Infinity Beta Owners - Page 3

Ok so I found a 360 for $189 refurbish with warranty from infinity, so cost on that isn't hindering me.... now the choice remains between the beta's and the Primus fronts. Has anyone actually heard the Beta 20's AND the Primus 250's?
Which would you go for? Or would you wait and save up for different fronts altogether like the Primus 360 or the Beta 40/50 line?
Also I am worried about mixing a 3-way center with 2-way fronts.... any input on that front?
Keep in mind that I cannot afford to replace my sub so I will be dealing with a sub standard sub (hahaha) for the next few months / year....

Pick up that Beta 360 or $189 fast, that will give you a nearly world-class center speaker.

Then keep an eye out for an equally good deal on the Beta 20s, so you have the same drivers across the front.

Definitely go with the Beta 40's as your fronts. I was running Primus 150's as R/L fronts and a Beta C360 as Center. I replaced the 150's with Beta 40's and ... OMG!!! I did not know what I was missing before. In fact my wife who was entirely skeptical about the whole thing, commented on how everything sounded so much better(a miracle in itself) . It is like night and day and now I have my 3 channel front just like I dreamed.

Another reason is that you will have frequency matched (45 Hz to 22 KHz) to the front with the same 6.5 inch driver and 1 inch tweeter, only the midrange is different (4 inch in C360 vs 5 inch in 40). ALso the floorstanders should help flesh out that bass a bit more until you can upgrade your sub. Personally, I do not have a sub yet (wish list: SVS PC 20-39 Plus) and bought floorstanders because of this and also because my family listens to a lot of music.

Hey Beta Owner's,

I have JM-Lab cobalt 816S's and these are to bright for me.

Are the Beta's a bright speaker or neutral or warm?

How would the Beta 40's compart to these?

What other speakers would you compare the Beta 40's to?

Thanks,
Trevor

I think it is more neutral in response. This is based on my research into getting Klipsch whcih I was told was very bright and when I looked for references to something not as bright and/or neutral I found references to Infinity.

Personally I like the bright sound (especially guitar), but I appreciate recorded music to be reproduced and broadcast with little or no effect on it. This is one reason I got the Beta 40's instead of the 50's as the designer of the Beta's indicated that the 50's reproduced a sound based upon the environment that it was in (especially bass) as opposed to the 40's which merely represent the music being sent it.

Ok I think I decided on the Beta 20's and the Beta 360 just because they all match response wise... I found a killer deal on some Primus 362's but if I match it with the beta 360 I am worried that it will sound "off"...

Will do, unless for some reason I go for the 362's but really leaning towards the matched beta's (even thinking about replacing my 150's with beta's for the surrounds.... Now all I'll need is a new receiver and a new sub

I don't have Primus, nor do I have Betas. Just Interlude IL60s. The Primus line got a really good review in Guide to Home Theater. Well deserved, I'm sure. But the CMMD drivers are really a step up from the plain Jane MMDs. They were first introduced in the Prelude MTS and Intermezzo lines. And Primus is their entry level line, replacing Entra, whereas Beta was top now that Prelude is discontinued. Speaker companies don't have different lines for no reason. You still get what you pay for. I will probably be buried with my Interludes.

Greg

Those IL60s are absurd, I have beta 50's and I love them but those 60's simply destroy them on the low end. I really don't see a need for a sub in towers though as the room response where my towers are is horrible, I just cross them over at 60Hz. The betas are pretty much better than the primus's on all counts, I have only heard two people say they like the primus line better than the betas, one of them is, well a little odd, and the other said that the disliked the betas becuase they were "too realistic" (direct quote). As for a comparison to the cobalts, personally, I think the cobalts are a fine product, but there was a guy here a while back that replaced his 816's with beta 50s and said that the midrange was just as transparent and the betas had much more tight accurate bass.

The highs on the Cobalt's are just to bright for me. But thanks for your response.

If you think back, the Preludes and Intermezzos both had built-in subs. I think Infinity was trying to compete with DefTech back then. To me the Interludes were sort of a poor man's Intermezzo with most of the sound but none of the totally neat styling and looks. I like the powered towers for 2-channel music only listening, but if I had to do it over again I think I'd get unpowered 3-way towers like the Beta 50s (had to mention them to stay on topic).

Greg

Because I've enjoyed my Entra Threes for a few years, I've been thinking of going with a Beta 50 / C360 setup. Would it be okay to use ERS-HV250 in-wall speakers in a surround setup?

I don't see why not, the only thing is that the beta 50s and C360 can throw an in intimidating front stage, good luck getting those rears to keep up. My beta 20s are very powerful and they only keep up cuz they are only 3-5' away.

I currently have a Yamaha 2700 receiver and 5 small speakers + a subwoofer. I really need to replace the speakers, and I'm considering getting a 7.1 system with Beta 50s and the C360 up front. But which of the Infinity speakers "should" I use as surround and presence speakers? Any recommendations?

The ES250s can handle surround and presence simultaneously, each can be switched between dipole, bipole, or they can act as one speaker.

Whether their design is good for your room, depends upon the room, and your listening habits.

If you are a multichannel music listener ( like the DVD-A or SACD) you may prefer the standard Beta 20s in the rear.

Theres also inwall Infinitys that will work, although they normally dont sound as good as box speakers.

The ES250 is THE trick surround speaker in the lineup though....

Thanks for the info, JohnR_IN_LA.

I don't listen much to multichannel music, and inwall speakers are out of the question (even if they were better than box speakers). The ES250s sound interesting, though.

Excuse my ignorance, but for clarification: if the ES250s can handle surround and precense simultaneously, does that mean it's possible to get 7.1 sound without having 7 speakers (boxes)?

Also, I understand it's possible to have the precense sound front or back... is any of them considered "better"? I would probably have to have it "fronted" because of the room layout, and they'd have to be placed close to the side walls as well. Would that be a problem?

Just wanted to let you all know that I decided to go with the Beta's. After much debate between those and the SVS's or more Primus speakers I went with a pair of Beta 20's in the front, a Beta C360 in the center and 1 Beta 10 for my Rear center moving my Primuses to the surrounds till I can afford another pair of 10's or 20's. All told I got the set shipped for $580.00 which isn't bad at all considering I got brand new and not B-Stock/ refurbs.

next step is a new receiver and which one depends on how much $$ I can scrounge up

Thanks for all the help everyone.

Yes, 7.1 with only 5 boxes.

A single ES250 can be wired as 2 speakers, thats one of its options.

Whether you choose that option has alot to do with your room layout, and where you can put the speakers. Theres very little advantage to having 7.1 (over 5.1) unless you can seperate the sounds coming from the 6th and 7th speakers.

Without looking at your room, its hard to guess, but usually dipoles like the ES250 are ideal when you have to put them on the sides, since it diffuses the sound.

Can you post a little diagram?

Sorry about the crude diagram of my current layout, but I only have MS Paint on this computer...

The room is about 3 meters wide (10 feet?) and 4.5 meters long. The front speakers are placed about 60 cm (23.6 inches) from the side walls.

The surround speakers are placed behind the seatings.

I wish Infinity would announce a successor to the Betas already.

I am itching to hear what a more expensive Infinity product would sound like.

The Cascades are just to fill a niche...

Infinity did announce a successor, it's called the Classia line of speakers. If you do an internet search you can read the press releases and there were some photos posted from the latest CES.

Syle wise, they are a step up taking some design cues from the Cascade line. They look nice.

My only disappointment was reading that the Classia center speaker was going to be a two way design with a WTW configuration. It seems like a step backwards since the current Beta 360 is a three way that performs pretty well off-axis. I have yet to read about a WTW two-way center speaker that measures well off-axis.

Small room, so the diffuse sound of dipoles/bipoles will keep the surrounds from being so directional, which is a good thing for movies.

YOur other option is to put regular speakers way in the back corners, and allow the distance to diffuse the sound ....

Thanks for the info. I'll most certainly use dipoles/bipoles as surround speakers since I won't be able to have any speakers in the back corners. But using them as precense speakers up front would mean they'd be placed more or less in the corners of the room, and I *think* I read somewhere that when located like that they should be set to "mono" - is that correct? (I think maybe they're a little too expensive to use as mono speakers...?).

I'll probably use one as center back. Or maybe I'll use four of them as L&R surround and L&R rear channel... so many choices. I better try to decide before ordering the speakers so I at least get the correct quantity...

Any of you who have tried Yamaha's setup with "precense" speakers up front? Do you prefer it to having side and rear speakers?

I actually had a precense setup in my bedroom for about 2 months, and yes monopole is fine for that.

Its a huge compromise though, its not nearly as good as putting the speakers to your side, and preferably a little behind you.

Hmmm... I might get three ES250s, then (left side, right side, and rear).

Or do you think it would be better to get two "regular" speakers for the rear (or another center speaker, or even two bipoles/dipoles) and place them quite a bit apart (although not in the corners since I have a openings/doors there...)?

And must the ES250s be wall-mounted? (Not a problem for me, just curious.)

I bought the ES250s in white and found the perfect hanging shelf at Home Depot online. It's made by Wallscapes and the size is 8" x 16". Perfect size for these speakers, good quality and a good color match too.