and put back the original Sprague capacitors.

The Low Frequency coil has been replaced by an ERSE air coil inductor and the resistors have been replaced by a Mills resistor. Those remain part of the package at either price point. As you can see, the original inductor coil was a home wound loose wire job. The ERSE air coil is a potted flat film inductor.

http://www.pbase.com/jaragaki/apogee_caliper_crossover

Thanks,
Bob

ptmconsulting · « **Reply #14 on:** 23 Jul 2012, 01:02 am »

Thought I had a buyer lined up, but he was international and the shipping turned into more of a problem overseas. So these are still available.

sfdoddsy · « **Reply #15 on:** 24 Jul 2012, 01:27 am »

How much do you think these weigh in the crates?

ptmconsulting · « **Reply #16 on:** 24 Jul 2012, 01:06 pm »

I would guess about 300 lbs all together, but if you have a serious interest please PM me and I can get you exact measurements and weight after I get home from work in the evening.

Thanks for looking.

sfdoddsy · « **Reply #17 on:** 25 Jul 2012, 12:22 pm »

Thanks, but that kind of weight changes the economics.

Best of luck.

ptmconsulting · « **Reply #18 on:** 31 Jul 2012, 12:38 pm »

I'm about to rebuild the crossovers in my new speakers and will be using the Auricaps and Sonicaps in this crossover. So if you want to purchase the upgraded speaker for $1100 this is your last chance.

It will still be offered for sale at the $700 price once I remove the upgraded caps and put the original Sprague caps back in. Then again, this makes a wonderful speaker far more affordable and it still sounds exceptional with the original caps in place.

ptmconsulting · « **Reply #19 on:** 8 Aug 2012, 02:19 pm »