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RS-IIb's in the house!!

Tedrick

Tedrick

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
It finally happened. Thanks to fellow AKer kurtgo, I am now the proud owner of a very handsome pair of RS-IIb's.

For my initial testing, I've been running them full-range off a single Forte Model 3 200-wpc class A/AB amp, but I'm planning to bi-amp them in the very near future. For bi-amp set-ups, the manual recommends an amp with 75-400 wpc into 4 ohms for the woofers and 75-300 wpc for the mids/tweeters. The Forte 3 (or a Forte 6 that I also have) will easily handle the woofers, but I'm looking for opinions on whether a Forte Model 4 (50/100 wpc @ 8/4 ohms, all Class A) would do well for the EMIMs and EMITs. Or would I be better off looking for another Model 3 or 6 to do a vertical bi-amp set-up?

Any feedback is appreciated.
 

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Congrats!!!

Welcome to the IIb or not IIb club!!! :D

Currently, I'm running a Yamaha M-80 up top (250 WPC into 8 ohms) and a Bose 1801 (also 250 WPC into 8 ohms) down below, and feel like they would easily take more. Time to run another power line to your house....:thmbsp:

I've been toying with replacing the M-80, which is on loan , with a Nakamichi PA-5A Stasis amp up top, but it's only 150 WPC...:scratch2:
 
Great Infinity score Tedrick, the Forte,s are nice amps but I can,t say just how
the 4,s would work out.
I don't think there would be a problem giving them a try with a mind to be aware of the volume when doing a test run. The amps are clean and double down with little effort.
 
Just remember..

that as all the posts on this seem to describe, it's the heat generated by the amp pushing tons of current into ~ 1 ohm loads for extended time that fries the amp....

So monitor the temp of your amps as you push down on the gas....:thmbsp:
 
Cool, thanks for the input. After going over them a little more carefully today, I'm going to tear them down and do a good cleaning on all contacts and pots before going too crazy with bi-amping or the volume knob. In particular, the x-over probably needs a good going over to see if maybe some caps or other components need replacing to bring them back up to full spec. Anybody ever work on the IIb x-overs before? Any pains/pitfalls I should be aware of? Any suggestions on brands of caps to consider would also be welcome.
 
Very nice! I would love to have a pair of IIB's. But, the II's and IIIA's I'm very happy with. I just bought a slew of BlackGate caps that will be used in specific places in the midrange and tweeter circuits. Now I have to save up for the Mundorf silver/oil and Dynamicaps capacitors that I need, along with Cardas binding posts and yet-to-be-decided internal wire. It'll be a while before I actually get to it all. Tedrick, are you going to enjoy them for a while in "stock" form before jumping into the crossover upgrades?
 
geoff727 said:
Very nice! I would love to have a pair of IIB's. But, the II's and IIIA's I'm very happy with. I just bought a slew of BlackGate caps that will be used in specific places in the midrange and tweeter circuits. Now I have to save up for the Mundorf silver/oil and Dynamicaps capacitors that I need, along with Cardas binding posts and yet-to-be-decided internal wire. It'll be a while before I actually get to it all. Tedrick, are you going to enjoy them for a while in "stock" form before jumping into the crossover upgrades?
Click to expand...
Not sure yet. The output from the upper and lower EMIM's on both speakers is a bit low, which leads me to question either the crossover or the connections on the diaphragms themselves. I'll pull the EMIMs and check resistance on them first, and if they all check out (diaphragms all look perfect visually), then I'll start looking at the xover. If I don't have to mess with the x-over now, then I surely won't and I'll leave that for a day (or week) when I've got a bunch of free time on my hands. Nothing terribly surprising really, after all these are 20-year old speakers so they're bound to need a little TLC here and there to keep 'em shining.
 
Ted: After you do all that work to them I might want to buy them back! I know how to blackmail you into it, too - either sell them back or buy a bigger house!?! (hehe)
 
Question regarding cleaning pots/changing electronic components of speakers: I have two pair on Kappa 8.1 speakers in near mint condition on the outside. When would I need to change any of the inside electronic devices? Is there a rule of thumb? Is it when they don't sound good? Is it a good idea to change caps, ect. regardless, in other words to upgrade the original factory parts? Sorry for all questions-I am just curious.
Thanks
Tom
 
tedrick, congrats on the 2b's!!! i had a pair for 17 years,one of audios most underated best buys. will blow away many speakers today. a few things here. first of all the saying goes--if it aint broke,dont fix it!!. the EMIM'S are on two crossover points. the middle one is the full midrange and is louder then the other two. the top and bottom one is lower midrange and are in series. is one goes out, so does the other. if all six are working,leave them alone. do not take them apart unless you know what you are doing because you might not get them back together. if the crossover is working now then leave it alone. if you can turn the bass gain all the way down and up and hear a big gain in bass,its good for now. as far a amp power goes, most any good decient amp with 100wpc will run the mid/tweeter end. and any good 200wpc will drive the bass end. if you ever need the eq or emim's or emit'e fixed i know the best guy in the bussiness to do it. just let me know.
 
Damn! Big as the IIIBs are the IIBs dwarf them. Congratulations. I know you have been wanting these for a while, and was disappointed at least once.

Having posted on this before, I would like to know something. I started out with the 5Bs. I moved up to the 4Bs and there was a great improvement. On moving to the IIIBs the difference was not as great. This quenched my desire for bigger and better for a while. Since I value your opinion, I would like to ask do the EMIMs make th "BIG" difference again? I know you haven't maximized your new speakers yet and that makes your comparison more valid. I am running a system similar to your old setup. Adcom 555. So what gives?

Bill
 
hello there. i have heard both 3b's and 2b's. yes, there is a difference between the two. not huge, but the 2b's are a step up in sound. the emim and emit's offer alot. a big smooth midrange sound and a sweet top end. the bass is also a little deeper then the 3b's. cabnet size has alot to do with this. you pay more for the 2b's and you get alittle more in sound. if you can get a pair, get them. also bi-amping is the way to go with these. you can get away with a single amp, but it dosent do them any justice
 
ugornot said:
Damn! Big as the IIIBs are the IIBs dwarf them. Congratulations. I know you have been wanting these for a while, and was disappointed at least once.

Having posted on this before, I would like to know something. I started out with the 5Bs. I moved up to the 4Bs and there was a great improvement. On moving to the IIIBs the difference was not as great. This quenched my desire for bigger and better for a while. Since I value your opinion, I would like to ask do the EMIMs make th "BIG" difference again? I know you haven't maximized your new speakers yet and that makes your comparison more valid. I am running a system similar to your old setup. Adcom 555. So what gives?

Bill
Click to expand...

I had the IIb's for years, GREAT speakers. My brother had the 3b's and at one time we got his over to my place for a side by side compare. Well I can tell you the difference was not small at all and with the IIb's in anlther league on just about every point I can remember, bass, midrange, imaging, openess, room filling sound..etc, etc. Also, when I had the opportunity to get some RS1B's, by brother eagerly snatched up the IIb's from me. He is still loving them.

Whe i had them, they were biamped with CJ MV75A-1 on the mid/tweets and Adcom 555II on the bottom. It was tasty!

Enjoy
 
ugornot said:
Damn! Big as the IIIBs are the IIBs dwarf them. Congratulations. I know you have been wanting these for a while, and was disappointed at least once.

Having posted on this before, I would like to know something. I started out with the 5Bs. I moved up to the 4Bs and there was a great improvement. On moving to the IIIBs the difference was not as great. This quenched my desire for bigger and better for a while. Since I value your opinion, I would like to ask do the EMIMs make th "BIG" difference again? I know you haven't maximized your new speakers yet and that makes your comparison more valid. I am running a system similar to your old setup. Adcom 555. So what gives?

Bill
Click to expand...
I started off with the RS series speakers back in 1987 with a pair of RS-4b's. I liked the imaging and the overall sound of the 4b's, but always felt like they were just a little light in the bass (that may have been partially the fault of the amp I was using then, too...a 100 wpc Pioneer rack-system integrated amp). When a chance came along to grab the IIIb's, I jumped. As expected, the bass was much more extended, while retaining all of the positive characteristics of the 4b's.

Well, after only having the IIb's for a two days, to my ear the IIb's have noticeably deeper bass extension versus the IIIb's, on par with my recollection of the difference between the IIIb's and the 4b's (with the understanding, of course, that I haven't listened to any RS-4b's since about 1988). I'd been using a subwoofer with the IIIb's to get that last bottom octave, but since the IIb's arrived, the sub has been off and it will soon be relegated to the bedroom system (where the IIIb's will be going, if the wife doesn't revolt). As Zenithradio notes, the midrange is sweeter on the IIb's, and I feel like the larger radiating surfaces of the EMIMs (versus the small Polydome) and the rear-firing EMIT give more air and depth to the soundstage. I also notice slightly more extension and sparkle in the extreme treble, probably from the extreme high-frequency EMIT. So, for my nickle, I think the IIb's are a worthwhile upgrade over the IIIb's, and I know I am looking forward to tweaking these for some time to come.
 
i agree with playthebody also. i also have 1b's now and again the sound is a step up from the 2b's. they both have the same sound but the 1b's just have more of it. just a bigger presentation overall. pay alittle more,get alittle more. its that simple!!!
 
Great news, Tedrick! I know you've been looking for a long time, it's nice you finally got a set and are happy with them. They're really great speakers.

David
 
zenithradio said:
tedrick, congrats on the 2b's!!! i had a pair for 17 years,one of audios most underated best buys. will blow away many speakers today. a few things here. first of all the saying goes--if it aint broke,dont fix it!!. the EMIM'S are on two crossover points. the middle one is the full midrange and is louder then the other two. the top and bottom one is lower midrange and are in series. is one goes out, so does the other. if all six are working,leave them alone. do not take them apart unless you know what you are doing because you might not get them back together. if the crossover is working now then leave it alone. if you can turn the bass gain all the way down and up and hear a big gain in bass,its good for now. as far a amp power goes, most any good decient amp with 100wpc will run the mid/tweeter end. and any good 200wpc will drive the bass end. if you ever need the eq or emim's or emit'e fixed i know the best guy in the bussiness to do it. just let me know.
Click to expand...


As the man says, the upper and lower EMIMS handle low mid, and the center handles hi mid. That's why the upper and lower EMIMS sound less loud to you. I owned and enjoyed RSIIb's from 1986 through 1993 daily, then sold them to move up the Infinity food chain, and now have IRS-Betas on a second system.

Only you can decide what amps please you most to use, however I would strongly recommend tube amplification for the mids and tweeters. I have found that this works best for me over the years.

To access the crossover you will need to remove the woofers and the acoustical blanket stuffing. All the caps and chokes are glued to the back of the cabinet, not exactly user-friendly to upgrade. I would go in and at least shoot the xover pots with deoxit followed by faderlube before I toyed with the xover further.

I have the crossover schmatics and wiring diagrams for the RSIIb I can send you as an attachment if you need them. PM me with your email address if you would like them. And last but not least......congratulations and enjoy!

Best,

Paul :thmbsp:
 
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