I had the following three speakers set up for awhile in a tower comparison:
Infinity R253 (small tower from the same series as the R162)
DCM TFE100
JBL Studio 580
I had earlier compared the R162 against the DCM TP60S and I felt the TP60S was 1/4 of a notch below the Infinity. By that I mean they were very, very close, but the Infinity had a slight advantage over the DCM. You can read my comments here:
cool cool I'll look 4ward to the comparison, sorry for the confusion, I meant the tp. And out of curiosity have you all considered setting up a youtube channel and perhaps make some money from your hobby? Audioholics YouTube channel.
forums.audioholics.com
The TFE (Time Frame Evolution) series is a step up above the TP (TimePiece) series and this showed in the comparison of the towers. I have to give the nod to the TFE over the Infinity and a very slight nod to the 580 over the TFE.
The TFE and 580 have a lot of the same character. They both have good energy, playing music with a sort of enthusiasm (if I can personify speakers). The Infinity seemed perhaps a little staid in comparison. I am not sure that I can say the JBL and TFE are more accurate than the Infinity, but they are more engaging to me and if you are looking for something to play energetic music on I would give the TFE the nod over the Infinity Reference series. If you are looking for something a little more reserved, I would go with the Infinity. I don't know, but I might suppose that JBL and DCM use a little bit of a "house curve" while Infinity is totally flat?!
Obviously this is a very subjective account, but I think the TFE would be preferred by most.
@TheWarrior came over and listened to them blind and Rated them as JBL best, TFE a close second, and Infinity a more distant third. I didn't feel that the Infinity lagged so far behind the others as he did (these are, after all opinions), but ranked them in the same order.
I've got to say that if you are looking at the TFE bookshelf speakers, you should consider the TFE100 towers as the last time I checked they were only another $30 to $40 over the bookshelf version. I am usually a big fan of bookshelf speakers, but part of that equation is that you pay a lot more for the towers, but at $40 difference, it is hard not to get the towers. If and when you were to resell them, I think you would get that $40 back quite easily!
