Infinity Composition Overture 1

[Pogre]

I found a pair of these on Craigslist for $50 and was able to get him to $35. They're missing grills and scuffed up a little bit. I don't know much about them aside from them having powered bass drivers, which could be a liability, really. If one dies I'm thinking I might be pretty hosed. The guy has them set up and I can listen to them before buying so that's a plus. Anyone here have any experience with these speakers?

 

[shadyJ]

The design looks interesting. I would love to see how they perform.

 

[Pogre]

The design looks interesting. I would love to see how they perform.

I'm curious. I haven't made up my mind if I'll actually buy them, but we'll see how they sound. Speakers with powered bass sections make me nervous, but then there are some 30 yr old DefTech towers that work out there still too.

 

[Pogre]

Found a pdf of the original owners manual. Not a whole lot as far as measurement specs but gives an idea of power requirements and consumption.

Pretty heavy for a bs speaker, but they have an amp stuffed in there too. Also, they take 2AG 3A SB 250V fuses. Hopefully they'd be easy to find.

 

[Pogre]

Wow, no one is familiar with these? I keep flip flopping back and forth whether or not I wanna make the drive. I've been digging and researching these and not a ton of info out there. Encouraging is, there are some for sale online and they're all in the $200 and up range. A lot of them are pretty scraped up too. Replacement drivers, refoaming kits, crossovers and replacement amps are pretty easy to find too.

*Edit: They're also designed by Andrew Jones from his stint at Infinity.

 

[KEW]

IIRC, the seller said they are fully functional from a sound standpoint?
Zieg said they were one of the higher level series from Infinity and designed by A J.
My first thought is to have a listen!
How far do you have to drive?
How old are they (when were they made)?

 

[Pogre]

IIRC, the seller said they are fully functional from a sound standpoint?
Zieg said they were one of the higher level series from Infinity and designed by A J.
My first thought is to have a listen!
How far do you have to drive?
How old are they (when were they made)?

They are in excellent working condition (according to seller) with some scrapes on the cabinet and missing the front grills.
Zieg is correct. They are designed by Andrew Jones.
I can go there this afternoon to audition.
Drive is almost 30 miles, mostly freeway tho.
They were made mid to late 90's ('97?).

 

[KEW]

They are in excellent working condition (according to seller) with some scrapes on the cabinet and missing the front grills.
Zieg is correct. They are designed by Andrew Jones.
I can go there this afternoon to audition.
Drive is almost 30 miles, mostly freeway tho.
They were made mid to late 90's ('97?).

Yeah, I'd have to go listen and, knowing me, at $35, I'd bring them home if they sounded at all decent.
You are just starting this "exploration" of investigating used speakers, I would say if you can get something like this (fairly high "pedigree", unique design, decent value on ebay) for $35, it is good odds.
Worst case is an amp dies after you bring it home, but $35 is not much to gamble and not much to pay to move forward "learning the game"!
Around here, a lot of the 2nd hand consignment stores have a shop (sometimes behind the store) where people are refinishing (or reconditioning the finish) of furniture. You might keep your eyes open, but if you start up a chat with these guys, I'm sure they know some good tricks for fixing cosmetics... and, of course, internet!
It has been a while for me, but there used to be a forum called "WoodNet" which was much like this place but for woodworkers (either asking what equipment to buy or how best to deal with a specific woodworking/finishing task...like taking care of a ding in a speaker). I'd bet WoodNet is still going strong.One good thing is if you are just talking finish for speakers, you should be able to avoid getting sucked into setting up a $15,000 workshop!

 

[Pogre]

Yeah, I'd have to go listen and, knowing me, at $35, I'd bring them home if they sounded at all decent.
You are just starting this "exploration" of investigating used speakers, I would say if you can get something like this (fairly high "pedigree", unique design, decent value on ebay) for $35, it is good odds.
Worst case is an amp dies after you bring it home, but $35 is not much to gamble and not much to pay to move forward "learning the game"!
Around here, a lot of the 2nd hand consignment stores have a shop (sometimes behind the store) where people are refinishing (or reconditioning the finish) of furniture. You might keep your eyes open, but if you start up a chat with these guys, I'm sure they know some good tricks for fixing cosmetics... and, of course, internet!
It has been a while for me, but there used to be a forum called "WoodNet" which was much like this place but for woodworkers (either asking what equipment to buy or how best to deal with a specific woodworking/finishing task...like taking care of a ding in a speaker). I'd bet WoodNet is still going strong.One good thing is if you are just talking finish for speakers, you should be able to avoid getting sucked into setting up a $15,000 workshop!

Yup. Every time I think, "nah, I'm just gonna forget about these" "only $35" follows shortly after, lol. An amp failing would be my biggest concern tho, so you nailed it there. I'll make the drive I s'pose and give them a listen. If I can clean them up and providing they're not scraped up too bad I might be able to flip them for ~$200 (even $100 would be decent profit) based on what I'm seeing on ebay, audiogon and hifi shark.

 

[zieglj01]

Wow, no one is familiar with these? I keep flip flopping back and forth whether or not I wanna make the drive. I've been digging and researching these and not a ton of info out there.

Some reviews here
http://www.audioreview.com/product/speakers/floorstanding-speakers/infinity-systems/compositions-overture-1.html

 

[Pogre]

Some reviews here
http://www.audioreview.com/product/speakers/floorstanding-speakers/infinity-systems/compositions-overture-1.html

I saw those and they're promising, but I usually take user reviews with a grain of salt. I can't find any major sites that have reviewed or measured them.

*Edit: I haven't seen a single review or comment where anyone was able to get these for only $35 tho!

 

[zieglj01]

I saw those and they're promising, but I usually take user reviews with a grain of salt. I can't find any major sites that have reviewed or measured them.

*Edit: I haven't seen a single review or comment where anyone was able to get these for only $35 tho!

I eat the fish and spit out the bones with all reviews, user and pro ... for only $35 they are worth a listen and buy some lunch while you are out.

 

[lovinthehd]

Haven't seen these before. Such small boxes. Where would you be using these?

 

[Pogre]

I'm just gonna set them up in my living room and check 'em out for a bit. I have another stereo setup in the house I can hook them up to. Ultimately I'll try to flip them then try out another pair. Unless I fall in love with these and keep 'em. I'm not looking to gain much more than just some experience with hearing some other speakers. There's a lot of stuff out there and I've only really listened to a couple of different brands.

 

[Bucknekked]

I'm just gonna set them up in my living room and check 'em out for a bit. I have another stereo setup in the house I can hook them up to. Ultimately I'll try to flip them then try out another pair. Unless I fall in love with these and keep 'em. I'm not looking to gain much more than just some experience with hearing some other speakers. There's a lot of stuff out there and I've only really listened to a couple of different brands.

they might make good "by the pool" speakers. Or in the garage speakers. Who knows?
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Sounds like fun to evaluate something like that

 

[Pogre]

they might make good "by the pool" speakers. Or in the garage speakers. Who knows?
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Sounds like fun to evaluate something like that

I have them hooked up and listening to them right now in pure direct and I gotta say they ain't bad. In fact they're really nice for a $35/pr speaker. They play a lot deeper than you'd expect, especially looking at them from the front, lol. They're a little brighter than my Ultras, which I kind of like, but I can see them getting a little fatiguing at higher volumes over time.

They do sound nice tho and I don't feel like I messed up this time! Even if I turn around and get 50 for them I'll come out ahead.

 

[Pogre]

These are definitely more sensitive than the Ultras. They also play very nicely with my subs and sound really good with 80 hz crossover. The amps do get pretty warm on them playing full range with some volume, but not scary hot. They look so tiny from where I sit, facing them straight on. These are pretty decent speakers with surprising good bass, but I'd still recommend using them with a sub or 2. They also fall just a touch on the bright side, but to my beat up old ears that's a good thing.

All in all I'm having some fun and expanding my speaker fluency. I'm gonna try to get these looking a little more presentable, detail them and see what I can resell them for. Then I'll start looking for some cheapie deals again. One of these days I'm gonna find that unicorn. There's a very nice looking, well taken care of Infinity IL40/IL10 five channel setup (with a Dahlquist sub) on Craigslist for $550 right now. Too much for me but he might go down given time. They've been in there for a little while now.

 

[Pogre]

Haven't seen these before. Such small boxes. Where would you be using these?

They are small boxes. They're a sealed design so I'm guessing that's how they're getting away with the small cabs. They sound a lot bigger than they are and very nice in the sweet spot, which isn't as big as my Ultras. Toe in and position is pretty critical with them.

 

[lovinthehd]

They are small boxes. They're a sealed design so I'm guessing that's how they're getting away with the small cabs. They sound a lot bigger than they are and very nice in the sweet spot, which isn't as big as my Ultras. Toe in and position is pretty critical with them.

I did assume they were ported for some reason.

 

[KEW]

They are small boxes. They're a sealed design so I'm guessing that's how they're getting away with the small cabs. They sound a lot bigger than they are and very nice in the sweet spot, which isn't as big as my Ultras. Toe in and position is pretty critical with them.

Looking at the pic - Wow, those really are small!
Hard to imagine an 8" driver can fit on the side without intruding on the rest of the speaker!
But I do like it when tiny boxes put out big sound!