InfiniTesimal Four 3.1 system purchased

Spitfirejoe

Cheap Audio Aficionado
I've been looking for speakers that would complement my Infinity Qb main speakers with comparable tonality in a 5.1 surround set-up. I've been leaning toward finding a set of the InfiniTesimal Reference Standard speakers with the Watkins woofer and what I think are referred to as the "K" version of the Emit Tweeter. These have been difficult to find in good condition. I can find several that are not fully functioning, or need repairs/replacements. A photo I grabbed from the interwebz is attached to this post.

I'd also been watching for a good deal on some InfiniTesimal Fours - with the round Emit "R". I keep seeing them in ones and twos and sometimes with a sub-woofer. None of the deals I saw tripped my trigger.

Until tonight...

I just purchased a complete InfiniTesimal Four 3.1 system off that auction site - Right and Left speakers that I'll use as rear surround units, a dedicated center channel speaker and a sub-woofer. There are some very good photos of this entire set-up on this AK post -
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=267370

I may have slightly overpaid, and I have no idea of the real condition of the speakers I bought - an auction site is always a crapshoot. However, even if they need some work, I think I might be pleased with how these will work with my Qb's. I didn't even know there was a dedicated center channel speaker for the InfiniTesimal Four, so I was surprised when this showed up. I may have to look for another similar sub-woofer in order to get some additional distribution of the bass.

It would be nice to hear from someone who has used these speakers in their own system. I think using them with a set of Qb's in a 5.1 surround system is unusual enough that I won't find anyone with that experience, but I'd love to hear any thoughts or comments you guys might have.
 

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I just bought last week from the auction site a pair of Infinitesimal Fours. I do not have them yet, but I am planning on using them as the rear speakers on my modest HT, for the moment driven by my Onkyo TX-8522 receiver. The fronts will be RS-8a's. My biggest worry is that both 8a's and Fours are quite low impedance, so I am pretty sure that 8522 is not up to the job at any higher volume levels. 8a's are rated at 4-8 Ohm, but the impedance averages at 4.75 Ohm (and drops down to 2.3 Ohm at the lowest), and Infinitesimal Fours are rated at 6 Ohm. We'll see...

In the long run I am planning on using my current main amp, Onkyo 9070 (clean 140 wpc at 4 Ohm), to drive RS-IIIa's in the front and Infinitesimals in the rear in the HT. That should work better :)
 
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I have an Onkyo TX-8522 as well, and I don't think you'll have much problem pushing those speakers. Well, unless you are REALLY trying to push them hard. I know what you are talking about, though. These low impedance speakers are a challenge. The 8522 did a good job with my Qb's, but I gave that receiver to my daughter for her small apartment system. It's WAY overkill for her.

I'll be running this entire Infinity system with a "BPC" Pioneer VSX-D606S temporarily and will be looking for a deal on a newer Pioneer in the "SC" series sometime in the future. I've been well served by the Pioneer equipment I've owned in the past, and I like having the style of the components matched.

I just hope the tonal signature of these little InfiniTesmal speakers will be a good match for the Qb's.
 
I just bought last week from the auction site a pair of Infinitesimal Fours. I do not have them yet, but I am planning on using them as the rear speakers on my modest HT, for the moment driven by my Onkyo TX-8522 receiver. The fronts will be RS-8a's. My biggest worry is that both 8a's and Fours are quite low impedance, so I am pretty sure that 8522 is not up to the job at any higher volume levels. 8a's are rated at 4-8 Ohm, but the impedance averages at 4.75 Ohm (and drops down to 2.3 Ohm at the lowest), and Infinitesimal Fours are rated at 6 Ohm. We'll see...

In the long run I am planning on using my current main amp, Onkyo 9070 (clean 140 wpc at 4 Ohm), to drive RS-IIIa's in the front and Infinitesimals in the rear in the HT. That should work better :)

picked up a set of the RS-8a's today at a local S.A.
refoaming both the woffers and mids-
what's your opinion of them?
there's not much on the internet about these.
 
picked up a set of the RS-8a's today at a local S.A.
refoaming both the woffers and mids-
what's your opinion of them?
there's not much on the internet about these.

I also refoamed the midranges and woofers in my 8a's. It is a nice DIY project. And definitely improved the sound.

There's two versions of 8a, the Classic Infinity site shows a version with EMITs:
http://www.infinity-classics.de/models/Reference-series-1+b-2-10+A+B-1981-86/Reference-Standard-8/body_rs_8.html

while mine have regular polypropylene tweeters and are listed as 8b on the Infinity Classics site:
http://www.infinity-classics.de/models/Reference-series-1+b-2-10+A+B-1981-86/Reference-Standard-8b/body_rs_8b.html

Here's a review article of my Infinity RS-8a's with full specs:
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=556559&stc=1&d=1417060564

I like my 8a's, they got me back to this hobby after all, but they are certainly nowhere near RS-IIIa's, or my current RS-II's in sound quality. The lack of EMIT is of course a glaring omission, but also in general the sound in these speakers has never really excited me. In addition to not that bright highs, the bass and midrange are not that lively as in the higher RSs. So at the moment I have them in the TV room as the main speakers (instead of RS-IIIa's) so that if and when my little kids poke the drivers I will not be too upset...

I have not heard the RS-7 to RS-4a/b range, but I suspect any one of those speakers is much better than RS-8a/b since the design in those is based on RS-IIIa, which is already a great all-purpose speaker IMO.
 

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Arrived Today...

FedEx sat on them in Florida for 3 days over the weekend, but they arrived at my door today. All-in-all, a mixed bag...

Everything was securely packaged for such a heavy box - lots of bubble wrap around each speaker and foam peanuts kept them from bouncing around off each other in transit. Pulled the bubble wrap off, and found the seller had attached the bubble wrap to the speakers with stickers on the grilles. Each sticker left about a 2" by 3" rectangle of glue residue. (See attached photo of the three speakers.)

The Subwoofer looked to be in good shape, though smaller than I had envisioned. I wired it up according to the directions I found online for the BU-1. It worked quite well, though I must admit I didn't hear much difference. Then again, I didn't expect the 8 inch woofer in this sub to add much to the 10 inch woofers in my Qb's. I may see if I can find another one to run a 2 sub system. I'll back burner this idea for now.

The other speakers were larger than I thought they would be. The center channel speaker looks to be in good shape. I have not fired up the surround sound system to test it yet, so can't say for sure if it's good. Stay tuned.

The right and left satellite speakers were both suffering from age - foam surrounds starting to rot. No breaks were seen, but I could tell they were no longer flexing properly - kind of stiff. So I wired them up as the "B" set in order to do "A/B Testing" against the Qb's. The tone of the sound from the Infinitesimals was VERY similar to that of the Qb's. So I think I'm going to be satisfied that the tonal qualities will be similar enough that they will work well together in a full surround set-up.:music: The Infinitesimals don't have the same bottom end as the Qb's of course, but I didn't expect they would. When I threw a little volume at the satellites, the surrounds let go completely and I shut them down immediately.

I emailed the seller to vent a little about the glue on the speaker grilles and the rotted out foams. I was polite, just stating that a more careful assessment was needed and more thoughtful packaging would have been appreciated. I didn't threaten or even ask for anything. I received a very nice reply asking if I wanted a full refund or a partial refund. I suggested she pay for the replacement surrounds, and I'd do the work. Within 10 minutes, my PayPal account had been refunded the amount we agreed on. I left positive feedback saying their had been some problems, but the seller was great to deal with. I spent a half hour with some Goo-Gone on a soft rag, and the grills now look as good as new.:thmbsp:

I kind of figured the foams might be bad. About half of the ones I've seen online had bad foams, so it wasn't totally unexpected. I've read somewhere that the crossover mounting inside the speakers left something to be desired, so I was going to open up the speakers anyway to check that out and see if the capacitors needed replacing. I have a little more work ahead, but at least I'll know my speakers are good and won't be waiting for them to fail.

So, like I said, a mixed bag. I'm not super stoked, but I'm pleased in general and was glad to have a seller that was a human being and a professional.

Now to find some wall mount brackets for the satellites. I've seen them on the auction site before, and another seller says he has some. I'm in no hurry.:smoke:
 

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Interesting little speaker...

Opened one up to see what was what. Robust and compact crossover assembly. Shielded magnet on the "woofer". Fairly large magnet on the round Emit tweeter. Pretty sturdy injection molded cabinet and front baffle. Everything was sealed with some caulk or glued on foam to eliminate rattles and buzzing. I'll make sure I do the same. Anything that was foam has dried out and flaked off. I'll clean everything up and replace the surrounds on the woofers.
 

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I got mine a few days ago too. I have not had time to really listen to them or set them up yet, just test that all drivers worked OK. Both surround foams need replacing, but that was known already. I am going to use these as rears in my modest HT setup.
 
I don't know why that kit never came up in my googling attempts. Looks like it would be perfect, and it's $5.00 cheaper than the one I found. If Rick Cobb doesn't have the correct foams, I'll order from Simply Speakers. Thanks!
 
I also noticed that this kit did not show up automatically. I think I had to use the search on Simply Speakers site itself or something like that to find it.
 
See my thread in the Speakers forum? I found numerous dead baby spiders in one of my speakers!

Nice...I have not yet opened mine. I hooked them up last night, and 8522 is able to drive all four speakers well at normal volume levels. Also, the fronts and backs seem to work together well enough for a 2-channel HT. The kids are happy :)
 
Finished the re-foam...

No pictures, because the computer that has them stored on it has refused to reboot after an update. Will have to get that fixed.

The re-foam job was easy using Rick Cobb's foams. With the sub-woofer, they sound great as a stereo 2.1 rig, almost as good as my Qb's....

I put these together with the Qb's as the mains, and the dedicated Infinitesimal 4 center channel speaker in a 5.1 rig, and I am VERY pleased. None of the speakers stand out as sounding very different from the others. The "tone" of the Infinitesimals matched that of the Qb's quite nicely, I think. I can't wait to get the theater room built and start working on acoustic treatments.
 
I finally got around refoaming the Fours yesterday. As you mentioned in the other thread, getting the enclosure open was the most difficult part. The tip about using a narrow blade to loosen the baffle was a good one. Thanks.

Foaming was easy. And now the rattle/distortion at higher volume levels is gone. :thmbsp:

And you are right, TX-8522 has enough oomph to feed the RS-8a's in the front and Fours in the rear at normal and even a bit beyond listening levels. I have had this setup since last December and I am very happy with this modest 2-channel HT setup.

Just out of curiosity (and make room upstairs) I now replaced the 8a's in the front with RS-IIIa's, which are a bit too much for the 8522.

"wall of sound" :)

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The RS-8a's are not currently hooked up. I am either going to sell them, or convert them to a dual center speaker (hook them up in-phase series for combined ~8 Ohm impedance). "5.0" system with Fours in the rear, IIIa's as mains, and dual 8a's as center channel. Now that would be nice :)
 

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