Apogee Scintilla amp

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Thomas B

I used to have a pair of Scintillas before buying Divas.
With Scintillas one has to keep in mind not only the 1 Ohm
load but the low efficiency as well.
Anyway I tried Rowloand Model 7s and they didn't last more than an hour before their thermal protection circuit turned them off.
I tried one pair of ML No 23s (passive biamping) and the same thing happenned.
In both cases the looseness of low bass caused me a terrible headache.
The only amplifiers I found capable of driving the Scintillas to their limits and at the same time delivering a tight low end were the Musical Fidelity 570 monos.
But I didn't like the sound of them.
So I sold the Scintillas and bought a pair of Divas.
Now, Passlabs make some of the finest solid state amplifiers
available.
But I really don't know even if the X1000 would be able to control that woofer.
And it certainly is to expensive just to give it a try.

Why don't you get rid of the Scintillas and buy yourself a
pair of "normal" loudspeakers?


Good luck,
Nick
 
Scintilla plus Pass X-600

As a fellow Apogee user (Thomas, you know me, don't you?) I can say with full confidence, the Scintilla is the cat's meow of all speakers, including the Diva. What's more, as the one and lonely says, the X-600 does it well. I say, the two are a match made in heaven. I can top a hundred Hz (though I most rarely do) without a whimper from the Pass. Almost all of my listening is done within the 600's idling current, class A, where the Scintilla cruises in the 80 Hz range. Bass? It ain't no Krell, and thank the pinnacle for that! :cool:

Say, I know a guy who powers his Scintilla, Diva, Duetta, Caliper, (almost always Scintilla) with a DIY 85 watter and absolutely loves it. How's that?

This is what a friend of mine wrote to someone with an inquisitive mind:


Hearing the Scinnies would not be any problem. My friend is home during the day and LOVES to show off his Scinnies.

WARNING: LISTENING TO SCINTILLAS MAY LEAVE YOU FEELING INADEQUATE!!!!!! You will be required to sign a
"release from liability" form before you can listen. You must also bring a signed permission slip from wife or SO.
:D
 
Yo Thomas, yeah, if we only could. Building a 1 0hm amp is expensive. One needs serious heat sinks, lots of capacitance, and some proprietory scans.

fcel, there are many die hard Apogee fans out there who are scared to death over life after Apogee. I know of two sources for Apogee repair and parts. I just happen to have, ahem, a near mint Duetta Signature for sale. I powered it beautifully with a Pass X-150. I used a 100 watt tube amp on my
Apogee Stage speakers.

Hope to hear from you.
 
Knowing which devices Nelson favors and the ways he likes to run them (voltages, power dissipations, etc.), it's not hard to make deductions. I don't have the patent with me at the moment, but I think the inputs were N-ch MOSFETs.
Make them IRF610s.
There were current sources underneath, but they have to withstand not only the current, but a fair portion of the rail voltage at the same time and the dissipation is going to be a bit higher. The IRF610 might work, but it'd be getting a bit warm, not to mention pictures showing a bunch of TO-247s, so...
Make them IRFP240s.
Since it's cheaper to buy things in bulk, Nelson's going to have a handful of 9V Zeners at his elbow. Unless there's a reason not to, begin by assuming that Zeners are 9.1V parts.
And so on.
You may be right, you may be wrong, but it'll give you a good excuse to rummage through the circuit and play with it. Build it from the front end outwards and remember Nelson's words from the DIY opamp paper (paraphrased broadly): None of these parts are really all that expensive. Don't be afraid to burn a few. As long as you don't toast the transformer or power supply caps, you're only out a few bucks and some time.

Grey
 
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