Welcome to the Infinity Loudspeaker Forum!

[Army]

This is a brand spanking new forum I will be Moderating with the help of Negotiableterms. Who volunteered his time and attention to one of the things we share in common, the love of a great sounding speaker.

So show us what you've got :thmbsp:

[Charivari]

You got your forum? Glad to hear it, though I am a bit surprised.

Well, my list of Infinities isn't particularly impressive, but I'm happy.

Quantum 2s
Reference Studio Monitors
RSbs
ES-1 electrostatic headphones with ME-10D Energizer

Let's see who else has what.
- JP

[SPL db]

WHAT!?! Infinity's suck! :D



How are you liking your recent Infinity bolly Scott?

Scott

[Army]

WHAT!?! Infinity's suck! :D



How are you liking your recent Infinity bolly Scott?

Scott

Scott the second pair sounds just as sweet as the first :thmbsp:

If you can snag a pair of RS 2.5's do it you won't be sorry!

[SPL db]

Scott the second pair sounds just as sweet as the first :thmbsp:

If you can snag a pair of RS 2.5's do it you won't be sorry!

If you ever tire of one of the pairs... I'm less than a state away from you! :deal:

Scott

[Kencat]

Honest guys, when I looked at the new Forum, it had nothing in it, so I did the trial posting. When I loaded it after typing, I saw this thread started. Oh well.

As you can see in my Avatar............Quantum 2's. Awaiting crossover replacement resistors.

To be powered with an Adcom GFA555 II.

Can't wait.

[Army]

If you ever tire of one of the pairs... I'm less than a state away from you! :deal:

Scott

I tell ya what if your ever in the neighborhood stop by the door is always open (with a little advanced notice) I'll give you a taste. Then you'll know why I'll never part with either pair!

JP and Ken I'm gonna rely on you and many others to help out if you'd be so kind. This is not my forum it is our's, all of us, it's what we make of it!

What would you like to see?

One thought I have is a photo gallery of our favorites with spec.s original MSRP etc...

What do you guys think and or want this forum to include?

Lets kick around some idea's :thmbsp:

[Kencat]

OK....here goes. Ideas or....the wishlist :D

(1) Photo gallery sounds good. I like messing around with the digital camera.

(2) History of Infinity, with information about the people involved, timelines, hard times, good times, technological innovations - both good and bad, etc.
This could be a sticky dedicated to this.

(3) Another sticky (sub-forum?) could be dedicated to links to other good sites dedicated to Infinity.

(4) How to's - good reference material on how to make repairs, both DIY and borrowed from other sources.

Ran out of thoughts there. Working on all that above looks like a bunch already though :eek:

[Vitopanch]

WOW, Army thanks BIG TIME for getting us and moderating this forum. If there is anything that I can do to help, I love research, please let me know.

Presently my Infinities are:

Reference Standard IIA's,
Reference Standard 4.5's
Studio Monitor 120
Studio Monitor 100
Monitor IIA - Bought for $10.00 being restored

Vito

[Army]

Vito you have a very impressive collection!

I'm jealous as hell (RS 4.5's), before you mentioned all the others!

I sincerely hope you have a digi camera! And if you like kick off the gallery I mentioned earlier in this post, with a few shot and spec.s of all your Infinity treasure. As well as post your thoughts on what you like or even dislike about each.

Let the good times roll...

Get busy fella's :thmbsp:

[Negotiableterms]

Scott graciously invited me to help out here because he's always wanted to hear his Infinity speakers properly driven by an iPod.





Just kidding... :D


I have:

QLS
Kappa 9
IRS Beta
Modulus (the original ones from 1990, not the new HT units).

The Betas are my favorites (big surprise, huh?), but they're not exactly room-friendly. The Kappa 9s are fantastic, practical speakers that fit in most rooms and sound 90% of the Betas, as long as you have an amp that really likes 2-ohm loads.

As Army said, let's see what everyone else has... I'm dying to see if anyone had an IRS V, and will let us all come over for pizza!

Seriously, though...Scott loooooves those little digital units. He does. Really...

[Army]

OK....here goes. Ideas or....the wishlist :D

(1) Photo gallery sounds good. I like messing around with the digital camera.

(2) History of Infinity, with information about the people involved, timelines, hard times, good times, technological innovations - both good and bad, etc.
This could be a sticky dedicated to this.

(3) Another sticky (sub-forum?) could be dedicated to links to other good sites dedicated to Infinity.

(4) How to's - good reference material on how to make repairs, both DIY and borrowed from other sources.

Ran out of thoughts there. Working on all that above looks like a bunch already though :eek:


I like the way you think!

We definitely have some work a head of us!

Given some time I think we may get your wish list or some of it done!

Number one, Do it! Start the thread!

Number two will take some time, but I think do-able...

Number three, yes and no. Links are good, but I would like this forum to incompass or over shadow the other sites (yes I dream big)

Number four, I think we have a lot of that already and once I move a few threads and sticky some of the better ones, done deal :thmbsp:

[Army]

Scott graciously invited me to help out here because he's always wanted to hear his Infinity speakers properly driven by an iPod.





Just kidding... :D



Seriously, though...Scott loooooves those little digital units. He does. Really...




Almost forgot Characters welcome :thmbsp:

Wait a minute you guys already know that David and I are Moderating this forum :lmao:

[Vitopanch]

Will do on the pictures. I will take some and make them available. When we have some information to provide, such as the History of Infinity as Kencat mentioned, and the like, do you want them put in here so that you can sort them out?
for example a snipit would be like this;

In 1967, Arnie Nudell, PhD. was at work designing the world's first Q-switched pulsed ruby laser to be used in a laser rangefinder that would measure accurately the distance between an airplane and the ground. A servo-feedback system would then be used to control the inertia navigation system of the airplane for accurate positioning. During his laboratory work, Arnie realized that such a servo system would be able to also accurately control a loudspeaker, hence, the idea of a servo-controlled woofer.
Together with John Ulrich, Arnie designed the servo system and power amplifier to drive a woofer. Arnie called another friend - Gene Czerwinski - to make a special 18-inch woofer with a second winding on the voice coil to produce the feedback signal. The system worked! And the world's first servo-controlled woofer was born.
Together with an electrostatic panel developed by another two aerospace engineers, and a cabinet designed and built by Cary Christie in his garage, the first product was built - the Servo Statik I. This was in 1968, and Infinity was founded. Through the 70's Infinity grew until it was acquired by Harman International.
In the 80's, Arnie launched what was to be the first real high-end loudspeaker with the Infinity Reference Standard - or IRS. It was not originally meant to be a commercial product, but to be a statement of the highest reference standard for sound reproduction. It was the first speaker to use the Electro Magnetic Induction Tweeter - the first ribbon tweeter, and featured a line source of tweeters and midrange ribbons in a dipole configuration. It also had a total of twelve 12-inch woofers controlled by dedicated servo amplifiers. Nevertheless, the IRS proved to be a runaway commercial success. Excepted from; http://www.genesisloudspeakers.com/profile_makinghistory.html


John Ulrick’s account of the beginning;
We were supposed to be hard at work designing weapons systems for America - that's Arnie Nudell and me. Arnie and I worked at Litton Guidance & Control Systems in Woodland Hills, near L.A. We did build a weapons system, a laser rangefinder that measures the distance from an airplane to the ground for accurate bombing. We were also audiophiles, if there was such a term at the time. The year was 1967. I am an electronic engineer, Arnie a physicist. At Litton, my job was to design the electronics for the laser rangefinder and Arnie's was to design the world's first Q-switched pulsed ruby laser. This was the laser that supplied the pulse of light that went from the airplane to the "target" and bounced back, used to calculate the distance from the airplane to the target. Part of that system involved a mirror to point the laser beam at the target. I designed a servo-control system, which points the mirror and its switching amplifier. During lab testing of the servo-control system, Arnie noticed that the servo was controlling the mirror at 20Hz, a magic number to any audio person. Arnie had a good idea - why don't we make a servo-controlled woofer? We went across the hall to the Litton engineering library and found a book called Acoustical Engineering by Harry F. Olsen - the first bible of acoustics. The book had a page on Servo Controlled Speakers but no analysis, just a block diagram. We worked together to design the system. Arnie calculated the radiation resistance for the slopes and I designed the servo system and the power amplifier to drive the woofer. Arnie called his friend, Gene Czerwinski, to make a special 18-inch woofer with a second winding to generate the feedback signal. At the time Gene was an engineer at Bendix and making speakers in his garage. Gene later left Bendix to found Cerwin Vega. At this point one could wonder, who is making all these weapons systems? The woofer worked. There were two more aerospace engineers working at nearby Atomics International, Ron and Bob, making electrostatic panels. (The pentagon always said you must value the technology spin off from military research!) What a great combination, electrostatic panels that don't have much bass, coupled with an 18-inch servo-controlled woofer. The system was built and set up in Arnie's living room. Using a Sherwood amplifier to drive the electrostatic panels, the tweaking began. The amount of servo feedback changed. The crossover points moved and moved again.

Arnie and I decided to start a company. You could tell by the name there was no professional help in naming the company. The name was "Nutek" for Nudell Ulrick technology. We began selling a system called the "Servo-Static I" through a local dealer. The local dealer was about a mile from Litton and owned by Dr. Jim Henderson a physicist who you will hear more about later. All of this was still part time with a new guy involved, Cary Christie, a very talented industrial designer making the cabinetry in his garage. Arnie and I put out feelers to raise money and were finally backed by a rep firm that sold me electronic parts at Litton. No sophistication here either; we didn't even have a business plan because we didn't know what one was. A corporation was formed with Arnie and I holding equal interest. Fortunately, when we went to incorporate, the name Nutek was taken. The name Infinity was the third choice on the list, but available. The company name was Infinity, the year 1968. Again Arnie and I demonstrated our management prowess in choosing who was going to be the first president; we used the coin toss method. I was the president the first year and then we alternated for the first several years. What confusion! In August 1968 myself, Arnie and Cary and a couple of other people started full time in a 2,000 sq. ft. building in Chatsworth. Infinity was started. At the start, Infinity had three speakers; the Servo-Static I ($1800), the 2000, a bookshelf with electrostatic tweeters ($276) and the 1000, a 2 way bookshelf speaker. Excerpted from http://www.spectronav.com/tech2.htm

Library type information


Vito

[Charivari]

Wait a minute you guys already know that David and I are Moderating this forum :lmao:
Glad you found just the right person to co-mod this forum. Though, David's collection may cause troubles thanks to other's envy. Remove the Kappa 9s and swap in a pair of Ren 90s/Servo-Statics/and or IRS and you'll see my Infinity speaker dream list.

- JP

[Kencat]

Vitopanch,

That is a hell of a "snipit". I would think that if you re-submitted that writeup, or the same one elaborated on, with the title of "Beginnings of Infinity" or ...well, you get the drift, in a post, that it could be made into the sticky that would start the "history" section.

Start the post with a preamble stating that this is the beginning af a "historical and interesting facts" type thread to set the stage for future responses.

What do you all think?

[Vitopanch]

Hail,
I think that you are correct. I am going to try to do it right now.
Vito

[Kencat]

WOW!

This new forum is flying at light speed. I can't keep up!!! You'ld think there was a little enthusiasm going on or something eh?

Good stuff Vitopanch.
:thmbsp:

[Kencat]

Scott graciously invited me to help out here because he's always wanted to hear his Infinity speakers properly driven by an iPod.





Just kidding... :D


I have:

QLS
Kappa 9
IRS Beta
Modulus (the original ones from 1990, not the new HT units).

The Betas are my favorites (big surprise, huh?), but they're not exactly room-friendly. The Kappa 9s are fantastic, practical speakers that fit in most rooms and sound 90% of the Betas, as long as you have an amp that really likes 2-ohm loads.

As Army said, let's see what everyone else has... I'm dying to see if anyone had an IRS V, and will let us all come over for pizza!

Seriously, though...Scott loooooves those little digital units. He does. Really...


HEY........nothing said about the QLS's. What gives? Still in disrepair or.... not good sounding? I haven't read anyone describe their sound. Not too many out there in working condition I guess.

[Kencat]

JP,

That post on the alternate links or sources for info is great. I didn't want to post directly under it to ruin the thread content.

If we run into other interesting sites we can post in that thread.

well, time to sign off, see you all later.

[Charivari]

Thanks Ken. Hopefully that thread will keep clear of unnecessary posts and will make for a decent list of links. Though, I gave away the secret of my Infinity knowledge by posting those links. ;)

Say, maybe you should put up your Infinity Quantum series model database as a thread to show the differences you've noted and allow for future additions. The Pioneer and Sansui forums have their databases, so why not Infinity?

- JP

[Vitopanch]

I too would like to know about the QLS. Are they working. How do they sound. I have never even saw any other than in pictures. Finding ones to buy, even restore if necessary may be a future project. I have heard and read so much about them. I just picked up a pristine original brochure of them.
Vito

[junkaudio]

here is a livestream interview with mr. nudell !!
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/videos/ces-2004/ces-2004-genesis-speakers/ces-2004-arnie-nudell-genesis-speakers-index.html

[luvvinvinyl]

Well, Scott, it looks like AK's newest forum is in very capable hands. Good luck to you, David, and all your Infinites ( Infinitarians?).

It would appear that you are already off to a great start. I've got no Infinities, but I hope you don't mind if I drop in, from time to time, and poke around?

[Army]

Well, Scott, it looks like AK's newest forum is in very capable hands. Good luck to you, David, and all your Infinites ( Infinitarians?).

It would appear that you are already off to a great start. I've got no Infinities, but I hope you don't mind if I drop in, from time to time, and poke around?

Thanks Ernie

You drop in when ever you like my friend and hopefully often!

We may have to work on finding you a nice pair of Infinities, but I'm not sure which model would be the best, since your thinking about going into tubes.

Hmmm... food for thought for another thread :thmbsp:

[Unican_Eric]

Glad to see that you now have your own forum. Good luck and I am sure that all things will turn out well.
Looking forward to learning more about this great line of speakers.

[Vitopanch]

here is a livestream interview with mr. nudell !!
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/videos/ces-2004/ces-2004-genesis-speakers/ces-2004-arnie-nudell-genesis-speakers-index.html

Junkaudio,
Nice work finding that interview and thank you for providing it. I figured that one was out there and spent a couple of fruitless hours looking for it. I just watched and and found it entertaining and informative

I am going to copy it into the historical and interesting facts thread with credit to you.
Vito

[Charivari]

Thanks Ernie

We may have to work on finding you a nice pair of Infinities, but I'm not sure which model would be the best, since your thinking about going into tubes.
Any better Nudell designed Infinity would suffice. In the Stereophile review of the Beta, it is written that Nudell designed and voiced his better speakers with high-powered (100+wpc) tube amps as the end amplification. Though, that could very well be a spendy venture and I am unaware of any good Infinity that even reaches the upper 80s in dB sensitivity.

- JP

[acronym]

I've got a microphone hooked up to my Kappa 8's and I'll feed it through my MCE and dump it in (sorta) real time up to my site - that way you can hear how good they sound and judge for yourself.

link coming soon !!

[Kencat]

Thanks Ken. Hopefully that thread will keep clear of unnecessary posts and will make for a decent list of links. Though, I gave away the secret of my Infinity knowledge by posting those links. ;)

Say, maybe you should put up your Infinity Quantum series model database as a thread to show the differences you've noted and allow for future additions. The Pioneer and Sansui forums have their databases, so why not Infinity?

- JP

Started the thread just a while ago. Could be interesting if more folks contribute. Can also be expanded to include other design differences as we find out about them.

[Negotiableterms]

Thanks Ernie

You drop in when ever you like my friend and hopefully often!

We may have to work on finding you a nice pair of Infinities, but I'm not sure which model would be the best, since your thinking about going into tubes.

Hmmm... food for thought for another thread :thmbsp:

Hopefully more than often!

Like Luther, Ernie needs a pair of Betas. With tubes, or Mc gear, they're very hard to equal.

[Kencat]

Put down that I-pod now, and tell us about those QLS monsters. :D Working or no?

If working, hows the sound? If not, Why Not??? :sigh: (need help with parts?)

[Negotiableterms]

Put down that I-pod now, and tell us about those QLS monsters. :D Working or no?

If working, hows the sound? If not, Why Not??? :sigh: (need help with parts?)

I haven't redone my QLSs, and they could use new foam in the woofers. All but one of the other drivers are ok, and while they sound quite decent as-is, it would be unfair of me to further comment on them in the condition they're in.

They're huge, and weigh a ton, and finding a place to re-do them isn't going to be easy unless I'm willing to pay for a lot of shipping!

[Kencat]

I haven't redone my QLSs, and they could use new foam in the woofers. All but one of the other drivers are ok, and while they sound quite decent as-is, it would be unfair of me to further comment on them in the condition they're in.

They're huge, and weigh a ton, and finding a place to re-do them isn't going to be easy unless I'm willing to pay for a lot of shipping!

DIY ?

Refoaming of the Watkins may actually be one of the easiest woogers to do. They seemed to be quite tolerant for VC centering, as the spider is not very compliant. I didn't use shims or any other VC electro tricks. The front flat mounting of the surround to the cone adds to the simplification.

You should be able to find a replacement driver. Just plop it in.

There...you're all done...crank em up :thmbsp: :music:

IF NOT, I'm firing up my Vue and heading for your place no matter where you are to steal those puppies...hopefully you're farther away from JP than me, cause I hear his truck starting up right now as well :D

Oh, how about a bunch of colour glossies ???

[Retro Stereo]

I don't know what prompted me to come here, but I'm here, and as long as I am here, CONGRATULATIONS Army on your dream forum!!! :D


Your buddy,
Retro


PS: The Hawkeyes are nothing but lucky!

[Negotiableterms]

IF NOT, I'm firing up my Vue and heading for your place no matter where you are to steal those puppies...hopefully you're farther away from JP than me, cause I hear his truck starting up right now as well. Oh, how about a bunch of colour glossies ???

Heh... you and JP have more energy than I.

I have a couple of speakers that need very complete reworking. The QLSs are at the head of the list, but there's also a pair of ESS AMT-3s, and an ADS C-1500 powered sub that goes with my MG-IIBs. One of these days (yeah right...) I'll find a place that can do the whole treatment to all of them, rent a truck and go. So far, the lead candidate is Orange County Speaker, but they're a long 500 miles away.

Pictures? All of the speakers are in a warehouse, while our never-beginning remodel sits on hold. The QLSs are in back of the Betas. The damn government is holding up my audio hobby. Da noive!

[Kencat]

Heh... you and JP have more energy than I.

I have a couple of speakers that need very complete reworking. The QLSs are at the head of the list, but there's also a pair of ESS AMT-3s, and an ADS C-1500 powered sub that goes with my MG-IIBs. One of these days (yeah right...) I'll find a place that can do the whole treatment to all of them, rent a truck and go. So far, the lead candidate is Orange County Speaker, but they're a long 500 miles away.

Pictures? All of the speakers are in a warehouse, while our never-beginning remodel sits on hold. The QLSs are in back of the Betas. The damn government is holding up my audio hobby. Da noive!

Indeed! Very inconsiderate of them feds !!

Ah well, as long those QLSs are tucked away safe and sound to be resurrected someday, that is good. It would seem those are going to be very rare speakers if the current trend of parting them out continues. I hope to be here when you finally have them running. Maybe even a listen eh?

[Army]

I don't know what prompted me to come here, but I'm here, and as long as I am here, CONGRATULATIONS Army on your dream forum!!! :D


Your buddy,
Retro


PS: The Hawkeyes are nothing but lucky!


Thanks Brother, I am lik'in it here, we've got a great group of guys!

And yes your right Greg the Hawkeyes were (past tense) lucky :D

[mywifespissed]

RSIIb (main system)
Kappa 5 (with Parasound Zone gear)
RSa (with 60's Dyna ST-70 tube amp/PAS 3 pre)
RSe (snoozing in the dark)
Wish I had many other models