• The move to the new server is done. There are some software and database maintenance updates in process. This has us passing the hat around to help out. We appreciate any donations. Seriously, even a dollar helps. The payment page may be found here - https://www.audiokarma.org/support.html

Need advice on tweeters for Infinity RSe bookshelf speakers

jpreza

jpreza

Active Member
Stopped by at my local Goodwill store today. There were a pair of cheapie 90s Pioneer rack speakers - I passed on them rather quickly. On the other side of the aisle, tucked away, were a pair of Infinity RSe bookshelf speakers. They were $5 each!! The walnut looks to be in good shape - that said, the previous owner removed the tweeters for some reason.

I don't know too much about Infinity RSe speakers but I figure I couldn't go wrong with these even if for a future project. I do have some questions:

1. What year were these made? I can't seem to find any info on them.
2. What are the best EMIT tweeters that I can buy without breaking the bank?
3. Were these considered low-end, mid-end, or high-end in their heyday?

TIA...JP
 
Register to hide this ad
jpreza said:
Stopped by at my local Goodwill store today. There were a pair of cheapie 90s Pioneer rack speakers - I passed on them rather quickly. On the other side of the aisle, tucked away, were a pair of Infinity RSe bookshelf speakers. They were $5 each!! The walnut looks to be in good shape - that said, the previous owner removed the tweeters for some reason.

I don't know too much about Infinity RSe speakers but I figure I couldn't go wrong with these even if for a future project. I do have some questions:

1. What year were these made? I can't seem to find any info on them.
2. What are the best EMIT tweeters that I can buy without breaking the bank?
3. Were these considered low-end, mid-end, or high-end in their heyday?

-TIA...JP
Click to expand...
These were considered mid-fi, built between 78-83. The Emit's are great, I have two pairs of these and love them .Very tight bass for an 8" woofer. $10 bucks is a steal. here's a link for a pair of original replacement Emit's . https://www.ebay.com/itm/2657413969...uid=YIPn3esKTUm&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
 

Attachments

You can find the answers to your questions here

http://www.infinity-classics.de/models/Reference-series-1978-klein/index-Reference-klein.htm

The Technical Sheet has all the relative specs including part numbers. The EMIT tweeters are virtually the same throughout the years of production and the main change was just the look of the faceplate(color and letter style). The EMIT-k used in the Kappa series used neodymium magnets instead of samarium cobalt but functionally the same including the same diaphragm. There are always several for sale on the auction sites so easy to find a pair.
 
Last edited:
seifreit said:
You can find the answers to your questions here

http://www.infinity-classics.de/models/Reference-series-1978-klein/index-Reference-klein.htm

The Technical Sheet has all the relative specs including part numbers. The EMIT tweeters are virtually the same throughout the years of production and the main change was just the look of the faceplate(color and letter style). The EMIT-k used in the Kappa series used neodymium magnets instead of samarium cobalt but functionally the same including the same diaphragm. There are always several for sale on the auction sites so east to find a pair.
Click to expand...
See above, lol
 
As mentioned, lower end of the Infinity line, but many people think the EMIT's are pretty darn good.
As mentioned, EMITs are almost always available on ebay
I use the zoom feature to get a close up look for lifted or broken traces (the silver "wires"} on the flat diaphragm.
I also prefer listings that either state or even better show the EMIT's hooked up to a multimeter. A range of from 3.2 to 3.6 +/- a smidgen usually indicates it is working as it should.
Check the feedback of the seller, especially if you are new to ebay. I prefer free shipping when possible, but a pair of EMIT's packaged for shipping shouldn't cost a bunch of money as they don't weigh all that much to start with.
 
goodolpg said:
As mentioned, lower end of the Infinity line, but many people think the EMIT's are pretty darn good.
As mentioned, EMITs are almost always available on ebay
I use the zoom feature to get a close up look for lifted or broken traces (the silver "wires"} on the flat diaphragm.
I also prefer listings that either state or even better show the EMIT's hooked up to a multimeter. A range of from 3.2 to 3.6 +/- a smidgen usually indicates it is working as it should.
Check the feedback of the seller, especially if you are new to ebay. I prefer free shipping when possible, but a pair of EMIT's packaged for shipping shouldn't cost a bunch of money as they don't weigh all that much to start with.
Click to expand...

Thanks! What is interesting is that both speakers have the cutout where the tweeter was, but one of them you can see the stuffing but not on the other one. I think it does not make a difference, but I thought I ask. I'll post pictures shortly.
 
jpreza said:
Stopped by at my local Goodwill store today. There were a pair of cheapie 90s Pioneer rack speakers - I passed on them rather quickly. On the other side of the aisle, tucked away, were a pair of Infinity RSe bookshelf speakers. They were $5 each!! The walnut looks to be in good shape - that said, the previous owner removed the tweeters for some reason.

I don't know too much about Infinity RSe speakers but I figure I couldn't go wrong with these even if for a future project. I do have some questions:

1. What year were these made? I can't seem to find any info on them.
2. What are the best EMIT tweeters that I can buy without breaking the bank?
3. Were these considered low-end, mid-end, or high-end in their heyday?

TIA...JP
Click to expand...
The Kappa Radials are quite good. Yes the ones with the round diaphragms.
 
personally, I'm going to go for new drivers in toto instead of old ones of unknown provinence with the added possible cost of having to buy new diaphrams.


shrugs, just me, but I pretty much guarantee you that the foam behind the (for example) emit-R has rotted away with time, just like foam surrounds, or the foam on the back of the ren 80/90s. I'd rather have brand new drivers in toto. With how long the original drivers have survived, I'd expect the same 'shelf' life of the new drivers.
I only started looking to repair drivers when it became clear I couldn't get new drivers. Now that new drivers are available. I'm all over it.

Sucks that the majority of my infinity speakers now all have HE emits and/or Emims instead of the originals, and that there aren't any brand new square faced emits.
 
Here are the pictures with the grills off - notice the one speaker does not have the back to the cutout. Also, I noticed that there are different EMIT tweeter models for my speakers. Which are the right ones or does it matter?

TIA…JP

E0DD5FFA-FCE4-41FA-8ADA-706D3D2A7216.jpegB7826700-6A59-40E7-9DF9-2D9AFECD5755.jpeg
 
Last edited:
jpreza said:
Here are the pictures with the grills off - notice the one speaker does not have the back to the cutout. Also, I noticed that there are different EMIT tweeter models for my speakers. Which are the right ones or does it matter?
Click to expand...
They were the first generation of round EMITs and they would have looked like this:

2639183-89629220-infinity-emit-tweeters.jpg


But it doesn't really matter which ones you get as long as they have the round, four hole faceplate, and are standard EMITs rather than EMIT-Rs. As noted by @seifreit above, they're all pretty much equivalent.
 
jpreza said:
Here are the pictures with the grills off - notice the one speaker does not have the back to the cutout. Also, I noticed that there are different EMIT tweeter models for my speakers. Which are the right ones or does it matter?

TIA…JP

View attachment 2679878View attachment 2679880
Click to expand...

The one on the left is correct based on al the various EMIT-based Infinitys I've ever seen, owned. The one on the right will still be ok, you'll just have to make sure the gasket between the tweeter and cabinet is intact and sealing correctly as these are sealed cabinets.
 
seifreit said:
The one on the left is correct based on al the various EMIT-based Infinitys I've ever seen, owned. The one on the right will still be ok, you'll just have to make sure the gasket between the tweeter and cabinet is intact and sealing correctly as these are sealed cabinets.
Click to expand...
Hmm, that's interesting, I've owned both earlier (Qa) and later (many Kappas, RS4000, Reference 5) and to my knowledge, none of them have had that little panel behind the tweeter.
 
swechsler said:
Hmm, that's interesting, I've owned both earlier (Qa) and later (many Kappas, RS4000, Reference 5) and to my knowledge, none of them have had that little panel behind the tweeter.
Click to expand...

Interesting indeed. I have RS 4000(early ones with the smaller EMIT that later became the S-EMIT in the Kappa 9), Q5, RSb, RS5b, and a lot of bigger models and I can't recall any of them being fully cut out for the EMIT. Every single one was routed to accept just the magnet structure.
 
seifreit said:
Interesting indeed. I have RS 4000(early ones with the smaller EMIT that later became the S-EMIT in the Kappa 9), Q5, RSb, RS5b, and a lot of bigger models and I can't recall any of them being fully cut out for the EMIT. Every single one was routed to accept just the magnet structure.
Click to expand...
I'm wondering what the previous owner was trying to do by doing the full cutout. At any rate, I also looked in the specs/user manual, and there is a mention of a diaphragm. Is that a separate part altogether from the EMIT tweeter itself?!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom