How would you rate Infinity Kappa 7's?

MWalt

Super Member
I have a chance to buy a clean pair of these for $400. I remember them from the eighties as being some nice sounding speakers. I seem to remember that they were power hungry. Any input is appreciated.
 
i like my 9's never heard anything bad about the 7's the price may be a little high but compared to what you spend these days prolly a steal
 
i like my 9's never heard anything bad about the 7's the price may be a little high but compared to what you spend these days prolly a steal

I thought the price seemed high as well, but if they are as highly regarded as remember, I still may cough up the cake to buy them.
 
steep price in these austere time, but its a wonderful speaker (if we are talking the one with 12" woofers , the polydomes, and emits. Infinity had a way of using model names on later issue, inferior speakers at times). If all drivers are in perfect repair and cosmetics are good, I would be tempted at around $200-275, but I'm not one to feed flippers. If you pursue the matter and want to optimise their performance, plan on driving them with a few hundred WPC or better
 
How would I rate them? Pretty darned highly! :yes: :thmbsp:

Definitely make sure we are talking about the ones with the big woofers below and those polydome mids and EMIT tweeters. They should look like the ones pictured here: http://www.infinity-classics.de/infinity/models/Kappa-series-1987/index-Kappa.htm
and should read "7 Kappa" on the backs, not actually "Kappa 7". THOSE are the GOOD Kappas.

Check that the domes aren't shattered... they get very brittle with age, esp. when exposed to ultraviolet light/sunshine. As long as they are intact, they should be fine, even if somewhat yellowed and hardened, but if they're broken/shattered, you'll need to get them redone. Original domes are no longer available, but pretty good replacements are. There is a guy here in Hong Kong who rebuilds/repairs them; perhaps there is someone in your area, too?

Those woofers DO drop to low impedances, and the speakers need a lot of power to sound good; while not the worst Infinities, I would still lump them in with the "amp-killer" group. You'll want a fairly beefy and high-current-capable amp for these.

The price may be a bit steep, but not much; I actually sold the next-lowest model (6 Kappas) for MORE than $400 here, a couple of years ago... and missed them enough that I grabbed a pair of 7 Kappas not too long afterward. You won't find anything made today that sounds half as nice for anywhere near that price, so unless you are going to hold out for an even better bargain in something vintage (and MOST vintage speakers will NOT sound better), I'd say go ahead and get them. Power them well, and you're in for a treat, sonically! :music:
 
How would I rate them? Pretty darned highly! :yes: :thmbsp:

Definitely make sure we are talking about the ones with the big woofers below and those polydome mids and EMIT tweeters. They should look like the ones pictured here: http://www.infinity-classics.de/infinity/models/Kappa-series-1987/index-Kappa.htm
and should read "7 Kappa" on the backs, not actually "Kappa 7". THOSE are the GOOD Kappas.

Check that the domes aren't shattered... they get very brittle with age, esp. when exposed to ultraviolet light/sunshine. As long as they are intact, they should be fine, even if somewhat yellowed and hardened, but if they're broken/shattered, you'll need to get them redone. Original domes are no longer available, but pretty good replacements are. There is a guy here in Hong Kong who rebuilds/repairs them; perhaps there is someone in your area, too?

Those woofers DO drop to low impedances, and the speakers need a lot of power to sound good; while not the worst Infinities, I would still lump them in with the "amp-killer" group. You'll want a fairly beefy and high-current-capable amp for these.

The price may be a bit steep, but not much; I actually sold the next-lowest model (6 Kappas) for MORE than $400 here, a couple of years ago... and missed them enough that I grabbed a pair of 7 Kappas not too long afterward. You won't find anything made today that sounds half as nice for anywhere near that price, so unless you are going to hold out for an even better bargain in something vintage (and MOST vintage speakers will NOT sound better), I'd say go ahead and get them. Power them well, and you're in for a treat, sonically! :music:

Is 100 watts RMS @ 8 ohms going to be enough power?
 
Careful. These are 4 ohm speakers. If you hook them up to an 8 ohm amp, don't play them loud at all.

My amp is a new integrated hybrid. It is a high current job, Class A for the first 10 watts and has double the power at 4 ohms (200 w RMS).

Is this going to be an issue?
 
My amp is a new integrated hybrid. It is a high current job, Class A for the first 10 watts and has double the power at 4 ohms (200 w RMS).

Is this going to be an issue?

if your amp will truly double down at 4 ohms you should be fine..more might be better, but you wouldn't be risking any damage to speakers or amp if its rated as such
 
Just curious just how low those do drop! I have heard some Infinities drop in the 2 ohm load rand- scary!!

A few years back I did have a Yamaha M 85 amplifier and it would handle 2 ohm loads- it too ran in class A/B, the first 10 watts ran in A configuration. It was one powerful amp and actually sound pretty good.
DC
 
Unless your really playing them LOUD you will be fine,my kappa 9's i powered with a old radio shack pa amp and they were fine and i swaped it out for a adcom 555 ll and
they work just fine just be mindfull of the volume control
 
Wish I still had my kappa 7s but yes they are hard on a amp my 9090db couldnt drive them well.......found a crown dc 300 did a great job........
 
i don't think $400 is exactly steep for these. sounds pretty fair to me. the 7's don't have the difficult woofer circuit that the 8's and 9's do, either.
 
As long as your amp is high-current capable, you should be fine. Doubling-down into 4 ohms is a very good sign. The big Kappas can go down into 2 ohm territory, I believe, although there are worse Infinity offenders that spend luxurious time down in the 1-2 ohm range, which these normally won't do. Still, you want a high-current amp that doesn't clip easily. Of course, volume matters: at whisper-quiet levels, your clock radio might power these (although you probably won't like the sound! :D). It's when you start bringing the volume up to "normal" or higher listening levels, that the problems start.

It sounds like you may be okay with what you have, but I would (1) check with your user manual or with the manufacturer (if either is available) to see what loads your amp is rated for, and (2) keep the volume down, at least initially, until you are sure it is okay. You can't always hear anything wrong, until it is too late, but if your amp has good protection circuitry, you might learn something before disaster hits.

I just thought... this is in the Speakers forum... you might get more/different answers in the Infinity Loudspeakers forum(? - :dunno:).
 
It doesn't look like I will them anyway. The guy is firm at $400.00 and even though both woofers have been recently refoamed, a speaker of this age would need to have caps and resistors replaced. I offered $300 cash which I thought was fair. I will just be patient. There are lots of speakers out there.
 
It doesn't look like I will them anyway. The guy is firm at $400.00 and even though both woofers have been recently refoamed, a speaker of this age would need to have caps and resistors replaced. I offered $300 cash which I thought was fair. I will just be patient. There are lots of speakers out there.

few as remarkable as these, though. my 6 kappas are from the same era, and haven't required recapping as of yet. $300 is a more than fair price, and will probably do the trick, as hes asking top dollar. if he has flipper fever and won't budge, let him stare at them and find some similarly equipped Infinity speakers, preferably with 10" or larger woofers. they are truly amazing speakers. good luck
 
few as remarkable as these, though. my 6 kappas are from the same era, and haven't required recapping as of yet. $300 is a more than fair price, and will probably do the trick, as hes asking top dollar. if he has flipper fever and won't budge, let him stare at them and find some similarly equipped Infinity speakers, preferably with 10" or larger woofers. they are truly amazing speakers. good luck

I got mine for 299 so I believe that you are spot on with your offer. Hope he meets it for you!

Also, I have had my Sansui G9000 volume beyond 12:00/1:00 positions for not inconsequential periods, and the big guy is still working. The fins get hot, but not unusually so. The others are right... the higher you go in the K-series, the more of a problem it becomes and the steep problem cliff is at the 8's.

Anyway, good hunting.
 
I got mine for 299 so I believe that you are spot on with your offer. Hope he meets it for you!

Also, I have had my Sansui G9000 volume beyond 12:00/1:00 positions for not inconsequential periods, and the big guy is still working. The fins get hot, but not unusually so. The others are right... the higher you go in the K-series, the more of a problem it becomes and the steep problem cliff is at the 8's.

Anyway, good hunting.

I found a mint pair of the 8 Kappas for $500 close to home. Very tempted.

How much would I have to spend for a new set of speakers to get comparable performance to the Kappa 7's?
 
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