Moving on from my Infinity RSIIIa's...

[gt4viper]

Hello all Infinityphile's!

First thread, first post, but I've been lurking around here for quite a while gathering all the priceless gems of wisdom that left laying around in here...

Now I'm at a crossroad and I seek guidance from the masters.

I suppose a brief summary of my current situation is in order...


So I'm in my mid 20's, and have been raised with Infinity sound most of my life. My Father bought a set of barely used Infinity RSIIIa speakers and an Adcom GFA-555mkii when I was still sucking down bottles every few hours. (Milk- not beer)
Somewhere along the line he snagged a set of mint Infinity RS6b's also.

So I've heard them pretty much my whole life.
My dad doesn't use them anymore, and I talked him into letting me keep them instead of donating them.
He did however warn me that it's easy to waste a lot of money on this hobby. (Truer words are rarely spoken)

So I saved and bought a Yamaha RX-A830 to be the brains of the operation.
Last fall I snagged a pair of Infinity PS310W subwoofers on clearance to fill out the low end.

However the room I have for them now is rather small, 10X10X8ft

I also have the issue of placement. The spot where they would need to sit is only 51" wide. The speakers themselves are 18 wide each, leaving a meager 15" wide gap in between them.
Which is not even wide enough to put components in between them, so I'll have to run them from one of the rear corners of the room.
I do watch movies and game in there also so I'd need to mount my 55" 4K tv above them.

I'm also questioning if I'm willing to haul all the big (beautiful, but very big) speakers around with me for the next 10-20+ years.

I love my Old Infinity sound, polydomes and emits are just fantastic, and I really don't understand why they quit making them, I've heard the stories, but it still is a crying shame.

If I'm going to downsize my speakers, I'm going all the way. No towers. Period. Otherwise I'd keep the one I have.

I'm aiming for bookshelf speakers.
Preferably 15-16 tall and appropriate width.

Which leaves me with primarily 6.5 two way bookshelves.
I'd rather have at least a 6.5 even though l'll still have my two subs for bass.

So that's what I'm hunting for, price point under $1000 per pair, im willing to wait for a sale if needed.
If you had to go this route what would you choose?

I'm liking the looks of the SVS Ultra Bookshelves, but 2.2 performance is paramount, not 5.2

P.S. I tried the Infinity IL10's, while I like them for they're bass output and overall smoothness they're a bit "boxy" sounding in comparison, I did an. A-B test vs the rs6b, and every time I switched bacl to the RS6b it was like someone blew the roof off, so open and natural.
IL40 actually sound very good in my book, still not as airy but nice full midrange which opens the sound up; but they're floorstanders so they're out.

So thanks for reading my book, I hope it helps save a few questions, though I'm sure I'm missing things this is already far to long.


Thanks for your help!

 

[goodolpg]

Have you considered Infinitesimals?
Might need a subwoofer if you like deep bass.

 

[gt4viper]

Well I have looked at those, the biggest I've found are the infinitesimal/modulus with a 5-1/4 woofer. Which might be ok, it's just seems most 5-1/4 speakers I've heard struggle at higher volumes.
I also (perhaps incorrectly) assumed that despite the emit k that comes I them that there would be a better option in modern speakers.
Thanks for the reminder though, I almost forgot they made those, I'll reconsider those.

 

[goodolpg]

There were 4 versions of Infinitesimals.
1.0 and 2.0 had the Watkins dual voice coil woofer, pretty rare if looking to buy only the woofers but Infinitesimals themselves are fairly common, version 1.0 and 2.0 are around $350-$400 in good fully working condition, 3.0 are somewhat cheaper and 4.0 cheaper yet.
3.0 used the 5 inch single voice coil bass/midrange.
Versions 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 used the EMIT tweeter Infinity is famous for, the 4.0 used the round EMIT-R.
4.0 is perhaps the least desirable and it appears that is the version you are referring to.

I mentioned the Infinitesimals because you are familiar with the Infinty "sound" in particular the EMITs.
There's lots of modern small speakers and some would be worth your checking out.
Hopefully someone more familiar with modern small speakers will offer some worth your consideration.
Good luck in your search.

 

[Bahamayellow]

Hello all Infinityphile's!

First thread, first post, but I've been lurking around here for quite a while gathering all the priceless gems of wisdom that left laying around in here...

Now I'm at a crossroad and I seek guidance from the masters.

I suppose a brief summary of my current situation is in order...


So I'm in my mid 20's, and have been raised with Infinity sound most of my life. My Father bought a set of barely used Infinity RSIIIa speakers and an Adcom GFA-555mkii when I was still sucking down bottles every few hours. (Milk- not beer)
Somewhere along the line he snagged a set of mint Infinity RS6b's also.

So I've heard them pretty much my whole life.
My dad doesn't use them anymore, and I talked him into letting me keep them instead of donating them.
He did however warn me that it's easy to waste a lot of money on this hobby. (Truer words are rarely spoken)

So I saved and bought a Yamaha RX-A830 to be the brains of the operation.
Last fall I snagged a pair of Infinity PS310W subwoofers on clearance to fill out the low end.

However the room I have for them now is rather small, 10X10X8ft

I also have the issue of placement. The spot where they would need to sit is only 51" wide. The speakers themselves are 18 wide each, leaving a meager 15" wide gap in between them.
Which is not even wide enough to put components in between them, so I'll have to run them from one of the rear corners of the room.
I do watch movies and game in there also so I'd need to mount my 55" 4K tv above them.

I'm also questioning if I'm willing to haul all the big (beautiful, but very big) speakers around with me for the next 10-20+ years.

I love my Old Infinity sound, polydomes and emits are just fantastic, and I really don't understand why they quit making them, I've heard the stories, but it still is a crying shame.

If I'm going to downsize my speakers, I'm going all the way. No towers. Period. Otherwise I'd keep the one I have.

I'm aiming for bookshelf speakers.
Preferably 15-16 tall and appropriate width.

Which leaves me with primarily 6.5 two way bookshelves.
I'd rather have at least a 6.5 even though l'll still have my two subs for bass.

So that's what I'm hunting for, price point under $1000 per pair, im willing to wait for a sale if needed.
If you had to go this route what would you choose?

I'm liking the looks of the SVS Ultra Bookshelves, but 2.2 performance is paramount, not 5.2

P.S. I tried the Infinity IL10's, while I like them for they're bass output and overall smoothness they're a bit "boxy" sounding in comparison, I did an. A-B test vs the rs6b, and every time I switched bacl to the RS6b it was like someone blew the roof off, so open and natural.
IL40 actually sound very good in my book, still not as airy but nice full midrange which opens the sound up; but they're floorstanders so they're out.

So thanks for reading my book, I hope it helps save a few questions, though I'm sure I'm missing things this is already far to long.


Thanks for your help!

Hello just wondering if the room they are going is 10x10x 8

 

[gt4viper]

There were 4 versions of Infinitesimals.
1.0 and 2.0 had the Watkins dual voice coil woofer, pretty rare if looking to buy only the woofers but Infinitesimals themselves are fairly common, version 1.0 and 2.0 are around $350-$400 in good fully working condition, 3.0 are somewhat cheaper and 4.0 cheaper yet.
3.0 used the 5 inch single voice coil bass/midrange.
Versions 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 used the EMIT tweeter Infinity is famous for, the 4.0 used the round EMIT-R.
4.0 is perhaps the least desirable and it appears that is the version you are referring to.

I mentioned the Infinitesimals because you are familiar with the Infinty "sound" in particular the EMITs.
There's lots of modern small speakers and some would be worth your checking out.
Hopefully someone more familiar with modern small speakers will offer some worth your consideration.
Good luck in your search.

I was actually looking at these: https://www.ebay.com/itm/280863616850

Thanks for you reply, it's a little hard to keep all of Infinitys models straight.

Hello just wondering if the room they are going is 10x10x 8

Yes it is a 10 foot by 10 foot room with 8 foot ceilings. Pretty terrible for acoustics from what I hear, especially bass, one of the reasons I chose Infinity R.A.B.O.S. equipped subwoofers.

 

[Bahamayellow]

Here is my room which has roughly the same dimensions actually my width is a few inches shorter than yours. My Kappa 9s measures 60 inches high by 22 inches wide by 8 inches deep. A bit larger than yours. I have a 55 inch tv same as you and a surround setup with different speakers and 2 different racks of equipment. The speakers are 2 ft from back wall and I sit 8 ft away from the tv and speakers. I have 2 subs as well a 12 inch infinity on the left wall and a large M and K dual 12 inch sub behind the the kappa9s. Is it ideal heck no but It all sounds incredible and the beauty of the room is I don't really need to turn it up that much. Here's my set up. The surround stuff is on the tv rack where as the amps and everything for the 9s are on the right wall. Hope the pics help out. Actually my room is 8ft wide from the big infinity speaker to the big infinity speaker. My room is about 9.5ft wide so i was able to squeeze the skinnier speakers in. That's if you decide to keep the RSIii

 

[Bahamayellow]

I was actually looking at these: https://www.ebay.com/itm/280863616850

Thanks for you reply, it's a little hard to keep all of Infinitys models straight.



Yes it is a 10 foot by 10 foot room with 8 foot ceilings. Pretty terrible for acoustics from what I hear, especially bass, one of the reasons I chose Infinity R.A.B.O.S. equipped subwoofers.

Those speakers are suppose to sound really nice. I haven't heard them personally but I'm sure they will fill the room with nice sound. The price seems reasonable as well. Let us know what u decide on and post some pics if you can.

 

[slimpikkins]

"Bookshelf" speakers take up almost as much floor space as floor standers with their stands. The Infinitesimals are wonderful but will not compete with a proper working pair of RSIIIb no matter what sub you would be using. Can not speak for the Modulus. They monitors sell for around the same price as the Infinitesimals. The ones in the link are over priced as that price is for one...

 

[buzshaws]

If you're considering Modulus please note they do only go down to 100hz. They just don't reach low enough to run without a subwoofer. Also the matching Modulus subwoofer I believe was servo driven and pretty fast. As a system it was designed to sound pretty seamless so finding a suitable sub that actually stays out of the way of the satellite's virtues will probably require careful matching for them to sound their best.

On the other hand, Infinitesimals (v1, v2) are -2dB at 65Hz. I tried a sub with mine and even at 40Hz it still got in the way. I prefer to listen to them full range. Of course, im not in my 20's and if you're used to much larger classic Infinity's, small 2-ways run full-range, especially minis, might not be satisfying. As slimpikkens said, bookshelf speakers on stands take as much real estate as many floor-standers unless you wall mount or hang them from the ceiling like swag lamps (always wanted to try that!). There's a '70's idea, and don't forget, they sound best with orange or green shag carpet

 

[tlcasper]

There are post here all the time about people regretting selling great speakers, especially if they were a passed down family item.
The spaces you live in will change, the desire for great speakers won't.

 

[gt4viper]

Thanks for all the replys!

@Bahamayellow
Nice man cave! I wish my i had a completely dedicated space, but these are actually going in my bedroom. So everything has to squeeze in around my queen bed. That's one of the factors that's pulling me toward the keep my RSIIIa side, is that I'll have a larger space for them someday, then I can pick up two more pairs of them and a couple more Adcoms and go full 6.2 . On the other hand it would be far more fiscally responsable to just get a pair of decent bookshelves and delete all my audio related bookmarks and just call good enough good enough!

@slimpikkins Well for modern towers I agree they take about the same space as bookshelves. But these old Infinities are about twice as wide modern bookshelf speakers. I agree those Modulus are overpriced also.

@buzshaws The fact modulus barely get to 100hz is my biggest problem with them, I would have to cross any sub very high to get a smooth blending, and besides that I like all my speakers to be able to stand on their own merits, and the subwoofer is just a bonus. They don't have to be full range, but music should be enjoyable without assistance.
While the infinitesimals are nice little speakers I just know they're not going to meet my output needs, I don't play loud often, but I occasionally like to blast Top Gun or AC/DC and I can't see a that small of a speaker keeping up.



Has anyone heard the SVS Ultra bookshelf?
Or really any other modern bookshelf that sounded good next to your Infinities?
I read lots of reviews, but they all are written from a "for its class" scale. Those are all but useless though, I mean I can write a rave review about my LG soundbar, as long as I compare it to my tv speakers. But even my old Infinity RS 2000.2's destroy it.

Thanks again do the input!

 

[gt4viper]

There are post here all the time about people regretting selling great speakers, especially if they were a passed down family item.
The spaces you live in will change, the desire for great speakers won't.

True. Very true.

 

[bshorey]

My office system, which tends to get the most listening time nowadays, consists of a pair of Infinitesimal 0.2's and a powered Infinity 10" servo subwoofer. The Infinitesimals with the Watkins dvc woofer are amazing little speakers, and with the subwoofer the combo sounds much, much larger than it really is. No, they can't fully replace what the OP already has, but they will provide a lot of high quality output while taking up a small amount of space.

That said, I'd second or third the thought about tossing dads speakers. I'd try to find a way to make them work, maybe build or put together some cabinetry or shelving around them so you can get a little more separation. The 55" television isn't going to fit into that 51" space either, which means you've kind of got to move things out of that space anyhow. And quite frankly, sticking a couple of tiny speakers into a 51" wide spot really isn't going to give you any better separation than what you've got now. If your current speakers are 18" wide, and jammed right against the outer edge of that 51", then you've got 33" of separation between the mids and tweeters (assuming they're centered). My infinitesimals are 6" wide, which means you'd go from 33" of separation to 45" of separation. Either way, I don't think you want to put either set of speakers inside that 51" wide space.

A room diagram might help, but assuming that 51" wide space is centered in the room, I'd perhaps mount the television across it, stick whatever you end up with for speakers in the corners on either side, and use the rest of that cubby to house electronics, a center channel or subwoofer, or whatever. Post a picture or a room diagram and maybe somebody can chime in with some good ideas.

bs

 

[gt4viper]

l will try to take some photos of the room later today.

The 51" wide area is in between the entry door and the closet door. The entry door is on the right.
I'm considering putting an av rack in the corner on the right side of the bed to hold all the components, then all I'd have to do is run speaker wire to my mains and one hdmi to the tv.
But I'm still left with having to mount the tv above the speakers four feet in the air, with barely any separation. Not the worst, but not preferred. Then again my T.V. just fits between the doors, so any speaker must go under or over the tv.

I considered moving the bed, but any other configuration leaves me with no place for surrounds.
On the left wall there is a window that's about 40 wide.
If I rearranged so my speakers were on the right wall I'd have 7' to play with. But my bed wouldn't be centered under window, and there would only be 12" on each for speaker stands or as normal people call them "nightstands". Which won't work because I have 27" wide husky tool chests as nightstands.

So many first world problems...

 

[gt4viper]

Sorry to keep double posting but here's a heads up for anyone in AZ.

Infinity RSIIIb set
https://phoenix.craigslist.org/nph/ele/6066973866.html

A bit high priced imho, but look very clean.
No affiliation, just thought someone might like 'em.

 

[srb02]

Sorry, did I miss or mis-read something? You say you have a pair of RS6b's. Awesome pair of old-time bookshelf units.
RS5b's 'll have better bass /w 10" woof, and still old-school. 15x24x10 size.
Newer old one: RS-2000.3/RS-3's, French silk dome tweeter, and 6.5" poly driver, rear ported, sound really nice!
my 2 cents Stu

 

[gt4viper]

Sorry, did I miss or mis-read something? You say you have a pair of RS6b's. Awesome pair of old-time bookshelf units.
RS5b's 'll have better bass /w 10" woof, and still old-school. 15x24x10 size.
Newer old one: RS-2000.3/RS-3's, French silk dome tweeter, and 6.5" poly driver, rear ported, sound really nice!
my 2 cents Stu

I do have RS6bs and I have considered using them for my mains, but they are still nearly twice the size of a "normal" bookshelf speaker.
Nice to hear i positive opinion on the 2000.3/RS-3, I have a pair of the 2000.2/RS-2 with the cheap polycarbonate tweeter and they are very, standard. Nothing really offensive, they're fine for H/T but don't cut the mustard for music.
Thanks for the recommendation!

 

[Bahamayellow]

l will try to take some photos of the room later today.

The 51" wide area is in between the entry door and the closet door. The entry door is on the right.
I'm considering putting an av rack in the corner on the right side of the bed to hold all the components, then all I'd have to do is run speaker wire to my mains and one hdmi to the tv.
But I'm still left with having to mount the tv above the speakers four feet in the air, with barely any separation. Not the worst, but not preferred. Then again my T.V. just fits between the doors, so any speaker must go under or over the tv.

I considered moving the bed, but any other configuration leaves me with no place for surrounds.
On the left wall there is a window that's about 40 wide.
If I rearranged so my speakers were on the right wall I'd have 7' to play with. But my bed wouldn't be centered under window, and there would only be 12" on each for speaker stands or as normal people call them "nightstands". Which won't work because I have 27" wide husky tool chests as nightstands.

So many first world problems...
View attachment 900147

Sorry I miss understood the room. Thought it was one open space and not a bedroom. That being said now I know ur delema. I have the same issue. A smaller wall to put the tv against and really no where to put the speakers. I had infinity reference 3s which sounded great but large for a book shelf and Advent 1s another large bookshelf for the space. In the end I went with modern monitor audio bookshelfs the BX1. These little guys belt out a lot of sound for their size, it really works for the space. My tv and audio sit in front in a rack similar to your space but my speakers sit to the right side of the bed spread out. I'm thinking about getting the next size up monitor audios which have been improved but still way smaller than a vintage bookshelf. I would keep the RSIii in storage until u have a space ready for them.

 

[gt4viper]

@Bahamayellow
How is the fidelity on the bx1's?
I've heard the they are a bit mid centric (well the bronze two anyway) which might be a good for fit me as I love the polydome, so long as the treble isn't to recessed. How do you like the c-cam tweeter?
I'm actually considering going as high as the silver 2 which get me into an 8" driver with a 3db of 40hz, so it should have strong mid/upper bass impact and be able to handle a relatively low crossover to the subs.

So I guess my biggest deal in a new speaker is to not end up wishing I had dedicated midrange.
I dont have goldenear hearing, I think my Infinity IL40's sound great, but they're still big, and the ones I bought off fleabay are damaged anyway.

Also something to remember, which may or may not matter much, is that I have a Adcom GFA-555mkii so if needed I can drive anything this side of a Kappa 9 I think.