So are you guys in agreement that these are a notch below the infinity's?
This is about as close of a comparison as I have done.
I would say they are about a 1/4 notch below the Infinities.
Usually when I am comparing two speakers, once I set things up for a quick switch back and forth (and especially in the low price range like these are),it is easy! I just switch back and forth and I really just pay attention to how I feel when I switch which way. IOW, usually I will be more or less consistently disappointed that I pressed the button to switch from (say) A to B and will enjoy the switch back to A. After I have a solid idea which I like better is when I start attempting to dissect what it is about the sound that makes me like one over the other (or that makes one sound more realistic than the other).
This was not so easy between these two speakers as neither gave me that "let down" feeling when I switched to it.
I was impressed at how the Infinity R152 with the smaller woofer kept up with the TP160, but I wasn't running these at reference, I was running them at what I consider a full and solid sound such that you would be talking loud, but not outright shouting to have a conversation. The general character of the bass was very close and I would not declare the subtle differences I did hear as better for either one.
Of course, this is a subjective evaluation and I know too much about these speakers, so I worry a little about how much expectation bias influences my perceptions, but the difference I did hear was what I had expected - the difference between the tweeters. Actually the TP160 far exceeded my expectation of it against the Infinity CMMD! I was expecting to be disappointed by a loss of "shine" from the trumpets and cymbals when switching to the TP160. I really did not get that!
Ultimately, the best I could describe the difference was that the R152 had a little more sharpness to how something like a high note popped out of a trumpet would break the "silence". The soft dome of the TP160 was a little ...(wait for it) ... softer - it was as loud, but the attack wasn't as abrupt!
However, the TP160 did not sound at all wrong with this effect, the R152 just sounded a little crisper. For me, this is a nod to the Infinity, but if I was counting my dollars, I would give it some thought. Also if you have any issues/sensitivities with listening fatigue, the TP160 would probably be a better speaker because you could listen longer before those popped attacks became aggravating (and trust me, I avoid sitting in front of the trumpets or trombones - often people don't acknowledge that listening fatigue is very real with live music - even acoustic when you are talking brass instruments)!
But my real "take home" was these are very close. I wouldn't give much thought to matching these two speakers for the front three - like I said, I really never got any sense of "let down" and the differences were very subtle.
I revisited the review on Reddit to see if there was anything there that I especially disputed or agreed with:
I had the Q Acoustics 3020 and the Infinity Reference R152 on hand to do a comparison, given the original MSRP of all 3 speakers were around the same, $300-350.
The TP160S, although no bass monster, has better impact than both the 3020 and R152. It sounds like a bigger speaker than the 3020 (which it is),with a fuller, more well rounded sound (and it sounds a little bigger than the R152 as well) It also disappears better than the 3020. Both the TP160S and the 3020 are a touch forward which makes sound more "exciting" at times, but the TP160S never became too shouty/annoying. Tonality is pretty balanced, similar to the Infinity's. The R152 does have a little cleaner sounding highs with more depth and separation in the soundstage with more distinct imaging, but it would've been tougher to notice if I wasn't able to compare them back to back.
I'm good with everything he said. Didn't notice any big changes in soundstage or imaging, but I believe him. I usually spend my thought more with does this sound like the instrument should unless there is a particular aspect that slaps me in the face!
I should say that for this comparison, I did not perform the small EQ adjustments on the TP160 which I had for my earlier listen to Count Bubba at near reference levels (Post #36 from this thread). I presume that is a reflection of the listening level in my (fairly live) room because I never experienced any issue at the lower volume nor even noticed it when switching from the R152's.
Kystorm, I think you'll be happy which ever one of these you get! The R162 at $200 is one of those deals that doesn't come often; but the TP160 for $80 is undoubtedly an even better deal! On that basis, the TPE160 makes the most sense.
The other way to look at it is $200 is still a great price to get a good pair of speakers and $130 is not that much to pay for better speakers, and normally, that would be my recommendation! However the R162 really is only a 1/4 notch above the TP, and as such, I would give more weight to considerations like look and size!
