Im changing my whole home theater around from caddy corner to another wall and need all 3 front speakers. How does the Infinity Cascade sytem compare w/ the KEF IQ70's and what would you choose. 50/50 playing music and home theaterw/ 12ft cathedral ceilings in a 18 x 20 room.
Infinity Cascade and KEF IQ Speakers
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If you can get a complete set from Harman's ebay store by all means get the Cascades. I just finished putting a 5.0 set together with 3 of the 3v's LCR and a pair of 5's for surrounds. They look great without grilles - but thats the rub - if you have little ones around these may not be the best speaker for you. The grilles are cheesy at best - being little more than a pair of magnets with cloth in between - the magnets supply the tension to hold the cloth over the drivers - and don't do all that well of a job doing so. You will need a competent sub - the dual woofer speakers only play down to 80hz and the singles to 100hz.
I use a pair of dual push-pull M&K subs for music and add the ED A5-350 for movies.
On the plus side these things simply rock. Very good imaging - and sound quality is excellent - as it should be for any top-of-the-line Infinity speaker.
I put my 5.0 together for just under $1K - not bad for speakers that just 6 months ago would have cost me close to $3K at the lowest retail prices I could find.
If you can get a complete set from Harman's ebay store by all means get the Cascades. I just finished putting a 5.0 set together with 3 of the 3v's LCR and a pair of 5's for surrounds. They look great without grilles - but thats the rub - if you have little ones around these may not be the best speaker for you. The grilles are cheesy at best - being little more than a pair of magnets with cloth in between - the magnets supply the tension to hold the cloth over the drivers - and don't do all that well of a job doing so. You will need a competent sub - the dual woofer speakers only play down to 80hz and the singles to 100hz.
I use a pair of dual push-pull M&K subs for music and add the ED A5-350 for movies.
On the plus side these things simply rock. Very good imaging - and sound quality is excellent - as it should be for any top-of-the-line Infinity speaker.
I put my 5.0 together for just under $1K - not bad for speakers that just 6 months ago would have cost me close to $3K at the lowest retail prices I could find.
I have the Center Channel already (ebay store). Im looking at goin 7 or 5 up front and I might try to snag one of there subs. I would Like to get the 9's but if I mount tnem next to my TV 46 LCG(26" top to bottom) they would be londer than the TV it self.
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Take a look at the 3v. Its the same configuration as the center channel - has two of the excellent flat panel woofers - and probably goes for a hundred or less than the 9s or the center. And there are more of them.
I find my 3vs only need a small boost to be at the correct height for listening - about 7". I haven't had the time to make the stands yet.
Which color have you selected/targeted?
I have the silver - and I don't use the grilles. They look awesome - and sound even better.
Take a look at the 3v. Its the same configuration as the center channel - has two of the excellent flat panel woofers - and probably goes for a hundred or less than the 9s or the center. And there are more of them.
I find my 3vs only need a small boost to be at the correct height for listening - about 7". I haven't had the time to make the stands yet.
Which color have you selected/targeted?
I have the silver - and I don't use the grilles. They look awesome - and sound even better.
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I have three silver 3v's across the front - the 3v is the same as the center and can be used for a center very easily. I have two small rubber blocks under the rear of the one in the center and it works great. You may want to stick with all one color -- trouble is it looks like Harman is winding down the auction of the Cascades which may make it harder to put together a system in one color.
The 7's use the same drivers as the 5's but come with a shorter stand and can be wall mounted.
When Harman first put up the Cascades I decided then to stick to getting three of the 3vs thinking they'd cost less than the center (I was right on that) - and a pair of 5s for surrounds. I've had other decent speakers before - including the Infinity Interludes - IL40s - IL50s - IL30s - Beta 20s with C360 center. All sound good but the Cascades are a definite improvement over all of them.
I was listening to some Diana Krall last night in stereo - with subs of course - the sound is so life-like that I get chills up my back - it sounds like Diana is right in my living room! Very good stereo imaging and the mid range is as good as I've ever heard in a 2 way speaker. I've owned lots of speakers - most of which were well reviewed - none have sounded so good - including the pair of Emotiva ERTs ($1600 per pair) - the Cascades can't match the bass of the ERTs - but I have that covered with 2 very musical M&K dual 12" push pull subs. I put my Cascade setup together for $908. Retail it would have cost me well over $3000.
IMO the best deal of the Cascades is the 3v's as they have the same exact specs as the 9's - can be used for a center very easily - and sell for up to $100 less than the 9's and centers. When set up at their highest height on the stands they only need about 7 or 8" of boost to be at listening height. The only drawback is the Infinity insignia is upside down - not that I care - I care more about how they sound - and they are very good.
Good luck at the auctions. If the typical patter for Harman's auctions holds they will come out with more quantity later. It seems they flood the auctions with quantity to gain everyone's interest - taper it off to drive up the prices a bit - then come back with higher quantity again.
I have three silver 3v's across the front - the 3v is the same as the center and can be used for a center very easily. I have two small rubber blocks under the rear of the one in the center and it works great. You may want to stick with all one color -- trouble is it looks like Harman is winding down the auction of the Cascades which may make it harder to put together a system in one color.
The 7's use the same drivers as the 5's but come with a shorter stand and can be wall mounted.
When Harman first put up the Cascades I decided then to stick to getting three of the 3vs thinking they'd cost less than the center (I was right on that) - and a pair of 5s for surrounds. I've had other decent speakers before - including the Infinity Interludes - IL40s - IL50s - IL30s - Beta 20s with C360 center. All sound good but the Cascades are a definite improvement over all of them.
I was listening to some Diana Krall last night in stereo - with subs of course - the sound is so life-like that I get chills up my back - it sounds like Diana is right in my living room! Very good stereo imaging and the mid range is as good as I've ever heard in a 2 way speaker. I've owned lots of speakers - most of which were well reviewed - none have sounded so good - including the pair of Emotiva ERTs ($1600 per pair) - the Cascades can't match the bass of the ERTs - but I have that covered with 2 very musical M&K dual 12" push pull subs. I put my Cascade setup together for $908. Retail it would have cost me well over $3000.
IMO the best deal of the Cascades is the 3v's as they have the same exact specs as the 9's - can be used for a center very easily - and sell for up to $100 less than the 9's and centers. When set up at their highest height on the stands they only need about 7 or 8" of boost to be at listening height. The only drawback is the Infinity insignia is upside down - not that I care - I care more about how they sound - and they are very good.
Good luck at the auctions. If the typical patter for Harman's auctions holds they will come out with more quantity later. It seems they flood the auctions with quantity to gain everyone's interest - taper it off to drive up the prices a bit - then come back with higher quantity again.
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Thats what I bought - refurbished Cascades from Harman's ebay store . For $908 you won't find another speaker system that sounds this good - my opinion of course. I've shopped for and heard a lot of speakers in the last 20 years looking for something I like enough to keep. I keep coming back to Infinity after buying my first Infinities about 9 years ago.
As for the condition of the speakers - two of the speakers appeared as new - and came in the original retail boxes. The other three were in the original styrofoam but were not in retail boxes. All were packed very well. All speakers appear to be new or nearly so - I could find no scratches anywhere on any of them. I'm a retired Boeing parts inspector - if there were a flaw anywhere I'd have seen them. This doesn't mean if you buy some of these refurbs that you'll get the same thing - but chances are good they will be in mint or near mint condition. Mine are mint. One speaker had the knockout in the binding post screws punched out to accept banana plugs - no big deal.
As for the condition of the speakers - two of the speakers appeared as new - and came in the original retail boxes. The other three were in the original styrofoam but were not in retail boxes. All were packed very well. All speakers appear to be new or nearly so - I could find no scratches anywhere on any of them. I'm a retired Boeing parts inspector - if there were a flaw anywhere I'd have seen them. This doesn't mean if you buy some of these refurbs that you'll get the same thing - but chances are good they will be in mint or near mint condition. Mine are mint. One speaker had the knockout in the binding post screws punched out to accept banana plugs - no big deal.
Thanks for the info, how much should I expect the fives to go for? I just saw a silver 5 go for $180. It jumped from $138 to $180 literally in the last 5 seconds. These are sold as singles, not pairs? You think the 3 is a good choice for center? And 5s for rears? What about left right front? Thanks. And a sub is definitely needed? The silvers ones seem to be going higher?
Thanks for the info, how much should I expect the fives to go for? I just saw a silver 5 go for $180. It jumped from $138 to $180 literally in the last 5 seconds. These are sold as singles, not pairs? You think the 3 is a good choice for center? And 5s for rears? What about left right front? Thanks. And a sub is definitely needed? The silvers ones seem to be going higher?
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Which '3' are you talking about? The 3v is not a dedicated center but is the exact same configuration and works great for a center. The only difference will be the $50-100 more you pay for a 3C.
$180 seems kinda high for the 5's. I paid less than that for two of my 3vs - and I paid $113 and $135 for my 5's. The 3v's ranged from $163-$212.
The silver ones are going for more - who knew? My setup is all silver. I like the looks. As I said I use three of the 3v's for the fronts - the one for center is laid on it's side with a couple of rubber spacers holding it in place so it isn't pointed over my head. The 3v's are virtually the same as the 3c center speaker - you don't need to buy a separate center. They are also sonically the same as the 9's - they just don't have the high stands like them. The 3v's - the 3c and the 9's all have dual mid range woofers - the 5's and 7's have single woofers. They are good for surrounds IMO. In a smaller room they would suffice for L/R speakers.
A sub is sorely needed with these speakers - there is no bass whatever with them.
If you want these speakers you'd better hurry - I think Harman is running out of them although they've been known to slow down the auction quantities to drive up prices - then they flood the auctions again. Who knows?
Which '3' are you talking about? The 3v is not a dedicated center but is the exact same configuration and works great for a center. The only difference will be the $50-100 more you pay for a 3C.
$180 seems kinda high for the 5's. I paid less than that for two of my 3vs - and I paid $113 and $135 for my 5's. The 3v's ranged from $163-$212.
The silver ones are going for more - who knew? My setup is all silver. I like the looks. As I said I use three of the 3v's for the fronts - the one for center is laid on it's side with a couple of rubber spacers holding it in place so it isn't pointed over my head. The 3v's are virtually the same as the 3c center speaker - you don't need to buy a separate center. They are also sonically the same as the 9's - they just don't have the high stands like them. The 3v's - the 3c and the 9's all have dual mid range woofers - the 5's and 7's have single woofers. They are good for surrounds IMO. In a smaller room they would suffice for L/R speakers.
A sub is sorely needed with these speakers - there is no bass whatever with them.
If you want these speakers you'd better hurry - I think Harman is running out of them although they've been known to slow down the auction quantities to drive up prices - then they flood the auctions again. Who knows?
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