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Infinity Observations - QLS-1 vs. Kappa 8 vs. RS 2.5

InAp said:
If AN thought that dome was that good, he would a plastered 2 rows of them in the QRS, instead he went with the strathern for a better diapole sound. Don't make the QLS into something thier not. Thier vintage collector items only. Thier nowhere close to any reference sound, but they do make a lot of good quality noise. :) at high SPL
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Infinity's own published specs give the QLS-1's a better frequency response than the RS 4.5's. They don't list distortion figures, but I enjoy the domes midrange sound just as much as I do the EMIM's.

And most the published reveiws of the period favored the QLS-1s over the QRS as they found quite a few problems with the QRS's, but I would love to hear a pair of the QRS, they are one of my most wanted on the wish list.
 
Thank you for the discussions here.

Can you comment if two pairs of RS2.5's can be as good as the RS4.5?

I have two pairs of the RS2.5's that I am thinking to move out from the collection, hence my question above.

Thanks much.
 
Waudio - I can easily say that 2 prs of 2.5s will not make a pr of 4.5s. Not near as dynamic nor as deep in bass. Soundstage however might be better but maybe only because of the greater spacing of double speakers. But, running at least 4 - 2.5s in a surround system is awesome!
 
QLS 3, damn the midranges, went through 3 before I sent the speakers packing..kappa 7.1 were just OK, finally found a pr of RS 2.5. Well these are the best Infinity I have owned to date. Simply amazing, does not hurt having a Luxman CL35iii tubed pre in front of a Vanalstine model 2..no harshness on emit or emimm....at all..liquid!
 

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I agree Bigmike, in my living room the 2.5 right now is the best I've heard as of yet. Better than my 90's and 8.1's no contest. My brother in law sitting in the sweet spot even said, close your eyes it feels like they're right here on stage.

I have some RS2B's on the lift getting serviced right now so we'll see. I used my Crown 1502 and Krell KSA 80 and both yielded very good music.

Congrats on your new speakers :beerchug:.

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The QLS-1s can sound sublime in a larger room, but alas, there would be much weeping and gnashing of teeth if I were to haul them into my larger living room.:whip:
That said I'm very partial to the RSII and RS 2.5, really good speakers.
I can imagine them being bettered but can't imagine how:idea:
 
For me the QLS-1 was the biggest disappointment :(. Even after going thru them I could not hear the top end in my living room. I know my place is small but still the sparkle and detail was never there for me that I'm used to getting from Infinity.
 
7.62 said:
For me the QLS-1 was the biggest disappointment :(. Even after going thru them I could not hear the top end in my living room. I know my place is small but still the sparkle and detail was never there for me that I'm used to getting from Infinity.
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Ditto.
I bypassed the tweeter potentiometer and added a film/foil "bypass cap" to the tweeter section.
Blossomed, even in my smaller space.
Also the QLS-1 needs to be in a big room and played to its full potential to sound best.
Low level listening will cause a yawn.
 
Having lived with a rebuilt pair of QLS-1 for several years now, I feel confident in my assessment of these speakers as fussy primadonnas that need high quality amplification, big big power, and careful placement in a large, sound-treated room. Weaknesses in original source material will be revealed, so chose wisely! If you baby them and give them what they need, they sound very good!

However: Their impedance dips below one ohm, so hearty amps are a must. And, at 82 dB, they really need some big watts to wake them up! Low impedance plus low sensitivity equals AMP KILLER speakers. Further, they have a tendency towards being "phasey", the image moves when you move your head. I found that zero toe-in produces the least amount of annoying phase shifts. Even then, running pure tones and moving around the room was really eye-opening! And, of course, every room benefits from treatments, but it really helped the center image to have the first reflection points damped with 2 or more inches of Corning 703.

Its been a lot of work but it's also totally worth it when I fire up 400 watts of Mac power and feed some quality music through a Saber 32 DAC. That's when those QLS-1 stand up and sing for me!
 
I would put the IRS BETAs in the front channel and the QLS1s in the rear channel
Right....
 
The amplifier isn't anything exotic, runs relatively cool warming up a little when played at realistic listening levels, never breaks a sweat .
My little Best Buy Insignia cheapie camera doesn't do the best job recording audio.
Where's the freaking microphone on this thing;)
 
My computer speakers are maggie 1.6 in this room, and the RS 2B in the main room, and ren 90's in my bedroom (all different computers)
 
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