Infinity's State of the Art Speakers

pauljh

Active Member
Infinity had a reputation as a company that continually pushed the state of the art, and often made the best speakers that you could buy at any price. They started in 1968 with the Servo Statik I, and all of their subsequent top speakers were variations on that theme: dipole radiation pattern, push-pull planar drivers, and servo-controlled bass.

I'm going to list what I think were Infinity's top speakers during each era of the company. If I miss anything, please let me know, and I'd love to see comments on this history.

1968-1977 Servo Statik I / Servo Statik IA
1977-1982 Quantum Reference Standard / Quantum Line Source (EMIT introduced)
1983-1987 IRS III / IRS V / RS1b (not really the top of the line and not really servo bass, but very close) (EMIM introduced)
1988-1989 IRS Beta / IRS Gamma (L EMIM and SEMIT)

Does anyone have any other nominations or comments on this list? Does any other speaker company have such a pedigree of incredible achievement?
 
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The Quantum reference standard (QRS) was actually their top of the line in the late 1970s; the QLS was second.
 
The Renaissance series speakers , Omega, Sigma, and Epsilon should be on that list, When Arnie was leaving infinity the next generation of planar drivers were already in the process of being made while he was still there for the 1992 Renaissance series speakers, these drivers were also used in the Omega, Sigma and epsilon and are superior to the older style ones, also confirmed by Graz, I have heard both new and old style drivers and to me the older ones have a slight metallic ring to them that you will notice when you compare them directly to the newer style ones, the newer ones have less coloration and are more neutral sounding, the older infinity's made more bass only because they had more and separate woofer columns, if infinity would have used the newer drivers in a statement speaker like the IRS V it would have been something special.
 
Sort of, they had a rear firing Semit or Hemit,
The Rens had a rear damped port that allowed the rear wave of the emim(?) and HEmit to escape
 
Were the Omega, Sigma and Epsilon dipole radiators?
It's funny because they have a rear firing EMIT but infinity chose to absorb the the EMIM and the L-EMIM with egg crate foam in the Sigma and fiberglass in the Epsilon.
Here is what infinity had to say about dipole page 15 I will put a link here so you can read about the improved drivers too
https://1drv.ms/b/s!AkzYvsG95prmaQy0fd6gATvuwLQ
 
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It's funny because they have a rear firing EMIT but infinity chose to absorb the the EMIM and the L-EMIM with egg crate foam in the Sigma and fiberglass in the Epsilon.
Here is what infinity had to say about dipole page 15 I will put a link here so you can read about the improved drivers too
https://1drv.ms/b/s!AkzYvsG95prmaQy0fd6gATvuwLQ
Thanks. That's a very interesting paper. But the part about abandoning the dipole would never have been published had Arnie been around. He was adamant about that, and would give you a lecture about constant power output by frequency at the drop of a hat.
 
Thanks. That's a very interesting paper. But the part about abandoning the dipole would never have been published had Arnie been around. He was adamant about that, and would give you a lecture about constant power output by frequency at the drop of a hat.
You can still hear the drivers radiating out the back but they are not as loud as without the fiberglass
 
I wish I could comment but I have not
heard any mentioned by the OP( except the QLS-1 which I own).
From what I have heard and have, these are quite special.
RSII-6.jpg
 
I’ve only heard the Servo Statik 1, 1A, and RS1. Unless your name was J. Gordon Holt, or Harry Pearson, you probably haven’t heard many of these speakers.
 
I think Infinity hit the bullseye with the "diminutive" dipole RSII.
The RSIi is interesting in that it uses conventional drivers in a dipole configuration. I’ve never heard the RSII, but have heard the RS2a/b which used EMIMs for two bands of midrange. They sound very, very good.
 
I would add the RS 4.5 to that
for their time they were highly regarded and the limited volumes also hint at that status
 
The RSIi is interesting in that it uses conventional drivers in a dipole configuration. I’ve never heard the RSII, but have heard the RS2a/b which used EMIMs for two bands of midrange. They sound very, very good.
I haven't had the pleasure of listening to the IIa/b
I think the midrange presentation of the RSII's and its "conventional" cones is superior to the midrange of my RS 2.5's and its EMIM's.
 
RS II rule! great speaker that never got reviewed in US. Only real exposure to US Media, is that it was on the cover of the TECH HI FI (no longer in business ) Catalogue one year.
 
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