Infinity RS 2.5 and Pioneer Spec gear review!

[Army]

As many of you know Retrostereo and I shared a listening room at the fest. We paired up my RS 2.5's with Greg's massive tower of three Spec 2's running them with two Spec 1 pre-amps.

I was very happy with the vintage setup! The Pioneer Spec 2's had plenty of clean power to drive the RS 2.5's! Our source of choice was Greg's modded Sony DVD player with the waaaay cool drop down face (ok not completely vintage setup) :D

I've been listening to my Sansui G-22000 with what I thought to be very good sound and it is. But the Spec 1 and 2 combo had better bass response and was more musical all around IMO. We also changed back and forth between a stock Spec 2 and one that EW had given a full recap and rebuild. And you could tell a very noticeable difference. Again even better bass response over the stock unit!

If you were looking for seperates to drive your Infinity speakers the Pioneer Spec 1 and Spec 2 would be one excellent choice!

We had many positive comments and even had one of the McIntosh reps comment that it sounded good, and to my way of thinking thats pretty high praise for 20 plus year old gear by a highly respected vendor :thmbsp:

We also A/B'd Gregs' Vandy 2C's and Mark Anderson's Allison 2's with the 2.5's. Both very good speakers in there own right, but to my ears the 2.5's had better imaging then the Allisons and the Vandersteins were a bit midrange forward and the base wasn't quite as tight. I could easily live with either the Allisons or the Vandersteins, but overall the Infinities are still my first love :thmbsp:

It was a hoot meeting everyone new and old, I really enjoyed the whole experience!

Cheers
Army

[Charivari]

Thanks for the review of the setup, Army. I'd say that McIntosh comment is high praise indeed considering their demo setup at the AK Fest is being called the "Voice of God." It sounds like the Spec-2 might be a very good amp to press into duty on vintage Infinities. Do you know if EchoWars increased some capacitor sizes somewhere to give more reserve oomph for the Watkins or if the deeper bass was the result of his magic touch elsewhere?

The A/B comparison between the speakers is also interesting. It's definitely apparent that there are different tastes to be found between the brands. Some prefer looser bass and accentuated mids, others prefer a flatter, less colored, or more recessed sound.

Now, come on, no pictures?

- JP

[Army]

Sorry JP I didn't get a chance to even get my camera out. Luther took a nice shot of the setup and posted it in the Fest gallery BTW. And one of the Gentlemen from an on line magazine also took a few photo's. Ultra Hifi magazine if I recall the name correctly.

We were contantly rolling different gear (mainly speakers) and trying to keep the tunes going as well as meeting everyone, it keeps you hopping :D

As for the tweaks EW did to the Spec 2 as my tired brain recalls it was a total recap job with better than original caps (blackgates) that gave it better base response, he also added bias pots. Glenn would have to chime in on anything other than that.

Hopefully others will share their thoughts on our setup as time permits :thmbsp:

Greg and I have already been thinking about next year doing a blindfolded A/B with the Pioneer Spec rack and a comparable McIntosh setup just for fun using the RS 2.5's, which could be very interesting eh Carl? :D

[Charivari]

Alright, I saw the pictures in the AK Gallery Wardsweb put up, which were decent enough. As to the online magazine you mentioned, would it be Ultra High-Fidelity Magazine (http://www.uhfmag.com/)? Wonder if they'll do a write-up on AK Fest and if they'll add pictures of yours and Retro's setup? Ah well, even then, it'll likely require a paid subscription to read.

Of course, it is necessary to keep the tunes going to ensure everyone will leave the fest as happy as they evidently did. Maybe if I luck into a small fortune so the cost of travel doesn't outweigh my desire to attend, I'll be able to hit a future AK Fest and hear your RS 2.5s or perhaps your future RS 4.5s when the time comes.

Ooh, a vintage Infinity and Pioneer SPEC shoot-out with high-end McIntosh. Now that sounds like a great deal of fun. I look forward to reading the results, one way or the other, of that if and when it happens. Guess for us PacNor'Westers a shoot-out between excellent condition AR-9s and my pieced-together Quantum 2s will have to suffice.

Thank you very much for taking the time to have put together this thread. Yours and Retro's setup was the one I most looked forward towards the results of from AK Fest 2006.

Now, let's get some of the lurkers to chime in here.
- JP

[Retro Stereo]

Pics of the 2.5's, Vandy's and Allison's.
And 2.5's and Vandy's.



Retro

[Punker X]

The mag was Positive-feedback.com

Got to here a A/B with the 2.5's and vandy's. Have to agree that the 2.5's sounded better to me. The Vandy's seem to lack the highs, and seemed to have mush for bass. Wish I could have got to hear the Allisons.

X

[Vitopanch]

Army,
I have been out of state with no access so I am just catching up on posts now. Man, that sounds like it was a lot of fun. Retro thanks for the pictures. It always adds flavor seeing the gear.
Vito

[luvvinvinyl]

FWIW, I usually listen at low volumes, in a small room, but I have to say that those 2.5's ramped up the SPL, effortlessly, without adverse sonic effects. I could easily do myself serious harm with a setup like that.

Playback on that system was also responsible for introducing several people to some new music. Guys, your Spec/2.5 combo captured the listener's attention, allowing them (us) to get swallowed up in the music. As pretty as that setup is, we were focused on the sound. It just doesn't get any better than that.

[Army]

Thanks Ernie, glad you enjoyed it!

It was such a treat to just sit and listen with everyone.

I can't wait to hear from Glenn that my Spec 2 is restored, the main focus of my vintage quest will be over.

But theres still more fun to be had, better cables will be next for sure. And a rack to hold it all etc... Maybe bi-amping if I can find the external crossover for the 2.5's Or find a pair of 4.5's in my price range.

The quest will probably continue just not at the speed it has lately :)

[luvvinvinyl]

Good luck, in the hunt!