Where do Infinity Qb's fall in the line?

rotini

Active Member
So I'm picking up a pair of Qb's at a price I just can't refuse. If I hadn't already owned a pair of Qe's, I would never go out of my way to grab these fairly unattractive and "budget" speakers, but I found the Qe's pretty special despite their cheap cabinets and unattractive looks.

How much of an improvement is the Qb over the Qe's? For that matter, how do the Qb's compare to other Infinity's, such as Kappas, other Quantums, and Reference Series? I don't exactly have a strict budget when it comes to speakers, thus I'm willing to spend more on higher end speakers (such as higher model Kappas and RS's), but at the same time, I've heard the Qb's were pretty outstanding in their own right. Am I setting my expectations too high for these?
 
Someone else can certainly weigh in as to where the Qb fall into the Infinity line overall.

However my limited experience is this.

Back in 1978 when searching for a new pair of speakers I auditioned a ton of 'em. I ended up bringing home a brand new pair of Infinity Qb. I used them for a good decade or so. Then they went out into the garage for use, then later into storage.

Just recently I resurrected them. "Resurrected" meaning wiped the dust off them , hooked' em up and played them.

These are EXCELLENT speakers. 34 years have passed and I find them to be no apologies speakers.... full rich sound and do -everything- I want them to. And they have DEFINITELY stood the test of time.

I agree, the cabinets are no great shakes, in fact, mine developed air leaks early in their lives. However I re-sealed them and haven't had any problems since. At some point I'd like to treat them to some good wood veneer so they'll look as good as they sound.

My experience for best sound. Feed them PLENTY of clean power, get them up off the floor a bit, and away from a back wall. And make ABSOLUTELY sure those cabinets are sealed !!
 
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Thanks. Truth is that while I owned the Qe's, I always lusted over the Qb's. Maybe I should be looking at something higher up in the chain, but I always found I was able to just enjoy the music with the Qe's. Sure they have great imaging, detailed highs (sometimes a bit bright), tight bass - but listening to music on them was always memorable - never about the sound, but the music. Hoping this pair will be in good shape.

BTW, nice review! Obviously I can't get you to compare them to the other speakers listed in your signature, but it's good to know you don't have to go up that high to enjoy a good speaker :)
 
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Maybe I should be looking at something higher up in the chain...


Eh, maybe... But it sounds like you've got a done deal on the Qb at a good price already so..... just give them a listen and see what you think.

You can always trade up !!
 
Well... I decided to pass. I would have gotten them for next to nothing, but the 40 minute drive coupled with my upcoming move have changed my decision. A little bummed...
 
interesting to see the number of Qb threads lately. several years ago, i did a complete overhaul of a pair i bought from Bully (ancient AK member, now long gone). they were the ones with the crappy vinyl wood grain veneer, and had been long neglected. i thought 'nothing lost, nothing gained', and i went to work on 'em.

i pulled the vinyl off, primered/sanded/sprayed/sanded/sprayed, etc for at least 1/2 dozen coats of colonial red, sealed the cabs and braced, redid the x-overs with all new components and then listened to them once or twice and put 'em up.

recently, i decided to switch them for the E-waved Altec Santana cabs with JBL L14e woofers, and was seriously shocked at what i heard. shocked, i tell ya.

they image very well, and do a deep, powerful bass that does not boom, it stays tight as can be. i say these are much overlooked speaker, easily a sleeper to contend strongly with the AR2ax, and AR3a, both of which i have owned.
 
They do indeed image well, and throw a very large soundstage. My Qe's were at one point in corners of a room, divided by a bed, with one underneath a night stand. Filled the room effortlessly with sound. Maybe I will call the guy back tomorrow if I change my mind.

Has anyone compared these to Kappa's or RS models?
 
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They do indeed image well, and throw a very large soundstage. My Qe's were at one point in corners of a room, divided by a bed, with one underneath a night stand. Filled the room effortlessly with sound. Maybe I will call the guy back tomorrow if I change my mind.

Has anyone compared these to Kappa's or RS models?
I own a pair of Qe's in addition to RS-IIb's and RS-IIIb's. While I agree with the comments in your other posts that the Qe's sound great (especially considering there size and modest price) and throw a pretty nice soundstage, as you might expect they give up a bit to the bigger Infinity's. The one weakness in the Qe's is the midbass/midrange. Since the woofer is crossed over pretty high to the EMIT, the woofer is tasked with producing all of the bass and most of the mids as well. The result is the mids can sound a bit congested or poorly defined on complex musical passages, particularly at loud volume.

The bigger Infinity models with separate midrange drivers have more presence in the mids, the midbass and mids are cleaner and more articulate, and the sound is overall better-balanced. And as you would expect, the bass is much deeper and more powerful due to the larger woofers and bigger cabinet volume.

One thing that would help the Qe's would be to match them with a servo-controlled powered subwoofer that has an adjustable high-pass filter. Using the high pass filter to cut off some of the lower bass going to the Qe's would decrease the load on the woofers a good bit and probably improve the midbass/midrange performance.
 
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The bigger Infinity models with separate midrange drivers have more presence in the mids, the midbass and mids are cleaner and more articulate, and the sound is overall better-balanced.

Funny you mention those midrange drivers....

When I was originally shopping, I had my eye on the Infinity Qa. And I did audition those, but noticed they also had the Qb nearby. Just for grins I told the sales person I wanted to hear those too. I did a couple A-B comparisons and it didn't take long to verify that indeed the Qb was the better of the two. I was on a budget, but did manage to dig a little deeper in order to carry the Qb home with me.
 
I've always wanted 2 other speakers than what I have. The RS4's which have dual 8" woofers and the Qb's. I have the Qe's and the RSIIIb's already and enjoy them immensely. I made the mistake of passing on some Qb's a few years back and have regretted it ever since. In my music system I use the Qe's and some Paradigm Studio Reference 60's which always get high marks as they should. However they do not have the soundstage and imaging of those little Qe's. There is a problem with the mid's near that crossover point but otherwise compare mighty well to the Paradigms.

I find I listen to the Qe's more than the Paradigm's because they have a magic to them that's very hard to define. They look like crap and need some serious cabinet upgrading but if I possibly could I'd be all over those Qb's without thinking twice. In 8 years of looking I've rarely seen any I could swing as often they were in such sad shape it would be a complete rebuild or they wanted way too much.

If you can get them you'll be glad you did once you get settled and can give them some serious time. Every chance I've had to listen to them just made me want them more. There's a reason people hang on to their Qe's and Qb's. Kind of like the original bug. It was so ugly it was cute and boy was it fun! Check out this thread from enaldo asking for opinions on rebuilding his Qe's and he shows some pics of some Qb's he had redone that look stunning. Then consider again about letting them go...
 
Here's mine in action in the basement. Not so coincidentally they're attached to a couple other components I bought back in the 70's. My Thorens TD-160c turntable and Pioneer SA-9900 integrated amp. The stands are shortened bases from a very large conference table.

Right next to them are a pair of Allison CD-8.

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Here's mine in action in the basement. Not so coincidentally they're attached to a couple other components I bought back in the 70's. My Thorens TD-160c turntable and Pioneer SA-9900 integrated amp. The stands are shortened bases from a very large conference table.

Right next to them are a pair of Allison CD-8.

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Great pic and love those stands!
Jim
 
Nice setup. Those Infinity's don't look as big as I thought they'd be, which is one of the main reasons I was shying away from them (don't get me wrong, I'm all about big speakers but I only have so much room). I told the seller I'll be picking them up later this week. Maybe I'll replace the grill cloth with something less.... ugly.
 
Nice setup. Those Infinity's don't look as big as I thought they'd be, which is one of the main reasons I was shying away from them (don't get me wrong, I'm all about big speakers but I only have so much room). I told the seller I'll be picking them up later this week. Maybe I'll replace the grill cloth with something less.... ugly.

Oh cool... you're gonna' get them! Do they have the original grill cloth?

Yeah, they're not the most attractive things out there. Honestly real wood veneer on the cabinets would help.

I have a pair of Infinity RSa empty cabinets that I'm gonna' convert to Qb. I have all the Qb components that I scrounged up from here and there. The RSa cabinets are identical in size to the Qb, and are covered in oak veneer with a nicer looking grill/grill cloth. Should be a simple and fun little side project.
 
Yes, it appears they have the original grill cloth although it may not be in the best condition.

I noticed you have a pair of Allison Two's. I might have a lead on a pair of Allison One's. I know it'd be apples and oranges, but do you think I should stomach the extra cost, size and weight for those? What if I got both? Uh oh...
 
Get those Allison Ones if you can, you won't regret it.

Get the Allison Ones AND the Infinity Qb if you can, but if you can only justify one pair, get the Allisons.
 
I Love my Qb's except for my grill covers won't stay on the cabinets. Mine have velcro and not the later pins. I can't figure out how the original velcro worked, looks like just two points. I had added some velcro at the corners but it keeps coming off :(

Currently running them naked
 
is it the real heavy duty looking, hard plastic looking kind of velcro? i have the same problem and i have to lay mine down flat on the floor, put the grill in place and then deliver a hard bop! to the frame directly over the attachment....
 
Thanks elnaldo, I've looked at that thread many times :) Unfortunately, the pictures no longer show up - broken links?

Mirrored Qb's sound brilliant.

Not to keep this thread going on forever, but would you guys say the Kappa's (for example, the 6) would be an improvement over the Qb's?
 
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