Vintage infinity advice and opinions wanted

scottyboy76

I am helping a friend sell her late husbands audio gear.

There are 2 sets of vintage infinitys downstairs, A set of RSIIs, and a set of RSIIIbs,
both with the usual rotted woofer surrounds, one of the IIs were "repaired" using bubble wrap and some type of brown glue.

If the glue can be scraped off without damaging the cone, how about opinions on if they are worthy of pro refoaming as my own efforts have been ok, but i can see how they could have been better if by a pro.

Of course with speaks this old, the xovers are about done, even though paul simon sounded awfully good on the laserdisk the other night.In other words they are still functional.

I am a big fan of the vintage infinity sound, and she is reasonable as to value and has been warned these would need a lot of work to be safe to use and listenable.

Any thoughts as to which pair would be most likely to not kill my gear and bring a smile to my face if brought back.

thanks as always.

mhardy6647

I find all but the top-end classic Infinity speakers to be quite strident; many folks do like 'em, though.

Msabot1

I believe those had a tweeter called EMIT...from late 70's into early 80's...lot of people swear by them..they were part of their reference line...A friend owned a pair..I thought the mids and highs were exceptional ....a little lacking in the lows though...still worth having if you can find replacement parts...very nice profile too..if I remember right...

halo71

Scotty, they are regular II's and do not have EMIM's right? Either way I think the II's will best the IIIb's. I have IIIa's and love them. The EMIT's are among the best tweeters I've ever heard. Damn...I think I need to take a road trip to come see you! Refoaming is not that hard btw.

scottyboy76

The rsIIs had regular mids not the polydomes, not sure which model that makes them.

Even with the surrounds in bad shape, they sounded like paul simon was right in the room.

And the source was an old as sony avr and a laserdisc playing a cd.

EndersShadow

Pics worth a 1000 words.....

scottyboy76

I know, I forgot to bring my camera, my sis took some pics with her phone, and will be getting her to email me those and put them on here.

SCompRacer

Like these? These are RSII's. Nice speakers. Use a good 4 ohm capable amp with them. I still use a pair of RS5000's (with Emit's) in the shop system. Been refoamed once by me.

geoff727

A product called Goof-Off helps remove a lot of glues and different things, and will not damage the polypropylene cones.

G~

BKphoto

yes, yes, yes....

the II's are more collectable because there aren't many around....the III's are more prevalent...can't go wrong either way...just like the big SDA's they just need some good quality power behind them....

I would pounce on either...

amb426amb1

Jump on both of those...refirb them, and sell one pair ending up with a free set of Infinity speakers. I have a set of IIIb's and really enjoy the sound. The II's would obviously bring more value.

BKphoto

what he said...

scottyboy76

SCompRacer wrote: »

Like these? These are RSII's. Nice speakers. Use a good 4 ohm capable amp with them. I still use a pair of RS5000's (with Emit's) in the shop system. Been refoamed once by me.

These are they, In pics the size sometimes does no come through, they are big, and the box behind the woofs is substantial.

Thanks scomp.

My reservation, although these were used respectfully, by a jazz guy, no overpowering volume or anything, is the refoaming and possible spider problems, and apparently, the xovers are point to point, and very complicated, meaning money to have redone, and we know as old as these are its coming.

I have done several refoams, one with the dust cap replacement using shims.

My kappa 5s turned out good, my Rs 6s seemed to still have a little scraping, I figure the spider was not just right.

If you have to take that kind of work to a shop, it can get into a little money to be done right.

If i was not in the middle of replacing the drivers I fried on my 1cs, and xover work by westmass guy, I would not hesitate.

I am kinda thinkin sell the IIs for the lady,as they are a little much for this small LR, and make an offer on the IIIbs, Halo71 loves his, and dorokusai said they were some of his infinity faves, especially considering they were not in the kappa, top RS line.

If i can get them cheap, might just put them in our spare bedroom, that used to be full of debs prettys and sweet things from the past that she would rotate into the home, i am getting better about getting into these things and taking most to a battered womens and childrens shelter thrift store, which we always felt good about donating to, and as finances clear up later on this year, get on them.

That room is slowly becoming my spare audio gear room, maybe a workroom for audio projects.

BKphoto

where do you live?....PM if you want...

I just saw sorry, damn why can't something like this come up within a zillion miles of me....

scottyboy76

BKphoto wrote: »

where do you live?....PM if you want...

I just saw sorry, damn why can't something like this come up within a zillion miles of me....

Trust me I know the feeling, and gotta admit, much envy towards your part of the country.

So much gear, and florida, with all the migrants from ny, nj, etc.

But good luck, you will have no problem finding some good gear.

Gatecrasher

scottyboy76 wrote: »

My kappa 5s turned out good, my Rs 6s seemed to still have a little scraping, I figure the spider was not just right.

If you have to take that kind of work to a shop, it can get into a little money to be done right.

I sent four of my drivers to Polk and they repaired the spiders for free plus paid for the return shipping!

[Deleted User]

Another reason to love my polks!

Gatecrasher wrote: »

I sent four of my drivers to Polk and they repaired the spiders for free plus paid for the return shipping!

scottyboy76

We are increasingly left to our devices, polk is one of the few.

As with many things we were so lucky to have lived when we did, where we did.

scottyboy76

Red ned, an honor to engage.

One of the polkies who is worthy.

11tsteve

the infinity crossovers are daunting, but doable. It took two swings for me to get my Rsb Xovers right, but it was worth the effort. Schematics or on line and I took a ton of reference pictures of the original circuit. The worst part was designing a new board. I changed out everything including inductors, and the newer components were too large and heavy to be mounted with the binding posts, so I actually had to make two boards. One mounted to the floor of the cab with the low/mids, and a double layer board with the highs/binding posts. It was pretty fun, and I had Trey providing advice.
The big poly woofers weren't bad to refoam... just slow and careful. But I guess you have already done some Infinity speaks.