My dad originally bought these Apogees in 1988 brand new. After he had to downsize his listening space in a new house he bought Martin Logan ESL X hybrid speakers and I acquired the Apogees. I've been wanting them since he bought them many decades ago. They developed the inevitable buzz in the left channel due to UPS handling them very poorly in transit and dropping them hard (magnet/hardware section of the speaker shifter in the front shell). I subsequently fdecided to have them completely rebuilt/upgrade by Bill Thalmann with Music Technology in Springfield, Virginia. The whole process from getting the gen5 ribbons and associated parts from Graz in Australia to getting to the top of the waiting list with Bill took about a year and half. I got all new ribbons, socks, wiring kit (includes upgraded ribbon tension clamps), acoustic foam, reinforcement of the frame, cardas binding posts, coating of the inductors with linseed oil for better isolation (as effective as replacing the inductors), replacing the Sprague crossover caps with all new Wilson crossover caps, having them painted in a deep charcoal automotive grade paint job, etc. Everything that could be done short of replacing the magnets with stronger magnets was performed (this option only offered by True Sounds Works). I didn't want to fundamentally alter the original design of Jason Blume and company so new magnets weren't seriously considered. Graz authorized Apogee repair/upgrade companies are now down to just Rich Murray with True Sounds Works in Nevada. I understand he does excellent work. Bill did exceptional work on my project, but unfortunately he got to the point where he was forced to retire due to Parkinson's disease. He will be greatly missed!
The results far exceed expectations! I didn't think it was possible since they sounded so incredible stock, but the speakers have been noticeably improved in every way.
Speakers are 105" (8.75') apart inside edge to inside edge, large listening sofa 89" from the front of the speakers centered, speakers are toed-in 1" (made a huge impact - pulled in the sound stage focus a bit while not shrinking the huge soundstage, bass impact increased, transparency is magnificent as always with these speakers), 39" from the back wall.
