Company Address: 35 York Industrial Park, Randolph, Mass. 02368, USA.
Rumors about the Scintilla, Apogee's mid-sized, $3,500 ribbon loudspeaker, began to circulate in our local, New York group of audio buffs (the Audiophile Society) shortly after the Summer CES of 1984. Returning from the Chicago show, several claimed they preferred this "baby Apogee" to the company's top-of-the-line, $6,600 Apogee. The Scintilla's sonic coherence and naturalness drew raves, as did its fast, tight bass. Now, more than one year later, this review confirms those first impressions.
The Scintilla is a rugged, beautifully engineered speaker which is a must inclusion in any discussion of exotic speakers configured into large, flat panels. Planar systems can sound more open and natural than many box-speaker designs, generating a highly detailed, wide sound field with great depth. The Scintilla has been carefully designed to maximize these strengths while overcoming a number of panel-speaker problems. In our tests, the Apogee design showed none of the inefficiency, low sound output, restricted dynamic range, or coloration found in too many screen loudspeakers.
Deep bass response was solid, and dispersion patterns were even. Furthermore, the Scintilla, although not diminutive, does not physically dominate a room, so one can have a normal complement of furniture without a feeling of clutter or crowding.
Leo Spiegel, Apogee's senior designer, claims that the Scintilla's maxi mum output is very high-greater than 105 dB peak SPL at 4 meters, when driven by a stereo amplifier rated at 100 watts per channel into 8 ohms. The manufacturer also claims amplifier-quick rise-times for the Apogee's drivers, with under a microsecond speed for the tweeter, 5 uS for the midrange and 50 µS for the woofer! According to Apogee, speeds for the Scintilla should be similar. This performance translates into very fast transient response. Crossover points are about 500 Hz for the woofer-midrange transition and 3 kHz for the midrange-tweeter, with 6 dB/octave slopes.
Technology aside, the Scintilla is a visually stunning product. Weighing in at 140 pounds per side, the system consists of two 57 x 30 x 3 1/2-inch panels on metal baseplates, which are scaled-down versions of the "big" (84 inches tall) Apogee speakers. Decorated in beige or gray fabric, the Scintillas feature an attractive, slanted, dark trim which lowers their effective visual height. Setting up the massive panels on their baseplates is well explained in the excellent 13-page, illustrated manual. Other drawings depict the electrical configuration of the speaker terminals for low- or high-impedance (1- or 4-ohm) operation, and for bi-amplification.
Sonically, the Scintilla easily competes with (and betters, in co-author Kachalsky's opinion) the best electro static and dynamic designs. Prior to working with the Scintillas, the authors had conducted listening tests with speakers from Plasmatronics and VMPS, and the "big" Apogee, Snell Type A/Ill, Vandersteen 4, and Quad ESL-63 (electrostatic) designs. The Scintillas reached and, in many cases, surpassed the performance of these excellent speakers. This favorable conclusion was reached after a number of intense listening sessions. Associated equipment included a Koetsu Rosewood Signature moving-coil cartridge; an Eminent Technology air-bearing, linear-tracking tonearm and Sumiko's Premier MMT tonearm; a SOTA Star Sapphire turntable; a pair of Levinson ML-6A preamps (L3A phono sections), and Discrete Technology interconnects and speaker cable. Re cords were used exclusively, and vertical tracking angle was adjusted to optimize the system's treble response.
Like the Snell Type A/III, the Scintilla delivers the feeling of great, deep bass power, an energy that couples to and moves the listening room. Organ and synthesizer music play with remark able definition and no audible distortion, while possessing great solidity and mass. Bass-drum beats have natural timbre and great speed. Among planar systems, only the larger Apo gees, which we have tested in the same listening room, were capable of delivering more deep-bass power.
The midrange excels in this loudspeaker. While reviewing, Kachalsky commented that he found the Scintilla's sonics had a physically relaxing effect, due in part, he felt, to their midrange naturalness, low distortion and absence of fatiguing effects. The Scintilla's speed and detailing allowed it to pass our acid listening test: It clearly decoded the overlapping lyrics in Gilbert and Sullivan's tortuous "Mikado" trio at the end of Act II, where three male voices (Ko-Ko, Pooh-Bah, and Pish-Tush) each sing (simultaneously!) different lyrics about justice and execution. Air and reverberation were exemplary, equaling the outstanding performance of the Quad ESL-63s. For co-author Greenhill, clarity and timbre approached, but did not quite equal, the Quads. Piano music, female vocals, and male vocals emerged with a minimum of coloration and a great deal of naturalness. Dynamic range was striking, second only to that of the Snell Type A/III system. On several occasions, both authors experienced Gordon Holt's "hackle" effect (described in Stereophile, Vol. 7, No. 4, pg. 38) by developing "involuntary goose bumps" during loud, dramatic orchestral passages. Holt interprets this reaction as a gut-level, unconscious connection to the music. Incidentally, these large scale dynamics often cause the mid range ribbon to flap about in the enclosure, a very unusual sight! The Scintilla's highs are extended, clean, and effortless. Ambience cues and reverberation effects of recording studios and concert halls can easily be discerned. The Scintillas did not exhibit the apparent rise in the upper mid range and treble often heard on other planar designs. Cartridge VTA adjustments were readily heard.
Imaging on the Scintillas was exciting, as with a number of other planar speakers. Even so, there were no irregularities in the sonic perspective-both width of field and depth of field were natural. Center-fill was excellent, and the image was evident from a number of positions in the room, giving evidence of the Scintilla's wide dispersion. Voices and instruments, on a popular album with an overdubbed female vocalist, seemed to float. Low level, soft passages were reproduced with the identical balance and quality heard at full volume, a feature best described by Anthony Cordesman as a strength of the Quad ESL-63 (Audio, January 1985, pg. 120).
We were swept away by the Scintillas. They sound truly glorious, rich and romantic, with none of the sonic problems that can afflict planar speakers.
No plastic, midrange graininess or glare was heard-only speed, naturalness, and effortless dynamics. They worked well in a number of listening positions in a normally upholstered room measuring 27 x 15 x 9 feet, and played at levels that would be considered very high for any type of speaker design, except a horn. For now, both authors find the speaker's technology and sonics state-of-the-art, and its visual design stunning.
The ultimate testimony to the Scintillas' quality occurred when our jaded and skeptical group of audiophiles suddenly fell into a "My-broker-is-E.F. Hutton" silence at the first demonstration, and even listened (without talking) for the next hour. This appeal has not dimmed since that December 1984 Audiophile Society meeting.
However, this gorgeous sound comes at a price. Presented with the Scintilla's 1-ohm load, distinctly outside manufacturers' ratings, a number of fine amps took on unpredictable sonic characteristics. Greenhill's reference Levinson ML-9 stereo amplifier--which usually plays with a neutral midrange and a big, dynamic bass--became sweeter, tube-like, and mellow (not unwelcome, by the way!) until its current limiting cut in (at clipping) with a spray of static. The dual-mono Tandberg 3009As, which Greenhill had found to be fast, detailed amps with etched highs, took on a bass emphasis and acquired a stronger midrange presence. Both amps can deliver more than 400 watts into 4 ohms, and Tandberg claims more than 800 watts output at 1 ohm. But neither could drive the Scintillas on peaks to more than 88 dB (at 1 meter) in Kachalsky's normally upholstered living room.
The speakers were then reconfigured to a 4-ohm load. Seven color-coded wires were repositioned on the rear of the speaker terminals and on a separate terminal strip within the en closure. This 30-minute procedure must be done carefully for each speaker, since the hardware can easily slip down into the nylon sock that covers the rear of the enclosure. It also helps to have good color vision (both authors are colorblind, so we acknowledge the help of Mrs. Kachalsky) to place the purple, green, and gray wires on the correct terminals. At 4 ohms, the authors heard no sonic aberrations in the amplifiers, but the Scintillas lacked the ultimate naturalness, air, openness, and midrange clarity heard with the 1-ohm configuration. You won't realize this unless you have heard them driven at the lower impedance setting.
We preferred the very expensive Krell mono KMA-100 ($4,900/pair) and 200-watt KMA-200 ($7,500/pair) amplifiers for driving the Scintillas. We used them in a biamplified fashion (a pair of KMA 100s for midrange and tweeter, a pair of KMA-200s for the woofers), which produced the widest dymanic range.
At 1 ohm, the KMA-100 is claimed to deliver 800 watts per channel and the KMA-200 puts out 1,600 watts per channel. A single pair of Krells were "bi-wired" (two speaker cables connected to each amplifier output terminal) to each Scintilla's double set of speaker posts; SPL measurements showed Scintilla output peaks of 94 dB (KMA-100s) and 98 dB (KMA-200s) at audible clipping. No change in tonal character or sudden presence effects were heard at 1 ohm--just sweet, open, detailed sound. Dan D'Agostino, the Krells' designer, uses the Apogees as a test load. The Classe Audio DR-3 amp also performs beautifully at the low-impedance setting.
Although the Scintilla works well at its 4-ohm setting, it really shines when the speaker is configured as a 1-ohm load. A number of companies (including NAD, Adcom, and Belles Research) are now offering less expensive solid-state designs that can deal with this load. A few tube amplifiers can drive the Scintilla at its 4-ohm setting, but they were not available for our review. The consumer should audition several amps to find the one he likes best with these speakers.
For now, we have to go with the Krells or the Classe Audio. Is it worth spending so much on the amps for this speaker? We think so. After all, if you own a Ferrari, you should not be surprised at the high prices for parts and repairs. But every audio buff must decide how far to go with a beautiful and exotic product like the Scintilla.
- Laurence L. Greenhill and Hy Kachalsky
[adapted from Audio magazine/Dec. 1985 ]
Also see:
Apogee Duetta Signature Loudspeaker (Dec. 1989)
Apogee Acoustics Slant 6 Ribbon Loudspeaker (Apr. 1997)
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