Infinity Modulus any good in 2024?

[LordLunatic]

Hey there!
I've always liked the industrial looking design, but I'm wondering if they're good enough to be worth getting these days? Not sure what they sound like.
I'd be running them with a 400/800 watt Pascal amplifier.

I currently have Monitor Audio PL100 and JBL Ti10k, along with some dynaudio's and Kappa 6.2i s2, so thats what they'd be competing with.

Been wanting some Dyn C1 or the like, but thought these might be worth trying whilst I'm waiting for a pair to show up on the used market.

 

[jazzmans]

I'll never sell mine.

listening to them right now.

absolutely fantastic monitors.
I pair mine with the big M&K subwoofer for the bottom end.

we are talking about the Infinity Modulus with the Emit tweeter, right? because I can't say anything about the drek they sell now, and I thought they repurposed the name a few years back.

 

[LordLunatic]

I'll never sell mine.

listening to them right now.

absolutely fantastic monitors.
I pair mine with the big M&K subwoofer for the bottom end.

we are talking about the Infinity Modulus with the Emit tweeter, right? because I can't say anything about the drek they sell now, and I thought they repurposed the name a few years back.

Yea, someone local to me is selling a pair with stands for like 400€.

As for subs I usually use a pair of modest AudioPro B5 subs. Found them at goodwill, and intended to upgrade, but haven't honestly felt the need to - they do a clean 30hz and up in my apartment.

My main concern is how they might compare to newer speakers.

 

[jazzmans]

My 02pfennig is, nothing compares to planar/ribbon drivers, and to my ears, the vintage infinity speakers still sound better then most 'modern' speakers.

Modulus are beautiful, if you're lucky they aren't scratched up and you can enjoy that glorious piano black mirrored finish.

Mine will never leave my hands. I wish I'd bought the stands, because they mate so well.

 

[Bodhi1]

Someone is selling a rare complete vintage Infinity Modulus system on Audiomart incl: the stand mounts, original stands, subwoofer + ecu, and the original cables, spikes and grilles in claimed very good condition.

 

[Bodhi1]

My 02pfennig is, nothing compares to planar/ribbon drivers, and to my ears, the vintage infinity speakers still sound better then most 'modern' speakers.

If a mint pair of Infinity IRS Omega's came up for sale for the right price when i'm in the market, depending in the seller and their selling history, i'd be sorely tempted to snap them up. That is one of three classic Infinitys I would have loved to have owned, including RS2B's and IRS-V's (If I had the $$ and room). The IRS Omega were/are the duck's nuts. But i'm also content with my original choice of the Qualio IQ's which are like a modern version of the Infinity RS2.5's.

 

[jazzmans]

talk of $ is verboten outside of dollars and sense. suggest you edit your post before the thread gets punted. (I never go to dollars and sense)

it's a good thing I've got everything I need, I'd likely bite that setup, since it is with the original sub. That's pennies on the dollar for what one poster here thinks is a perfect speaker.

I had the delta/gammas for a year, and they were glorious! They did NOTHING wrong, absolutely nothing. I could have happily sold all the rest of my gear, including subwoofers, and lived with them for the rest of my life.

ah well.

 

[Bodhi1]

Thanks for the reminder Jazzmans. I edited my post, and will keep in mind not to mention prices of externally advertised pre-owned gear outside the D&S forum.

I can't comment on the IRS Gammas as i've never heard them. I recall the Emim and Emit-K drivers of that generation were spectacular sounding, but were a bit hot and less natural sounding than the later High Energy Emim and Emits, which were refined further for the IRS Sigma/Epsilon/Omega models. And whilst Arnie's philosophy was to use higher mass bass unit with servo control, servo technology was still immature back in the 80's - and as Gary Koh has noted, was not fast enough to keep up with the full dynamics of the musical signal. Gary still uses servo controlled bass units today, but the technology has significantly improved since the old IRS speakers. That said, servo controlled bass is really just a bandaid solution to use higher mass bass units in lieu of lighter cones with stronger magnetic flux, which is why most high end manufacturers today eschew servo control. Hence I thought the decision to use 12" Watkins DVC woofers with paper cones, along with the Emit-R for the rear-firing tweeters for the swan song IRS Omega's were smart choices, even though the Watkins woofers conferred the inevitable efficiency penalty. My next speakers will use 9.5" SB Acoustics Satori bass units with 1.1 tesla magnetic flux density, and just as importantly in terms of tonality, use paper cones to match the Egyptian papyrus midrange cones. I've always liked paper cones which sound more natural to my ears.

 

[LordLunatic]

I ended up pulling the trigger - I adore the brutalist/industrial look of them.
Initial impression is the imaging is spectacular, they may be a hair on the bright side in sound - but I also noted my subs only go up to 100hz, and if memory serves, the origins sub crossover was at 140hz.

 

[Sgt Shultz]

I ended up pulling the trigger - I adore the brutalist/industrial look of them.
Initial impression is the imaging is spectacular, they may be a hair on the bright side in sound - but I also noted my subs only go up to 100hz, and if memory serves, the origins sub crossover was at 140hz.
View attachment 3165084View attachment 3165085

The original sub has a adjustable high pass along with the low pass, it's quite flexible, I've had the complete set since 1991. They're "from my dieing hands" great.

Acquired my second pair about 6months ago, they're paired with twin Velodyne Impact Mini BV subs connected in stereo in the living rm good to the low 30's.

Media rm


Living rm


Amp used for both, I have three of these schveet beauties. It's simplistic wiring topology really let's the music through.





Items added for size reference

 

[LordLunatic]

Nice!
I’m running mine with a Pascal L-Pro2s which should provide more clean power than they’d ever need, and a MiniDSP SHD as pre amp/streamer.

Picked up the Pascal during a stint at a local speaker manufacturer, where out of all their test/reference amps it seemed to stand out as my favourite. Though I might want to get a Purifi to compliment it at some point.

I might try using the mini DSP to boost the Modulus lower registers a bit, so they can reach 100hz better.

Eventually I will probably get a subwoofer that reaches higher, but ideally I wouldn’t want to cross over a sub a lot higher than 100 anyway…

 

[Sgt Shultz]

Nice!
I’m running mine with a Pascal L-Pro2s which should provide more clean power than they’d ever need, and a MiniDSP SHD as pre amp/streamer.

Picked up the Pascal during a stint at a local speaker manufacturer, where out of all their test/reference amps it seemed to stand out as my favourite. Though I might want to get a Purifi to compliment it at some point.

I might try using the mini DSP to boost the Modulus lower registers a bit, so they can reach 100hz better.

Eventually I will probably get a subwoofer that reaches higher, but ideally I wouldn’t want to cross over a sub a lot higher than 100 anyway…

They like lots of clean power, but being as neutral as they are if the amp is on the lean side they will reveal this. The Mac MC-2002 drove them nicely, effortless 3D presentation, but sounded a bit sterile and why I keep collecting the Belles amps. Having owned them for more than three decades I've tried a lot of amps lol.

You might also want to try the tweeter adjustments on the rear of the speakers, although I admit I've never felt the need.

I've often forgot to turn on the subwoofer and didn't notice until turning the equipment off at the end of the listening session.

It takes some time to adjust you're minds ear to hearing a neutral response vs the often boosted upper bass from stand mount monitors.

 

[jazzmans]

They like lots of clean power, but being as neutral as they are if the amp is on the lean side they will reveal this. The Mac MC-2002 drove them nicely, effortless 3D presentation, but sounded a bit sterile and why I keep collecting the Belles amps. Having owned them for more than three decades I've tried a lot of amps lol.

You might also want to try the tweeter adjustments on the rear of the speakers, although I admit I've never felt the need.

I've often forgot to turn on the subwoofer and didn't notice until turning the equipment off at the end of the listening session.

It takes some time to adjust you're minds ear to hearing a neutral response vs the often boosted upper bass from stand mount monitors.

that unmarked thingie on the back is a tweeter attenuater?

huh, guess I should have read the manual, I've never touched it. they're both at 1 pm. I've had 'em since 2019.... That's funny

 

[Sgt Shultz]

that unmarked thingie on the back is a tweeter attenuater?

huh, guess I should have read the manual, I've never touched it. they're both at 1 pm. I've had 'em since 2019.... That's funny

It's only +/- 2db max if memory serves, mine have always been at 12:00 the neutral position

 

[Sgt Shultz]

Someone is selling a rare complete vintage Infinity Modulus system on Audiomart incl: the stand mounts, original stands, subwoofer + ecu, and the original cables, spikes and grilles in claimed very good condition.

He states retail price as $3000, it was actually $3300 with the stands. $2000 for the subwoofer, $1000 for the monitors, and $300 for the stands.

He's already lowered the price, bet he would accept a good bit less, the original sub makes it sooooo tempting.

 

[seifreit]

He's already lowered the price, bet he would accept a good bit less, the original sub makes it sooooo tempting.

It certainly is tempting. If it weren't a long days drive in each direction I would be hopping in the truck right now. Have a pair of the Modulus minus servo sub now but would love to have a complete set.

 

[LordLunatic]

It’s weird how some speakers are fine placing wide, but others the centre image just falls apart.
Due to my room being a bit odd, I get by far the best response when placing speakers very wide, but the Modulus don’t quite seem to handle that.
I’ll have to experiment some more with placement.

 

[Sgt Shultz]

It’s weird how some speakers are fine placing wide, but others the centre image just falls apart.
Due to my room being a bit odd, I get by far the best response when placing speakers very wide, but the Modulus don’t quite seem to handle that.
I’ll have to experiment some more with placement.

They're designed to face straight forward, no toe in if that helps any.

 

[LordLunatic]

That might indeed have solved most of it - I did notice during setup that they seemed to almost measure nicer like that; but directivity on these toes of drivers is usually a pretty mixed bag, so thought toe in was playing it safe.. thanks for pointing that out

 

[LordLunatic]

Now that I've had them for a little while, and done some more work using my measurement mic, to get the placement just right, I can definitely see how some could get these, with a pair of subs, sell everything else, and be set.
I have other speakers, including standmounts, costing as much as 6000$ original msrp, and these seem right up there with them.

Granted, they need subwoofers, and they're by no means perfect - but for their price, especialy for what they go for these days, with the right setup, they're suprisingly close; these are astonishing value and build quality.