Polk vs. Infinity

StopherJJ1980

OK I know That "infinity" may be a bad word to say around here but oh well, Im new and dont know any better Here's my question.

I love Polk.. From my first pair of R50's I knew they made a quality product for a great price. For home theater I wouldnt think to go to any other brand unless I won the lottery tomorrow and had millions to blow. Even then I would still keep my RTi's.

Anyways, as far as car audio I have always had Infinity because I loved the sound when I first got them put in my old Camaro. My Camaro got stolen and I got a new truck, so I figured hey, why not go Polk all around and put in Polk db speakers and subs. Well I did and Im sorry to say I wasnt impressed at all. Polk had infinity beat as far as bass response, but it was somewhat boomy and the tweeters were harsh to the point they were almost unlistenable, they gave me headache. I went back to Infinity.

So I am wondering if anyone has had much experience with Infinity's home speakers. I have had side by side demos in the store and believe Polk is by far superior. Do you think Infinity matches up with Polk in home audio at all? Or does anyone share my views on Polk vs. Infinity for car audio? Forgive me for not posting this in the car audio forum, I felt this question really addresses both home and car audio.

I just think the Polk vs. Infinity question is interesting since I think they are Polk's main competitor in their price range/market. Forgive me if it has been addressed before.

PolkThug

On the home audio side, Infinity needs to redesign their Beta Grills ASAP, they are like ear muffs.

cmy330go

PolkThug wrote:

On the home audio side, Infinity needs to redesign their Beta Grills ASAP, they are like ear muffs.

Amen on the grills. On top of that I think they are just plain ugly.

As far as sound is concerned. I think the current Primus and Beta series are decent sounding speakers. They are far superior to their predecessors. I do slightly prefer the Polk RTi line over either of the Infinity lines. However I could certainly see where some might lean the other way.

Different Strokes.....

dorokusai

Infinity stopped making good speakers ages ago.

aaharvel

I like the Prelude MTS towers.

um... that's about it

RuSsMaN

dorokusai wrote:

Infinity stopped making good speakers ages ago.

Yes.

markmarc

I have owned 2 sets of Infinity speakers, and have regretted them both. First was the RSa's in 1980. I bought them because they looked better and were $100 cheaper than the Polk 10's. Took me two years to correct that mistake.

Then this fall, I bought a pair of Infinity Kappa 200. Sound was fine, though very British-like since they were made in Denmark. I just sold them, and now will go with either the LSi9 or Totem Rainmaker.

I have always felt that Infinity just doesn't quite go all the way into unleashing their potential.

MacLeod

Their car audio speakers are horrible. Super thin and bright.

I had a set of Reference speakers in my truck for a while and hated them. I can usually get used to any set of decent speakers but these were horrible. Alex Lifeson (Rush) sounded like he was playing a kazoo!

aaharvel

With the aformentioned Prelude MTS towers I also like their Kappa monitors. Other than that, nothing.

pbc74

I have both Infinity and Polk. I had originally traded in my Polk R series speakers for the Infinity Alpha Series at Circuit City when it when on sale and I was able to trade up. I only traded up because Infinitys went on sale from $1000 down to $599 and I only had to shell out $16 based on the difference between the sale price and the trade-in value for the speakers I was trading in.

Anyways, Outpost.com then had the R50 and the R30s on sale so I bought them for my bedroom because I still missed that Polk sound. It's hard to explain but here goes:

My infinity alphas sound better than my Polk R series but that's not fair because it's not a fair match in terms of price point and product level. It would probably be more fair of a match with the Infinity Alpha 50s against the Polk RTi10s (which I think the Rti10s are better by far).

I don't think my current Polk speakers sound better but I do think that Polk gives you more for your money at every level of speaker. I also think tweeters sound better with Polk speakers. Polk highs seem to be silky smooth where my Infinitys seem to just give good highs but nothing special.

The best thing in my opinion about the Infinitys are that they seem to be more accurate overrall (example: watch the second scene in the movie Hero and listen to the rain drops) and have better mids than comparable Polk speakers (just my opinion, obviously not fact). Sometimes my Polk speakers seem tinny compared to other speakers I have heard but then again I kinda like that tinny sound out of the Polks because I like a clean sound rather than a boomy sound.

So in the end, I would take the Polks based on bang for buck while still maintaining quality. ...but the Infinitys are no slouch :-)

kmartin971

Any comments?

Schris22

i've heard sapphires and actually thought they were comparable to the Rti. They are very tonned down in loocks which is a plus depending if you like their glossy black finish.

They aren't a bad bang for your buck but when comparing them I would go with Rti's for movies for sure. This was 6 or so months ago where I was at tweeter comparing them. I liked the b and w 600 series compared to the sapphire though. Rti is just a different sound.

Chris

audiobliss

StopherJJ1980
I'm going to address your car audio situation, as that's what stands out the most to me. I can't tell you which manufacturer makes better speakers (from a sound perspective) because that's a subjective matter based entirely on personal preference. However, it's pretty much fact that Infinity's speakers (in car audio, though I believe it's much the same in the home audio arena) are much, much thinner and brighter than Polk's speakers (since they use metal for their tweeters). Polk's speakers are usually very detailed, but are also warm, due to having silk dome tweeters. So if, in your experience, the Polk db speakers you had (it'd be nice to know which ones in particular you had) were thinner and brighter than the Infinity's you now have are, there was/is something horribly wrong with the setup.

Again, I'm not saying one speaker is better than the other or that one sounds better than the other, since that's an entirely subjective matter, but if the Polk's were brighter than the Infinity's, something's not right. Polk is very warm when compared to Infinity.

shack

dorokusai wrote:

Infinity stopped making good speakers ages ago.

Back in the late 70s when I bought my Large Advents, Infinity was THE speaker to have. I wanted a pair of Reference Standard 1.5s but couldn't come up with the cash (about to get married and all that). I would love to find a mint pair now just to see how they compare to the Advents. You really don't hear much about the old Infinitys like you do the Advents.

reeltrouble1

I know infinity is offering up some kind of deal now, but as said their speakers are nothing compared to what they once were, the company has lost its focus and the bean counters run the place, sell mega units, built cheap, give them away if necessary. Not to say Polk has not had the occasional give away on their entry speakers. The Polk R-series are still the best entry level speaker on the market.

RT1

Nemesis

The Polk R-series are still the best entry level speaker on the market.

reeltrouble1

Damn right. I currently have my r15's as _fronts_ and I'm totally happy with them. Sound stage is fine in my room (like 13x15) with an HK 235 as receiver. One of my favorite HT moments: listening to the matrix reloaded in STEREO with the to. The sound just seemed right, esp the hair standing up on my arms "sickly sweet" sound of spent casings ringing off the ground. I was totally blown away.They work great for me, though I would certainly love to upgrade to RTi bookshelves. I'm in no hurry.

The comment of "ear muff" Infinity speaker grills is pretty interesting. I hadn't noticed that, but that would drive me crazy. I tend to be teh guy who takes the grills off for gigantic action flicks, after some tests that even Polk's grills muffle things more than I like.

screxer

For car audio, I can't stand either Infinity or Polk....Have had Polk in my cars and enjoyed them for what they were....a good entry level car audio speaker, but not much more than that (just my opinion). Infinity never got close to my car because of how bright and harsh they were....too difficult to tame so I wouldn't even come close to purchasing them. For car audio, do some shopping as you can find better for just a little bit more money. I personally run Focal coax's in my car and even the starter line of Focal offers a huge difference over the Polk and Infinity.

Now home audio is different. I am completely loyal to the Polk home audio line....great detail in the highs, as well as good midrange on their speakers (subwoofers are a different story...but that's why there are companies like Velodyne, HSU, and SVS to choose from). I have compared a few different lines to the Infinity Beta 50's and ended up purchasing Monitor 70's because they sounded so much better than the Infinity. The Monitor's made the Infinity sound muddy....on a warm receiver (H/K 635), the Infinity was simply too neutral to the point that the highs weren't very detailed, but the mids and lows seemed bloated. This has never been an issue with the Monitor being that it is a somewhat bright speaker. When paired with a warm receiver, the Monitor offers great detail that causes the Infinity to pale in comparison.

cmy330go

I've been out of car audio for quite some time...before polk offered car audio gear. But when I was into it...I used to have infitity Kappa 4x6 plate mount and 6x9 3 ways, ran off Rockford Fosgate series 1 amps. I was always very pleased with them. They had a real crisp sound without being too harsh. Have Infinity car audio speakers really changed that much in recent years??

Later,
Dave

simpt7

These Polk M20 I got second hand 120$ CAD and a Denon AVR-990 100$ CAD, cables are OFC 7' per side. Using Coax instead of RCA, after hearing the RCA input is a lot lesser in Quality, definition and presence too poor and no Image, but the coax I am amazed. The Polk M20 a nice pair of semi towers with a single 6-1/2'' and tweeter. Most people I red from on the net say, good sound, well after listening to them, it is a poor sound compared to a real pair of High Ends one, quite mid, grainy, sound like sand paper. So after replacing the poor caps in there with Nichicon Muse with a lower value also they were playing too mid and not enough of highs. So with a pair of polystyrene 150v 0.01 uf ,which increases the highs, in parallel and a pair of 1837 Vishay 0.01 uf, which increases the quality sound, Yes, the sound has improved greatly, why a pair? Hooked up in 69, the 0.01 they open the tweeter. A good example; a flower at night looks good but a lot better in the sun light, all open with his fragrance in the air. Friends after earing the difference they wanted their speakers to be done also. The Nichicon the same configuration 69, calculating the value after listening carefully. The new value instead of a 8uf 50v is now a 4.1uf give or take 200v, parallel and serial. The difference is huge in definition, presence and dynamic and the Image now I get to have from them, that is with the woofer damped with an old metal coat hanger cut at the right length, the diameter of the cone just after the rubber surround maybe 4'' dia, with plyers I made it a ring then cut in half to be able to glue it behind on the cone well centered, also, replaced those coils, on the tweeter I took it off for both woofer tweeter to be cut at 6db/octave for a better harmony cuz the woofer only, a coil is there. Now the coils, same configuration 69, after finding the right frequency that it needs to be cut, which is close to what is there originally around 0.8 mH in 69 you got to double the value for the coils so I put a little bigger to cut lower so 1.9mH in parallel (69) so now 0.9 mH the tweeter the caps has to be lower by half in 69 cuz they had up in uf, and diminish in serial. And yes replace those wires and solder them.

I first started by replacing the wires and NO connection junk so this means, soldered, this alone the difference was remarkable, OFC 16awg for tweeter and woofer, a 14 on the woofer would be better.
The insulation was all in the top chamber, not having any at that moment I split it into 2, a layer in top chamber the other in lower chamber. This helped a lot to lower the woody hollow wood sound as when you knock on a hollow door, that resonating annoying sound was too high, latter getting some, a right amount layer inside.
Now the bass is present not annoying, but dynamic low when it needs to, responsive with more torque, and yes, silent when needed, instead of a continuously annoying woody hollow wood door.
The speakers are now a beauty to hear, with any music, Classic or House, or rock, or old Disco from the 70's. The classic a real beauty, that's what those that heard it said, just beautiful, you can hear the image in details. The caps you can get better results with Jupiter's 600v 0.01uf and the new line the Audio note called "Kaisei" series, the Nichicon cost about 0.50 $ the Kaisei" series about 10$ each but worth it, big time.
Also bypassing the plugs which are made of brass, and brass ac continuity is low compared to copper. Brass about 26% conductivity, copper about 99% pure, not OFC. The OFC of Japan is superior to the US by to 2 to 3 zero after the dot, which makes it superior in conductivity. The US is give or take 6.2 Homs per 1000ft and Japan not counted yet I suspect maybe 5 Homs or lesser per 1000 ft.
There is a difference comparing the OFC speaker cable from Japan to US same awg. The Japan is definitely superior and almost the same price.
So after drilling 2 holes on the back plate on each lower side of the the plugs, the wire is soldered inside on the board right on the spot where the parts are soldered, the copper sheet on the PCB is too thin for a good conductor. Also the connectors on the speakers are made of brass, so I soldered the wire right on the connecter where the wire from the voice coil is soldered to minimized the lost.
In listening to the image with one speaker wire soldered on the brass connector and the other on the connector where the voice coil wire is a difference noticeable. I am not in favor of loss when it can be made better and get more sound, after all that is what we're looking for. More Sound, right :-)

The capacitors, I burned them in, braking in, with a laptop, capacitors connected in mix configuration, parallel and serial with a resistor of 50h ohms in series with the bunch. There are many steps, first is 48 hours, before that they sound quite ugly, next step is 200h, next 800h, next 1600h, next 3200. What I do just use a player let it play night and day. Once hooked up in speakers, same let it play 24h/7 at low volume quite low, as long as the signal goes through, the difference is huge. Enjoy.
Summer 2024 Vernon BC Canada.

pitdogg2

🥱🥱

Tony M

M20s?

Really?

I admire your in-depth overhaul of those but to replace the tweeter coils?


You need to put spaces where your concentration and descriptions change to another objective of your many projects to improve those little towers.

Was it wintertime when you went all-in to make these the best they could be?

I hope they sound amazing. You did a lot of work on them.

msg

@simpt7 - wow, great write-up, thanks for taking the time to share your experience, and welcome to the Polk forum!

skipshot12

Well, that depends on the era of Polk vs Infinity speakers you’d like to compare.

I’ve owned both, and both have been powered by the same gear.
Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. All depends on what you prefer.

The only ones I can give a direct comparison to are the Polk SDA SRS Gen 3 and Infinity Kappa 8 & 9 along with the Prelude MTS’.

Saying that here’s my take.
The Polk SDA SRS are easier to drive than either the Infinity Kappa 8 or 9. You must have enough arse in your amps to make a direct comparison at any level of spl.

The Kappa 8’s bass was well defined along with never wanting more.
When you get to the Kappa 9’s the bass is, well, just more. Not more in the sense that the 9’s go much deeper, probably only a few hertz, just cause there’s two more woofers.
I’d compare the SDA SRS as having the same as the 9’s. A tad more there than the 8’s.
Driving Kappa 8’s with a Phase Linear 400 II amp was no problem, to any listening levels including many frosty beverages listening levels.
The Kappa 9’s were a different story, the Phase Linear 700 II was needed to get to the same spl. That had a lot to do with the impedance dips the 9’s have, it can get to under 1 ohm. Both, 8 & 9, have always been used in the extended mode. If you have to switch to the normal mode vs extended then you need better/more amplification.
The Polk SDA SRS’s can be driven with both amps and no strain.

Midrange and treble are the biggest differences between Infinity Kappas and Polk SDA SRS’s.
Midrange on the SDA’s are more punchy and there than either Kappa. Possibly due to the amount of drivers? Both are great with no need for improvement, just different.

Treble, the largest difference is here.
The SDA’s, to me, are more laid back than either of the Kappas. Probably the reason I prefer the poly switches bypassed rather than replacing with the preferred resistors to match the resistance?

As far as which speaker is more balanced with the best integration of drivers I’d choose the Kappa 8, it’s a speaker that is just right.
The Kappa 9 is an incredible speaker. It’s less forgiving with amplification and supporting gear. It’s a very very detailed speaker that can be unforgiving with inferior gear, and that doesn’t mean expensive gear. Needs the right gear.
The SDA SRS are the ones I like in my system, right now in my life, in providing long listening sessions. Set it and forget it!

Polk’s are built to last, rubber surrounds are the bomb. Infinity’s not so much.
Both need to be recapped today to really hear what they’re capable of.

The Infinity Prelude MTS are a different animal altogether!
Had a full surround system based on these.
When they’re working properly they’re outstanding. Ask me how I know about this 🫤.
Still have many in their boxes.
If anyone has issues with the delaminating issues with their driver voice coils an outfit in Denmark completely rebuilds these. Only way to make the MTS’ reliable.

Skip