Infinity Speakers Owners & Discussion Thread

[Kappa 9.2i]

Any infinity lovers out there? 

[Steever]

Yes.

I used to work at a retailer in NZ which sold Infinity. This was at the time of the Kappa 8 and Kappa 9 amp killers.

We also had IRS Betas in stock.

 

If a pair of Kappa 600 ever turned up for sale on the used market, I would be sorely tempted for sure.

I've been using Infinity Perfect VQ subwoofer drivers in my cars over the years and am currently building a system in my new car using two Perfect 12VQ drivers.

[rusty48]

34 minutes ago, Winno said:

I used to work at a retailer in NZ which sold Infinity. This was at the time of the Kappa 8 and Kappa 9 amp killers. 

Hi Winno, a mate has a pair of Kappa 8’s and loves them. 
Could you please expand on your ‘amp killers’ description? 
PM me if you feel it inappropriate to answer here. 
Thanks. Rusty

[awayward]

I bought Kappa 7s new back in the day, used them up until 3-4 years ago, they were still all original and in perfect condition. But storing them in a cupboard has not been kind to them, polydomes have cracked and woofer foam has disintegrated, I might restore them one day. 

[kelossus]

Never heard a pair of Infinities before but I have two pairs of RS4.5's I am restoring. One pair of cabinets is an absolute write off so I am taking the best of both speakers. One set has Graz's EMIMs so these will end up in the final speaker.

 

I have heaps of spare EMIM's and EMITS and WA120/902-1180's left over.

 

This repair has cost far more than the speakers are worth but curiosity has the better of me. I need to hear them.

[t_mike]

Yep, I have a pair. 

[kelossus]

12 minutes ago, t_mike said:

Yep, I have a pair. 

Nice RSII/B's

 

Are they your daily drivers?

[t_mike]

30 minutes ago, kelossus said:

Nice RSII/B's

 

Are they your daily drivers?

Not yet. I need a little more room before I can set them up, so some rearranging to be done. I'm also on the trail of a pair of II/As, but that will take up a lot more room.

[Steever]

7 hours ago, rusty48 said:

Hi Winno, a mate has a pair of Kappa 8’s and loves them. 
Could you please expand on your ‘amp killers’ description? 
PM me if you feel it inappropriate to answer here. 
Thanks. Rusty

The Kappa 8s and especially the Kappa 9 had a particularly nasty impedance swing which many amps readily available and still somewhat affordable at the time really struggled with. 
 

Our big NAD Monitor Series Power amps did ok and then Peter Thompson released his first SA Series Plinius amps which also did well on the 9s. 

 

I saw more than one pair of big Denon monoblocks needing repair after failing into 9s. 
 

 

[rusty48]

Ouch. Thanks for that, I’m not sure what he’s using currently (oops, unintended) for amp/s, but will pass on that info. Thanks for the response. 

[Ando]

I owed IRS Beta's for a few years.  I never managed to get them to sound the way I expected and so moved on a long time ago.   I know they can sound great in the right environment and with the right amplification.

Cheers

Mike

[Willmax]

I've had a pair of Kappa 7 they were really great speakers. I wish I still had then 

 

[eman]

Yep.

 

RS6b were the first speakers that impressed me as a young bloke. At the time they were current production. 30 ? Years later I ended up with that exact same pair. Did the refoam.

They came with a free set of RSM shed find. Did the refoam & the caps.

Bought a set of RS7 because I thought they were a bit smaller than they turned out. Refoam already done.

All 3 sets lost with everything else in the bushfires.

 

Bought some Kappa 6.1i on here. Polydomes were faded but complete. After shipping and storage for 6 months unpacking revealed the brittle old polydomes were cracked now.

Brand new exact replica polydomes now available in the US but the bloke won't send the parts. It's a rebuild service only and the numbers work out at about $230 each.

Have sourced one original complete Polydome and two old busted ones to get rebuilt by someone in Oz. 

Yet to contact suggested bloke called Attila in Melbourne.

If anyone has a second spare available that might be easier?

 

Fair enough to say the old classics usually need something fixed by now.

There's also this thing about some ppl blowing out the Emits, which can be alleviated by puting a lower fuse in.

[Resonance-2-Rythm]

On 17/09/2020 at 6:16 PM, Ando said:

I owed IRS Beta's for a few years.  I never managed to get them to sound the way I expected and so moved on a long time ago.   I know they can sound great in the right environment and with the right amplification.

Cheers

Mike

 

Many years ago I was looking everywhere for these. You are correct, they need good amplification and space to give you a unique musical experience.   

[Bal]

I have Kappa 9’s, RS2.5’s, RSM’s and non-vintage Kappa Centre and Kappa Sub.

[Bal]

On 14/09/2020 at 5:52 PM, kelossus said:

Never heard a pair of Infinities before but I have two pairs of RS4.5's I am restoring. One pair of cabinets is an absolute write off so I am taking the best of both speakers. One set has Graz's EMIMs so these will end up in the final speaker.

 

I have heaps of spare EMIM's and EMITS and WA120/902-1180's left over.

 

This repair has cost far more than the speakers are worth but curiosity has the better of me. I need to hear them.

I. Would love to hear the 4.5’s with the Graz EMIM’s.  Do you have he Servo controller?  How bad are the other cabs?

[Bal]

On 19/09/2020 at 12:47 AM, eman said:

Yep.

 

RS6b were the first speakers that impressed me as a young bloke. At the time they were current production. 30 ? Years later I ended up with that exact same pair. Did the refoam.

They came with a free set of RSM shed find. Did the refoam & the caps.

Bought a set of RS7 because I thought they were a bit smaller than they turned out. Refoam already done.

All 3 sets lost with everything else in the bushfires.

 

Bought some Kappa 6.1i on here. Polydomes were faded but complete. After shipping and storage for 6 months unpacking revealed the brittle old polydomes were cracked now.

Brand new exact replica polydomes now available in the US but the bloke won't send the parts. It's a rebuild service only and the numbers work out at about $230 each.

Have sourced one original complete Polydome and two old busted ones to get rebuilt by someone in Oz. 

Yet to contact suggested bloke called Attila in Melbourne.

If anyone has a second spare available that might be easier?

 

Fair enough to say the old classics usually need something fixed by now.

There's also this thing about some ppl blowing out the Emits, which can be alleviated by puting a lower fuse in.

There is a guy in Germany - Bernd Reinhold from hifinity.de - he has the original tooling for original polydomes.  I bought a refurbished pair delivered to AUs for about $800.  Cheaper  if you send yours over to be refurbished.  

[Bal]

On 14/09/2020 at 8:14 PM, Winno said:

The Kappa 8s and especially the Kappa 9 had a particularly nasty impedance swing which many amps readily available and still somewhat affordable at the time really struggled with. 
 

Our big NAD Monitor Series Power amps did ok and then Peter Thompson released his first SA Series Plinius amps which also did well on the 9s. 

 

I saw more than one pair of big Denon monoblocks needing repair after failing into 9s. 
 

 

I drive my Kappa 9’s in extended mode with a 4 channel Nord Acoustics amp that uses 500w (into 4 ohm) Hypex Ncore amp modules which handLes the 0.8ohm dip.

[Bal]

On 14/09/2020 at 1:41 PM, awayward said:

I bought Kappa 7s new back in the day, used them up until 3-4 years ago, they were still all original and in perfect condition. But storing them in a cupboard has not been kind to them, polydomes have cracked and woofer foam has disintegrated, I might restore them one day. 

See my post above about a fix for the Polydomes.  Not cheap, the remains true to original spec.

[kelossus]

16 hours ago, Bal said:

I. Would love to hear the 4.5’s with the Graz EMIM’s.  Do you have he Servo controller?  How bad are the other cabs?

Welcome to have a listen when they are up and running.

 

The 4.5's aren't servo controlled. They came with an Active Crossover and Passive Crossover. When driven actively most did away with Infinity Active Crossover. I will be running them passively with rebuilt networks following the original schematic.

 

The other cabinet are completely butchered. I have all the drivers though.

[jakestar]

I owned a pair of kappa 9's for many years from new. Had the foam surrounds replaced after many years. Was driving them with perreaux 3150b then replaced with krell ksa 100S. That for me was a very good synergy and I haven't found the same SQ since.

Even with fhe big current supply of the krell they could struggle when set to extended mode. The normal setting provided the punch, dynamics and musicality I enjoyed.

 

I sold both speakers and amp back in 2016. No seller's remorse as I was determined to downsize both speakers and amp and try other gear after owning these for many, many years. Still miss the scale of the sound though.

 

I was chatting with the new owner of the Kappas the other day and hope to catch up to reacquaint with the music they create.

Edited September 26, 2020 by jakestar
Typo

[Chris Launder]

On 14/09/2020 at 7:18 PM, t_mike said:

Yep, I have a pair. 

I had a pair of those back in the late 1980's , fantastic speakers .

 

I loved the monthly ritual of oiling those cabinets with teak oil ,

I was convinced to trade them in on a used pair of RS1a's , which

in someways was a retrograde step and added too much complexity .

 

Wish I still had them ....

[kelossus]

Got one speaker assembled today. One of the freshly re-foamed and re-spidered woofers has a buzz so I will have to return it for inspection.

 

These were an absolute mess when I picked them up. One of the woofer openings was plugged and they had a single Peerless XLS driver. No crossovers, missing woofers...These have cost me a fortune to restore, far more then they are worth......

 

[Bal]

2 hours ago, kelossus said:

Got one speaker assembled today. One of the freshly re-foamed and re-spidered woofers has a buzz so I will have to return it for inspection.

 

These were an absolute mess when I picked them up. One of the woofer openings was plugged and they had a single Peerless XLS driver. No crossovers, missing woofers...These have cost me a fortune to restore, far more then they are worth......

 

Nice work.  I have a pair of 2.5’s and missed out on an eBay auction In the last 3 seconds  for some 4.5’s. There were only 400 os so of that model ever made, so kudos for incurring the cost to save them. 

[matt_o]

Great to see some nice Infinities here. I have had a pair of RS (2 ways) for many years that I love the sound of. Last year I had the chance to get a set of Kappa 8.2i's that are fantastic, however the Polydomes need rebuilding. Does anyone in Australia rebuild the Polydome's? The only options I have found are Europe and USA as mentioned above.