Hello all: been an infinity fan for a long time. Have the need for 4 new 10" woofers for a pair of RS-II. Would anyone care to post a suggestion that worked for their vintage rebuild. Thanks
Infinity 10" woofer substitutes
- Thread starter Dan Wilson
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Looking for new drivers and they don't have to be the infinity's. I really do not want to refoam old drivers. Someone must have tried a bunch of different woofers and found something close to the old infinity's.
Tedrick
Infinity-phile
For the RS-II's to sound their best, like God and Arnie Nudell intended, you really need to use original woofers. Substituting aftermarket drivers is a crapshoot at best, and you will NEVER know what these speakers are capable of without the original woofers. If you are true Infinity fan, you'll lovingly restore them to original and then enjoy them for many years to come.
FYI, if you ever think you'll sell these in the future, subbing aftermarket woofers will cut your potential resale value in about half.
FYI, if you ever think you'll sell these in the future, subbing aftermarket woofers will cut your potential resale value in about half.
Thanks for that, but I originally sold these speakers back in 1980 when I owned a stereo shop. The original woofers were at best just good by today's standards. Stamped aluminum baskets, questionable polypropylene cone injection and spider centring to name a few. So, yes I will try to get originals, but in the near term need some replacements to get me through.
hnash53
Super Member
Parts Express has a forum for speaker building and other speaker projects similar to what you are asking about. The forum is free to browse/search. Try and see it another person has done what you are asking about. Plus, some of the tech support people at Parts Express might be able to suggest some woofers that would be good replacement woofers for your Infinitys.
That said, I recently refoamed the 10" woofers in my Infinity RS 5b's, and wow... they sound fantastic. If you doubt your ability to do the refoam, a number of speaker repair places can do it for you for well under $100 for a pair. Might be worth it.
That said, I recently refoamed the 10" woofers in my Infinity RS 5b's, and wow... they sound fantastic. If you doubt your ability to do the refoam, a number of speaker repair places can do it for you for well under $100 for a pair. Might be worth it.
Hnash53:
Thanks for the contact. Will definitely go there. As far as the refoaming goes, I just feel that it should be done in a more exact way, especially centering the cone. Gives me shivers just to think about how badly out of alignment things could be. But that is just me....give me a new driver please. So I will head over Parts Express and see what I can find. Thanks again
hnash53
Super Member
Yes... you are right about centering the cone. The reality is that it took me two times to get the refoaming right on one of the Infinitys. The first time, the voice coil was definitely rubbing severely degrading the sound. But upon refoaming it again, it appears (and hears) that I was successful. Who knows... as these speakers grow on me, I might pay to have them professionally re-foamed just to make sure they are done right.
slimpikkins
Super Member
The infinity woofers are very good even for today's standards. They are not fancy but do what they need to do. The RSII will out class many new speakers when working properly. For the money they bring they are an Infinity bargain. There were 4 up on eBay that needed surrounds for small money a few weeks ago.
Jim
Jim
stereofanboy
Addicted Member
Some speakers are greater than the sum of the parts and RS IIs definitely fall into that category. I remember comparing the guts of my RS IIs to the guts of my JBLs and wondering why the JBLs didn't sound better than the Infinitys.
Replacing drivers all willy nilly would be like slapping a four barrel carb into a vintage car without altering the manifold, camshaft, timing or exhaust. It'll probably still run, but not likely better even though seat of the pants perception may beg to differ.
Don't throw away or sell your original woofers until you are certain that you're satisfied with the new ones and not even then if you might ever try to sell your RS IIs. In fact, don't throw them away under any circumstances. If you really can't justify the storage space, give them to me. I'm happy to keep spares on hand just in case.
if you do not want to refoam the 4 woofers yourself, send them to simply speakers in FL. They refoamed them for me and did a wonderful job. That was 11 years ago, and the woofers are still pristine. As others have said the RSII is real sleeper in the list of quality speakers. To transplant non original speakers is a audio mistake and an economic loss.
Hey gang: thanks for all your suggestions. Perhaps I should have given some more background to this. I was in the business for 20 years. A complete nut...my shop. I sold these to a nice man who became a friend, took them back on trade for some klipsch corner horns. Took them home in the 80s and that was that until they went with my sons to the west coast. Many miles later I have what is left of them back. No original woofers to be seen, but the mids and emits are working. Pots are seized, but that's simple. Have tried my hand at speaker building, understand enough to get into trouble and love to tinker. So, nothing to refoam as they are garbage. Will watch for parts, but in the interm need something better than what I am using now. Currently running a pair of Technics on top with a pair of Seas on the bottoms. A bit boomy, but these were scrounged for free. So, I could refoam them if I had them, but alas, that is not going to happen.
That's why I am looking for something. Found a useable spec sheet from Speakerbits in Australia. By using these specs I can narrow the hunt down to drivers that are very close in Resonant FQ and Total Q. amongst others. So far the Daytons look close (RS270-8-10) at Parts-Express.
That's why I am looking for something. Found a useable spec sheet from Speakerbits in Australia. By using these specs I can narrow the hunt down to drivers that are very close in Resonant FQ and Total Q. amongst others. So far the Daytons look close (RS270-8-10) at Parts-Express.
432HzBob
Lunatic Member
FWIW..
I have RS6b's and never found a sonic equivalent either.
Closest it came was a pair of IMG Kappa woofers and even they lacked some of the upper bass range the original Poly drivers had.
I spent hundreds testing all sorts of similar drivers and while they all made sound, more or less similar to the originals, the originals made the speakers sound their best.
I finally went with the refoaming solution and did it at home. Figured out a way to drive the woofers with a low frequency signal from a frequency generator ipad app connected to an amp at low volume. This allowed me to literally hear if the woofer was slightly misaligned.
The approach seemed to work. They have been sounding fine since 2015, and it’s been a lot of fun to enjoy them again.
