Infinity Beta Owners - Page 74

Originally Posted by Looneybomber

Uh, oh. My 1.5yo got too close to my beta-20 (they sound better without grilles) and stuck his fingers through the tweeter. Anyone have spare tweeters sitting around?

Also, the same thing happened to one of my old Infinity Entra 1's.

My first kid was scared to be by my speakers for fear of "corner time", but my second apparently just hates music and wants to destroy my speakers.

Originally Posted by hopeles117

I'm sure this has been discussed multiple times over the 73 pages of this thread, and I don't feel like going back to find out how many times. But I was able to pick up a second set of 20's this week that 'came with' a C250, and I figured I'd use it as an upgrade to my Primus C25 for my second setup.

Now considering all the discussion about the 250 vs the 360, I wasn't sure how much of a difference would be noticeable. But I'm A/B'ing them now, and hot dang the C360 is starting to shine a lot more. The 250 is still way smooth and crisp without being excessively bright, especially when compared to the Primus C25 I've had for a few years. But man I love these things. (I am particularly fond of how cute the 250 looks next to the 360, almost made me go "awwww").

Anyhoo, happy April e'rybody. Long live the Beta's!

Originally Posted by hopeles117

Man that sucks. My fiance's cat somehow tossed something or knicked in some fashion, one of the 8"ers on one of the 50's while I was waiting for the grills from Harman. That said, try emailing them to see what their price is for a replacement. Their warehouse is in Georgia. I'm guessing ~$40-45 + 5 to ship?

Best of luck!

Originally Posted by Looneybomber

I may have to call because the website says they're out of stock of beta parts.

Originally Posted by GLBright

I have a pair of Alpha 20s. If you check your 50s carefully you will probably see that they were made in Denmark. Hard to believe that Harman had a subsidiary there that made Infinity speakers especially for the European market. IIRC they were voiced a bit differently than the Betas, but since I've never owned any someone else will have to answer that definitively. I'm an Interlude/Overture person. But I'd sure like to get my hands on a pair of the newer Kappas.

Originally Posted by steven1110

Glad you were able to incorporate the cutie in your system somehow.

Originally Posted by LVIV73

Are Beta 50's better than p363's?
And are they worth $349 on ebay without grills?

Originally Posted by Tacoboy

The Infinity Beta 50s are better then Infinity P363s.
I've never listened to the Infinity P363, but in general I have not seen any reviewers say the Primus line is better then the Beta line.
The Betas use CMMD drivers, the Primus just use MMD drivers.
Your paying $350 (without grills or warranty) + $140 shipping, in who knows how good the packaging going to be.
Would I play $490 for a pair of Beta 50s, yes, if I could test and inspect and pick them up myself.
Some guy in Portland Oregon is selling 2 Beta 50s (with grills) for $300, local pickup.
So maybe wait on the Beta 50s, just before the ebay ad ends, offer $375 (which includes shipping).
Or just watch the wedsite TechBargins, some times the Polk Audio Monitor 70 go on sale for $200 each, with warranty,free shipping and maybe no sales tax.

Originally Posted by LVIV73

Would you say that for music(jazz mostly) p363 and betas is top contender in $300-400 a pair price range?
Is there anything else out there that sounds just as good?Like Cambridge,Boston?I know Polks are not that good for music.

Originally Posted by hopeles117

Back in 2006/07 I worked at Circuit City for a short time selling TV's/home electronics, and towards the end of my tenure CC ended their relationship with Harman/Infinity and brought in Denon/Boston. I spent a lot of time listening to the Primus's wanting to purchase but never had the money, and so when Boston Ac came in I wanted to check out the new kid on the block. This was 5-6 years ago that I worked there and had these experiences, but all I can remember thinking was how lackluster the Boston's sounded (way too much high's and absolutely no depth), and they reminded me far too much of the Polk's they stood next to in the sound room. I can't recall thinking I loved the Infinity's, but I knew if I were to buy something it wouldn't be Boston or Polk.

Back in November I happened upon a pair of B50's on Craigslist locally, and since then I've found my favorite's and picked up a C360, C250, and 2 pairs of 20's. A few weeks prior I had been by the Crutchfield store in Charlottesville and had a listen to the P363's. Their front firing port left much to be desired. The B50's, if properly placed in a room with space from the wall will dazzle you with their balance and depth (esp. at their price-point), but even more versatile I've found are the Beta 20's. Something to keep in mind is that the designer of these speakers chose a C360 with 4 B20's over the 50's or 40's. I love the 50's and the sound they produce, but the 20's continue to astonish me with what they're capable of.

Just my (long!) $.02!

Originally Posted by LVIV73

Ok so infinity's in $400 a pair is still better than RC,Boston and Polks in same price range for playing music.
Ok what about Cambridge,Yamaha and Sony(Yeah I know,but are all sony's garbage?),or is there nothing as good as infinity's at this price?

I really want to get p363's but im waiting for online sale because $329 a pair is too much,they used to have p362's for $150 each-i should have jumped on it but its too late.

Originally Posted by hopeles117

A) This is all my take, and you really gotta remember it allllll depends on personal taste. If you want a straight answer, in my opinion yes they're better, especially at this price. Watch Crutchfield - they'll put the Infinity Primus's on sale again, but I'd hold out for a pair of 20's, unless you want towers and get the 50's.

B) I bought my 50's without grills and ordered them from Harman. They came quickly from a warehouse in Georgia, and were around $110 after shipping.

C) Something to keep in mind is what kind of musical depth you want from your speakers. The current trend is the smaller footprint concept, so speakers like Definitive or Boston/Cambridge/etc. are building smaller speakers that try to recreate depth by their design's, so a lot of the money going into those is for their R&D (same reason Harley Davidson charges ridiculously more than their competition). They figure out a way to get 4-6" drivers to push as much air as 8-10" drivers. Bose calls it Waveguide (turds...), but for all of them it's just a matter of tuning the cabinets. When Bose started getting popular everyone began to think "I don't need giant speakers to get adequate sound!" But for me that's a crock. You want to move air, you need the driver size. A lot of the other brands you're talking about are building pretty cabinets meant for surround systems which puts the low-end burden on the subwoofer. Most people will recommend using a sub even with the Beta system, but for me I don't need one - I keep mine off most of the time (for now > in a smallish townhouse). And that's just with a C360 and 2 20's up front (no rears for now - no room), and I get ridiculously smooth sound that covers enough of the lower spectrum. If you want good smooth jazz, get speakers that blend well through the octaves and don't taint the sound. For this purpose, at this price, in my opinion the Beta's are still king. But, it's all personal taste and the $ from your wallet, not mine.

I'm too wordy today. Need to cut back on the coffee.....

Originally Posted by LVIV73

Ok man,you have convinced me.But where can i get Betas?Arent they discontinued?
I have $400 to spend,im real hesitant to buy speakers on ebay because if i never heard how they suppose to sound how would i know if they sound right and they are not damaged in any way?
So is there anywhere else i can buy them from without getting ripped off?Im literary spending my last money on them,lol.If i had little money to blow i would take chances on ebay.

All i know is i have 2 Denons(avr391 and DRA-95VR from 1985,that im dying to use to see how analog sounds vs digital),one with stock Denon speakers and one with no speakers and i need something descent to go with them.

Originally Posted by atari1980

I have some experience with the newer Denon, i have the 1912, wich is rated at 90watts 20-20khz along with the Beta 50's, c360 and 2x20's.

If you're playing your music/movies loud, you might want to go for a beefier amp if you don't want to damage the 50's by underpowering them. They love power (used to drive them with an harman kardon avr-254,30 lbs, 65 real watts).

The lower end Denons - wich mine is also - exhibit large signal distortion way before their rated power output, where the mid-highs becomes grainy (loses it's richness), and vocals seems to 'shout' - wich stresses the speakers and could damage them.

The DRA-95VR might be a better match since vintage amps section are usually beefier. 65 watts from 1985 might just surpass any 100watts+ rated newer amps.

Originally Posted by LVIV73

"So you are saying that for betas to sound good they need to be played at highrr volumes?

Originally Posted by LVIV73

"Damage speakers by underpowering them"lol I havent heard this one before,this audio stuff is as comlicated as computers.
I wont be playing them loud,i care more about quality at low to medium levels.
So you are saying that for betas to sound good they need to be played at highrr volumes?My Denon 391 plays fine without distortion on volume little bit over half way,any thing after that is not good.But I never play my music over half volume,so should Betas be fine?

And were can I buy them?I been searching and I found one only one place that has them new for $700 a pair-which is way over my budget and probably way more than they supposed to cost.

Anyone know any other places I can buy them from for normal price,or maybe some one here has extra pair they want to sell?

Originally Posted by hopeles117

Honestly buying used isn't too bad of an option, even from ebay. For me when I consider a speakers condition it comes down to 3 elements: 1) what shape do the drivers *appear* to be in; 2) does the seller claim all the drivers *work*; 3) what shape are the cabinets in?

1) If the drivers look clean (no dents/bruises/cuts), that means they should play cleanly. I'll tell you from experience that these CMMD drivers mark up very easily, so if you get good pics of each driver and you don't see anything, if they do in fact work - they'll work just fine. Even with some blemishes, mine still work without issue.

2) If the seller says the speakers work fine, - meaning all the drivers and they look clean - you shouldn't have any problems. (Also, consider whether they offer returns in case something doesn't work correctly. Make sure they get good insurance on the shipping.)

3) The only other thing that will affect sound is the shape of the cabinet. If no bad dents or significant scrapes in the cabinet then the integrity of it should hold true. Try to find out if the seller ever removed drivers for any reason. This could mean something hasn't worked right or maybe they just effed with it.

I think your amp will be fine, as atari1980 discussed. Something built in the 80's has more balls than anything built today, so as long as you don't purposefully try to find the stressing point of the speakers, they'll be fine. Just stay patient and you should come out alright. Where are you located? I know a few posts back someone said they might want to replace their setup, which might leave someone wanting to sell their Beta's. Just a thought!

Originally Posted by LVIV73

I found infinity's sm-105 for $70 a pair on craiglist,anyone know if they are any good for bedroom speakers,and are they worth the price?

Originally Posted by atari1980

Those are old speakers, they might be fine though, just make sure the foam gasket isnt showing signs of age (where it starts to fall off).

If you want smaller speakers than the beta 50 i'd recommend the Beta 20's, they're phenomenal for the size. Used mine as front speakers for a while before getting the 50's, deep bass, smooth mids/highs. Just saw a couple on ebay.

edit: Would certainly be a better match with your newer Denon.