infinity speakers...opinions please (1 Viewer)

[Daryl_hawk]

Just wondering how many of you have or have had infintiy speakers before and what you thought of them?? Specifically, do any of you have infinity alphas???

I have a set of alphas with the upgraded centre (alpha 37c) but am not 100% happy right now as it seems that the voices / centre information is slightly muffled sounding....especially at low volumes.

I am hoping that it is maybe a factor of my really cheap dvd player or something and not the speakers since they are not exactly cheap.

Anyway, opinions please.....

 

[JohnnyG]

I've been a lifelong Infinity fan and currently have Interlude 60 fronts, an Interlude 36c center, and Alpha 25ES surrounds. The 36c is virtually identical to the 37c. I recall reading one review in a major magazine of the 36c where the reviewer said it was quite possibly the best center channel speaker he had ever heard.

So, unless there's something wrong with your 37c, I'd suspect a problem elsewhere. Possibly the DVD player, but maybe the center channel amplifier in your system.

 

[Brett Frank]

I would think there is something wrong with them.

Harman has the best engineering lab in the industry. They have Floyd Toole who has developed a very detailed blind listening system for approval of all products. They have first class engineering and QC for sure. Their development systems ensure that all of the products are at least equal to their peers.

On the downside-

Infinity is now just a name to Harman. The same people design for all harman brands. So its tough to say there is an Infinity sound or philosophy

Harman is a large company with large overhead that you pay for.

 

[Andy_Steb]

I would consider the 37c an excellent center speaker.

Check all the drivers in the speaker and make sure they all are working. The tweeter is acually known to fall out during shipping.

What other pieces do you have in your system, you may have a setup problem.

 

[Daryl_hawk]

How would I go about checking the drivers? When you put your ear up to the speaker you can hear sound out of all 4 speakers (tweeter included).

For the others I have alpha 50's for the front and alpha 10's for the rears. My receiver is a denon avr 1603 and the dvd/cd player is a phillips dvp642 (cheap...only $100 cdn).

 

[Girish]

I recently upgraded to all harman/Infinity system and I am very satisfied. I have IL-60 fronts, IL-36c center, IL-120 sub driven by HK AVR-500 and an HK signautre 2.1 map.
I think the sound is very detailed even at lower volumes. Except for a small wiring fault with one of the IL-60s everything is great. I can't wait to replace my rear Bose with infinity.

 

[Daryl_hawk]

Any other thoughts??

 

[Greg Walker]

I have Alpha 20s as my mains and front/rear centers. I have always been very happy with them. Driving them with a Yammy 2400. I would also look elsewhere for the problem.

 

[Andy_Steb]

Do you have a sub and what is crossover settings?

Does your center sound muffled all the time, and under what conditions(music,dvd,cd,cable...)?

I'm not very familar with the denon avr 1603 others may help. Are you using any type of DSP or are you using Dolby Digital or DTS?. Is your system calibrated?

Try swapping your center with one of the 50's and tell us the results.

 

[Mitch Stevens]

I thought that the Interlude (IL) line was discontinued a very long time ago? Has Harman re-opened the line?

 

[ColinM]

Alpha 20 at L/R and an Aplha 25 at center. No problems other than a slight loss of clarity with the center engaged. I often run phantom. I wouldn't knock the speaker, though. It's more likely my room, or the MTM on the side problem/lobing/comb filtering. Best when directly on-axis.

 

[Girish]

No they have not reopened the interlude line. I just happen to purchase them from someone who had old stock.
Regards,
Girish

 

[James Sarno]

I too have a Harman/Infinity set up (an older system) the AVR 110 with the Infinity Entra Three Floorstanding w/Entra center, Entra One Bookshelfs for the rears and the Entra sub.
...Not for nothing, but this set up sounds really good for HT.DVD's really sound good. I am an Infinity fan and while I'll be upgrading my TV first the next step will be a new HK AVR (looking at the either the 335 or 435) and a new set of Infinity's (looking at the Beta's...but I like the Alpha's and would get them if I found a good deal)

I think Infinity speakers sound great in a HT setup, now if you are going to compare the Alpha's or Beta's to lets say Axiom or some Paradigms...then I would be interested to hear a side by side comparison (if they even are considered in the same class) ...But I think you cant go wrong with Infinity for a HT setup.

 

[James Phung]

I'm running Alphas all around for my HT and they sound great. The Kappas are currently on clearance with the Kappa 400s on sale for $700/pair, seems like a really good deal.

 

[Daryl_hawk]

ok, my sub crossover is at 80hz. fronts are "large" and centre is "small".

Center sounds like that pretty much all the time but definitely gets better with higher volume but still not fantastic. I get a similar sensation with the fronts sometimes with some music. The best way I can describe it is that it makes me want to turn up the treble knob a bit. When changing to stereo, definitely a different sound as the voices are more realistic on the centre but still the "treble knob" effect.

Not really sure what you are referring to by "DSP". I thought the DSP decoded DD and DTS, but anyway, I am using DD or DTS on the receiver. The interim DVD player is quite cheap (approximately $100).

The system is calibrated as far as distances and volume levels, crossover.

thanks.

 

[AlbertD]

Interesting post. It goes with another thread on what the best center channel is. Earlier in my HT experience, I had all Infinity speakers. I had RS4's as mains, RS3's as effects, and a CC2 as center. The dialog in the center channel was muddy. Most times it was great, but sometimes, mostly during high action sequences, it was just hard to hear it. Calibration didn't work, speaker delay didn't work. I lived with it. Finally I just got tired so I upgraded to a Infinity CC3 for my center. No better. So I changed everything. I moved the RS4's to the rear. I bought Infinity Overture 2's for the mains ($2,000 each back then) and I got an Infinity HPS center channel. Along with my sub, I now had $6K invested in speakers and the dialog was still not good enough. My natural thought here was that it must be Infinity speakers. So I sold off my Infinity center and went with Axiom. I don't remember the model number, but it was top of the line. Still not clear all the time. I tried NHT, and a few others but it just wasn't what I wanted. So I ripped everything out again and went with three matched speakers across the front. Dunlavy SC1-AV's. I postioned them the same height, in the same orientation, calibrated them, set them all to small, and have never had the problem since. I also upgraded my receiver from a Yamaha RX-V2095 to B&K, but as many people have had great success with that Yamaha I don't know if that was the issue. Some have suggested that moving from a current limiting receiver to one that is not current limiting may be playing some part in the solution. Regardless, when I saw this post it was curious to me that here was somebody else who seemed to be having issues with center dialog and Infinity speakers.

 

[MikeyWeitz]

No issues with my JBL setup.
E80 mains and EC35 center and dialouge is excellent.

I experienced the same types of issue when I had a cheapie, dual 3" HK cube type center.

Switching over to the JBL's and using the same Pio vsx-811 receiver, I noticed a trmendous differnce right away.

Watching DVD's was like hearing them for the 1st time.
Sooo much dialogue was missing before.

 

[Matt:Brunmeier]

I have basically your setup at home:
Alpha 50 fronts
Alpha 20 rears
Alpha 37C center
Klipsch RW-12 sub
and a Denon AVR-2805

They all sound excellent, including and especially the center. When I first got my alpha 20's actually the tweeter had fallen completely in like someone mentioned - but I got replacements.

 

[Daryl_hawk]

Albert - interesting dilema that you went through. I am hoping that at least part of it is due to the player / receiver but I haven't upgraded the equipment yet to find out. A friend is going to bring over his $2000 dvd player hopefully sometime this week to see what a difference a good "source" will make with my speakers. I will have to post what I find out there.

Also, I was wondering, the centre is unfortunately located in a hutch above the tv and is basically boxed in. I thought I have heard comments before above speakers having to be free of obstuctions (walls etc) to produce the sound properly. Is this true? Could this be part of the issue maybe??

 

[Daryl_hawk]

Matt - Just wondering, where is your center located? Does it have free air around the sides top and back or is is it enclosed in something like mine presently is?? Also, what dvd player do you have and are you using the "Room EQ" on the receiver?? I had a 2805 home a couple months ago trying it out and I noticed the room EQ made a bit of a positive difference......but that was because it turned up the high frequencies a bit, just like turning up your treble knob.