Modifying Infinity Speakers

[Seth=L]

A long time ago WmAx (Chris) offered to modify my Infinity IL10 speakers. He was confident the drivers used were worthy of being used in a modified/improved cabinet with an improved crossover.

I acquired a second pair of IL10 (Interlude 10) bookshelf/stand mount monitors and I'm considering having them modified.

Reason? Of all speakers I've had I always end up going back to these. I love how they sound. They have some drawbacks, but the benefits fair outweigh those faults. They're lively, gentle on the ears with their incredibly smooth treble. They aren't in your face and they aren't dull. They strike the perfect balance in tonal quality for me. they have a few resonant issues and I feel the woofer could be more robust for harder listening, but other than that they're extremely satisfying.

I have a pair of Ascend Sierra 1s and no matter how much I listen to them I just feel like they lack that the soul of the Infinitys. I had the Ascends hooked up for a month and while they had deeper bass and less pronounced resonance they just don't engage me to want to listen for long periods of time.

So am I nuts to have the second pair of Infintys modified. I worry that changing them will take away the magic they already do.

It's frustrating that I haven't found something that improves on 15 year old speakers. I'm not even sure if I would fall in love with the Vandersteen 2CE if I had another pair.

 

[zieglj01]

You can have them modified -- however save the crossovers, if you do not like the difference in the sound.

 

[Seth=L]

You can have them modified -- however save the crossovers, if you do not like the difference in the sound.

Just wondering who I would have do it. What would need to be done to them to minimize the faults and enhance their best qualities. It's not something I intimately understand. I figure a more ridged enclosure would help alleviate the resonance, but hamper the bass. Thought about having them turned into a sealed floor standing speaker, but not sure if that's a good idea. I run them with the ports plugged most of the time which takes the resonance.

 

[slipperybidness]

Just wondering who I would have do it. What would need to be done to them to minimize the faults and enhance their best qualities. It's not something I intimately understand. I figure a more ridged enclosure would help alleviate the resonance, but hamper the bass. Thought about having them turned into a sealed floor standing speaker, but not sure if that's a good idea. I run them with the ports plugged most of the time which takes the resonance.

Send a PM to Dennis Murphy.

 

[lsiberian]

You could seal the port, CLD the walls, brace the CLD with dense oak, and fill it with mineral wool. Then replace the crossovers with a mindsp and a 4 channel amp.(The Chris way)

But honestly unless you have the tools and want to do this for fun. You'd be better off putting your money into another set of speakers. Dennis Murphy does amazing things these days I hear. I'd charge at least 1k to do these mods with no guarantee of your satisfaction(not that I'd actually do them). It's a lot more effort than Wmax let on. I couldn't in good conscience charge you 1500 to 2k for a maybe when you could buy a nice pair of Salks or Philharmonics for that.

 

[Dennis Murphy]

Send a PM to Dennis Murphy.

I'm not sure this sounds like a crossover issue. It seems more like a box tuning or cabinet resonance problem. I would certainly be happy to look at one of them, but I couldn't promise that tweaking the crossover would help. There's some really great sound treatment material out now that's made out of torn-up levis and is quite inexpensive. It might be worth taking the woofer out and lining the walls and back with some of this stuff. It goes under the Eco-Core brand at Meniscus Audio in Michigan.

 

[Seth=L]

I'm not sure this sounds like a crossover issue. It seems more like a box tuning or cabinet resonance problem. I would certainly be happy to look at one of them, but I couldn't promise that tweaking the crossover would help. There's some really great sound treatment material out now that's made out of torn-up levis and is quite inexpensive. It might be worth taking the woofer out and lining the walls and back with some of this stuff. It goes under the Eco-Core brand at Meniscus Audio in Michigan.

If I wanted to discuss this further would you prefer to keep it in this thread or move to PM?

 

[Dennis Murphy]

If I wanted to discuss this further would you prefer to keep it in this thread or move to PM?

Neither--e-mail would be a lot easier. Just write me at info@philharmonicaudio.com I don't charge for diagnostic or design work--only for wiring up and installing finished boards if you're not able to.