Since there is interest, I set up the front three (2XR162 + RC263) along with single Sub R12. Time is tight, so I setup a equilateral triangle of 6' on a side inside of my main system (to skip the time required to clear out my main system). I ran Audyssey and spent some time listening. Unfortunately, I only have subjective experience to pass on, so take it for what it is worth!
Audyssey set the roll-off at 60 for R162's and center; however, since the Center is speced at 52Hz and the R162 at 49Hz, I bumped it to an 80Hz crossover (which was also what SVS's Merlin tool recommended)!
Music:
First I was impressed with imaging and how solid the phantom effect for a center was. I was listening to stereo music and I checked twice because it really sounded like the center had to be in play (I though maybe I had not properly switched it to stereo). I really like these speakers, they do everything very well and vocals were clean and crisp! At the sale price, these are the least expensive speaker that I have heard which did nothing wrong. What I mean by that is they are missing nothing to my ear. I know if I set them up side by side with my Focal Solo6Be, they will reveal some imperfections, but as long as I keep the Focals out of the room, these are perfectly wonderful.
In contrast, the AA's (version with the Dayton tweeter) were excellent for around $200, however, they were always missing some of the highest frequency presence - the shine on a triangle, if you will, or some of the shine of a well recorded trumpet in it's highest harmonics. IME, that is a liability of a soft dome tweeter. The ceramic coated metal tweeter used by Infinity provided this "shine" and exhibited no audible breakups. At 60, my hearing is suspect in the high frequencies, but
@TheWarrior listened to them when I first got them, and he gave them a thumbs up with his younger ears. I believe he agreed with me that they are a good speaker at MSRP and a ridiculous deal at the discounted price.
The sub integrated nicely and gave plenty of "omph" where it belonged without any boominess. This impressed me as a very musical setup. I should point out that the sub was located a little over 4 feet away from the back wall and in the center of the room from left to right. This is the best ported sub I have heard for music (especially given that I did nothing more than run Audyssey). I may have gotten lucky that my random placement worked so well. Given the bottom end spec'd for the sub is 29Hz, I suspect it was tuned more for music and less for HT.
HT:
I pulled out my "The ULTIMATE Bass Demo Disk - Vol. 1" and ran through about a dozen of the classic bass intense scenes.
The subwoofer provided a nicely enhanced experience. I could definitely feel it through the floor. I felt I was getting the full theater experience although I know my other subs go deeper.
I usually set the volume for movies around -17.5 to enjoy immersion in a good action movie, however, I decided to deliberately push the sub to it's limit on the "Server room" scene from the movie, Pulse. At -9.5dB on the volume (after Audyssey) the "pulse" of the machinery started making a noise that was from the sub and not from the movie. It may have been port chuffing, I am not sure. It was not a bad (as if the sub was destroying itself) sound and I would not have known for certain that it did not belong except it disappeared when I reduced the volume and came back as I increased the volume! The driver was definitely jumping, but not stretching the surround and I would expect more of a "clacking" sound if there was mechanical interference. Naturally, wall or corner-loading the sub would have increased the output a few more dB before the chuffing started, getting into -4dB territory.
This has no relevance other than identifying the scene I am talking about (after she opens the door):
The center disappeared into the overall sound as it should, but I got the sense that I could really push the volume had I wanted. The whine of the turbines of the helicopters in Black Hawk Down put the sounds in the room with me and vocal recognition was very good.
Overall:
This Infinity system offers well balanced high sound quality that does it all very well. Music was wonderful and many of the HT scenes had my adrenaline on alert!
Seriously, if you are in the market for a system, just get this, you're going to spend
at least $1500 (I'm thinking closer to $1800) for the equivalent of what you can get here for $1000!!!
This is probably the best deal I have
ever seen!
On the question of 2 R12's vs a 15" Hsu. While I have never heard a Hsu sub, I think some comments can be made which would apply to the general situation (knowing that the Infinity and Hsu subs are neither crappy subs).
For music, two Infinity R12's is an easy call because I think the bass runs deep enough for music including room gain. I was impressed how strong it was for HT and think it would be acceptable for Electronica.
Adding a second would even out the distribution through the room for multiple seats and add another 3dB of output.
For HT. I would worry a little about even distribution through the room, but there is no doubt but that the Hsu 15" would give better special effects. If you are a serious HT buff, I say get one Hsu and add another later when you can afford it (and you may get lucky and not need the second).
