Found Infinity Kappa 6s in a strange place...

gonzothegreat

gonzothegreat

Super Member
The good - and bad news - is where I found them. In a dumpster. Let me repeat that - IN A FREAKING DUMPSTER!!! Just imagine my excitement turning to horror when I realized somebody who owned a pair of Kappas tossed them in the trash. It was a Marc Maron level WTF to beat any WTF of recent memory.

Unfortunately the woofers are gone - and I scoured the dumpster looking for them - and one midrange is torn. The cabinets are in excellent shape and the owner never tried to shoehorn in some Radio Shack or car stereo woofer. They even have what I suspect are factory stands. They are short and slightly tilted back.

There appear to be a few repair options for the poly mids but they aren't cheap at a minimum of $83 each for an "upgraded" black dome.

Pictures to come when I get my garage door working again.

The weirdest part is that I wasn't going to go dumpster diving this weekend because I needed to work on a big project but my gut told me otherwise.
 
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What does dumpster diving for audio gear entail? I've pulled some cool things from dumpsters, but I'd never know where to look for cool audio gear. Sounds like you found an awesome score. Worse comes to worse, and you could part these...
 
I wish there was an audio shop that tosses out great stuff like this but no. I found these in a condo complex populated by middle-income twenty-somethings. No BMWs to be found in the parking lot. I'm guessing the speakers belonged to a parent and the kid beat them to death with a cheap receiver.

I have a soft spot for EMIT Infinities so I probably won't part them out. Been in the game long enough to know sometimes a restoration requires patience and luck to find what you need.
 
Pics as promised http://imgur.com/a/gOFes#0

The cabinet with the torn mid has missing screws and the polyfill has left as well (but that's the least of my concerns). Haven't checked out the drivers but if an EMIT has died I'm pretty sure I have a single EMIT-K floating around the driver pile.

My initial search for a replacement woofer has turned up nothing. Does anyone know the Infinity woofer part number? Not in a huge hurry to get these going.
 
Nice save.

;)

Those stands look Just like some I bought unassembled from GW years ago... Is the top black?

Regardless very nice.


Matt
 
The tops are black with little square marks from some kind of anti-slip bumper. They match the K6 look perfectly.

While I don't want to hack up the cabs, a Google search turned up these woofers as a possible replacement. I'll have to refresh my speaker theory and see if these would be even remotely close (impedance, closed-box/ported, etc)
http://www.mcmelectronics.com/produ...080000131069&gclid=CKDxp_mAhr4CFYY7MgodHE0Abg

Was hoping the same dumpster would have another prize this week but no. Might have to double-check today since its end-of-month moving time.
 
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Very nice! Looking at the pics, you brought home some good stuff. The cabinets look nice enough that they'd be worth saving. FYI, on the polyfill. I've found that Infinity waaaaayyyy overdid the stuffing on many of their speakers, and some of mine have sounded better when I pulled a third to a half of it out. You may have enough to split between both cabs, just pull it all apart and fluff it up... expend it to fill each cab. It's not supposed to be packed super dense, it's supposed to proved millions of different air passages, making an endless maze for the woofer's back wave to travel through.
 
Thanks for the polyfill tips. I have some from other parted-out magnet coffins so if I need to fully restuff the odd one it isn't a big deal. Hopefully I saved a few Infinity hex head screws as well.
 
That's pretty darned cool. And yeah, I would suggest going back and looking for the woofers over the next day or 5. That's very similar to how I found the 2 Altec Valencias, sorta. The early 20 somethings had dumped 1 by the curb, I stopped. After a bit of knocking on the door, I was able to find out that their Uncle had taken the second speaker. So, only 1 Altec Valencia. I decided to do another drive-by the following day. Speaker number 2 had been put at the curb. So, going back could very well give you some treasures.

Biggles
 
I doubt the woofers will be there. He either a.) pulled them out and put them in his car, or b.) replaced them with some cheap audiobahn woofers long ago when the surrounds failed, and recently pulled those "awesome bass monsters" to use somewhere else... pitching the worthless infinity stuff.
 
Why not take this to the infinity forum? Those are really nice. I don't think the original woofers are that costly off the bay and the mid can be repaired.You may be out a couple bills, but those stands are a real bonus too. Great score. Enjoy them.
 
janikphoto said:
I've found that Infinity waaaaayyyy overdid the stuffing on many of their speakers, and some of mine have sounded better when I pulled a third to a half of it out.
Click to expand...

Interesting....might have to try that with my RSIIIa's.
 
Project update time!

A fellow AKer had a pair of 6Ks that he wasn't going to repair anytime soon so he sold me the woofers. Repaired the woofers last week with a kit and installed them Thursday night. The one ripped midrange is still in need of repair but I'll get to that eventually.

The more interesting news is that the person who threw them out apparently had other nice gear. A few weeks ago I found some large no-name three way 70s vintage speakers with two 12" drivers (one passive) and a phenolic paper tweeter. Donated the speakers and kept the Nikko Beta 20 preamp that was sitting on top of it. The pre needed a bunch of solder joints reflowed but I suspect it will work just fine when I get around to hooking it up.

This weekend I checked the dumpster and saw nothing on the surface. Dug around and caught a glimpse of the stylized Kappa logo on a piece of cardboard. You guessed it - the factory boxes for the 6 Kappas with the styrofoam inserts. Never have I been so excited to find empty cardboard boxes!
 
gonzothegreat said:
A fellow AKer had a pair of 6Ks that he wasn't going to repair anytime soon so he sold me the woofers. Repaired the woofers last week with a kit and installed them Thursday night. The one ripped midrange is still in need of repair but I'll get to that eventually.
Click to expand...

Hey Gonzo,

I need to earn some Karma, so if you need a single Kappa mid, I think that I can hook you up! I bought it really cheap on the 'bay, before Infinity parts became the new Gold-Standard! It's from the .1 version of the Kappa's (with the support mesh under the dome), but it should work. If I were you, I'd just swap out the diaphragm into your mid, and be done.

Now, it'll have to wait until the weekend, before I can locate it in my treasure trove, i.e. the attic. So, be patient. But, it's your for free, if you want it!?! Just post some finished speaker pics, and I'll be happy! :D

Later,

Stimpy
 
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