Infinity Reference 4 - Refoam

[jbbouwkamp]

Just picked up these Infinity Reference Fours. They're in great shape minus needing refoamed. I've never refoamed a speaker where you don't have a cap to get at the voice coil for shimming. What's the best approach on this? Did some initial listening on this speaker and thought it had fairly poor spatial and dimensional properties. Compared to my Quantum 3 speakers they don't seem to stack up real well but I'll wait for final analysis after all drivers are up to the task of a challenge (of course bass will never be in the same realm!).

 

[tubed]

Just picked up these Infinity Reference Fours. They're in great shape minus needing refoamed. I've never refoamed a speaker where you don't have a cap to get at the voice coil for shimming. What's the best approach on this? Did some initial listening on this speaker and thought it had fairly poor spatial and dimensional properties. Compared to my Quantum 3 speakers they don't seem to stack up real well but I'll wait for final analysis after all drivers are up to the task of a challenge (of course bass will never be in the same realm!).

The Reference fours are post Ardie Nudel Infinity's and I think your assessment of these speakers not stacking up to your Q 3's is accurate to say the least.....however it wouldnt hurt anything to practice refoaming techniques on these:yes:

 

[jbbouwkamp]

Would like to try to refoam but just not sure how to hold it in place without shimming so the voice coil doesn't rub. It doesn't look to me like you should take the cap off this speaker.

 

[avguytx]

Google "refoam woofer test tone" and you will bring up many articles and can even download test tones from online and burn to a CD. There are also threads in AK about this. I've done that on quite a few since instances like this are rather hard to do otherwise. Good luck!

Oh yeah....I seriously doubt those Ref 4's will ever stack up to the Q3's. No matter how much you drink. (as I'm listening to mine at the moment....but not drinking)

 

[jbbouwkamp]

I'm beginning to understand why everyone talks about the old Infinity and new Infinity, but not the middle Infinity (minus maybe the Kappas).

 

[Army]

Pretty sure that is just an inverted dust cap and will come off just fine so you can shim. Or you could use a near dead 9 volt battery to center the coils.

 

[Sam Cogley]

I'm beginning to understand why everyone talks about the old Infinity and new Infinity, but not the middle Infinity (minus maybe the Kappas).

I don't know about the home Kappas, but they made some truly excellent car speakers under that line during the days just before the H/K buyout.

 

[Manuel64]

I have refoamed my own Crescendos without removing the dust cap, as well as other speakers I've owned over the years. You can do it by feel or by using a test tone. Larger drivers are easier to do by feel, but I would not recommend refoaming this way for smaller drivers.

I've never heard the Reference 4's, but they use the same IMG drivers and Emit-R that my Crescendos use. It should be a good speaker. Just remember that it's a bass reflex design and not acoustic suspension like the older Infinities. I think this is the main reason that many people who loved the older Infinities, don't like the next generation models such as Kappas or Crescendos. I've heard some of the newer stuff like the Alphas and the Betas, and it's still good, but I don't think it sounds as good as either second generation Kappa or Crescendo.

Over the weekend, I purchased a pair of RS-4b's for my bedroom system. I was wanting some decent sealed speakers to replace a pair of Wharfedales that I have been using for a few years now. This entire weekend, I have been playing around with them and even hooked them up to my main home theater system for a while. They are excellent sounding speakers, but do not compare well to the Crescendos for rock music and movie soundtracks. Vocals are much weaker compared to the Crescendos. With the RS-4b's, the vocals are much more diffuse and seem like they are a part of the background. With the Crescendos, the vocals are center stage and in your face. I like them both for different reasons.

I've played a lot of Jazz thru them this weekend and the 4b's are excellent for this type of music. Next, I would like to replace my Advents in my garage system. If a good condition RSb is around, I will probably go for it.

 

[fmueller]

http://www.fmueller.com/home/music/woofer-refoam/

 

[Manuel64]

Hi there fmueller,

I enjoyed reading your RS-4b refoaming story. Those are some beautiful speakers. The ones that I just purchased are also in excellent condition. No scratches and the drivers are very nice. I got them from craigslist as well. Sorry that I haven't posted any pictures, but I only post occasionally from work and I don't load personal pictures in my work computer.

I really like the nice color on your speaker cabinets. My RS-4b's look like they were in storage for a while. According to the seller, he had them in storage, and then had the woofers professionally refoamed, so he could sell them easier. The guy had an amazing amount of speakers in his home. My cabinets are in excellent shape, but could use something to get the wood looking better. I was planning on just using some wood conditioner such as Old English. Any suggestions on treatments to polish up the wood?

 

[jbbouwkamp]

I've heard of a number of people use the old english. I think it's probably something you need to keep applying every few months. When I redid my Quantum 3 I removed all drivers then restained and did several coats of varnish. They look great! My biggest concern on the RS4B would be not getting too much stain in the grooves.

 

[jbbouwkamp]

OK - I'm done with the refoaming. As Army said - even though it is inverted the dust cap still comes off. Just have to be real careful to not slice through the cone (fortunately I didn't). They really sound pretty descent. Good tight bass with descent extension. I may get out my sound level meter to see what they're going down to. Still not as good as the Quantum 3 - and still harldy fair to compare. But the Reference 4 are starting gain some of my respect. Still not overly deep or wide sound stage. Emphasis on the top end, but what's up there is clear. Here's some pics since it's not a real common speaker.

 

[budgetaudio6]

good job on the refoam....whats with the extra lip along the edge of the cone? is that how the foam sat on there?

sorry for being questioning, but it makes me think that it might flop abit more than if the foam roll were right up against the edge of the woofer...

 

[jbbouwkamp]

Really just the one lip where the foam sets on top of the cone. Looks basically like it did when I first got them - just with good foam. Thanks!

 

[Army]

good job on the refoam....whats with the extra lip along the edge of the cone? is that how the foam sat on there?

sorry for being questioning, but it makes me think that it might flop abit more than if the foam roll were right up against the edge of the woofer...

Are you asking about the beauty ring around the outside edge?

 

[bshorey]

Just picked up these Infinity Reference Fours. They're in great shape minus needing refoamed. I've never refoamed a speaker where you don't have a cap to get at the voice coil for shimming. What's the best approach on this? Did some initial listening on this speaker and thought it had fairly poor spatial and dimensional properties. Compared to my Quantum 3 speakers they don't seem to stack up real well but I'll wait for final analysis after all drivers are up to the task of a challenge (of course bass will never be in the same realm!).

I have a pair of these that I refoamed. I no longer remove the dust caps on any speaker I refoam. Just get yourself a 30 hz test tone and use that to center things.

The mids on these speakers use the same quality surround as the woofers, so I'd plan on doing both the woofers and the mids.

They're ok speakers.

bs

 

[rage]

I refoamed these and it was the first set I failed on.
You have to use the right glue with the IMG cones.
Goo gone makes removing the dust cap very easy on these.

I ended up replacing the woofers with Dayton 8" subs and installed a 2" x 8" port in each speaker. They now sound awesome. I didn't care much for them with the original woofer but I had problems with the glue adhering and the surrounds came apart after I pushed them hard. The reason I gave up on the woofers was that they had crushed voice coils and I had to reglue the cone to the spider - so it was an experiment anyhow.

I've got $90 in my Ref 4s and its worth every penny. Not quite as nice as my old RS6000s but for the price they can't be beat. They are also quite a bit more efficient than my old RS6000s.

Probably sacrilegious to remove the original woofers but I didn't have much invested.