infinity rs3's

nissan guy

Super Member
I was just wondering if anyone has any experience with the infinity rs3's? I havent personally heard them. So i have no idea how they sound, but i have a chance to get a set. I usually listen to rock,classic rock and alternative that being said i have no idea how the rs3's would sound with any of those types of music. Here are some pics. They look to have had the bottom driver replaced at some point, i am not sure what brand it was replaced with.
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Yep, the lower woofer has been replaced with something non-Infinity. Unless the price is knocked down accordingly, that would be a deal-breaker for me.

Although they are quite serviceable with rock music (they work just fine by me), it has often been said that Infinity speakers of this era work best with jazz and classical. Seems like most good rock speakers are bass reflex designs (ported or passive radiator). But the only real way to know is to give them a listen.
 
The RSIII is a classic in that even though Infinity designers employed multiple woofers in other models, the RSIII is the only example I can think of where Infinity used a dedicated woofer, a single driver dedicated to frequencies 100Hz and below.
The RS III's sound really good and look super cool.
I substituted an 8" Infinty QE woofer for the bottom driver and got much better bass response....... I imagine if the speaker cabinet could take a 10" driver the sound would approximate the RSII's.
Good luck and enjoy!

Actually I recently discovered that not only does the RS III use a dedicated bass system but also the RSII's, much to my excitement.
 
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I may end up picking them up. I am not sure yet though, i am having the owner check into what type of drivers are in the bottom. I may just see if he can lower the price a bit on them, they are very cheap already though. The only thing is they are quite a drive for me.
 
I don't know what caliber of speaker becomes available in your neck of the woods, but the RSIII is worthy of a drive not too out of the way.
The mismatched woofer is easily attainable from EBAY as it and it's equivalents come up quite often and don't cost an arm and a leg.
They look to be in very good condition. Go for it.
 
infinityrs3grillsoff.jpg

They actually need 3 woofers to be brought back to original. Are the woofers hard to source? Are they expensive? I seem to find lots of qa,qb speakers avialable on ebay, would any of those be suitable replacements?

They are pretty cheap, but if i have to put alot of money into them i dont know if it will be worth it in terms of sound quality per dollar. Someone correct me if i am wrong.
 
nissan guy,

While I can't say if it'd be worth it to you to restore your RS III's; I do know if I owned a pair, it would be worth it to me to keep them running. Those speakers are definitely worth the cost and effort to restore.

If you need to be cost conscious in the restoration, just find 1 replacement woofer to start, and swap out the one odd upper woofer. Since the upper and lower woofers cross over at different frequencies, it would work better to at least match the upper midbass-woofers 1st, then as funds permit, buy more woofers as they become available, and replace both lower bass woofers at the same time, to complete the process of bringing the drivers back to stock.

As to availability, that's a fairly common Infinity woofer:

http://www.infinity-classics.de/infinity/technik/manuals/RS_III_technical_sheet.pdf

8" WOOFER
#902-4976
Substitute #902-5030

It's also used in the RS-4B, RS-6B, RS-7B, RS-8, and the RSe (if not more). So, look for those model drivers. I don't think the older Qa and Qb drivers would work as well. But, you never know.

Also, there's a current auction (not mine), for a set of 4 RS-4B woofers, that are compatible with your RS III's.

Heck, Infinity even still lists a current version of that 8" woofer as still being available from Infinity Parts & Accessories:

http://www.harmanaudio.com/search_browse/partlist.asp?Parts=CS940404&BrandId=INF&MarketId=HOM

So, give it a try. And if you change your mind, let me know. Maybe I'll take 'em off your hands! :D

Good Luck!



infinityrs3grillsoff.jpg

They actually need 3 woofers to be brought back to original. Are the woofers hard to source? Are they expensive? I seem to find lots of qa,qb speakers avialable on ebay, would any of those be suitable replacements?

They are pretty cheap, but if i have to put alot of money into them i dont know if it will be worth it in terms of sound quality per dollar. Someone correct me if i am wrong.
 
Thanks for the info. I havent actually bought them yet, they are very reasonably priced and i am going through the pros and cons of them right now. I just dont know it these would be a set that i would like alot. Also would a ss kenwood kr7400 power them or would i have to run them with something higher powered than 65wpc? I know the power rating is 20-200watts, but will i be under powering them?
 
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Before buying these, you need to measure that clear poly-cone woofer. It looks like a 10" woofer, which would mean that the hole for that woofer has probably been enlarged and would no longer accept the stock 8" driver.
 
I am pretty sure the silver trim ring/edge just makes them look bigger. I could be wrong, they are suposed to have 2 8" woofers from what i have read.
 
You may be correct, but I'd still measure the distance between the screw holes and compare them to the screws mounting the clear poly woofer.

And yes, the RS-III uses 8" woofers.
 
I have the RS-III's that were restored by Sir Byrd. The speakers sound awesome. They're very energetic and push out each note with a purpose if you know what I mean. Bass is surprisingly very, very good. I have pairs of Celestion Ditton 662's and Ditton 66 Mark II's as well which have woofers that go down to 18 hz and the Infinity's actually have a more distinct, faster, more powerful bass response though the Celestion theoretically go lower.
 
Cool i may have to pick them up if he still has them after xmas. I was looking for as much info on them as i could find. I really didnt want to take a long trip to pick up something i wouldnt want to keep. The more positive things i hear about them the more it makes me want to get them.

The person is the original owner and he said he replaced the drivers that had bad surrounds quite a while ago and the new ones just bolted in place. he couldnt remember the brand of the replacements, but i can find originals pretty easily it seems. So he didnt modify the cabinets at all.
 
If you get them bring a truss, they are heavy as hell :D.

I would assume you will be replacing some of those black woofers, maybe add $200 to get them up to original standards.
 
It could be an older or newer version, i remember some of the other infinitys of the same era had silver framed drivers. He is the original owner and claims to have only replaced 3 of the 4 8" drivers, which he said bolted right in. He just cant remember what brand the replacements were.

I am going to contact him over the weekend and go check them out, for the price i cant go wrong, if he still has them. I will be bringing a friend and a truck if i do pick them up, these do have real oak cabinets dont they? I ask because then i am sure they are heavy.
 
MDF with veneer. Not the best build quality, awesome sound. The ones I had somebody took 2 of the woofers out and replaced them with rat shack sub woofers :no:
 
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