1992 Infinity Reference speakers

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stevareno

New Member
I just scored a pair of these from a local guy for 290.00. I was amazed that they employ the exact same speaker configuration as my Crescendo CS 3008's but have a different sound quality. It must be the cabinet design as they are somewhat different. But don't get me wrong...incredible sound....not quite as bright even with the emit-r's in there.

Just had to share that!
 
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Reference Six? (should state on top of black plastic where binding posts).

I have a pair I bought originally in 1991 and last year I added three more pair to have a 7.1 system. Had to rebuild each and every one as they had bad case of foam rot. I had to buy a lot of parts on ebay to get enough drivers that weren't blown and to have future spares.

There is significant difference in the crossovers. The overall design is similar, but every inductor and capacitor is different. The Emit-R crosses at 3000Hz for the 3008 vs 4000Hz for the R6. The tweekter circuit breaker is rated 1.25A, 30V for the CS 3008 versus 1.0A/30V for the R6. This makes sense with the lower crossover frequency likely causing the EMIT-R to draw more current between 3000 and 4000 Hz.

Mid- Range to Mid-Bass crosses at 800 Hz for 3008 and at 1500Hz for R6.

Bass X-cover is listed at 200Hz for both even though the low pass parts are different (the woofers have different part numbers). If you decide to recap, the R6 may be easier to find (125uF vs 277uf, both NPE).

Frequency Response is 45Hz - 35KHz for CS3008 and 34Hz - 40KHz for R6. My testing at the low end with a frequency sweep shows the R6 just becomes audible at 34Hz, not near -3 or -6db. I haven't anything to measure the 40Khz claim of the Emit-Rs. I suspect it is PR numbers rather than real numbers.

The CS 3008 Cabinet should be .5 inch shorter, but 3 inches deeper, so should have more interior volume. The woofer should reach lower than the R6, if the woofers have comparable specs. The R6 was meant for mass market, so I expect the specs were stretched to make them look more attractive. the CS list price was $1599/pair vs $999/pair for the R6.

So, I would expect them to sound quite different from each other. Which one sounds better?
 
In my personal opinion, the 3008's have the sound hands down. The 6's sound less wide...somewhat muted in A-B'ing on my Onkyo M-504. The 3008 are very spacial to my ear with more defined and deeper sound. The bass on the 3008's is more pronounced and clearer. You are exactly right on the cabinet size, and like you said ...the added depth of the 3008's is producing incredible sound. All four speakers on at the same time is heaven. I run strictly a two channel set-up with the M504 and M508 driven by an Onkyo P-306RS preamp as it has dual outputs. The 508 runs four Cerwin Vega D-9's for a heartpounding combined 385 watts per channel. I have EQ-35'S in the line to quell the nasty tweets on the D-9's allowing the mids to shine thru and the 15 inch woofers to move furniture when I am in the mood.

Thank you for the technical info on my speakers, V'ger. Very much appreciated!! I have the original reciept for the 6's...he paid 795.00 new. The 3008's were bought for 1100.00 new so I was told. I gave 250.00 for the 3008's and 290.00 for the 6's...so I feel like I have some exquisite vintage Infinity sound for relatively little money. The 6's were recently refoamed. I refoamed the IMG 10's in the 3008's for 80.00. Both sets are breaking in now.....should last me a good long time!!
 
Thanks for the comparison stevareno and V'ger. I've seen pictures if the Reference Series speakers and wondered how they would sound compared to the Crescendos, since the drivers are the same and the configeration is similar. Interesting that the crossover points are different.

I sold the Crescendos from the time Circuit City first carried them until 1995. Our regular price for the 3008's was $1099 per speaker, so a pair would be around $2200. When they went on sale, CC usually dropped $100 to $150 dollars off the price of each speaker. After the Crescendos were discontinued, CC lowered the price considerably, to try and sell off their existing inventory. These speakers never sold very well anyway. I personally never sold either a 3008 or 3009. I did sell a few 3006's and 3007's, as these were the best sellers in the series. I did sell many more Bose 901's than Crescendos, even after side by side comparisons, where the Crescendos totally destroyed the Bose 901's. Most of the time the customers would really like the sound of the Crescendos better, but because they already owned Bose products, they would then procede to lay down similar money for the Bose 901's.

Also, this past weekend my search for a bookshelf speaker ended with my purchase of a mint condition Infinity Sterling 2005. The speakers look great. Not a scratch on them and the Polycells and IMG's were perfect.
 
stevareno said:
I have the original reciept for the 6's...he paid 795.00 new.
Click to expand...

That is about what I paid in 1991 for my Reference Six pair.

The thing I didn't like about the Reference Six crossover points is that the six inch mid-bass plays for only a few hundred Hz. Seems a bit of a waste. The 5 inch driver does the bulk of the work, running from 800 to 4000Hz. I've seen a lot of 5 inch drivers with ripped foam or blown spiders in Reference Sixes due to this. I think the CS 3008 crossover points are better and let each driver do its share of the work.
 
I think the price difference between the Reference Series and the Crescendos is interesting. I knew the price of the Reference speakers was lower, but I thought that it would be closer. The Crescendos use a 4 inch midrange driver, so that is another difference, if the Reference Series use the 5 inch driver. My newly purchased Sterling 2005's also use a 5 inch IMG midrange driver. Asside from the larger cabinets, I wonder what other differences can account for the difference in price. I wonder if the crossover itself is different and if the Reference Series speakers can be bi-amped like the Crescendos.

When the Crescendos were first being introduced at Circuit City, Infinity sent a product representative to our store, in order to give the sales staff a breifing on the new Crescendo and Sterling models. I remember him saying that the Crescendos were designed to be in the same class as the Kappas and used most of the same parts; the main differences being the cabinet and the use of the Polydome midrange by the Kappas. In fact, I remember him really liking the deep cabinet that the Crescendos used.
 
steveareno, fyi you probably also want to refoam the mid-bass coupler on the 3008's on both my 3008's and 3006's the foam on them was suspect at best so I refoamed all the drivers
 
I just found a pair of CS 3007 crossovers for sale.....what if I took the Ref crossovers out and replaced with the 3007 pair?? The crossover points seem to be comparable to my 3008's......!
 
Only way to know is try. I don't expect any problem with the EMIT-R or 5 inch. The six inch and woofer would be most likely affected. Are the CS cabinets ported?

The crossovers were designed for different cabinet volume and this will affect some of the speaker parameters. If things like voice coil inductance and resistance are different, then at best your crossover points may move and at worst they may overlap and create major peaks or valleys betweem the woofer and mid-bass and mid-range.

Your ears will be the best judge.
 
I have been wanting another pair of Reference Six crossovers so I can swap them out after recaping them. In watching auctions for three years, I've seen only one pair, won them, and they arrived with the spade connectors cut off.

There have been a lot of new old stock crossovers for Reference Fives and the CS series, but I had not considered a 3007 or 3008 crossover.
 
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