Classic Infinity speakers

[Deleted User]

Hi folks, many of you may or may not be aware that I am an Infinity lover, having owned 3 classic pairs of Infinitys since 1987 (incl: Infinity Reference 3's, Reference 60's & Renaissance 90's). If I had deeper pockets back then, my above list would have been (in order) Ren 90's, IRS-Sigma & IRS-Omega...I wish! The Omegas sound amazing even by today's standards & are arguably the best speakers Infinity ever made. Apropos which, I attached a video below of the Omegas in action .

For the unitiated, Infinity Systems was founded by Arnie Nudell, John Ulrick (both ex Litton Industries) & Cary Christie in 1968 and started out in Arnie's garage. Their debut loudspeaker was the classic Servostatik 1 which was way ahead of its time when it was released in 1968 & comprised a servo-controlled 18" woofer from Cerwin Vega, two electrostic panels for the mids/highs & an Infinity designed crossover/bass amp.

Classic Infinitys like my previous Renaissance 90's were amazingly fast, transparent & had excellent sound staging and imaging. Off-axis response was also very good thanks to the improved design of the High Energy Emit and Emim drivers, curved cabinet & integrated grill which is designed to be a integral part of the cabinet to better manage dispersion and reduce diffraction (similar to Avalon). Bass was very good thanks to the use of a 10" Watkins dual voice coil woofer & dedicated mid-bass coupler, though the Rens like most Infinitys generally need a minimum of 200 watts class a/b power.

Here is an interesting video (below) of the history of Infinity speakers, including an interview with Arnie Nudel & Cary Christie. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1b5seCzMpw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OHXajCtEFk

dromunds

I have a couple pairs of vintage Infinity speakers, Kappa 8's and RSIIIb's. I like the classic sound, superb top end and very good bass too.

K_M

http://www.infinity-classics.de/technik/manuals/Renaissance_90_technical_sheet.pdf

One of the best speakers of all time, especially back then.

[Deleted User]

Were the Kappa 8's amp-killers like the Kappa 9's dromunds? I would have liked to have owned a pair of RS2B's, but never had the chance. The IRS-Omega's are on another level altogether.

lightman1

My buddy, Mike, has killed a couple of amos with his RS II. Good times!
He has Ren 90 in his HT for fronts. Wide open, seamless sound stage.

[Deleted User]

K_M wrote: »

http://www.infinity-classics.de/technik/manuals/Renaissance_90_technical_sheet.pdf

One of the best speakers of all time, especially back then.

In terms of cost/performance, the Ren 90's were hands down the best speakers i've every heard. They were like $1800 on debut & sounded like $10k speakers. Though their achillies heal was their foam transmission line which started to rot after about 15 years and their 'unobtanium' grills, which if damaged, could dramatically affect the sound.

K_M

Bodhi wrote: »

Were the Kappa 8's amp-killers like the Kappa 9's dromunds? I would have liked to own a pair of RS2B's, but never had the chance. Though IRS-Omega's are on another level altogether.

We had a pair of the 9's several years back. I was always getting yelled at, to be careful turning them up too much on my Diana Krall stuff. I used to love hearing it really loud on some of her songs!

[Deleted User]

lightman1 wrote: »

My buddy, Mike, has killed a couple of amos with his RS II. Good times!
He has Ren 90 in his HT for fronts. Wide open, seamless sound stage.

Very nice fronts! The Rens were my main 2 channel speakers for a while. Though i've seen photos on the net of a crazy guy running IRS-V's (front), an IRS-Gamma speaker (center), IRS-Betas (rear) & from memory, Infinitesimal Modulus (sides) .

lightman1

Bodhi wrote: »

lightman1 wrote: »

My buddy, Mike, has killed a couple of amos with his RS II. Good times!
He has Ren 90 in his HT for fronts. Wide open, seamless sound stage.

Very nice fronts! The Rens were my main 2 channel speakers for a while. Though i've seen photos on the net of a crazy guy running IRS-V's (front), an IRS-Gamma speaker (center), IRS-Betas (rear) & from memory, Infinitesimal Modulus (sides) .

Cripes! Did he live in a warehouse?!

[Deleted User]

"lightman1 wrote:

Cripes! Did he live in a warehouse?!

Actually they were crammed into a room I guess no more than 7 x 5 meters which looked crazy!

dromunds

I've been told the Kappa 9's were much more of an amp-killer than the Kappa 8's. Lol.

FTGV

I like the classic Infinity's would love a pair of RSII's.

[Deleted User]

@FTGV, the RS2B's were the ones to own. I might buy a pair one day as a resto project. Graz can upgrade all the Emims & Watkins Engineering can re-foam and align the woofers. Then it's just a matter of a new wiring loom, re-capping the x-over & EQ box, and refinishing the cabinet with several coats of Howards Feed 'N' wax.

afterburnt

Did Infinity make some pyramid shaped speakers back in the 70's?

[Deleted User]

afterburnt wrote: »

Did Infinity make some pyramid shaped speakers back in the 70's?

You might be getting confused with Vandersteen or Sequerra speakers? To my knowledge, Infinity never designed any speakers in that shape.

JayCee

JBL released the L250 and later L250 Ti. Based on their cabinet design they were referred to as the "pyramid" speaker. Production was approx 1982-1990???


audioheritage.org/html/profiles/jbl/l250.htm

I worked at the Mainz-Kastel military audio club, in Germany, and remember demoing a pair with several other competing vendors...while the JBL rep was not around. CD's were fairly new and we had a disk with lifelike sounds; race care driving by, baby crying, light bulbs being dropped and shattered. Warning on the disc stated to be careful with respect to dynamic range.

Don't remember the exact cost but the pyramids were expensive and why we were $crewing around with them. Cranked up and listening to the track with light bulbs shattering. Ooops...tweeters fried! Of course we did the responsible thing...looked at each other and promptly scattered.

JayCee

Infinity had an awesome demo room with their entire line for 1984-85. I worked for Technics/Panasonic and on slow days I'd head down and listen to, if memory is correct, the IRS-V's. Loved the mids and clarity of the top end. Music floated from them. To contrast, Polk was new to the military market and across the hall was their line-up. SDA-SRS's were available and I was always taken by the sound stage. No comparison with the IRS-V in sound reproduction but the SDA's also left a lasting impression.

Modestly, my very first speaker purchase was a very non traditional Infinity 3500, possibly made for only the military market. No EMIT's...a very cheap dome tweeter, active paper cone midrange driver and a duplicate passive radiator. Total price was around $200. Big bucks for a high school student. Hooked them up to a Yamaha A-960MkII integrated, Technics SL-QL1 turntable and a cheap Technics cassette deck. Speakers are still in the family and the QL1 is in storage.

Just did a search and can't even find a picture of the 3500 on-line. Sound is quite dreadful for Infinity of that time but I could never part with them. My son and I refinished the cabs in 2010 and he has them. Only photos I have are from the restoration, sans drivers installed.



Found the specs years ago:

Infinity 3500
PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS
General Frequency Response: 45Hz - 20kHz (+/-4dB)
Sensitivity: 89dB (1 watt/1 meter)
Impedance: 4 ohms
Woofer: 8" dual active
Tweeter: dome w/1" voice coil
2-Way 150 Watt Speaker
40 x 12 x 12

Vintage Infinity sound has always been in the back of my mind. I'd love to hear a set of the IRS-V's again and haven't ruled out picking up a pair of any mid 80's Infinity's if the opportunity presented itself.

JayCee

I'm on a roll posting today...LOL.

My main DAC is a PS Audio DirectStream w/Bridge II card and absolutely love it. PS Audio voices all their products on the IRS-V and the company history is linked to Infinity. Want to see the massive scale of these speakers...check out Paul McGowan next to them!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=NPazywXrqJo

[Deleted User]

JayCee wrote: »

I'm on a roll posting today...LOL.

My main DAC is a PS Audio DirectStream w/Bridge II card and absolutely love it. PS Audio voices all their products on the IRS-V and the company history is linked to Infinity. Want to see the massive scale of these speakers...check out Paul McGowan next to them!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=NPazywXrqJo

Yeah I've watched all those videos. PS Audio amps would bs a good match for synergy with the IRS speakers.

BlueBirdMusic

Here is some more interesting stuff related to the partnership of Arnie Nudell and Paul McGowan.

I saw these speakers for sale on Audiogon this morning - $69,000 asking price. The seller says Paul McGowan traveled to Australia for the final install. The OP is selling the speakers because of age (70) and health problems.


https://www.audiogon.com/listings/full-range-genesis-1-massive-7-3-feet-4-towers-with-4000-watt-bass-amp-2017-05-04-speakers-6123

[Deleted User]

Nice . The first thing i'd do with those speakers is replace the Carver midrange panels with German Bohlender Graebener midrange panels. Not cheap, but that is a big upgrade.

afterburnt

Bodhi wrote: »

afterburnt wrote: »

Did Infinity make some pyramid shaped speakers back in the 70's?

You might be getting confused with Vandersteen or Sequerra speakers? To my knowledge, Infinity never designed any speakers in that shape.

These were unusual speakers that had some kind of conical driver on top. An old friend of mine had them and I think they cost something crazy like 10K. I don't remember much else about them. like I said it was last century. Hey I think I found them. Verey interesting concept.



Does anyone know anything about these?

"the amazing ohm acoustics walsh f omnidirectional loudspeaker its intricate vertical cone radiated different frequencies from different parts of the cone the first of a kind of speaker known as a bending wave transducer incredibly deep and spacious"

motorhead43026

^^Seen a couple pair for sale around these parts in the last year.

Manticore

Not that these are anywhere near top of the line but, I'm still running a pair of Infinity Reference four speakers with an old Denon 3802 powering them. The emit tweeter on these were the selling point I believe. Purchased them new in 92 for $500 if memory serves. Still a decent sounding speaker at that.

westmassguy

nm

Irrenhaus

This are for sale in the Bay Area no Idea on them. And no relation to the seller.

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/ele/6111440200.html

Cheers

[Deleted User]

Irrenhaus wrote: »

This are for sale in the Bay Area no Idea on them. And no relation to the seller.

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/ele/6111440200.html

Cheers

That does look like a clean pair of Betas, though I tend to avoid most Infinity classifieds that sound too good to be true...especially when they show up on Craigslist. Other red flags about this ad;

- The speakers are advertised at roughly half the current going rate for a near mint pair
- The seller is inexplicably coy about who did the modifications to the Betas, the specifics of what work was carried out, and offers no paperwork to certify the work
- No reference to how many times these speakers have changed hands, or whether he has the original receipt of purchase
- No reference to shipping details or whether the seller has the original boxes
- The seller does not offer PayPal as a payment option
- No offfer of home demo for local buyers
- Craigslist apparently provide no information or f'back about sellers, so you don't know who you're dealing with

Too many red flags for me. For anyone in the market for classic Infinity's, I'd also strongly advise you to avoid dealing with a Texan Doctor named Larry Schwartz ('lwschwartz' on forums). He screwed me on a pair of Infinity speakers I bought from him and had shipped to Australia years ago. He even had the front to refer me to one of his friends selling Infinity parts (also from Texas) who claimed to pass on the proceeds to charity. This Charity guy also scammed me! I can't say I wasn't warned though...a guy on Audiokarma told me not to deal with a Doctor in Texas selling Infinity speakers. Hands down that was the worst experience I've had in 26 years in this hobby, and turned me off buying 2nd hand gear. (That same guy cautioned me about dealing with an EBay seller 'Magicmarksy').

jdjohn

I have a pair of RSIIIa that I love. The EMIT tweeter is just the bomb. Driving them with a McCormack DNA-125...doesn't really break a sweat.

motorhead43026

What is good about these or not?


https://columbus.craigslist.org/ele/6100225860.html

[Deleted User]

jdjohn wrote: »

I have a pair of RSIIIa that I love. The EMIT tweeter is just the bomb. Driving them with a McCormack DNA-125...doesn't really break a sweat.

I loved the first pair of full size Infinitys I owned (Reference 60's) which had the Emit-R tweeter. That tweeter was fast and crystal clear & had real sparkle on cymbols etc. Great sound from just a $1500AUD speaker!

K_M

Bodhi wrote: »

Irrenhaus wrote: »

This are for sale in the Bay Area no Idea on them. And no relation to the seller.

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/ele/6111440200.html

Cheers

. He screwed me on a pair of Infinity speakers I bought from him and had shipped to Australia years ago. He even had the front to refer me to one of his friends selling Infinity parts (also from Texas) who claimed to pass on the proceeds to charity. This Charity guy also scammed me! I can't say I wasn't warned though...a guy on Audiokarma told me not to deal with a Doctor in Texas selling Infinity speakers. Hands down that was the worst experience I've had in 26 years in this hobby, and turned me off buying 2nd hand gear. (That same guy cautioned me about dealing with an EBay seller 'Magicmarksy').

I buy all of my used gear from a Nigerian Prince, that Emails me his best deals. The only issue, he needs me to send thousand of American Dollars to be converted to gold, so he can get the gear out of a storage facility on a loading dock in his country.

Always worked great for me!