Infinity Kappa 8's, who has them?

audioguy

audioguy

Tubes warm my soul!!!
I don't really know much about these speakers, but i wanted to see who has them and what you think about them. They were mentioned by some people under my post 'audiophile speakers for rock', but i just wanted to see if i had a chance to get them or listen to them, is it worth a shot? Are they good speakers and how would they compare to new b&w speakers, the dm line? What do you think about them or are new b&w a better option? Thanks.
 
I have 'em and they are great speakers (when all drivers are working) the problem is only the kappa (RS) 8 and 9 ever used their mid-bass 'polygraph' driver, and it is a delicate driver. The emits are good, but are also prone to blowing - easier to find though. I've never heard the 9s, and I imagine they'd sound even better. My ar-9s beat the kappa for bass, I imagine the bass in the kappa 9 to be similar, but the kappa wins out on mid through highs. As you would expect, they need a lot of power. Nice thin cabs, not too heavy and Infinity supposedly angled the cabs to let the bass wave catch up with the higher notes (probably hype, but I figured I throw that in).

I would not pass them up if they're in your price range, just make sure everything is working.
 
i have a pair ofkappa rs 9's i have blown the mid bass driver more than once in the time have owned them but i love'm they just don't get a lot of playing time in my house but they sound their best with about 125/wpc running thru them not the original 250/wpc when i fried them
 
i have the kappa 9 hard to beat in performance with the right amp (mcintosh)
get them and try different amps you will be amazed :banana:
 
So, i'm taking it you can't turn them up loud even with say the sx-980 or something like that or it will blow the driver. I don't know what type of shape they are in. I just wanted to hear about them first to see. I'm not too big into having to repair stuff. My dad doesn't listen to music real loud. If they don't blow because of loudness do the drivers last a long time or do the materials rot. Is this when infinity was good?
 
you can blow the drivers easy with an amp that clipps and them will ad dc in signal best thing will be a mcintosh amp with autoformers so there is no dc and clipping when you want to go to eleven
the pioneer is not enough for the infinity
 
He is also selling denon power amps and a yamaha preamp, i don't know what yr., but it was the first time i found something like this under our papers classifieds, so i'm asking about them. No hurry.
 
I would love to have a pair of Kappa 9's someone just bought a pair for $710 with two ploydome x driver and two of the emit Tweeters from e-bay what a great deal. I'll just have to upgrade my Polks 1.2's
 
The Kappas (I've had 6,7 and 8 - still have the 8s and waiting to find a pair of 9s to upgrade to) are nice speakers. If they are for your Dad, he should love them paired with any suitable amp. By "suitable", make sure it can handle lower-impedance dips and deliver enough power without clipping and without dumping DC, as Junkaudio pointed out. Powered right, they are very good speakers all-round (handle a variety of music types well). Just make sure before you buy that the Polydomes/Polygraphs are working. They can be a challenge (and expensive) to repair/replace.

If those work, get them and get a good amp to drive them (I use an Adcom, which probably isn't as good sonically as the McIntoshes, but is safe for these, and much cheaper). The Kappas still sound a lot better than most speakers being sold today.
 
I now have the Kappa 8s that I have been wanting for so long, but they are a fixer upper pair. I need to replace the Polygraph mids, and the polydomes.

Does anyone know what replacement speakers would work well in these beautiful speakers?

Any help would be appreciated. I have looked on Ebay, but I'm afraid I would just be having the same worn out 20 year old problem speakers, if I bought originals that were canabolized from other speakers.
 
I bought a pair a few weeks back on Craigslist for 40.00. Cabinets were mint. They were missing the woofers and the polydomes. I was able to score all 4 drivers on the bay the following week. I got them back together last weekend and Ive been in Infinity bliss all week.I was able to sell my set of RSIIIa,s on Craigslist for my asking price also so that made everything that much sweeter. I owned a pair of KJappa 8s a few years ago that I bought local from the bay. But I didnt have a big enough amp at the time and I was running my SX-1250 pretty hard so I sold them. It wasnt 24 hours and i new I had made a mistake!:no:
After selling my 1st kappas I bought a Spec 1 and a Spec 2. But abought a month ago my Spec 2 left meter started fluttering. Sound was good but meter flutters. So Im waiting for Echo to get some free time so I might get it in. But the old 1250 is doing a fine job on the low volume stuff at the moment.
Get you a set:thmbsp: you wont be disapointed
 
poohsan said:
I've had mine since 92. I like them, but I don't play them as loud now as I used to.

Either I'm going nuts or the treble, likely around the 4k - 6k range, it starting to sound trashy, not sure how to really explain it. If I put my ear up to each driver they sound proper. But from 10 feet away they just don't sound right. I've swapped amps and pre-amps and sources and cables so I'm pretty sure it's the speakers, or my ears.

Do a search of AK - someone used VIFA (I think) mids in place of the polydomes and liked them.
Click to expand...

Is it a scratchy sound?

As I have gotten older, some of the highs have gone that way, yet the hearing tests show okay.

For me, it even ocurrs at a concert.
 
My polydomes are wrinkled, so I will be ordering the Orange county replacements. The polygraph that was vibrating turned out to be a cracked plastic housing that I epoxied last night at 2:eek:o AM lol. It works fine, but I will watch for one that is REASONABLY priced to have a spare in case other issues develop. As for the four Emit Ks, the two in front are working and one rear is inop. Two problems on the left rear: Something wrong in the crossover, and also a bad speaker was relocated to that dead position. Actually the problem was with the front Emit k, but I pulled the rear wiring through to the front, to make use of that location rather than the back. I really would like to get thet working though, because I can hear the reflecting porperties of the good one, and I do like it. The bad Emitt looks corroded at the center of the ribbon, and reads open on the meter, so it's going to have to be replaced.
 
Also,

You can swap the diaphrams on those vifa domes with the infinity's thus keeping the infinity surround/chasis.
 
I knew that was too good to be true. :sigh:
I can get them from Partsexpress for $76. :banana:
 
CAK1 said:
You can swap the diaphrams on those vifa domes with the infinity's thus keeping the infinity surround/chasis.
Click to expand...
REALLY?????? That is good to know. I would have hated to use these just because of the look, but if you can move the diaphram to the Polydome driver's frame this could be a much better solution than I originally thought.

Rob
 
rroobbcc said:
REALLY?????? That is good to know. I would have hated to use these just because of the look, but if you can move the diaphram to the Polydome driver's frame this could be a much better solution than I originally thought.

Rob
Click to expand...

Just to be sure check this out.....I am told the vifa domes are a different impedence and are not an exact match to the infinity dome...although as far as size and dimentions they are. Also the edge wound voice coil wires are attached to the dome on the original infinity ...I do not see as to how these coil wires can be seperated from the dome. Unless of course the new dome is cut and glued to the edges of an infinity dome. Many people tend to rush and replace these domes because they turn a milky white but that does not effect the sound quality as long as they are still soft and pliable. It is when they become brittle and crack that they need to be replaced.
 
This is how..

The diaphram is attached to a frame that can be swapped out, see the attached picture. It's swapped out with voice coils and all.

inf-dia-2'poly-b-500.jpg


inf-dia-2'poly-500.jpg


d75mx31-mid-b-500.jpg


The picture above is the vifa replacement. Look at the back of a polydome, it's the same.
 
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