Infinity Alpha vs Beta

[Karp]

After upgrading my receiver to a Dennon 2805, I am in the market for some mid-priced speakers. I was checking out the Infinity Betas, and like the neutral sound and fairly strong bass in the Beta 50's. I have seen some pretty good deals on the Alpha series though, and am wondering if anyone has compared the two. Do they sound the same? Is the build-quality better or worse from the Alphas to the Betas?

 

[plhart]

comparing Infinity Alpha to Infinity Beta

Karp- As the designer of the Infinity Betas I can give you a bit of information on both series. The Alpha's were originally designed and manufactured in Europe before that facility was phased out. Late Alpha production shifted to Harman's Tijuana facility so the last few hundred pieces of several Alpha models were made there. The coverings, drivers and crossover parts from the original European Alphas were put into the Tijuana-built cabinets.

We did test the Alpha 50 against the Beta 50 as part of the Beta development process. The problem with the Alpha is that it had never gone through competitive double-blind testing in Harman's Multichannel Listening Lab so it wasn't as competitive against the competition. The Beta could easily beat it. If I remember correctly we also tested the 50 against a B & W, a Polk, and a JM Lab. With the grilles off, the Beta 50 won.

The Beta series was designed firstly to replace the Alpha series for Harman Europe. So Europe got them first. The cosmetic design of the cabinet, trim pieces and grille were all designed by a European firm. Harman US got the Beta series just a couple of months ago. The Beta 50, being the biggest of the series was originally only of interest to Harman US. But when the Harman Europe guys got to hear it, they upped their order.

Hope this helps........Patrick Hart

 

[Karp]

Patrick,

Thank you for the very informative reply. Is the change from a flush tweeter to a recessed one for cosmetic reasons or does it affect the sound? Was the crossover changed as well?

 

[plhart]

Patrick,

Thank you for the very informative reply. Is the change from a flush tweeter to a recessed one for cosmetic reasons or does it affect the sound? Was the crossover changed as well?

The drivers, crossover and all other parts of the Beta 50 are completely different than the 50. The only thing the same is the vinyl. The crossover is a third-order on the woofer, second-orders on the high and lowpass sections of the mid and second-order on the tweeter. The tweeter horn is a patented technology which yields one of the smoothest polar response transitions (to the midrange) you're likely to see from a medium depth horn design. The horn provides more sensitivity in the tweeter's low range which lowers tweeter excursion and thus distortion.

 

[lasuperfan1]

Infinity beta 40

I am debating on whether or not to get either the infinity primus 360s or the infinity beta 40s. Could someone please give me some direction as to which would be the better speakers to go with and why?