Infinity Speakers

[cmccuist]

Man, I love garage sales. I bought these Infinity Reference speakers for $75! They're model RS-iia. They have some sort of ribbon type mid range speakers and tweeters. They have really nice grills. I had to get the foam on the woofers replaced. That cost me $110 for the four.

The sound is incredible! I did some research and found that these speakers sold for about $2,500 in 1981! You can hear the music throughout the entire house.

I saw the equalizer for these speakers on eBay sold for $300. I can't get over the clean sound.

[pwd72s]

WOW! Great buy! Somebody didn't know what they were selling...

[MattKellett]

Damn! How tall are those suckers?

[Gogar]

+1 you scored. Ribbon tweeters are like butter, man.

[HardDrive]

Nice score!

[89911]

Looks like the guy bought great speakers, and then got married. I have a great set of Boston Acoustic A-150's in my basement that I just can't part with, but they are just too big.

[88-diamondblue]

Ok you officially suck RS IIa's for 75.00 Just kidding. Those are Emit tweeters from Infinity and the speakers love a large amount of power(make sure it is clean), incredible bass and with the right amp the Emits are sweet. The emits don't do well if the amp starts clipping though.

Great score

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by 89911

Looks like the guy bought great speakers, and then got married. I have a great set of Boston Acoustic A-150's in my basement that I just can't part with, but they are just too big.

Same here, but mine are Cerwin Vegas. Been sitting in my basement for years collecting dust.

[cmccuist]

Looks like the guy bought great speakers, and then got married. I have a great set of Boston Acoustic A-150's in my basement that I just can't part with, but they are just too big.

That is exactly what happened. The guy's wife told him they had to go! The mid range speakers and tweeters are amazing. The sound comes out from both the front and the back. The speakers are about 5 feet tall. I originally bought them to resell, but the sound is so amazing that after hearing them MY wife was actually looking for a place in the "multi-media" room to locate them.

+1 on needing power to make the sound really come out. If I turn down the volume, it really loses some of the fidelity. I have an album that I like to use to "test" speakers and other sound equipment. It's the Crudaders Scratch album. It's a live album with lots of great sax and guitar. You can hear individuals speaking and clapping very clearly with these speakers.

I don't know why the guy let them go for $75. We were just driving through this neighborhood and we came across his yard sale. I saw the speakers and thought that was an unbelievable price. But the foam surrounds were shot, so we actually left them there and went to run some errands! Then I thought, those speakers may be worth a lot of money. I couldn't find them on eBay, but I saw that someone had sold a pair on Audiogon, w/o the grills, for $1,600! So we drove back and they were still there.

[cmccuist]

Originally Posted by 88-diamondblue

Ok you officially suck RS IIa's for 75.00 Just kidding. Those are Emit tweeters from Infinity and the speakers love a large amount of power(make sure it is clean), incredible bass and with the right amp the Emits are sweet. The emits don't do well if the amp starts clipping though.

Great score

Michael, what do you recommend for an amp? I have an old Kenwood that is pretty low THD, but doesn't have huge wattage. Maybe I should start looking for a McIntosh to drive them.

[Teutonics]

Originally Posted by cmccuist

what do you recommend for an amp?

I used to sell these back in the day... best amp at a dollar/performance ratio that I heard with Infinity's was the Adcom GFA-555 (if you can find one). Great amp that wasn't priced ridiculously high.

Steriophile review of GFA-555

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by cmccuist

I had to get the foam on the woofers replaced.

I've read that it is common for those, still a nice find.

A few months ago I found some Kappa 9's for $1,100 which I think might be similar, one guy said:

Not to mention the Guaranteed foam surround rot Infinity is known for ! I have heard them several times I would not pay more than $400 for them. A good pair of Mini monitors and a sub will blow them away ! They are just a step up from Blose ! Hudsons used to sell them

Link:
Random Picture and Video Thread - Page 38 - MartinLogan Club (MLC)

[MrScott]

Re: foam, I don't know that this is the ideal solution for high$ speakers but I recently redid the foam on my car speakers (80's alpines) with this kit: NEWFOAM - The Speaker Place- DIY Kits So far so good.

[cmccuist]

Originally Posted by Teutonics

I used to sell these back in the day... best amp at a dollar/performance ratio that I heard with Infinity's was the Adcom GFA-555 (if you can find one). Great amp that wasn't priced ridiculously high.

Steriophile review of GFA-555

Here's one about 20 miles from my office! Better go check it out.

GFA-555 on Craig's list

I have an ADS preamp that would work well with this unit.

[cmccuist]

Here's another Adcom amp. Less power at 125 wpc. This one is right on my way home.

Adcom amp

[azasadny]

Great deal!

[jriera]

Get a few of this amplifiers --> Buy Crown XLS 202D Power Amplifier Factory Restock | Live Power Amplifiers | Musician's Friend and you will be a happy camper!!

Envious if those Infinity!!!

[Teutonics]

Originally Posted by cmccuist

Here's one about 20 miles from my office! Better go check it out.

GFA-555 on Craig's list

I have an ADS preamp that would work well with this unit.

For the modest difference in price, definitely go for the 555, it is a much better amp than the 5400 (I sold both). The Infinity's really need the extra power. ADS preamp would work really well too!

I have the 555 with Infinity Kappa 7's. I really wanted the Kappa 9's at the time, but didn't have the $$$ or the space for them.

[cmccuist]

I'm waiting for a call back on the 555. Those are going for $300-$400 on eBay, so this is a good deal.

[89911]

Don't forget to ad a Nakamichi tape deck and a cassette of REO Speedwagon to complete the 80's Sound system. Rock on!!!