Subtitled: "The Emperor's New Clothes" and "Rebirth of an Audio Legend" (lengthy post - history, restoration, and evaluation)
In the mid seventies, I had just started college in Austin, TX. About that time, Infinity Systems, a company known for its superior speakers, released a group of products intended to expand its footprint into the high-end, non-speaker market. Of those new products, perhaps the best remembered today is the "Black Widow" ultra-low-mass tonearm dedicated for use with the then-new and increasingly popular high compliance moving magnet cartridges. These tonearms are still very much around today. Frequently popping up on the used sites, they generally sell for far more than they did when new - as they continue to be well-regarded when mated with suitable cartridges.
But Infinity released several other ground-breaking products which didn't fare as well in the marketplace - notably an air-bearing turntable with a linear tracking air-bearing tonearm designed by Bruce Thigpen, now owner of Eminent Technology. The integral arm was the precursor to the legendary ET2.0 and 2.5 tonearms. Reportedly, only a few copies of the turntable were made, and they were snatched up by Infinity employees. The other nearly forgotten products were a preamp using FET transistors (esoteric and then-new for consumer audio,) and the first commercially available class-D switching amplifier, or "SWAMP." The amplifier, while exotic enough to border on science fiction, was notoriously unreliable, and by some reports - sonically "questionable." The basic design concept lives on in the form of Spectron, a current specialty manufacturer of superb class-D amps - the company owned by the original Infinity designer, John Ulrick.
Like the other products, the FET preamp was an all-out assault on the state-of-the-art at the time, and it had a fanciful and perhaps unreasonable list price of $1200 (remember, those were 1975 dollars!) To my knowledge, this product was never reviewed in the mainstream English language audio press (EDIT 20Sept14 - There was a very positive review in the "underground" publication, "The Absolute Sound" - Volume 3, Number 9 - Spring 1977) , despite a flashy advertising campaign in all the major audio magazines of the time. Only 200 or so were said to have been produced, so the preamp, though not an absolute zip in the collective audio mind, was neither a huge success in terms of reviews nor a very big sales mover. (Aside: despite the small production numbers, this item exists in two flavors - a back-lighted red lettered early production subtype, and a back-lighted blue lettered later version.) I believe that limited availability and high pricing in a new-for-manufacturer product class conspired to make it an unlikely candidate for review. Nonetheless, there was a production run, and some were sold. Thus ended Infinity's plans for world-wide audio domination! There were a couple of other products now equally rare: a super-Walkman and some electrostatic headphones, but both of these items appear to have been sourced from OEM manufacturers rather than produced in-house by Infinity.
Unlike the very successful arm or the mostly unsuccessful, other low volume products, the preamp was an oddity in that it apparently worked well, and it was produced in reasonable, albeit limited numbers. So where did they all go? Certainly some individuals of means bought them, and the lore says that several recording studios used them as well to judge their final mixes. But mostly, they were consigned to the dust bins of audio history...or were they?
At the 2007 Lonestar Audio Fest, a refurbished unit was conspicuous as a control center for a boutique speaker manufacturer, Audio Kinesis. Units have occasionally turned up on eBay or Audiogon. When they do appear on the used market, pricing is again high, with good condition units regularly reaching bids greater than the original price! But last year, at least 3 units turned up on the 'Bay, and I've seen another one this year!?! So why so many popping up in just over a year? I think it is because these units are now 40 years old. The original owners are getting up in years, or may have even died, and it seems that owners are not eager to let these preamps go. I imagine that the original individual owners had to have been fairly well-to-do and very driven to have purchased these beauties in the first place, so someone with the means and the interest was most likely in his late 30s to 50s (or even older) at the time he made the purchase. That means those buyers are now in their 70s, 80s, 90s, or deceased! Hence the influx of products to the used marketplace.
Those buying these FET preamps on the used market today must again be driven and of some means as well. When buying today, in addition to the substantial cost of acquisition, the purchase of a 40 year old piece of electronics is a de facto "project" rather than a for sure functioning machine (unless it has already recently been restored.) Restoration can mean both electrical and cosmetic work for something this old, so the time and costs of bringing things up-to-spec must be added to the purchase price, making this a pretty costly proposition for "ancient" technology.
Ever since, as a poor college student seeing the ads, I had lusted for one of these gorgeous designs. Despite time moving forward and new designs ever present, the Infinity stuck in the back of my mind. So a couple of years ago, I started actively looking for one - but with little luck. Until a year ago....
After missing out on the first two that appeared on the 'Bay in 2013 (when bidding exceeded $1000,) I finally prevailed in snagging an obviously less-than-perfect unit, knowing that my work would be considerable to restore the once-stunning beauty of yore. When my unit arrived, I confess to being a bit disappointed: it was really beat-up. The metal case was scratched, oil and dirt from fingers were caked on the face and buttons, the wooden end-plates were badly marred, and the unit had obviously suffered water damage at some point. Although sold to me as "working," I didn't even try to hook it up. Instead, it went right to my tech for initial electronic refurbishment, which took 2 months and $450. Not unreasonable, but that was just the beginning.
One of the things that intrigued me about this preamp was its highly touted 6-watt headphone output - unheard of in 1975, and uncommon even today. With a new interest in headphonia, especially in the newly re-discovered and power-hungry planar magnetic types, I figured this could be a great headphone amp, even if it were less than an all-around sonic marvel. Sadly, when I got it back home from the tech and hooked it up to a cheap Philips portable CD player, I found that one channel of the headphone circuit was dead! I then added a pair of Koss M-100 powered bookshelf speakers that were out for re-coning. What I heard from the cheap source and defective speakers was quite outstanding. It was far better than I had expected from this antique. So back to the tech for headphone circuit repair, as well as replacement of all the RCA connectors, which were loose and corroded from years of (ab)use. Another $259.
Concurrently, I had a metal shop make a new top plate and had a couple of more-talented-than-I friends reproduce the wooden side panels - some with minor styling mods, as well as pair of metal end-plates. A seeming incongruity: although the preamp was ultra high-end in its day, and although the electronic components are top-notch, the original wooden end panels were common MDF which had been laminated. The new panels are executed in Wenge, Padouk, and Ash woods. One metal top plate was refinished in black powder coat to mimic the original (which had been finished in a textured paint - maybe Nextel, but I can't be sure as mine was in such a poor state.) The other was chromed to match the new metal end-plates. I figured that although the original design is still quite smart looking, times have changed and maybe new duds would be appropriate. Pictures to follow (if I can figure out how to add them....)
Some credit Bascom King as the primary circuit designer, and technically the unit was a no-holds-barred design for its time. Indeed, it was in many ways prescient of current audio electronic construction trends. I asked that the tech replace any electrolytic capacitors, but most are poly film types. Power on is not a simple switch, but rather an elegant relay system to prevent transients from reaching the power amp. Tone controls can be completely bypassed. The volume potentiometer is a top quality silky smooth Allen-Bradley unit, and overall, the circuitry is built to mil-spec standards. Typical of the time, however, the RCAs were not gold-plated, and the power cord, while quite beefy, is integral to the box and not a removable IEC standard type (no separate power supply box either.) There is an MC option, but it does not have any variable loading capabilities. And of course, no remote.
-more to follow...
In the mid seventies, I had just started college in Austin, TX. About that time, Infinity Systems, a company known for its superior speakers, released a group of products intended to expand its footprint into the high-end, non-speaker market. Of those new products, perhaps the best remembered today is the "Black Widow" ultra-low-mass tonearm dedicated for use with the then-new and increasingly popular high compliance moving magnet cartridges. These tonearms are still very much around today. Frequently popping up on the used sites, they generally sell for far more than they did when new - as they continue to be well-regarded when mated with suitable cartridges.
But Infinity released several other ground-breaking products which didn't fare as well in the marketplace - notably an air-bearing turntable with a linear tracking air-bearing tonearm designed by Bruce Thigpen, now owner of Eminent Technology. The integral arm was the precursor to the legendary ET2.0 and 2.5 tonearms. Reportedly, only a few copies of the turntable were made, and they were snatched up by Infinity employees. The other nearly forgotten products were a preamp using FET transistors (esoteric and then-new for consumer audio,) and the first commercially available class-D switching amplifier, or "SWAMP." The amplifier, while exotic enough to border on science fiction, was notoriously unreliable, and by some reports - sonically "questionable." The basic design concept lives on in the form of Spectron, a current specialty manufacturer of superb class-D amps - the company owned by the original Infinity designer, John Ulrick.
Like the other products, the FET preamp was an all-out assault on the state-of-the-art at the time, and it had a fanciful and perhaps unreasonable list price of $1200 (remember, those were 1975 dollars!) To my knowledge, this product was never reviewed in the mainstream English language audio press (EDIT 20Sept14 - There was a very positive review in the "underground" publication, "The Absolute Sound" - Volume 3, Number 9 - Spring 1977) , despite a flashy advertising campaign in all the major audio magazines of the time. Only 200 or so were said to have been produced, so the preamp, though not an absolute zip in the collective audio mind, was neither a huge success in terms of reviews nor a very big sales mover. (Aside: despite the small production numbers, this item exists in two flavors - a back-lighted red lettered early production subtype, and a back-lighted blue lettered later version.) I believe that limited availability and high pricing in a new-for-manufacturer product class conspired to make it an unlikely candidate for review. Nonetheless, there was a production run, and some were sold. Thus ended Infinity's plans for world-wide audio domination! There were a couple of other products now equally rare: a super-Walkman and some electrostatic headphones, but both of these items appear to have been sourced from OEM manufacturers rather than produced in-house by Infinity.
Unlike the very successful arm or the mostly unsuccessful, other low volume products, the preamp was an oddity in that it apparently worked well, and it was produced in reasonable, albeit limited numbers. So where did they all go? Certainly some individuals of means bought them, and the lore says that several recording studios used them as well to judge their final mixes. But mostly, they were consigned to the dust bins of audio history...or were they?
At the 2007 Lonestar Audio Fest, a refurbished unit was conspicuous as a control center for a boutique speaker manufacturer, Audio Kinesis. Units have occasionally turned up on eBay or Audiogon. When they do appear on the used market, pricing is again high, with good condition units regularly reaching bids greater than the original price! But last year, at least 3 units turned up on the 'Bay, and I've seen another one this year!?! So why so many popping up in just over a year? I think it is because these units are now 40 years old. The original owners are getting up in years, or may have even died, and it seems that owners are not eager to let these preamps go. I imagine that the original individual owners had to have been fairly well-to-do and very driven to have purchased these beauties in the first place, so someone with the means and the interest was most likely in his late 30s to 50s (or even older) at the time he made the purchase. That means those buyers are now in their 70s, 80s, 90s, or deceased! Hence the influx of products to the used marketplace.
Those buying these FET preamps on the used market today must again be driven and of some means as well. When buying today, in addition to the substantial cost of acquisition, the purchase of a 40 year old piece of electronics is a de facto "project" rather than a for sure functioning machine (unless it has already recently been restored.) Restoration can mean both electrical and cosmetic work for something this old, so the time and costs of bringing things up-to-spec must be added to the purchase price, making this a pretty costly proposition for "ancient" technology.
Ever since, as a poor college student seeing the ads, I had lusted for one of these gorgeous designs. Despite time moving forward and new designs ever present, the Infinity stuck in the back of my mind. So a couple of years ago, I started actively looking for one - but with little luck. Until a year ago....
After missing out on the first two that appeared on the 'Bay in 2013 (when bidding exceeded $1000,) I finally prevailed in snagging an obviously less-than-perfect unit, knowing that my work would be considerable to restore the once-stunning beauty of yore. When my unit arrived, I confess to being a bit disappointed: it was really beat-up. The metal case was scratched, oil and dirt from fingers were caked on the face and buttons, the wooden end-plates were badly marred, and the unit had obviously suffered water damage at some point. Although sold to me as "working," I didn't even try to hook it up. Instead, it went right to my tech for initial electronic refurbishment, which took 2 months and $450. Not unreasonable, but that was just the beginning.
One of the things that intrigued me about this preamp was its highly touted 6-watt headphone output - unheard of in 1975, and uncommon even today. With a new interest in headphonia, especially in the newly re-discovered and power-hungry planar magnetic types, I figured this could be a great headphone amp, even if it were less than an all-around sonic marvel. Sadly, when I got it back home from the tech and hooked it up to a cheap Philips portable CD player, I found that one channel of the headphone circuit was dead! I then added a pair of Koss M-100 powered bookshelf speakers that were out for re-coning. What I heard from the cheap source and defective speakers was quite outstanding. It was far better than I had expected from this antique. So back to the tech for headphone circuit repair, as well as replacement of all the RCA connectors, which were loose and corroded from years of (ab)use. Another $259.
Concurrently, I had a metal shop make a new top plate and had a couple of more-talented-than-I friends reproduce the wooden side panels - some with minor styling mods, as well as pair of metal end-plates. A seeming incongruity: although the preamp was ultra high-end in its day, and although the electronic components are top-notch, the original wooden end panels were common MDF which had been laminated. The new panels are executed in Wenge, Padouk, and Ash woods. One metal top plate was refinished in black powder coat to mimic the original (which had been finished in a textured paint - maybe Nextel, but I can't be sure as mine was in such a poor state.) The other was chromed to match the new metal end-plates. I figured that although the original design is still quite smart looking, times have changed and maybe new duds would be appropriate. Pictures to follow (if I can figure out how to add them....)
Some credit Bascom King as the primary circuit designer, and technically the unit was a no-holds-barred design for its time. Indeed, it was in many ways prescient of current audio electronic construction trends. I asked that the tech replace any electrolytic capacitors, but most are poly film types. Power on is not a simple switch, but rather an elegant relay system to prevent transients from reaching the power amp. Tone controls can be completely bypassed. The volume potentiometer is a top quality silky smooth Allen-Bradley unit, and overall, the circuitry is built to mil-spec standards. Typical of the time, however, the RCAs were not gold-plated, and the power cord, while quite beefy, is integral to the box and not a removable IEC standard type (no separate power supply box either.) There is an MC option, but it does not have any variable loading capabilities. And of course, no remote.
-more to follow...
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