Anyone still running Infinity Speakers like me? - Page 3

Wow - thats a room full of Interludes!
Those Prelude 40s make me want to buy some new speakers. It seems funny that most audiophiles think of Infinity in the same manner as they would HTIB speakers. Thats hardly the case with the Interlude line - or the Prelude 40s.

I'm curious to hear your impressions of the Prelude 40s since they are based on the same flat panel drivers as in the Cascades that I have. I really like the sound of them but the 80hz limit really cut into my music enjoyment - I don't care for subs to fill in the low frequencies - the IL40s play down to 35hz very well and don't need a sub since I finally found the 'sweet spot' for them - 2 1/2 feet off the back wall and 6" out from the entertainment center. Any closer or further and bass response drops off.

I had a plan to pick up a pair of IL60s if they ever came up for sale somewhere near me - they're as heavy as a house! I've since changed my mind as the IL40s fit my needs (for now - gotta look into those new Preludes). My experience with the IL50s tells me not to buy speakers with built in subs. No matter where I put them either the low frequencies sounded good and mids-upper frequencies sounded bad - or just the opposite. And the IL50s are really just IL30s with a sub attached to each. I've also owned IL30s - really a nice sounding speaker for a 2 way.

I'm back to the IL40s - IL36c center and currently using a pair of Cascade Fives for surrounds.

Interludes are one of the best kept secrets in used speakers. I find it amazing that such a good speaker (IL40) can sell for under $200 on ebay for a pair.

Well, I had to beg, plead, fight ...

But Infinity is sending me out a pair of the much coveted, VERY rare, limited edition 40th anniversary Prelude 40 speakers in black!

They should be here next week!

These are quite possibly the most beautiful speakers I have ever seen...

Unbelievable, begging to spend $$$. You buy what you got to have!

I also LOVE my IL60s and IL36c. I also LOVE my Overture 3s in dark cherry veneer (stereo system). They've been bashed over the years (Corey Feldman in Audio), and they aren't from the Floyd Toole era; but I still think they sound great. And absolutely beautiful.

They arrived yesterday!

Wrong color, but OMG are they BEAUTIFUL!!!

I blew out two Infinity tweeters over four months ago and it is only now that I have gotten back a Cascade Nine with a new tweeter in place and that under warranty from Infinity. There were no tweeters for months and the build of the Cascade series makes it extremely difficult to service by even an authorized tech. In order to replace the tweeter on the Nine, the front panel had to be broken out, the one holding the pair of rectangular arrays. The Cascade Three C, again has to be broken apart to gain access to the tweeter and the rear panel then has to be replaced. The first replacement panel had a huge scratch on it and the second one came in pieces. So now the Infinity authorized repair is waiting for a third one, already having installed the blown tweeter into the Three C. I like the sound of the Cascades and will very soon have a home theater system of nothing but Cascade speakers. This should all come together next weekend when all the components will be present. I can only wonder if the Cascades will be Infinity's swan song??

Edit: a minor complaint about the repair, the rectangular frame that encloses the two arrays and the tweeter is made out of metal with the original Nines, but its replacement is the same color, but plastic!! That means that the curtain/drape no longer will hold itself over the drivers because both ends of the curtain/drape are magnetic and now will no longer attach to the front of the speaker.

I doubt the Cascades will be Infinity's waterloo. Have you seen the newest Infinity premium speakers? The Prelude 40s - based very much on the Cascades but with much better looking cabinets (IMO). That Infinity is using the same drivers in the high priced ($12,000 MSRP - pair) tells you all you need to know about the Cascades.

The Cascades are a very good sounding speaker - I have a full 5.1 set that I enjoyed very much but have gone back to my Interlude IL40s and IL36c center. I like music without a sub and the Cascades can't do that. I use the model fives for surrounds - at least until I can locate some IL10s or 30s in black.
When I bought the Cascades I had no idea of how hard they might be to work on. Sounds like something best left for the experts.

Hmm - maybe I'll sell the Cascades...

Yes, they are too rich for my blood and my needs. And I have seen them on the Infinity website. The Prelude 40's would seem to be a very small niche and probably more for the 2 or 2.1 aficionados.


But they weren't meant to do that. Just look at the specs. As you note, the Cascades have to have a sub.


To each his own.


Infinity will supposedly send out the parts under warranty and indicate how to install them. The Cascades are no boxes with easy to get at drivers.


As an owner, you can do whatever you like. With the Cascades disappearing from the marketplace, they may even go up in perceived value.

I use two Cascade 15s in an all Cascade 7.2 Home Theater System for at least three months, using R.A.B.O.S. to equalize the subs for room acoustics. Very recently, I ran Audyssey MULTEQ XT 32 and SUB EQ HT for the room acoustic calibration. At first I left R.A.B.O.S. running with its own correction and the sound was very clean with greater clarity and better bass from the Subs. When I took R.A.B.O.S. out of the system and reran Audyssey the difference was probably two orders of magnitudes better to my ears. Just a lot more detail, with voices having greater presence, and the bass more weighty, but without bloat. There is no question that R.A.B.O.S. is better than using nothing, but Audyssey XT32 and SUB EQ HT for dual subs takes the home theater system to a completely different audio level.

I am in the same boat...

I have my subwoofers built-in to the speakers (Infinity IL60's)...

How did you "take RABOS out of the system"?

I mean, if you did the RABOS, you adjusted all of the parameters on the subwoofers with a few clicks on each parameter.

Did you leave the subs at their parameters or did you just turn the parameters all the way down (counter-clockwise)?

I am trying to figure out the best way to do it...

Do I run RABOS and set the parameters and then just run MCACC or Audyssey.

Or do I just set the parameters on the subs all the way down (counter-clockwise) and run MCACC or Audyssey...

I first auditioned the MTS in 2000. Very good system, one of the best I've heard. Although I'd rank the Salon2 as better.

Switch for RABOS should be OFF after the three dial settings are inputted.


Yes


Turn the three dials completely clockwise. See the RABOS instruction manual and set it the way that you would before running RABOS.


No, I did that at first and then found a huge difference when I let Audyssey take care of the settings via XT32 and SUB EQ HT and took RABOS processing out.


Yes, clockwise and run Audyssey XT32/SUB EQ HT.

Still using Alpha 50's, 37c and 20's

Still using Prelude P-FR's, RS3's, and newer ES 250's. With a Denon 4806 receiver configured properly they sound immaculate. The P-FR's are easily one of the best audio components that I have ever owned.

Sadly, I just discovered both the tweeter and mid range are not functiong on one of my Alpha 50's. After consulting with my local Infinity Service Center I determined the cross over network is defective. I plan to order a new network directly from Infinity Parts. Thankfully all parts, except the grill, are still available.

I'm running my Alpha 50's, 37c, 20's in conjunction with a Denon AVR-987 AVR. The 50's are bi-wired. The 50's and 37c center are set to large, the 20's to small. My sub is a Velodyne VRP 1000 and set to LFE. The 37c was set to small for years until recently. When I switched the 37c center to large it's output became more robust yet the sub seems less noticeable. Should I reset the sub to LFE+Mains?

You can view and read about my setup at http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-10167_7...content;rb_mtx.

I have seen, auditioned the Prelude MTS, years ago. Are the P-FR newer or older model, or a upgrade change to the MTS?
Of the pics I could find, they look to be the same, or close to the MTS.

The P-FR's were the original Preludes built by Infinity, and were very well reviewed at the time. If I recall correctly, Stereophile rated them as A- for 2-channel use, and as B+ for surround sound use. They were marked down slightly for surround sound, only as they were full spectrum speakers, used as such in their tests, without an extra sub, and deemed just slightly lacking in bottom end volume for their preferences. But you have to remember that with the type of equipment they were being compared to a B- was a pretty darn good score from them. Any product receiving a B or higher would have been considered an exceptional piece of equipment.

The P-FR's were quite different from the latter MTS versions in that the P-FR's had a speaker sensitivity of approximately 96 db, which is far above the average speaker sensitivity, which is probably around 90 or thereabouts, and certainly much higher than that of the MTS speakers, which if I recall correctly was well below 90 db. That meant you could drive the P-FR's with something with as little power as a tube amp, not an easy feat for the majority of full range speakers at any period in time.

The P-FR's were also built during a time when Infinity and some others were still strictly using anechoic chambers when designing speaker output, which made them rather sensitive to room accoustics. As such it can be difficult to get the absolutely best out of them without a bit of work, lol. Even so, they will still sound quite good regardless of room treatment, but can sound absolutely glorious in a properly treated room. Additionally, the P-FR's were an extremely dynamic speaker, something which rarely gets tested and reported on these days. As such, an unwanted listening room anomaly can really be annoying unless treated.

As somewhat of a comparison/explanation, many people with early hi-fidelity recordings of the Beatles, such as the MFSL versions, claim that there is a bit of sibilance on the early releases, while others claim there is no such thing. Well, for quite some time I was in the 'yes there is' camp, until I finally got a room into which I could properly setup my P-FR's, and really do them justice. It took me a few months, but the end result was better than I could have hoped for. And guess what, every bit of sibilance, etc. that I had ever heard was now magically gone. I cried when I found out a couple of months later that the owners wanted to move back into the house, and I had to give up my lease, lol. I am currently in another house where the room with the speakers once again produces that annoying bit of sibilance.

Getting back to the differences between the MTS and P-FR designs, while the MTS's could handle large amounts of power, and had subwoofers that were capable of great output, one must remember that despite the P-FR's measly 150 watt limit, that was closer to something in the range of 300-600 watts when calculated for their sensitivity rating, as every 3db of sensitivity essentially doubled their output for the given input. Therefore, their 150 watt subwoofers were really capable of far greater output than more common designs with a sensitivity of only 90db or so. That is something that the reviewers should have talked about a bit more (remember that the P-FR subs had to match the output of the rest of its speakers). The receiver I use outputs about 150watts p/channel, and when used with the P-FR's can easily overwhelm a small to medium room unless properly set-up.

Yada, yada, yada, lol.

I never saw the P-FR. The year before the MTS came out a local dealer had the Overture III I was thinking of buying. But for some reason never did.

I have a 5.1 Interlude system - 2 Il-40's, 2 Il-10's, an Il-36c, and an Il-100s. I haven't really had any inclination to upgrade since I got them when Infinity discontinued the line. However, with Vann's selling the Cascade 15 sub for less than $400, I am tempted. What do you think - would this be a worthwhile upgrade? Size is a consideration - that's why I have the 100s instead of the 120s.

At that price, the Cascade 15 is a relative bargain. It is heavy at over 90 lbs. If I were you, I would buy two of them which his what I have in my home theater system. Your major problem will be how to EQ them unless you go with something that has Audyssey XT32 (or some other proprietary multiple sub EQ) which will EQ two subs separately. Still you can use RABOS (comes with the 15), that may satisfy you. Or another way of putting it is that RABOS is better than nothing.

Yes, this thread is now resucitated! Welcome back, Infinity brethren. Thought I'd chime in and ask for your help. I have the following setup:
-Overture 3's
-CC3 Center
-RS3 surrounds

I am looking for two things:
1- A suggestion on a receiver that can drive these well. I had an old Sony that bit the dust long ago and never quite felt the oomph I wanted from the surrounds specifically (either underpowered, source material from the 2000s, or unrealistic expectations of surrounds?). The RS3s are 125W per Infinity website, so does that mean I should be looking for receiver with minimum 125 watts per channel? <--noob!

2-The wife claims the RS3s are way too big (they kinda are for surrounds) and wants me to replace them with Bose jewel surrounds (gasp!). I have been fighting it claiming the "timbre match" will be off if I change them and they may sound horrible; plus that they are expensive...and what will I do with my other Infinity speakers if she tries to gift me an Accoustimass system or something? I'm not ready to let go (unless you convince me otherwise). Has anyone used Bose jewels as surrounds in their setup and are happy with them?

FWIW, the Overture 3 specs are:
Frequency Range: 25 ~ 20,000 Hz
Sensitivity: 94 dB @ 2.83 V and 1 m (anechoic conditions)
Impedance: 8 W nominal
Maximum Peak Output: 115 dB (spl on program)
Amplifier Requirements: Recommended for use with amplifiers
15 ~ 200 W (@ 8 W)
Low Frequency: Four 6 1 ⁄2" (165 mm) high-efficiency,
dynamically-balanced, magneticallyshielded
woofers
Mid Frequency: Two 5 1 ⁄4" (125 mm) high-efficiency,
magnetically-shielded, mid-range drivers
High Frequency: One 1" (25 mm) soft dome, high-efficiency,
neodymium magnet, magneticallyshielded
tweeter
Crossover Frequencies: 350 and 3,000 Hz
Peak Output: 500 VA
Power Supply: 120 V~60 Hz
Power Consumption: 500 W (maximum), 7 W (standby)
Width: 6 7⁄8" (175 mm); add 31⁄8" (79 mm) for foot bar
Height: 46" (1,168 mm)
Depth: 15 3⁄4" (400 mm)
Weight: 59 lb or 26.6 kg (each)

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Hi All,

I have a set of 3x Infinity Cascade 3V's for sale in the classifieds if anyone might be interested!!

Bazzy!

My old Onkyo 777 had no problems driving difficult loads with it's 105 true watts per channel and I think my newer 898 is exactly the same as far as speaker loads. I knew they would work when they demoed the 777 with some Infinity towers of some sort that I know are a difficult load.
I have the new one hooked up to my home built 8" 3 way 4 ohm speakers and it's doing fine, the rears are the small Ifinitys I mentioned somewhere in the thread here and it's doing fine with everything too.
I would think any of the higher end Onkyo with the wide range amp should do OK but you can always ask or poke around the threads here before plunking down your money.
The Onkyos, and some other higher end units have high dynamic range so they output a lot more watts then they're rated for when called for and also will crank out more into 4 ohms, mine would do over 200 watts into 4 ohms and I think my newer one is similar.

Your speakers are relatively easy to drive since they are 8ohm and 94db sensitivity. Most receivers will have little problem with driving them to reference levels. What is more important is the room you will be using them in. How large is it? How loud do you like your music and movies?

The Boze Jewels are jewels in name only. There are better speakers that for the same price or less that will easily out-perform them.

Gasp, down grading from RS3's to bose cubes...and you have to pay to do it! The trade-offs are simply not worth it. Even for surrounds, having good speakers is important.

Simonburch, sorry to resurrect this so long after your post query. I have the OVTR-2 for my fronts, cc-3 center, and for my rears I have Rs-8's. The tweeter and mid is the same as your rs3's, but they both have an 8" 100w powered sub in the bottom of each.

I borrowed two different Yamaha receivers within the past month, and I gotta say, as soon as I have a few dollars I'm replacing my Kenwood with one. The sound was such a good match with our infinity's (to my ears, at least). I think you'd appreciate the sound from one.

Wow, I'm impressed with all the praise for Infinity Interludes!

I've had IL60s, IL40s and IL36C for 10+ years now. I even have the smaller center IL25C that I used in a 6.1 configuration for awhile. The IL120 died long ago, it was replaced with eD subs. All powered by various Denon receivers. I've not had any unhappy moments, they are great speakers. Like Knucklehead, when I first heard the Preludes I practically melted, but couldn't afford them. Even the Interludes were a stretch back then, but I was really impressed with Infinity's performance, particularly with their reproduction at higher frequencies.

While never really impressed with the sub in the IL60, the rest of this speaker package is really a nice performer in its proper place and tuned well. The IL40's, as has been mentioned, are great for music, IMO the best of the set. And the IL36C is a powerhouse at center channel.

I did a search and found this thread, glad I did. I wanted to see what current sentiment was, if any of my old posts asking questions about the Infinity speakers was still around. I joined avsforum specifically for the purpose of researching before my purchase.

I've tried several times in the past to upgrade but couldn't justify it, I never listened to anything impressive enough to warrant an upgrade. I would come home, put on a DVD-A and do what I do best - smile. After awhile I designed an equipment tower and had it built by a friend, matching the Interlude finish. I settled in for the long haul.

Nostalgia. I think I have decided to move on. Recently stuck at home in recovery mode I re-connected with my music collection and made a few upgrades to 2 channel listening, and have decided to pursue more purity and transparency in my HT as well. I think I may have found what I'm now looking for in the Salk SoundTower and others in the series, which I believe will be an admirable replacement. I think my Interludes would be proud.

Anyway, its fun to see more fans and read about your setups. And to resurrect an old thread for a great set of speakers.

Cheers!

If you can, you should listen to them before buying. If you are satisfied, then, of course, go ahead and buy them.

Enjoy them, until the foam fails on the midrange and midbass drivers, then say goodbye, or sell them before this happens, because it will.

I have owned several Infinity speakers, including Prelude PFR's, Infinity IL 40 and IL 60, and Overture 3's and Oveture 1's, not counting all the OLD Infinity Speakers from the Reference Series, and including some really really old Infinity's with the ice cream cone Walsh Tweeters.

I have reviews on the IL 40 (favorable) and the IL 60's (unfavorable) online at audio asylum.
The IL 40 uses the NRC Curve, meaning it is not a flat speaker. It is much easier to place in most rooms, and will sound extremely musical with little effort.
The IL 60 is RULER FLAT, and can sound not very good in some rooms, as it did in mine, when I dogged them in my review.
I had great hopes for the IL 60 because the Infinity Engineer who was in charge of blind listening tests back then told me the IL 60 was BEATING the Mighty Prelude MTS in blind listening test so bad, they had to handicap the IL 60 by turning the bass down!
Floyd Toole designed the Prelude MTS, and the IL 60 was done by Infinity's best speaker engineer (not his boss, Floyd Toole)

I still have (and love) the Infinity IL 60's, now that I realize what I really had all along.
I had to LEARN that you can't just take a speaker that is as near perfection, as far as ruler flat response goes like the IL 60 is, and expect it to always sound good in every room.
The IL 40 with it's NRC Curve (like the Primus 360 also has) are much more "room tolerant" speakers. They are very cleverly designed to "compensate" for the room boundaries found in average listening rooms.
The IL 60 is another beast, entirely.
It has THE Flattest Frequency Response EVER measured by the Canadiens at Infinity.
This means you almost have to play with furniture and room treatments, and move the speaker, until you get it right.
But WHEN you do make it like the room it is in, hold on tight.
It is an incredible sounding speaker, with one warning.
It has little to No "personality" of it's own. It is a truly accurate, ruler flat monitor, with no artificial 'flavor" designed into it.
I spoke to several Infinity Engineers about the IL 60, and I sincerely thank them for encouraging me to get these wonderful speakers right.
All the Infinity engineers I spoke with, including Floyd Toole, encouraged me to get the speaker right first, then use my tone controls to get it perfect
To a veteran audiophile like myself, that is like Treason, but I did it, and guess what ?
They were right!
Much of the time, I listen Flat, if it is a good recording or BluRay. But, if it some Bright and Hard 80's Pop or Rock, guess what ?
I shamelessly just crank the treble down a tad, and enjoy.

The IL 60 does not image as well as some other speakers like B&W 801's and Tannoy's, but it is still open sounding.
The Canadien Speaker Engineers that were at Infinity back then were aware of this, and made a design decision to go for as widely dispersed Ruler Flat on and off axis Response as they could get in the IL 60.
Unfortunately, really wide dispersion does not give the pin point imaging of a more directive design.