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May get Renaissance 80 speakers, have some questions.

Arkay

Arkay

Lunatic Member
Tonight I found a pair of Infinity Renaissance 80 speakers. Asking price was $300, which I think is reasonable. [Please tell me if I'm wrong.] I didn't have the cash on me, and tomorrow I have to work all day, but will go back in the evening and if the speakers are still there (I think they will be), I'll get them. Hard to resist those EMIMs and EMITs! :D

That said, I'd prefer Ren 90s, but the last pair of them I saw was considerably more expensive, and the 80s with their markedly smaller footprint have much higher WAF. Since anything with EMIMs seems to be getting rarer these days, I'm inclined to grab these while I can.

Just wondering: if I leave the Ren 80s as-is and extend the low end by adding a subwoofer (perhaps using actual 12" Watkins woofers borrowed from my battered Qbs :D), how close will the sound be to that of the Ren 90s? Would it be worth the effort of rebuilding the crossover and changing the cone driver in the Ren 80 to "clone" the Ren 90 with its "mid bass coupler"?

I think that might be overkill, especially since I still have the RS IIs to pull out for "serious" listening, anyway. I'm assuming that the RS models with the open baffle dipoles and double big woofers will sound significantly better than the Renaissance models, in any case - right?

Also, in the absence of the Watkins on the low end, is the Ren 80 still an "amp-killer"? Will that smaller 8" woofer in it be as power-hungry/drop as low in impedance as the big ones do?

I've never owned either Renaissance model before, and any comments/advice/suggestions is most welcome. Thanks!
 
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Arkay,

Well, my first comment would be run and get them. $300 is an excellent price (at least in the US).

Are you sure about the lack of a Watkins woofer in those? I know the 90s have a Watkins woofer, and the Infinity data sheet shows the 80 woofer as being a Watkins, so you may still have an amp issue.

That said, the 80s go down to 35 Hz and the 90s go down to 27 Hz - to me personally, getting an extra 8 Hz in the low end is probably not worth going to the trouble of either rebuilding the speaker or adding a sub. I'd get them and see what I thought of them in their stock configuration. But I'd definitely get them.

David
 
Thanks for that info.:thmbsp: I've never seen an 8" Watkins, only the bigger ones, and so I assumed those were not Watkins; if they are, and the specs show them getting down that low, then I guess I won't need to do anything to these speakers! :D 35 Hz is plenty low enough for me most of the time, for most listening, and I like the tight, neutral sound of Watkins woofers. I can always throw in the Gradient open-dipole subs for that last little bit, if I feel it is needed, but I don't think I will if what you say is correct.

That makes me feel a lot more eager to get them, which I will do, ssuming they are still there when I go back tomorrow, late. I have a FULL working day tomorrow (12 hours), so that is the earliest that I can get back there. If they are "meant to be mine" they will still be there, and I'll bring them home. UNlESS the place doesn't open on Sundays, iin which case I'll be back there on Monday, and get them then.

I suppose at some stage the next upgrade I should be looking at is something better than Adcom 555s to drive my Infinities. I wonder if I sell half or 2/3 of all my vintage audio stuff, if I can afford one big Krell or Mark Levinson amp...?:D

Can anyone describe the difference in the midrange and overall sound between the Renaissance 80s and the 90s? I think I'll get the 80s in any case, but would I expect a significant improvement if I move up to the 90s at a later time?
 
Arkay,

You could always get another Addie 555 for vert or horiz bi-amp.

But then, if you really want a Krell or M Levinson, go for it :yes:

The Ren 80 sounds like it should be fun to try out. Good luck getting them.
 
He who hesitates is lost.... went back tonight as quickly as I could, cash in fist, and they were already sold! :tears: Despite it being a Sunday, and a rainy one at that, and these being in a less-busy location than some, somebody snapped them up. I can only blame myself, since I saw them first and all I had to do was say "I'll take 'em" and they would have held them for me and now they would be mine. I hesitated, so I lost. Oh, well!

Actually, it's probably best this way. I've been thinking for a long time (months!) about building new shelves to better organize and store my gear, and on my way home I decided to put the money I would have spent on these speakers into that and a few other minor improvements, instead. I want to give myself a "breather" and consolidate: get rid of some less-wanted gear, finish some projects in the pipeline, etc...

There is always a next time, and maybe next time it will be Renaissance 90s or something even better. [I really think I want the 90s, much more than the 80.] A number of good things happened today, which more than balanced out this minor disappointment.

Thanks for the comments and info, guys!
 
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