Infinity Beta Owners - Page 2

It's more than their ads and this forum, the praise is widespread from many audiophiles whose opinions & ratings I trust from reading many, many posts. I am a huge Infinity fan and their subs do sound good, but I believe you can get an equally effective sub for less money, particularly from an online direct retailer.

There are many, many reviews of both SVS and Hsu to be found on the net, too many to list here that speak for themselves (e.g. Sound & Vision, Secrets, etc.). One example is the very detailed and good review of several $400 subs (the SVS "entry" sub included) and it is overwhelmingly in favor of the SVS: http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...postid=2518976
There isn't a direct comparison to the CSW-10, true, but you must admit that the documented output level the SVS puts out at @ 20hz is pretty impressive...On the flipside, there's a similar lack of info to justify plunking down more money (e.g. $850 at one well-known electronics store) for the CSW-10 in favor of some of these other highly regarded subs.

There is no question that I would not pay $850 for a CSW-10. When I bought my other Betas, I saw the CSW-10 refurbished from theaudiovidieoshource.com for $429. Your comment however does not include a qualifying requirement about price, only that the SVS and the Hsu blow it out of the water. I only want to know how you come to that conclusion. The link provided only compares the PS-12. Hardly in the same class as the CSW-10. I also did a lot of research. If I had been in the market for a sub when I saw the CSW-10 for $429. I probably would have bought it.

??--come on dude, at least be honest.

I wonder if the grill and the paint are what makes up the 12 lb. (or 14, 16, whatever it was) weight difference in them?

That would be interesting I agree. It would be nice to see some objective evidence on the Infinity subs and on "how low they go" and how powerful at ~20hZ, the kind of info that has been well documented in some of the other subs mentioned previously.

I love infinity, but it is downright painful to see how little their subs do at 20hz. I own an IL120s and tested it at 98dB at 1 meter in room with 23% distortion.

ouch...

Tell me about it, and that sub retailed for $900. I am building an array of separate subs right now, each one will cost $250 after paying for the driver, cabinet, finish, and 475 watts of amplification and they will each produce 110dB at 20Hz without room gain.

The infinity started to really jump up after 20Hz though, I was doing 112dB at 1 meter in room with 8% distortion. That was about as impressive as it got though, from there on up, output stayed pretty constant with an occasional null while distortion kept dropping.

BTW, in order to keep people's spirits up, I won't post the IL120s's subsonic results...

I am building some subs for my room, just a little project of mine, thats all, its a shame to see what you can do with subs when you take the time to plan it and build it yourself.

I have heard the CSW10 but not the B12, while it was very good sounding, it didn't have the kind of headroom or output cababilities I prefer.
.

I've noticed that several of you are running Beta bookshelf speakers as surrounds. How are you dealing with the rear port on these speakers? I have Interlude fronts and would like to pick up similar surrounds; but I have hesitated because they will have to be flush mounted against the wall; and they are also rear-ported. The only recent Infinity design that is front-ported is the Alpha series so I have seriously considered them even though they aren't as attractive as the Interludes. And they had a different designer.

Thoughts, contradictions, put-downs, punishments?

Greg

My current listening position is up against the back wall so that rear-port issue caused me to opt for the ES250s instead (which can be wall-mounted). My plan is to potentially get a couple beta 20s or 10s when I move up to 7.1 and have more room to work for side surrounds. For now, I think the rear-mounted ES250s sound very, very good. I use dipole for movies and bipole for music and I think the speaker adapts equally well to both modes.

That is a serious issue that many people unfortunately handle the wrong way. It just so happens that I have bookcase and an aquarium on either side of my couch where my surrounds can be placed, I also have another bookcase behind my couch where I keep the rear pair. It still is not ideal but the ports are all at least 12 inches from the wall, which is mostly sufficient for a bookshelf like the beta 20. You can also buy omni mounts to wall mount them if you wish, the ascend 170SE's are rear ported and the omni mounts are sold as accessories for them.

Anybody have a projector they would trade for an Infinity Beta C360 Center and OWS-1 Speakers, both are Black and less than 2 months old. OWS-1 havent been used.

Ows-1? Aren't those from the interlude series?

That would be quite a steal for you, trade a center and some on wall surrounds for a projector.

I am looking for something like an Infocus 4800 or 4805 type projector. So it would be a fair trade. The Beta C360 is a great center and is not cheap, and the OWS-1 speakers are a good pair of slim speakers as well. I'm not asking for a new 600-1000 dollar projector. These speakers I have are spares, (have Inwalls now) and I would like to get a projector.

I am joining as an Infinity Beta owner. I just ordered a pair of Beta 10s and a C250 to replace my Onkyo 894 HTIB front row. I am going to crossover at 80Hz to my Hsu mk2/3. I think this will be a great step up. I am looking for better music handling.

jmps,
No doubt the Infinity speakers you have selected will have a superior sound than the Onkyos they will replace. I assume by "music handling" you mean more accurate reproduction of music. This is what Infinity is known for. Enjoy!

Thanks. Yes. That is what I meant. We redid our family room and finally got a surround sound system. We previously had Infinity 5000s in it. My then girlfriend asked me to shop with her to get a "stereo". We now have been married for twenty years this year! When I moved the 5000s to the basement all the foam surrounds fell out of the woofers. I was wondering why they lacked bass. :-)
I may refoam them just to play with them.

I went with the Onkyo 894 HTIB to get something in quickly with a plan to upgrade. It has kinda reignited my audio interests and I got dissatisfied really quickly listening to music on the system. It is OK for movies. So from reading here I ended up with the Betas and HSU. I am looking forward to them very much.

I do love that accurate Infinity sound. I am hoping the combo will be good for music crossed at 80Hz with the Hsu in max extension mode. I know it will be MUCH MUCH better then the current speakers/sub!

These speakers don't get enough love. I've got the beta 20's and the C360 and a Mirage S12 sub. I'm about to order the ES250's for the surround. From what I've read I am really impressed with what they do at the Harman Labs. The "infinity bang for your buck" thread is pretty interesting.

Next on the list of upgrades is a Denon receiver with Audyssey. Does anybody on this thread have any experience with Audyssey?

Is this sub a good value? Can someone give me a review?

http://www.audioreview.com/cat/speak...8_2741crx.aspx

Here's a few consumer reviews...it also lists the specs so that you can compare with some other subs which you've undoubtedly read about on this forum...

Posted this in the Primus owners thread and would like some beta owners advise.. Am am about to upgrade my setup and would like some opinions before I buy as there is no place within 600miles for me to audition either set. Currently I have a hodgepodge of equipment consisting of A Sony receiver 100w x 6(eventually will replace with a yammy 1600) a pair of Primus 150's in the front and some left over HTIB speakers (wide range single driver garbage) making up the center, RR RC RL channels, my LFE is handled with a 100w MTX sub. Yup I know it's pathetic, which brings me to my upgrade...

I can either get a pair of 250's for the fronts, a PC 350 center, another 150 (moving the 150's into work as the RR RC RL surrounds

OR

Get a Pair of Beta 40's and a C25 center and move my existing 150's to the rear (keeping the RC I have now till i can afford another upgrade)

My room is 13' x 18' x 9' and my usage is 80/20 movies / music. For music I like NIN and classical (yea I know odd mix). So what do you all think? Which would do me best for SQ not sheer loudness?

Thanks in advance,
-Phil

I agree with that. Definitely go with the Beta C360 for the Center. Try a Beta 10 or 20 for the L/R and move the existing 150's to the back. Then get a good sub and your done.

Remember that C360 is very, very similar to the Revel design. It rocks.

Pablo has a good approach. I am doing essentially this.

I just got my upgrade Beta 10s and they are great. They aren't broken in yet and they sound very good. I expect them to smooth ouy even more after break in. Very clear non-muddy sound. I think they are a tremendous value. I was also looking at Paradigm mini-monitors and these sound just as good if not better to me. I had Infinity speakers before and always liked the clear sound so bought them on the recommendations here and am not disappointed. I think the Beta 10s mid-woofer is great for a 80Hz crossover. My Hsu VTF2mk3 sub upgrade should arrive in a few days and I will be set. The designer of the beta series recommends the 10s over the 20s with a sub.

If you want 80/20 and will have a sub-woofer anyway I would go this route over the 40s.

Because of cabinet constraints I had to go with the C250 and it is OK. I wish I could have gone with the C360 to avoid side to side issues with the two/one combo. Happy shopping.

Yea the issue is that the 360 is beyond my price range at the moment and my center channel is really pissing me off (so are my surrounds). Still trying to get past the bookshelf vs. floor standing thing. But a nice cherry set of 20's and a cherry 360 would be nice, BUT my sub is def crap and I won't be able to replace that for some time (receiver comes first)... So many choices.. I wish my town had someplace to listen to these....