RS IIIa vs RS II

mwc951

Member
In my main system I'm currently using a refurbed pair of RS IIIa's.
They sound great and I'm happy with them.
A pair of RS II's appeared not too far from me, price seems reasonable.

I'm trying to justify the purchase cost & effort to get them home.
An ambiguous question for sure, but how different will the RS II's sound compared to my RS IIIa's?
 
Go for it.

I have RS-IIIa's, and while they sound great IMO, I am really looking for / on the market for RS-II's as an upgrade. You get the dipole sound (both mids and tweeter) and the amplification requirements are roughly the same as with RS-IIIa's. And for what I have read, RS-II's are clearly higher end than IIIa's.

You also do not have to deal with the deteriorating mids that Kappa's are plagued with since the mids in RS-IIs are traditional cones. Also, the immediate successor, RS-IIa/b, has the fancier, but also more expensive to repair EMIM midranges.

So for me RS-II seems to sit in a nice sweet spot as an upgrade.
 
Go for it.

I have RS-IIIa's, and while they sound great IMO, I am really looking for / on the market for RS-II's as an upgrade. You get the dipole sound (both mids and tweeter) and the amplification requirements are roughly the same as with RS-IIIa's. And for what I have read, RS-II's are clearly higher end than IIIa's.

You also do not have to deal with the deteriorating mids that Kappa's are plagued with since the mids in RS-IIs are traditional cones. Also, the immediate successor, RS-IIa/b, has the fancier, but also more expensive to repair EMIM midranges.

So for me RS-II seems to sit in a nice sweet spot as an upgrade.

I agree. The II's are quite probably the easiest to own big (kind of) Infinity.
 
If you can get them RSII get them

you will not be disappointed , They sound great, have few issues re upkeep. However to get the best out of them you need clean low impedance power. a receiver will not do. Only part that can fail will be emit (tweeter) if not enough power, but they are readily available on ebay. I did not upgrade to RSII A/B as the mids if they fail are very expensive if obtainable. Classic big Infinity Speaker with no know drawbacks. IMHO:banana::banana::banana:
 
Adcom GFA-5800 powers the RS IIIa's to crazy volume levels.
Making arrangements to do the deal for the RS II's.
Thanks for the input.
 
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The midrange is far far better in the II. Very fine speaker indeed. I have the IIb as well and they are better still iimho. That big adcom will not even break a sweat.
Jim
 
Not bad for <$500!
Yes, they sound much different than the RS IIIa. Far better to my ears.
More detailed & tighter bass with the crappy test system in the garage.
Can't wait to get them cleaned up and into the house.
Here they are fresh from unload, pre murphy's oil soap, magic eraser & lemon oil.
Can't wait to get started phase 1...cosmetics!!
 

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Yes, very good deal. That seems to be the going price for local pickup which is under value when compared to what you get new for 4 times that price. I snooped over to your local cl and saw them. Glad you got them a little cheaper than the asking price. If you have the patience you can really get them to image well.

The greatest difference from the small 2" dome of the IIIa will be the geater suface area of the 6, 5" poly mids. They provide a large, wonderful, life like image. The top end should be better too with the rear firing tweeter.

Did yours come with the rear grills? Unfortunately many no longer have those. They originally came with grills and a foam insert with holes cut in for the mid magnets. The inserts have all turned to dust by now and many of the grills are in land fills. If you find the mid and tweeter rear wave too much for you perhaps you can tack a clothe cover over them and add a tiny bit of poly fill to your taste.
Jim
 
Jim...thanks for the info.
One reason I got them for less than asking price was one of the rear grills is missing.
The one included is perfect. Can use it for a template. No foam for either.

Both side rails of one of the front grills are completely fractured.
Need to figure out how to repair it. The other grill is perfect.

Functionally, they sound great.
Phase 2 will be an update of the crossovers with Solen caps.
 
All cleaned up, ready to take the place of the RS IIIa's tomorrow.

Would love to have tube power big enough to run these!
 

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When you set them up in your listening space place them well off the front wall and a couple feet off the side walls.
They will breathe and please with enough elbow room.
 
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