OK, went and listened to these today. The seller ran the RSIII speakers with a really, really nice, well restored Pioneer SX-1280. I took a few CDs (Pink Floyd The wall, Love supreme by Coltrane and a couple good and favorite classical albums). The owner was gracious to let me listen for a while.
The good - The cabinet is in excellent condition (no chips or dings), and the refoaming has been done by a good local shop. Maybe the cabinet is a little dry, but a coat of oil will bring them up really nicely. All drivers look good visually, crossoever switches are a bit scratchy but nothing deOxit won't fix. I also saw the note from the repair shop that said the crossover ckt has been inspected and is in good condition. The speakers have consecutive serial numbers.
The bad: I was expecting to be blown away by the sound, but nothing of that sort happened. Perhaps I had my expectations were too much. That is not to say the speakers were bad at all. The setup was fine, the speakers had pretty good stereo imaging and the listening space was set up decently well. They did fill up the space very nicely.
My main speakers at home are the below Bowers and Wilkins series 500 DM580 (from the early 90s I think), and I use them with a lowly, but good, Marantz 2230. I picked these speakers used for a decent price and I like the sound.
http://stereonomono.blogspot.com/2012/03/b-500-series-dm580.html
The main reason why I am looking at the Infinity is that I want to move the B&W to my bedroom, and I want a nicer speaker for my living room. The Infinity definitely have "presence" (for lack of a better word, haha!). Been going back and forth between buying modern speakers (good used ones) and vintage (really good models and only if they are in good condition). I think speakers are the hardest part to decide on, since there are just so many options and it is not possible to read specs and understand the performance. Whatever people describe in reviews are simply opinions since there is that personal sound factor to consider. I chose the B&Ws simply because the price was good and the sound was good, no more, no less. I wish I could do the same with these Infinity speakers. I guess what I am saying is, it was not love at first hearing.
The seller is not in a hurry, and said he'll wait for me and give me one more listen if I want. It's very hard to get a sense of price for these - he is asking $400 and I have no idea where they are on the spectrum. I should be able to bargain a bit. Any opinions?
This is going to be a somewhat difficult decision .. I can always wait I suppose, but that means more reading and more searching and more listening. Which can be fun. Or not!
ps:
A stupid question - what is the right way to set up the speakers? As shown in the first photo, or the other way round? These are a mirrored pair, just wondering.