P362 vs. BP7000 vs. BP7001 vs. Others

Okay, I got the pair of Infinity P362 today.

First inspection: pretty good looking overall.

I placed them in the same spot as my BP7000SCs, using the same exact amps (AT3002 + Denon 5308) & sources (same exact songs I listen to all the time and bring with me to audition speakers at dealers - Smallville, Deadzone, & 4400 soundtracks).

Overall, I thought the P362s sounded pretty good.

But being human, in the back of my mind, I can't help but think that sometimes what I rate as "good" vs. "bad" is all relative to the price.

I'm not great with words, so I will rate all the tower speakers I've auditioned in absolute terms regardless of price (don't shoot me):

DefTech BP7000SC: 10 (have not heard anything better)

DefTech BP7001SC: 9

Martin Logan Vantage: 8.5

DALI Euphonia MS5: 8.5

B&W 800D: 8

Infinity P362: 7

Paradigm Studio 100: 7

I thought the Infinity P362 tweeters did a pretty good job - pretty clear.

The P362 midrange did a pretty good job - pretty clear.

The P362 bass was decent - I thought a little better than the Paradigm Studio 100, but less than the rest.

If the BP7000SC's Bass was a "10", the P362 was a "7".

The P362s' imaging was pretty good - vocals were dead center.

So I paid $300 for a pr of P362s for my family room, and I am very happy with them. The sound is clear, the imaging is accurate, and the bass is very decent.

Darn, my BP7000SCs sound GREAT, but for $300, the P362 is pretty darn impressive!

Thanks for you're thoughts, AcuDefTechGuy. Now mod one and do mono comparisons so I don't have to....

Reading between the lines I see that the 362's are the bottom of the barrel and you're cheap.

Alex2507 said:

Reading between the lines I see that the 362's are the bottom of the barrel and you're cheap.

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Hell yes, I'm cheap.

I don't deny that.

But I think the 362s sound better than most speakers at Best Buy and at least as good as some more expensive speakers elsewhere.

I think they sound 1,000 x better than any Bose I've listened to.

I was going to rate them the same as the B&W 800Ds, but I didn't want to get banned.

Is it possible that I may NEVER TRULY love any other speakers except for BIPOLE speakers?

AcuDefTechGuy said:

I was going to rate them the same as the B&W 800Ds, but I didn't want to get banned.

Click to expand...

Hilarious! Now PENG will be unable to resist buying a pair.

Listen, I know you're big on looks but let me suggest that you raise those up about 4" or 5" to get the tweeter at the same height as your ear even if it is only temporary with books. I thought that made a pretty substantial improvement to the sound stage. Listen to them the way they are first though so you can compare. This isn't one of those things that you have to level match for. To me it simply sounded like the sound stage got raised out of an orchestra pit.

I'm glad you got them and I'm glad you like them.

What did you use for a crossover?

Alex2507 said:

Hilarious! Now PENG will be unable to resist buying a pair.

Listen, I know you're big on looks but let me suggest that you raise those up about 4" or 5" to get the tweeter at the same height as your ear even if it is only temporary with books. I thought that made a pretty substantial improvement to the sound stage. Listen to them the way they are first though so you can compare. This isn't one of those things that you have to level match for. To me it simply sounded like the sound stage got raised out of an orchestra pit.

I'm glad you got them and I'm glad you like them.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I had looked them up and saw that they're about 39 1/2" tall (if I recall correctly). I'm only 5' 8" and that would be too low for me, when seated. It would be quite simple to make a pair of short MDF boxes to set them on.

STRONGBADF1 said:

Thanks for you're thoughts, AcuDefTechGuy. Now mod one and do mono comparisons so I don't have to....

Click to expand...

I would be happy if he just leaves them stock and conducts a properly excuted DBT to confirm his purely subjective comparison...

Man, if the specs are accurate, and there as good as many people on this forum are claiming, that speaker series will become legendary, over time.

I don't put looks high on my list of priorities when it comes to speakers, but I think I'd have to leave the grills on, if I owned them.

If Harman can do such a great job for such a low price, I just don't understand why such performance isn't more common. I'm aware that many companies deliberately colour the sound in their designs in order to make them "sound great" to the ignorant masses, but if Harman can sell enough to make it worthwhile, I'm sure others can.

GO-NAD! said:

Yeah, I had looked them up and saw that they're about 39 1/2" tall (if I recall correctly). I'm only 5' 8" and that would be too low for me, when seated. It would be quite simple to make a pair of short MDF boxes to set them on.

Click to expand...

The other option if they have adjustable feet is to tilt them back a little. That's what I've done with my speakers, have them tilting backwards to make up for the shortness of the tower.

Alex2507 said:

Hilarious! Now PENG will be unable to resist buying a pair.

Listen, I know you're big on looks but let me suggest that you raise those up about 4" or 5" to get the tweeter at the same height as your ear even if it is only temporary with books. I thought that made a pretty substantial improvement to the sound stage. Listen to them the way they are first though so you can compare. This isn't one of those things that you have to level match for. To me it simply sounded like the sound stage got raised out of an orchestra pit.

I'm glad you got them and I'm glad you like them.

Click to expand...

Hmm, I might try that.

Who knows, perhaps the B&W might sound better in my room as well.

One of these days, I might just also get a pr B&W 802D just to hush you guys up.

templemaners said:

What did you use for a crossover?

Click to expand...

It was in Pure Direct Mode. Thus, the P362 got the full range treatment - no subwoofers.

GO-NAD! said:

I would be happy if he just leaves them stock and conducts a properly excuted DBT to confirm his purely subjective comparison...

Click to expand...

What do you mean?

I did a QBT - Quadruple Blinded Study!!!

I was blinded, and my other 3 multiple-personalities were blinded as well.

GO-NAD! said:

I'm only 5' 8" ...

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Get over here!
I wanna bounce you on my knee!

The tweeter is below the midrange. You have to take the grill off to get a good measurement of where the tweeter is to see how much to raise it. I wouldn't tilt these. At least not the 360's. They are tippy and top heavy.

Since I'm already doing this I may as well go all the way. The Primus drivers are known to have rattly cans for magnetic shielding and that's something you can reveal by giving the can a knuckle wrap test. I only have pic's of the driver's in a PC350 center but they will serve to show what I want.

Notice that the two drivers are positioned to show how the can is cockeyed.
There is a tight side and an open side.



On these drivers I cut the lip off so that I could easily get to the gap.



The next two pic's show the difference in the gap between the can and driver.





This is the gap caulked up.



This is the caulk and you can see one of the small drivers caulked up too.



That I think is a way to eliminate what I believe I have heard referred to as a mid treble distortion. It's pretty easy.

Chris recommends using this.



It works if the gap is small. It's liquid form but pretend it's not and pretend you are applying a little bead around the can. Then let it dry without tipping it and dribbling the glue onto Cheryl's dinning room chair like an idiot.

That's what you get for being so cheap.

If you are a complete glutton for punishment insulate these. I know that adding several inches of sound attenuation to the floor is of particular benefit and easy. If anybody needs measurements I can show you a solid six inches.

Alex,

I got lost along the way. Would you be willing to come over and show me what you mean on my 360's? We'll feed you. There will be a 45 pound roast pig on the table next weekend.

gmichael said:

Alex,

I got lost along the way. Would you be willing to come over and show me what you mean on my 360's? We'll feed you. There will be a 45 pound roast pig on the table next weekend.

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Don't know if that's a good idea..... It's kind of like when I had a few friends over to help me move....after the carnage of beer, pizza & wings, it would of cost less to hire movers.... Btw it sounds like your little girls BD is gonna be a huge party...have fun.

Alex2507 said:

Get over here!
I wanna bounce you on my knee!

If anybody needs measurements I can show you a solid six inches.

Click to expand...

I'm not falling for that trick again.....




Gotcha!

billy p said:

Don't know if that's a good idea..... It's kind of like when I had a few friends over to help me move....after the carnage of beer, pizza & wings, it would of cost less to hire movers.... Btw it sounds like your little girls BD is gonna be a huge party...have fun.

Click to expand...

It would be bigger if you show up.

gmichael said:

Alex,

I got lost along the way. Would you be willing to come over and show me what you mean on my 360's? We'll feed you. There will be a 45 pound roast pig on the table next weekend.

Click to expand...

Down the road a ways I would like to come by but right now my wandering has to be curtailed. I don't see your 360's in your sig at all. They're in storage, aren't they? I'm not sure that you are serious about getting lost.

Start with this: Grill off ... Belly up.



Remove trim rings.



Remove drivers but leave your crossover and terminal cup alone. That's a whole new level of @ss ache that I'm not going to recommend as a quick and easy procedure.



Something I forgot to mention before is stuffing the midrange cup with real insulation. Kind of a medium/loose pack with some fluff still left in the stuffing ... I'm kind of guessing here. I think the reason Infinity doesn't do this is because they don't have to with a speaker of this quality at this price point to compete with anything else out there. Once you're in this deep you can go back to the previous post with the other pic's and it will make sense. It's different when you hold the drivers in your hand and look at them.

Also you'll quickly understand why working inside the cabinet is a huge PITA. Yanking the drivers, gluing them up and adding insulation to the midrange cup and the bottom of the enclosure is a quick in and out. Do more if you like but it's time consuming and frustrating.

I hope this isn't too much of a thread jack. I just wanted to make a couple of suggestions for ADTG to encourage him to take these up to the next level if he is so inclined.

GO-NAD! said:

I'm not falling for that trick again.....




Gotcha!

Click to expand...

Again?!

Alex2507 said:

Down the road a ways I would like to come by but right now my wandering has to be curtailed. I don't see your 360's in your sig at all. They're in storage, aren't they? I'm not sure that you are serious about getting lost.

Start with this: Grill off ... Belly up.



Remove trim rings.



Remove drivers but leave your crossover and terminal cup alone. That's a whole new level of @ss ache that I'm not going to recommend as a quick and easy procedure.



Something I forgot to mention before is stuffing the midrange cup with real insulation. Kind of a medium/loose pack with some fluff still left in the stuffing ... I'm kind of guessing here. I think the reason Infinity doesn't do this is because they don't have to with a speaker of this quality at this price point to compete with anything else out there. Once you're in this deep you can go back to the previous post with the other pic's and it will make sense. It's different when you hold the drivers in your hand and look at them.

Also you'll quickly understand why working inside the cabinet is a huge PITA. Yanking the drivers, gluing them up and adding insulation to the midrange cup and the bottom of the enclosure is a quick in and out. Do more if you like but it's time consuming and frustrating.

I hope this isn't too much of a thread jack. I just wanted to make a couple of suggestions for ADTG to encourage him to take these up to the next level if he is so inclined.

Click to expand...

OMG! YOU TOOK THEM APART!? WTF man?!

Put them back together for G.d's sake! How COULD you?




They are in the little girl's room. Still not sure what I will do in the long run. I love my Mini's, but there will never be matching center & surrounds available. So, do I stick with the Mini's because they are better with music or go back to the 360's because they match the rest of the system?
And NO! Baby can not have my Mini's.