Found some Infinity Primus 250 speakers

[chuckle490]

I purchased some Infinity Primus 250 speakers at my local Salvation Army the other day for about $30. When I got home I hooked them up into my rig with a SMSL SA50 giving them close to 10 watts each most likely. I listened to each woofer and tweeter and nothing sounded blown, but the speakers sounded extremely muffled compared to my Canton GL 260 bookshelf speakers I have been using. switched cables around to see if they were simply out of phase but no luck. Is this because of the lack of power?

I have had my eye on a Yamaha RX 496 someone is selling locally and was wondering if the 75 watts per channel would be enough to make these sound as they should?

 

[Spitfirejoe]

It's really hard to tell if more power would make them come to life. They could be damaged internally in some way. I don't know these speakers personally, but everyone always says Infinity speakers like good, clean power. Only 10 watts total output is pretty low for almost any speaker. Checking out the SMSL SA50 - I see it's a class D amp rated at 50 watts per channel? I suspect that is "over rated", but I honestly have no idea.

I'd see if I could try the speakers on someone else's system first - before investing more money. Or just do an "A" vs "B" test against some other known speakers on your system.

 

[okeeteekid]

I have the infinity p363 and they are far from muffled sounding, in fact I run them with a 25 watt monoprice tube amp that I put better caps in and they sound really nice, https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=13194 I think your infinity's are revealing the true sound of your amplifier, I bet if you try running them with a better/different amp they will come to life, the primus series DO NOT need to be driven with high powered amps like most of the older infinity's, I believe they have a sensitivity of 92db.

 

[Bob]

pull the covers off and inspect the drivers for any damage. if you have a test LP - run the frequency bands and
determine if any are "off". then play some well-known (to you) music. it may be an underused speaker and needs
some exercise.

 

[chuckle490]

It's really hard to tell if more power would make them come to life. They could be damaged internally in some way. I don't know these speakers personally, but everyone always says Infinity speakers like good, clean power. Only 10 watts total output is pretty low for almost any speaker. Checking out the SMSL SA50 - I see it's a class D amp rated at 50 watts per channel? I suspect that is "over rated", but I honestly have no idea.

I'd see if I could try the speakers on someone else's system first - before investing more money. Or just do an "A" vs "B" test against some other known speakers on your system.

In what way would they be damaged internally? And the amp is 25 watts/channel @4 ohms if I remember correctly. So at 8 ohms it's closer to 15 or so.

I don't really know anyone who has a system I could use to A/B.

I have the infinity p363 and they are far from muffled sounding, in fact I run them with a 25 watt monoprice tube amp that I put better caps in and they sound really nice, https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=13194 I think your infinity's are revealing the true sound of your amplifier, I bet if you try running them with a better/different amp they will come to life, the primus series DO NOT need to be driven with high powered amps like most of the older infinity's, I believe they have a sensitivity of 92db.

Do you think it'd be worth getting a better amp to see? What kind of power should I be looking for?

pull the covers off and inspect the drivers for any damage. if you have a test LP - run the frequency bands and
determine if any are "off". then play some well-known (to you) music. it may be an underused speaker and needs
some exercise.

I've already done so and everything seems to be working but the tweeters sound muffled, I've heard that this series needs some power to really get the tweets going.

 

[okeeteekid]

I'd look for a better amp, maybe borrow one from a friend to see if the sound improves before you go out and buy one, power depends on how loud you like your music, for me 25 watts is plenty because I don't listen to mine that loud.

 

[chuckle490]

Update: Picked up the Yamaha RX 496 today. Hooked up the Primus 250s and they sound much better. Put my ear up against the speaker and noticed the tweeters were making no noise. Neither one of the tweets are blown but they are not vibrating at all? I assume something is wrong with the crossover? Any ideas on how to go about fixing this?

Woofers sound great and my Canton GL 260s have never sounded so good.

 

[Bob]

if you think it's the crossover, then you need to open them up and look at the tweeter side
of the circuit. from the tweeter work your way backwards to the speaker binding posts.
note the components (cap, resistor, maybe inductor - a coil ) and do both: 1)
pull and measure the component, 2) jumper each in turn, and maybe the
whole circuit. use low power - volume set low.

It's unlikely both failed at the same time unless they've been overdriven (in the amp)
and a serious load got sent out and the tweeter(s) failed.

 

[srb02]

there's a pair of crossovers on fleabay now. doesn't look to be any relays/fuses for tweeter protection.
unfortunately, that maybe why you got them for $30.
Infinity 85DA20AJ-DT05-E is tweeter part #.
It's a variation on the silk-dome tweeter from the 90's RS series. Won't take much abuse, without blowing.

My two cents Stu

 

[okeeteekid]

Check to see that the wires are connected to the backs of the tweeters, they are known to come loose in shipping.

 

[ArchieType]

Update: Picked up the Yamaha RX 496 today. Hooked up the Primus 250s and they sound much better. Put my ear up against the speaker and noticed the tweeters were making no noise. Neither one of the tweets are blown but they are not vibrating at all? I assume something is wrong with the crossover? Any ideas on how to go about fixing this?

Woofers sound great and my Canton GL 260s have never sounded so good.

So did you ever figure this out? Close the loop please..

 

[goodolpg]

chuckle490 was last seen:

Jul 19, 2017

 

[ArchieType]

chuckle490 was last seen:

Jul 19, 2017

My Birthday!

 

[avguytx]

No soup for you!

 

[Ezd]

Nice speaker score.