Infinity Beta 20 Bookshelves (pair)

Evolved From the Best
Great loudspeakers are often products of evolution, engineered to improve upon the best of what's come before. The Beta Series from Infinity offers a powerful and stunningly handsome new case in point. A direct technological descendant of the acclaimed Infinity Prelude MTS Series--and sharing a heritage of excellence going back more than 35 years--Beta imparts exceptional fidelity and realism to music and motion picture soundtracks. The two-way, bookshelf Beta 20's 6.5" woofer and 1.0" tweeter both feature the revolutionary Ceramic Metal Matrix Diaphragm (CMMD) technology developed for the premium Prelude Series; and being the first Infinity speaker line to use the new Constant Acoustic Impedance (CAI) technology, Beta showcases Infinity's latest, most innovative thinking and advanced manufacturing techniques. Whether in home theater, bookshelf, or floorstanding applications, Beta delivers clean, resonance-free high and midrange frequencies with forceful, dynamic bass, bringing your favorite home entertainment vividly to life.

Extended High-Frequency Response
Loudspeaker designs often include acoustical waveguides to improve both on-axis (on-center) and off-axis high-frequency response. Beta Series speakers feature Infinity's patent-pending CAI waveguide technology, which significantly enhances performance over other waveguide designs. CAI high-frequency drivers display increased sensitivity, creating more dynamic headroom and enabling seamless sonic transition between the tweeter and lower frequency transducers in both two-way and three-way systems. All of this helps assure uniform frequency response across the entire listening room, greatly expanding the optimum listening area. With CAI, the full potential of CMMD tweeters is realized, extending the frequency response beyond 40kHz and yielding exceptional fidelity, especially with today's demanding high-resolution, digital sources like SACD and DVD-Audio. CAI waveguides also allow for less complex crossover circuitry, resulting in a distinctly pure, accurate sound unique to Infinity Beta. Don't forget: You heard it here--and only here--first.

Very Rapid Transducer Response
In their quest for unequaled sound, Infinity's goal is to eliminate resonances, the unwanted colorations, or distortions, of the sound reproduced by a speaker. Every transducer has its own unavoidable set of resonances based on its own physical characteristics. The trick is to build a transducer where the natural resonances are either above or below its audible range. To accomplish this, Infinity engineers invented and patented Ceramic Metal Matrix Diaphragm (CMMD) transducer material, a sandwich made up of layers of ceramic alumina (20% of the total thickness top and bottom) anodized to a metallic aluminum core (the remaining 60% of total thickness). Among the stiffest materials known, alumina and aluminum were chosen because sound moves through them faster than through conventional transducer materials and the CMMD sandwich responds to electrical signals very rapidly without coloring the sound at all. That's why every transducer in Beta Series speakers incorporates CMMD technology.

No Resonances In Audible Range
Taking resonances out of the audible range is done by crossovers, electronic devices that switch the sound from one transducer to another depending on the frequency. CMMD technology allows a transducer's natural resonance to be placed outside its operational range so that the crossover will transfer the sound before the natural resonance can be heard. When drivers are made of conventional materials, engineers attempt to damp out the resonances; but that diminishes the overall performance of the speaker--and the resonances are still there. Remember that Infinity's CMMD technology is patented (nos. 6,327,372 and 6,404,897), so when other manufacturers claim that their transducers are ceramically coated, it's merely a cosmetic surface treatment. Beta Series transducers are made with 20/60/20% alumina-aluminum sandwich material first and foremost for the sound, not just the look.