Infinity Reference Six

[Stuntman68]

Hello,
I have just bought in my neighberhood a nice pair of Infinity Reference Six in black with the EMIT-R tweeter and new foams.

I am not so into the World if Infinity. Just bougt yesterday also s pair of RE1500e with the EMIT-tweeter.

I can‘t find much Information about the Six, when and where they were build?
Are these speakers real Infinity (Made in USA) or just clones from the Harman-Company.

Are there any Prospekts, manuals or other printed Information?

I have listen to the Six with my Yamaha AX-1090 und the 1500e with a nice Rotel RA-840B. Both speakers sounding great.

I would be thankful to receive any further Information or printed material (pdf).

Thank very much in advance.

Greetings from Germany.
Chris

 

[swechsler]

All Infinities are "real" Infinities; to my knowledge, Infinity models have never been sold under other brands (although later models from the 2010s did bear some similarities to some JBL speakers). At any rate, Harman has owned Infinity since 1983, and many classic models have been made between then and the virtual discontinuation of the retail brand (other than automotive models) several years ago, so contrary to popular belief, they did not dilute the brand, at least not in the 15 years following the transfer of ownership.

The Reference series (that is, your Reference Series; Infinity used this naming several times) dates back to 1991. The 6 was the top of that line; which was Infinity's entry level line at the time (above that was the Kappa series, and then the IRS series). I am surprised you could not find much information, since a web search bought up a bunch of results, including some links back to AudioKarma. The 1500e, which appears to be a European-only model, bears some similarity to the Qe of the late 1970s, although it is obviously not the same speaker.

 

[Volvo242GT]

The Reference series and the SM series were considered the lower-end lines. SM series had bass-reflex ported cabinets, whereas the Reference series were more like the Kappa series in that they were an acoustic suspension design. Bass is going to be tighter with the Reference speakers than it will be with the equivalent SM speakers, which are more like Cerwin-Vegas. Not very accurate, and boomy. Had a pair of SM155s for a few years. Replaced them in 2006 with a pair of RSa speakers, then replaced those four years ago with a pair of RS6b speakers, which are from the predecessor line of the Kappa series. I started out with a pair of the Reference E-L bookshelf speakers. Which were quite good for the price I paid in early 1992.

The ones you have were the top-shelf model of the Reference series speakers for 1991. In 1992, they became known as the RS-625 speakers, with a slight redesign of the cabinet, where the grille attaches. In 1993 or 1994, the Reference series became known as the Sterling Series, and returned to the Reference series design, cabinet-wise, but with a more squared off grille badge that, like the RS-x25 series of 1992, had the model number shown.