chef free
Super Member
I picked up a pair of Infinity Modulus speakers the other day! I love vintage Infinity with the EMIT tweeters and I found a nice pair for only $400.. A friend of mine has a pair of Martin Logan LX16 which are similar in size and design so I took them to his place for the unboxing and a little comparison.
Introduced in 1991, the Modulus was fairly expensive at $1000/pair, it features the upgraded EMITk with stronger magnets than the original, crossed over at 4kHz to an injection molded graphite (IMG) cone 5.5", cast aluminum basket woofer, in a molded resin cabinet which allows for time alignment of the two drivers. Intended for amps up to 125 watts, this 5 ohm speaker claims a response of 80-45kHz +/-2dB and a sensitivity of 88dB @ 2.83v/1m.
Martin Logan's LX16 were only $800/pair when introduced in 2010! They feature M/L's "folded motion transducer", a copy of the Heil AMT that I love so much, crossed over at 2,700Hz to an aluminum cone 5.25", cast basket woofer in a ported, resin molded cabinet. Capable of handling up to 200 watts, this 5 ohm speaker claims 60-25kHz +/-3dB and 92dB @ 2.83v/1m.
Our listening was done in a sound treated room using a pair of McIntosh MC202 which were volume balanced to make up for the difference in speaker sensitivity. The pre amp was a C42, sources included an Oppo 95, MR80 tuner, and a Project Classic EVO turntable with an Amethyst cart by Sumiko. A Martin Logan Balanced Force dual 10" subwoofer (with built in DSP!) gave some bottom end to these small speakers. These speakers were placed at ear height on a pair of conveniently located JBL 4333's. We played all sorts of music, Zappa, Steve Roach, Skip Hop and Wobble, Johnny Cash, The Blind Boys, Montrose, Fripp and Eno, Christone "Kingfish" Ingram, Victor Wooten and more.
The XL16 have much lower bass (60Hz vs 80Hz) apparently due to their ported design. This difference was much less noticeable when using the sub. The EMIT has clearer "highs" (above 6k) and was preferred by my friend over his AMT tweeters but I heard the lower crossover point, 2.7k vs 4k, of the AMTs as giving a little more "snarl" to screaming electric guitars. Across much of the midrange these two speakers sounded surprisingly similar, we listened to a lot of vocal music and both speakers sound very realistic, even at higher volumes. Both speakers threw a realistic image, almost like wearing headphones. But the Infinity sounded "strained" and "thinner" when things got really loud; they are rated for only 125 watts compared to 200 for the ML's.
If I had to use these speakers with out a sub, the Martin Logan's would be my choice but with a sub it's a bit of a toss up, the ML's have smoother mid highs but the Infinity's EMITk have the "sparkle".
After the "critical listening" was done we played the Modulus while cleaning some records, the Infinity's began to grow on us as our ears got used to their sound. Every once in a while, one of us would remark "Hey these little speakers sound darn pretty good!"
Introduced in 1991, the Modulus was fairly expensive at $1000/pair, it features the upgraded EMITk with stronger magnets than the original, crossed over at 4kHz to an injection molded graphite (IMG) cone 5.5", cast aluminum basket woofer, in a molded resin cabinet which allows for time alignment of the two drivers. Intended for amps up to 125 watts, this 5 ohm speaker claims a response of 80-45kHz +/-2dB and a sensitivity of 88dB @ 2.83v/1m.
Martin Logan's LX16 were only $800/pair when introduced in 2010! They feature M/L's "folded motion transducer", a copy of the Heil AMT that I love so much, crossed over at 2,700Hz to an aluminum cone 5.25", cast basket woofer in a ported, resin molded cabinet. Capable of handling up to 200 watts, this 5 ohm speaker claims 60-25kHz +/-3dB and 92dB @ 2.83v/1m.
Our listening was done in a sound treated room using a pair of McIntosh MC202 which were volume balanced to make up for the difference in speaker sensitivity. The pre amp was a C42, sources included an Oppo 95, MR80 tuner, and a Project Classic EVO turntable with an Amethyst cart by Sumiko. A Martin Logan Balanced Force dual 10" subwoofer (with built in DSP!) gave some bottom end to these small speakers. These speakers were placed at ear height on a pair of conveniently located JBL 4333's. We played all sorts of music, Zappa, Steve Roach, Skip Hop and Wobble, Johnny Cash, The Blind Boys, Montrose, Fripp and Eno, Christone "Kingfish" Ingram, Victor Wooten and more.
The XL16 have much lower bass (60Hz vs 80Hz) apparently due to their ported design. This difference was much less noticeable when using the sub. The EMIT has clearer "highs" (above 6k) and was preferred by my friend over his AMT tweeters but I heard the lower crossover point, 2.7k vs 4k, of the AMTs as giving a little more "snarl" to screaming electric guitars. Across much of the midrange these two speakers sounded surprisingly similar, we listened to a lot of vocal music and both speakers sound very realistic, even at higher volumes. Both speakers threw a realistic image, almost like wearing headphones. But the Infinity sounded "strained" and "thinner" when things got really loud; they are rated for only 125 watts compared to 200 for the ML's.
If I had to use these speakers with out a sub, the Martin Logan's would be my choice but with a sub it's a bit of a toss up, the ML's have smoother mid highs but the Infinity's EMITk have the "sparkle".
After the "critical listening" was done we played the Modulus while cleaning some records, the Infinity's began to grow on us as our ears got used to their sound. Every once in a while, one of us would remark "Hey these little speakers sound darn pretty good!"
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