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Infinity Prelude speakers - anyone have these, parts availability?

onwardjames

onwardjames

Hoardimus Maximus
Subscriber
Hello,

Local guy wants to sell me some Infinity Prelude speakers, said they "have a bit of wear, but THAT DOESN'T AFFECT SOUND" hahahaha.

I gently explained how sealed speakers need to be in a sealed enclosure, and that a refoam is a must.

Anyone have these, anyone know if parts are available? I did some searches, looks like their pretty rare.

And in conclusion, if I get these, is there any scenario where they'll best my Vandersteen 2c's ?

All opinions/advice welcome. Thanks.

There are the speakers (not the MTS) Not the ones I'm looking at, just a stock photo

99infsp.1.jpg
 
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Thanks for the input, infinitoid. I got a quote for all foams from simply speakers, don't know if they're a direct fit, and they only included 1 of the surrounds for the subwoofer (has 2 doesn't it?) so I gotta call them back and get this arranged.

If I can get the foams, refoam all drivers, and none are toast, I'll be in and out for around 450 bucks (assuming seller doesn't budge).

I feel this is a good deal. Says both amps work, just foam rot. Damn Infinity for not using butyl. Grr.
 
I am NOT a fan of those speakers.

When compared to ,say, kappas, the preludes aren't even in the same ballpark, with regards to tonality, and the magic that is EMITs.

just my opinion, but that is, for me, when infinity jumped the shark.
 
Jazzman, I had read your feelings on the matter in another thread. I respect your opinion, and figure that yes, the kappas are surely better.

However, for a total of 450 and some labor, do you still not think it is worth it?? I do have Vandersteen 2c's, and have been trying to pare down.

All comments welcome and appreciated.
 
nope, not worth 200, IMO. if you wait, maybe you can find a pair of crescendo 3009's for 5 bills like I did. They'll knock them thar preludes socks off.

hell, I missed a pair of ren 80s for five bills, still kicking myself for that one, (although I have the ren 90's) and yes, they had/have butyl surrounds.

with the preludes, in addition to foam, you also have to deal with a 20 year old op amp driving the (sub) woofers in each tower. just not worth it, imo.

There's a pair local to me, and i've listened to them recently. I just don't like their sound.
 
I heard them a year or so after they came out and was impressed. I thought the treble was more polite than an EMIT but otherwise sounded amazingly good. Otherwise the sound was top to bottom some of the best I'd heard up to that point. Not in an HT setting but as the mains in my friends living room. I don't remember what he was using for an amp but it wasn't high powered because the sub has it's own amp. I know it was great spinning some records and downing some brews. Very easy to get lost in the music. For what you're looking at I'd give them a whirl in a heartbeat. I'll put it this way. If had to choose between the Preludes and my ADS 1290's, I'd be all over the Preludes. It is almost certain you'll need to rehab the sub amp. Not an Infinity strong suit at that time. They could get very flaky or last almost forever.

If I remember right you could swap the sub module to fire either inside or outside according to your room. Don't know for certain though.

P.S. I don't know about the parts problem but some of those models and speakers they used I THINK, don't know for sure, might be out of production.
 
Jazzman has very strong feelings about these. I appreciate your candor. Thank you.

Njoy-Music, I also appreciate your input. I have no idea how this is going to go. Might show the seller the quote for surrounds (109 bucks and this is without the extra sub surround, they only quoted the 1 for some odd reason) and explain the lack of support, NLA drivers, etc. Might get them cheap.

Or might just sit in front of my Vandersteens and quit trying to own every speaker ever made.
 
onwardjames said:
Or might just sit in front of my Vandersteens and quit trying to own every speaker ever made.
Click to expand...

LOL! Yeah good luck with that!

Hey I'd give it a shot at least. And a long with the price of the surrounds it's also the time involved in getting that many drivers done. If he's been using them like that he might even have damaged some of the drivers just trying to demo them. As my Dad used to always say "Nothing ventured, nothing gained."
 
Regarding Infinity amplifiers from then. The amp went out on one of my Overture3s from the same time period as the Preludes while it was still under warranty. Since then I have had no problems with either, after over 16 years of regular use. You can certainly test the subwoofer modules to make sure they work properly. Unlike restoring cars that one is familiar with, this will have to be a labor of anticipation. I hope you go for it.
 
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Infinity has pretty much stopped supporting any of their older speakers, making spare parts impossible to find. The last time that I helped a friend find a Prelude mid driver, we had to go through Infinity Europe Support. Evidently Europe has different laws covering product support, and Infinity parts are kept for a much longer time period than in the U.S.
 
On the sub amps: It's why I seemed to give a nonsensical response. I've known of some that seem to last forever and some that can't stop dying.

On the drivers: As I thought. Here in the US infinity seems more like Parasound in that supporting old gear is just not important to them. It seems these people haven't learned the example of the auto industry where the sales of parts for cars, new or old, generates substantial income for them. Not all certainly but a large majority of them.

I still think for the right price would be a worth taking the chance.
 
Thanks guys. After missing a pair of Klipsch Heresy's for 40 bucks today at a yard sale (another thread) I am going to get real about liquidation.

And I've been thru the "no longer available" route with some B&W's last year. Don't care to repeat that, despite a burning desire to hear these.

Thanks for all the input, fellas.
 
Yeah it's tough to justify. I saw your other thread. Man is that unreal. I feel for ya on that one. Here's hoping karma will be smiling on you since you didn't get either of them!
 
I know this is an old thread - however, I bought a pair of used Preludes P-FR's and they have been the speakers I've owned the longest. I've also owned Kappa's before, and while I'll admit that the Emit tweeter is magical, the Prelude is just...right. The Prelude has the ability to disappear like a mini monitor with full range sound. There's a soundstage that you can virtually touch, along with sound depth well behind the speakers themselves. This is one of the best measuring speakers ever (and it measures extremely flat in my room), and I plan on keeping mine for quite some time. Someone over at the diyaudio site measured the Celestion TF0510MR driver, and it's almost identical to the Prelude midbass driver's measurements and specs (possible drop in replacement)?

Another advantage of the P-FR is its sensitivity, 96db - these replaced my customized Cornwalls with ALK crossovers, and outboard Fostex super-tweeters! What this system sounds like in a full blown Atmos rig is amazing. I'm actually using P-FR's and Overture One's as side, center, and front height speakers, (using FPS-1000's as rear and rear height). I understand the love of the Emit based Infinity Speakers....I've owned over 5 pair's in my life - but they like to consume a lot of power (8's and 9's were dubbed amp killers). The P-FR's love my B&K Reference 200.7 and is strained at all. The Infinity Epsilon - was the last of the traditional Emit based speakers - that speaker had to be bi-amped (also received a Stereophile class A-Restricted Extreme LF rating), the Prelude a couple of years before - received a Stereophile Class B Full-Range rating - and it doesn't need bi-amping to function. When people run Kappas - you'd better come with the juice (read Krell, Mark Levinson, Sunfire etc).

The P-FR's have out-classed my Kappas and other Emit based speakers (haven't had the pleasure of hearing them against 9's - I've never owned the 9's)...in my room and in my applications (combo 2 channel and HT). This is just my two cents - especially since I've owned Kappa based, Compositions, the old cheap Studio series, and original Reference series. The two speaker makers that I've owned the most are Infinity and Klipsch (and yes I've owned a few exotics too like VPMS, Snell, and others).
 
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