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After Infinity, then what?

MiamiBoy

MiamiBoy

Active Member
If you love the Infinity sound, what other vintage speakers are comparable or maybe even just a little better? I am always combing my local Craigslist for Infinity bargains but what else should I also be looking for if I love Infinities?
 
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After Infinity?

How is that possible? :D

Reminds me of the lyrics from Supernaut..."I've seen the future and I've left it behind."

Whoa...dude...:music:
 
The so called Infinity sound is the EMIT. Maybe other ribbon tweeters or electro static speakers. Have you heard Martin Logan panels? Classic Quad ESL?
 
Erik Tracy said:
After Infinity?

How is that possible? :D
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I knew I would elicit a few "Infinity #1" chants by posting on this forum. I didn't want to post on the Speaker Forum because here there is a common frame of reference of what we like.

But if anyone wants to chant "Infinity #1" that is fine but it would carry more weight if you also listed the other high-end speakers you have owned or seriously listened to that you thought didn't measure up.
 
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chef free said:
The so called Infinity sound is the EMIT. Maybe other ribbon tweeters or electro static speakers. Have you heard Martin Logan panels? Classic Quad ESL?
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I have not listened to those.

What about Polk SDA speakers? How do they compare to the higher end Infinities?
 
The (few) Polks I've heard weren't my cup of tea, they were very accurate and smooth but I felt that the dome type speakers are a little too laid back. I think I'm very used to Infinity sound and I have some hearing loss so I might not be the best judge.

Edited to add: Polks sound a lot like ADS, which I like, don't get me wrong, dome tweets can sound very realistic. Have you ever heard any speakers with AMT tweeters? They are turning up more and more now that the patent has expired. Martin Logan uses them now and ESS used them back in the 70's.
 
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My only experience with other speakers that was as satisfying as the Infinitys would be the upper end Magnepans. When they are in the right room and properly set up you can really get pulled into the music. The two models I'd spent a lot of time with are the 3.7s and the 20.7s. Very, very nice speakers.

Larry D.
 
JBL maybe...

I've owned a couple pairs of Polks...not a fan of SDA...need to use a common ground amp...plus the are pretty ugly...
 
chef free said:
The so called Infinity sound is the EMIT. Maybe other ribbon tweeters or electro static speakers. Have you heard Martin Logan panels? Classic Quad ESL?
Click to expand...

A friend was at my home this past weekend, and had his pick of the RS 2.5's or the ML CLS's. Fortunately, while I preferred the 2.5's, he chose the CLS's.

So yeah, that might be one way to go. Both are very fine speakers.

One other option for the OP might be to try better Infinity's. Which ones have you been playing with? Working your way up the Infinity ladder could be very rewarding. These RS 2.5's are among the best I've ever heard, and Infinity made many models that were better.

bs
 
Do you mean Infinity "Post Gamma ?
or Infinity Post Beta
or Infinity ( gulp ) p p p post ((( (((( IRS )))) ))) ???
Infinity goes on and on .. :banana::banana::banana:

Sorry , unresponsive reply ..
 

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Isn't the obvious answer Genesis? They continued on from where Arnie stopped and are still making uber expensive speakers today.
 
What speakers in ADDITION to Infinity?

I think the title of this thread should have been "What speakers in addition to Infinities?" because I am no where near finished with acquiring Infinities. What I was really asking was while I am out here looking for Infinities, what other vintage brands are comparable to the Infinity sound that I should also be looking for.

The highest level Infinities I own are Kappa 8's which are performing as new because I personally restored the crossovers to spec with new components. Next down is a pair of RS4's which I also restored. Both these speakers make my jaw drop at times. The RS4 for what it is capable of doing for its size. The Kappa 8's for what they actually do.

I have never listened to any Infinity beyond the Kappa 8 level.
 
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While I love my Infinity RS5000 and Rsb, they don't have a huge speaker sound like Polk SDA or big Klipsch, Ohm Walsh, or big ADS. Or yes, bigger Infinities. :)
 
It took a long time to find something that could compete with my QLS-1's and they still keep the bar pretty high after having tried several different flagship models including Altec 19, JBL 250, Acoutat Spectra 22, and Magnepan MG-IIIa.

It's largely going to boil down to what reproduction characteristics you prefer, the room and the type of upstream gear you use to feed the speakers. I've had the opportunity to try a wide variety of upstream electronics with all my speakers be it tube or solid state and all of it either restored and updated high end vintage or restored and updated hi-end from the late 80's-early 90's and all amplification has been chosen specifically to optimize the performance and sonic characteristics of the speaker design. My listening space is medium in size (16x20x8), just big enough to accommodate large designs, and is more or less dedicated to critical listening with extensive acoustic treatments and a distributed bass system.

All of the aforementioned models can stand toe to toe with the QLS-1's with each having attributes that make them special but if I had to pick a stand out the Altec 19's would probably get the nod. However, it is worth noting it took me quite a long time to find a combination of upstream electronics that could get the 19's to singing and prior to that I found them to be a not very satisfying listen. I've tried Polk SDA's but they were just the SDA-1c's and to be fair they weren't really a flagship offering. I would have to hear something like the SRS to have a valid opinion of what Polks are really capable of doing. Having said that, I also have Polk Monitor 10's and there is a particular characteristic to upper mid range reproduction from the Polk 6.5" mid-bass MW driver that I don't really care for and I suspect the SRS would have the same characteristic since it uses a **** ton of those drivers. I also have ADS 1290/II's and though they weren't the flagship of the ADS line they are excellent speakers and in a medium sized room can be extremely satisfying on the same level as the big dogs.

I have IRS Betas but they've been a long term restoration project that has stalled out while other audio projects fight for my attention. So, I suspect the IRS Betas have the best shot a moving the bar a bit higher but I also have Altec 604-8Gs that I'm currently building cabinets for and have all the parts to build the excellent and highly regarded Markwart crossover. I also have a pair of Kef LS50's on the way and I'm expecting those combined with my distributed bass system to result in another eye opening experience.

High end Infinity is a great place to spend some time or even settle in for the long haul, but certainly not the last word in loudspeaker performance. The trick is optimization of whatever design you're listening to and if the room is not a good match for the size of the speaker and doesn't have favorable acoustics ALL bets are off.

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=537607

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=571184

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=650996

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?p=8480109#post8480109

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=659391

And I just noticed you're in New Smyrna Beach, MiamiBoy. I lived in Port Orange from '90-95 while attending Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. Some great memories made down there!
 
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I'm no expert on what other vintage speakers sound like vintage Infinities, but I have heard some RS II's at a local AKer's along with several other high-end vintage speakers and I think his ADS L1590's had the most similar sound signature to the RS II's. Some others worth mentioning are AR9Lsi, KEF 105 or 107, IMF TLS-80 and ESS Rock Monitors. Another local vintage speaker collector has a fantastic high-end classic Infinity collection and his QLS-1's are among the best speakers I have heard. He recently acquired a set of Acoustat Model 6's electrostatics and I hope to hear those soon. I have a pair of Quantum 3's that I really like, but I think I like my ADS M12/90's slightly better.
 
MiamiBoy said:
If you love the Infinity sound, what other vintage speakers are comparable or maybe even just a little better? I am always combing my local Craigslist for Infinity bargains but what else should I also be looking for if I love Infinities?
Click to expand...

I have nine pair of Infinity's from the smallest, two pair of Infinitesimals, to the largest, a pair of RS 2.5's, as well as a number of pair of the almost always under appreciated mid-70's Walsh tweeter equipped models. Sticking with Infinity and not going completely stratospheric price-wise I would love to have a pair of RS 4.5's if I had space for them but as far as other than Infinity speakers that are not in the stratospheric price range, my Sony SS-M7's sound pretty darned good and might be something to shoot for as well as SS-M9's, but they might be in the "impossible dream" category. Polk SDA's don't float my boat and I've never felt the pull towards electrostatics although I do have a conventional Martin Logan Fresco i center channel on my HT setup that has a ribbon mid and tweeter that sounds great. I wouldn't mind getting my hands on a pair of the bi-ampable version of KEF 104.2's as I hear that they are a great speaker that can be affordable, although almost always with some restoration work required, and Dahlquist DQ-10's have been on my short list from time to time but I never got serious enough to try for a pair. Otherwise in the odds and ends category I have a pair of Walsh 2's, JBL 4310's, and Sony APM 22ES's, none of which can come up to the level of quality I've come to expect from any of my Infinity's.

So I'm just an Infinity guy at heart and as I have no room left for any more speakers I guess an Infinity guy I shall remain.
 
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I'm going to second the vote for Maggies. While I love my Infinities (see my sig), the Maggies are just a bit better. And full planar appears to be the way that Infinity was headed before they abandoned the high end, if the IRS Beta and Gamma are any indication.
 
I liked the Beverage, but crucial to get some already worked on. Soundlabs, but same reliability as Beverage concerns. Big Accoustat model 6 or 8, but my house doesn't really have the 9 or 10 foot ceilings for them, just the standard 8 foot. Duntech Sovereign or Dunlavy scvi??? Doubtful but would pretty much have to get them real cheap.

Some VMPS models would be worth consideration, but overall would probably go with Sanders.
 
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