They're here and they're MINE, Bwaahaahaa! (Delta/Gammas)

Arkay

Lunatic Member
They're here and they're MINE, Bwaahaahaa! (Delta/Gammas) (Now with PICTURES!)

I've mentioned this in a couple of posts over the past week or two, so this won't be any suprise to some here.

Last month, a guy in a shop here tipped me off that they were getting in a pair of Infinity Delta/Gamma speakers this month. Been on my short-list of desireable speakers for a while. I don't have room for Betas or 1Bs (I won't even mention IRS Vs :D), but Delta/Gammas are a lot easier to make room for.

I went back a day or two later and said I wanted them, could they please hold them for me when they arrived? "YES," the guy said, and I went away happy.

Originally they were expected "by the 8th to the 10th", but when I went in on the 8th, I was told they'd arrive by next Wednesday. Oh, I can wait...

But then a day or two ago, I got a feeling I should do something to make SURE I would get first crack at these. I went and talked to them, and the guy assured me that he'd hold them for me, but if I really wanted to, I could put a deposit down. Acting on instinct, and after hearing they were coming from Japan and the seller claimed that they were in near-mint condition, I put nearly a thousand bucks down. The shop owner said I could examine them and if I didn't want them, he'd give me the deposit back, so the risk was more on him than on me, anyway.

Today I got a call from the shop telling me that the speakers had arrived!

So this evening I went there, and sure enough, there they were, with a pair of RS IIbs in front of them. The RS IIbs I mention for two reasons. First, the woofers had very strange surrounds, not foam nor rubber nor cloth, but what looked like 4 semi-circles of pale deerskin chamois leather. WTF? The guy in that shop said they actually sounded fantastic that way. Live and learn.

The other reason is that the guy who bought the IIbs saw the Delta/Gammas when they arrived, and went nuts trying to buy them, offering hundreds more than I was paying and begging, pleading to the shop guys to let him buy them. The shop guy had to show him the shop's copy of my receipt for the speakers, before he would accept that they had actually been sold. He stared at it for a moment, sighed and finally gave up trying. The shop owner told me that under the guy's pressing, if I had not put down that deposit, he probably would have caved in and sold them to the guy, before I had a chance to see the things. Thank God for instinct!

I don't blame the other guy for trying, though. These things are almost "time machine" perfect. They almost gleam. The diaphrams for the SEMIT, EMIT, EMIM and L-EMIM are very bright, smooth and shiny, with absolutely no corrosion. The wood frames are smooth, glossy and utterly unblemished, except for a very small bit of white paint or plaster on one top corner, which started coming off under my finger when I rubbed at it; I think it bumped something when they were unloading the speakers. Even the corners of the grills are clean and sharp and un-worn, and I couldn't detect any dust on the frame or grill cloth. I doubt there are cleaner Delta/Gammas out there, and not many as clean as these. I'm thrilled with the shape they are in. Leave it to the Japanese to know how to take care of audio gear!

The guys in the shop were talking about how good they were, how surprised some of them were at how they trounced many speakers they'd heard that were better-known (at least here) or which sold for many times the price. They decided that I knew my stuff, for having grabbed these early and unseen/unheard. More credit than I deserve, but a reflection of what is and isn't as well-known here. JBLs and Tannoys and Rogers such are almost a dime a dozen, but early Infinities are quite uncommon, compared to in the States. Anyway, I digress...

After physical inspection, I listened to them for a couple of hours, during which time I also paid the balance owed, making them entirely mine. :banana: They were as wonderful-souding as one would expect. They were being played with the house amp, designed by the guys from the shop. It's on a par with the high-end amps that surround it (more on that later), and sounded great. Another couple guys were there, and we had some good discussions about the speakers, how they compared with others, etc... They all agreed that they were pretty much blown away with how good they sounded, well beyond what they would have expected. I wasn't, but I've heard them and other big old Infinities before, and know what they are capable of. In fact, I was thinking how they'd improve with the addition of the servo box, and in a different environment that wasn't cluttered with other big speakers and stuff.

I had already agreed to leave them in the shop for a little while before bringing them home. This gives the shop guy a chance to enjoy them, and also gives me a chance to back and audition them with a whole bunch of very rare, excellent amps they have in the shop. I'll be able to compare the 101M with the MX-10000 (Important to me because I'm considering buying the MX-10000), and to hear others like Krell, Gryphon, Onkyo, etc... over the coming days. Should be fun!

I was at pains to emphasize that they had to be responsible for keeping the speakers in the same virtually pristine condition, which they agreed to, but I'm not really worried on that score. If I didn't have faith in them, I wouldn't have left the speakers a minute longer than necessary. I did take a few snaps with my phone, and I'll see if I can post them for anyone interested. The shop itself is full of neat, rare/uncommon stuff that one rarely sees outside of perhaps the Vintage Audio website.

Anyway, this was the most expensive pair of speakers I've ever bought, but also the finest, and in really, really, really nice condition, almost unbelievably so for their age. I'm thrilled to have them, not least as they bring me one step closer to a "final" system. Just a couple more bits to go (phono stage is my biggest remaining target, plus a great rack to house it all in) and then I won't care if I never get another upgrade. There won't me much better to upgrade to, anyway. :D

Just wanted to share this. If you made it this far, thanks for putting up with my drivel.

OH, afterward I walked around a night-time flea market, and picked up a bunch of CDs for a quarter apiece, including several DSD discs, HDCD discs, etc... including stuff from Brahms to the Police, even some Jazz. Listening to a few of them now, and some are really good. Sure couldn't beat the price! Some days just go well, I guess! :D



Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go do a little :banana: :banana: :banana:...
 
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Okay, here are some images. I apologize that these are snapshots taken with a phone in dim lighting, so the quality sucks, but at least they'll give you a little taste of what one of the audio shops here is like (each one is different).

PICS 1 & 2.
This particular shop is relatively long-and-thin; the gear racks continue behind where this pic was taken from, for about as far as they extend in front in the pic. The shop gets a lot of rare Japanese-market stuff, the kind of things that are "unobtanium" elsewhere, and some other stuff from Europe and the States. It has a very casual, almost "warehouse"-like feel to it.

The view in this pic is similar to the first glimpse I got of the Delta/Gammas, except that the RS IIs in front were really in FRONT of them then, with the Delta/Gammas just peeking out behind them. The RS IIs were playing at the time, but were moved aside to hook up the Delta/Gammas.

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PIC 3.
This is a closer pic of the left-side Delta/Gamma. The big speaker behind it is the Duntech Sovereign, a rare and EXTREMELY good speaker from Australia. After listening to the Deltas for a while, we listened to them for a bit, using the same sources, cables, etc... I can't say that the quality dropped off; it was more a question of listening preferences, with each having its strengths and weaknesses. The Sovereigns are more expensive, though, and the Delta/Gammas give better bang-for-buck, and probably as good bang overall.

On the shelves on the left, you can see a Gryphon Antileon (the black amp in the middle with a tube amp on top), with an Onkyo Grand Integra M510, the biggest, baddest amp that Onkyo ever made on the near side of it, and below the Gryphon is (IIRC) a Mark Levinson 27.5.

On the wooden shelves to the right, you can see a Yamaha 101M on the top shelf, a Cello pre-amp on the middle shelf below it, and an Audiogenics power amp on the bottom (lit up; we were using it to audition the speakers). Audiogenics is the house brand of the guys who own/run this shop; they've spent a number of years developing it, and are now doing final refinements and developing marketing plans. I think they've sold a couple of dozen thus far, all local sales. All the other big amps in the place have been used to A/B their own work against, to make it really good. At a cost of about $5,000, it's a relative bargain at present. If they succeed in establishing the name, it might get costlier. (Free plug over. Disclaimer: I have no affiliation whatsoever with this product, other than knowing the guys who have made it.)

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PIC 4
This is a pic of the other (right side) Delta/Gamma. On the shelves to the left you'll see a Yamaha GT-CD1, which we were using to play CDs on. Incidentally, this unit has been A/B compared with a SLEW of other brands like Wadia and some really exotic/rare "statement" units from Japan, and NONE have out-performed it overall. Although I've long known it's a very good-sounding CD player, I didn't fully appreciate just HOW good it was, until this place started A/Bing players and it just keeps out-performing just about everything. They use this one to demo their amps, because of how good it sounds. [Note: the GT-CD2 is not in the same league; if you are going to get one, go for the CD-1 if you can.]

You can also see a second Onkyo Grand Integra M510. I wouldn't be surprised if this is the only place on the planet outside of Japan where you can see two of these in one room. There can't even be many shops in Japan that could say that. What you cannot see is that sitting beside that Onkyo, just outside of the picture, is the Yamaha MX-10000. Within the next few days I'll be testing it out (and some of the other big amps) with the Delta/Gammas, and perhaps eventually buying it. In the foreground is a McIntosh 75, with a box of tubes and stuff beside it.

Also of note in this picture is the woofers on the RS IIbs. Note the weird, white look of them. They are made of four semi-circular pieces of overlapping suede/chamois leather-like material. I have no idea what the thinking was behind them, or whether there is any science behind them. I didn't have a chance to hear them long enough to form an opinion of them, either. These, like the Delta/Gammas, came from Japan, and Japanese sometimes do unusual things with audio! If they are still there when I go back, I'll try to listen, but I know they are already sold (to the guy who TRIED to get my Delta/Gammas), and the new owner may have picked them up already.

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How lovely! Congratulations! :beerchug:

I'll read the whole post, just let me get my glasses. Be right back.



*door slams*





*car engine starting*





*burning tires screaming*
 
Congratulations!
I've not had a chance to ever listen to them.
It sounds like you and several others agree they sound really good.
Just the sight of them makes me want a pair.
 
Very happy for you Arkay, I am sure they will be enjoyed by you in the future. Keep us updated with pics when you get a chance.
 
YIKES! I just posted the pics above, and they're all weirdly-oriented. :wtf: :screwy:
I guess I can blame it on the iPhone (because I want to, hating all evil Apple things!), but after uploading them to the AK website and clicking on the link as usual, they all looked normal. I have no idea why they are all bizarrely rotated. If anyone can help with how to fix this, I'd appreciate help.
 
Congrats on your score, that's a great story on acquiring an awesome pair of Infinitys.

So where did you do the happy feet dance :music:.
 
Congrats on your score, that's a great story on acquiring an awesome pair of Infinitys.

So where did you do the happy feet dance :music:.

Happy feet dance? Naw, that was back in Arizona days, or when I find gold with the metal detector.

But maybe I can do this?

:banana: :banana: :banana:
:banana: :banana: :banana:
:banana: :banana: :banana:
 
Congratulations on 1 buying a great pair of Infinities and 2nd posting some pics.

I am sure someone will be able to rotate them for you, my neck can't take much more
twisting.
 
YIKES! I just posted the pics above, and they're all weirdly-oriented. :wtf: :screwy:
I guess I can blame it on the iPhone (because I want to, hating all evil Apple things!), but after uploading them to the AK website and clicking on the link as usual, they all looked normal. I have no idea why they are all bizarrely rotated. If anyone can help with how to fix this, I'd appreciate help.

I figured being in the far east would explain the pic on it's side. But unless Hong Kong is in the Southern hemisphere I have no explanation for the upside down pictures.

But seriously, those look sweet.
 
Here you go. It is hard to believe he has never uploaded any pics. Looks like a fun place to shop, but he sure needs one clean room for setting up for customers to audition.



 
Wow, thanks for the pics and story. That's a lot of gear in little real estate, they most do well to be able to support that much merchandise. If funds were limitless thats how my basement would look ;)
Jim
 
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