Do you think that these 1 ohm speakers are cool?

That they are 1 ohm kinda pales to the fact that they are an attempt at full-range ribbon speakers.

Cool? Depends on each of us. Looks are one thing, how does it sound is the most important.

1 Ohm... yepper...they were famous for this. And these models were known as "Amplifier Eater's" in their day due to this low impedance.

The Diva's were one of my favorites from the Apogee lineup. But you needed some seriously good amps to drive them. The older Krell KSA/KMA were great for them during the day.

There is a site to learn more about them if you are interested:

http://www.apogeespeakers.com/

There are VERY few amps that can really drive them properly, and they are very expensive.

Any pro amp that is rated for 2 ohm loads would probably do the job effectively at 1 ohm with suitable derating.

If there are no stability problems, you just expect the amp to produce 1/4 of its rated power and it probably will. Given the $$$ per watt performance of pro amps, giving up 3/4 of the rated power is not a real world problem.

I've heard a pair years ago driven by huge, expensive Krells. Limited bass and mostly poor dynamic ability over a wide range.

I liked the sound better in the older models. But newer Krell's would still drive the Apogee's no problem.

Two words: Martin Logan.

If your consideration of hi fi includes car audio, sometimes very low impedance speakers are used to obtain sufficient power transfer for very high SPLs while the equipment is operating off of the usual 12 volt nominal, actual 14.7 volt supply.

When I was younger, a local home/car audio/video shop used to have clearance sales every Saturday morning (and I really mean clearance... this was the last stop before being thrown in the trash, and while there was plenty of junk occasionally a good but discontinued product would be found for a steal... but I digress). I remember finding a pair of Bose drivers... somewhere around 4" or maybe 5.25" as I recall... that I was told were car audio drivers. Who knows. I also remember them having markings on them of some crazy low impedance, less than 1ohm I think. Seems like it was 1/2 ohm maybe. I figure they were part of some dismantled factory system where several drivers were connected in series.

The drivers in the 901's are ~1ohm IIRC.

Apart from the application of car audio before SMPS became common and low Z speakers were used to wring as much power as possible out of low supply rails, I see no advantage at all to really low Z speakers for home use.

Sounds about right. SM and SMPS amps are anathema to the OEM car guys because of the problems with EMI.

The drivers in the 901's are ~1ohm IIRC.


There have been many generations of 901s and the drivers have been everything from soup to nuts particularly in the impedance department.

I can see many non-sonic but very practical advantages to using 8 1 ohm drivers in series to make up an 8 ohm load.


I see no advantage at all to really low Z speakers for home use.[/quote]

Agreed.