Just drove 3 hours to pick up my unicorn…

Tony M wrote: »

Maybe the bass will improve the more the woofer spiders become more flexible.

I just purchased a set of Infinity RS7s, and there wasn't much bass—odd for an 8" woofer. I left them playing for days (2+), and sure enough, they sound fantastic now. The midranges on the RS7s have a huge surround, but they don't flex much at all, even after much use. Maybe this surround and the spider on these midranges need 100 hours or more.

Man, Tony, you you find all kindsa cool stuff down there!

Man, Tony, you you find all kindsa cool stuff down there! [/quote]

Not surprising since a million people have moved here in the past 30 years. The construction of apartment building complexes is UNBELIEVABLE! And they get filled up in no time! These complexes are HUGE. Then there are the 10,000 home neighborhoods that have sprouted up over 30 years too.

Surprisingly though, the Infinity RS7s came from a couple who've been here for 30 years in the same home as we've been. They're retiring now and are moving away from this traffic nightmare city now.

I was given the Hartley Reference mini towers after I called a man about his ad for them. He wanted 200 and I told him I couldn't pay that but we talked a lot about them. He had his for MANY years. He bought them from an employee of Audio Lab where the owner of this branch just happened to have connections with the company that/made the WORLD FAMOUS WHITE cone composition ringed woofers. These woofers are still thought to be the HOLY GRAIL of woofers. The internet has some sites on these HARTLEY white woofers.

Well, when he noticed the woofers' surrounds were shot, he said if I wanted to re-foam those too, ( I already re-foamed my set of the same Hartleys but had a problem with distortion aften 10 or 15 mins of playing them) I could have them for free. He liked my honesty about their value then and even now, after re-foaming they would be $$ IF the cabinets were in great shape. I went to meet him and look at the cabinets and push on the woofer cones. Everything looked GREAT! He asked for a cup of coffee as a tip if I wanted them. I gave him 40.00 since they looked like new. That's what I paid for my first pr. too. The foam surrounds are 40.00. So 80.00 for each pr. I own. Well the distortion on my first pr. had to be my Pioneer Elite receiver not liking the 4ohm load! I just hooked up the new cabinets with my old re-foamed woofers to an older Onkyo with 6ohm capability and they sound GREAT and the receiver barely gets warm. ROCK out?...these little towers can ROCK. Spacious sound too. Pretty good pedestal towers for 80.00 and a little time re-wireing and re-foaming them. I wish you could hear them.I don't know why Richard said they weren't for rocking and were mainly made for Jazz.

These Hartleys I have were made by Richard and his Co. here in Wilmington NC while being the owner of this Audio Lab branch. I saw them there and was going to audition them when they were being sold at that stereo store 30 years or so ago. The speakers are pretty cool but they're as simplistic as can be. These little 6.5 woofers have those voice coils that stick out an since or so like those $$$$$ white woofers have too.

He didn't seem to want to talk about them though. He was pushing some other speaker brand and I faintly remember that brand being mid-range. I can't even remember the brand they were so low on my need-to-audition list/mind.

Anyway, he said his Hartleys weren't made for Southern Rock or Pop. I don't think he even played anything through the set he had in that one big showroom with the mid-brand and the oh-so-beautiful B&W 801's I think they were. 12,000 a pr. B&Ws. I didn't get to hear them either. I guess I didn't look to be a wealthy young man at the time.

But he did play those mid-level speakers hoping I would buy some of them. I didn't.

I used to get on Craig's list every day and saw things get listed and was usually the first to respond.
Now it's Facebook Marketplace. I look off and on all day and night. There seems to be a lot of fine audio being posted since covid bs happened.

Lately, multi-thousand dollar speaker pairs are being posted at 1/2 or below even that from MSRP. Tempting! Some might be a 2-hour drive or just a mile from me but I can't believe the bargains I see.

I got my Triton ones for a fifth of their MSRP one year after their release at a yard sale.

The old saying goes...

If you look hard and long enough, you WILL find it.