Infinity speakers back on sale!

[nbk13nw]

I wonder... a few people have seen some damage on arrival. Some it seems was due to shipping while with others it would be hard to explain how shipping could be the cause of thendamage or condition upon arrival I wonder if it matters which site you order from. I ordered mine from InfinitySpeakers.com and all arrived fast and in pristine condition.

 

[KEW]

I wonder... a few people have seen some damage on arrival. Some it seems was due to shipping while with others it would be hard to explain how shipping could be the cause of thendamage or condition upon arrival I wonder if it matters which site you order from. I ordered mine from InfinitySpeakers.com and all arrived fast and in pristine condition.

I'd bet they only have inventory in one place handled by the same people, so I doubt it matters whether you order from Infinity or Harman. But I am guessing!
IME, some of the handlers for UPS and FedEx make a game of dropping a box off the back of a truck and having it land perfectly flat on one side! This results in no obvious damage to the box, but the impact is still seen by the item inside.
I once designed packaging for a Kenworth truck dashboard to be shipped via UPS (it was tight - barely stayed under UPS size limits). To prove out the design, we shipped it from GA to WA for 3 round trips - in perfect condition at the end, so we started using it for production. Shipments went to 3 locations and we consistently had damage at one of the locations while the other two were always in great shape. For the damaged dashes, the box looked fine. I did some research and found these little glass vials that you stick on the box and they break if the box sees a certain impact level (either 25G or 50G, it has been a couple of decades). Also bought plenty of the extra labels so anyone handling the box would see the warning even if the sensor was on the other side of the box. After that, we had no issues at all!
I have mentioned this several times on this forum, because if anyone routinely ships stuff and has damage issues it is pretty cheap insurance (a little under $3 each, but you buy 50 at a time).

But all it takes is the "wrong" handler between you and the sender!
If these speakers were dropped "face down", there is not very thick MDF left (maybe 1/4"?) after it is cut-out for the driver flange to nest in the baffle, so it is easy to see how the weight of the driver would tear out the threads!
The damage to the smashed corner is not quite so easy to explain without more damage to the box!

 

[roadwarrior]

I'd bet they only have inventory in one place handled by the same people, so I doubt it matters whether you order from Infinity or Harman. But I am guessing!
IME, some of the handlers for UPS and FedEx make a game of dropping a box off the back of a truck and having it land perfectly flat on one side! This results in no obvious damage to the box, but the impact is still seen by the item inside.
I once designed packaging for a Kenworth truck dashboard to be shipped via UPS (it was tight - barely stayed under UPS size limits). To prove out the design, we shipped it from GA to WA for 3 round trips - in perfect condition at the end, so we started using it for production. Shipments went to 3 locations and we consistently had damage at one of the locations while the other two were always in great shape. For the damaged dashes, the box looked fine. I did some research and found these little glass vials that you stick on the box and they break if the box sees a certain level (either 25G or 50G, it has been a couple of decades). Also bought plenty of the extra labels so anyone handling the box would see the warning even if the sensor was on the other side of the box. After that, we had no issues at all!
I have mentioned this several times on this forum, because if anyone routinely ships stuff and has damage issues it is pretty cheap insurance (a little under $3 each, but you buy 50 at a time

I like that.

 

[KEW]

I like that.

Looking at your pictures, I realize I haven't disassembled one of these! I wasn't sure how to get the trim ring off.
How heavy is the mid-woofer?
Can you get a clear shot of the tweeter using a small mirror with the flash from your phone-camera?
No worries if you already packed them for return!

 

[roadwarrior]

Looking at your pictures, I realize I haven't disassembled one of these! I wasn't sure how to get the trim ring off.
How heavy is the mid-woofer?
Can you get a clear shot of the tweeter using a small mirror with the flash from your phone-camera?
No worries if you already packed them for return!

Nope, I'll give it a shot and upload the pics. I can actually weigh the driver on my kitchen scale if the batteries are still juiced up on it. It's got some heft to it.

 

[roadwarrior]

Ok just got off the phone with Infinity and they say I have to deal with JBL Pro Monday because the line falls under their division's control. Odd because I called the support number listed in my Infinity account I opened when I did my initial order. Oh well. Least they apologized and were extremely nice on the phone.

 

[roadwarrior]

Here's the best shot I could get of the tweeter using a mirror

And the mid woofer weighed in at 5 pounds or so on my kitchen scale.

 

[KEW]

Here's the best shot I could get of the tweeter using a mirror

And the mid woofer weighed in at 5 pounds or so on my kitchen scale.

Not much to see there (that I can tell),but thanks for the photo!

5 pounds is impressive! I'm not sure how good of a "guide to quality" weight is in a driver (since we don't know how much is magnet),but it probably doesn't hurt. The woofer used in the Dayton Audio BR-1 kit is 3.3 pounds as a reference.

Interesting that JBL has taken over customer service for Infinity! I suspect it is only for Home Audio, but who knows!

 

[roadwarrior]

Not much to see there (that I can tell),but thanks for the photo!

5 pounds is impressive! I'm not sure how good of a "guide to quality" weight is in a driver (since we don't know how much is magnet),but it probably doesn't hurt. The woofer used in the Dayton Audio BR-1 kit is 3.3 pounds as a reference.

Interesting that JBL has taken over customer service for Infinity! I suspect it is only for Home Audio, but who knows!

Nope. Not much to see at all. I'm thinking your take on what might have happened is the correct one. It probably got dropped flat with the drivers facing that direction and the force disconnected both internal tuning ports and the one driver right out of its screwholes.5 pounds of metal/ magnet can do that in more of a low density fiberboard which this enclosure seems to be made of. That whole JBL Pro thing seems strange as he said it was just for this line of speakers. Nothing about that on the website mentioning JBL. Infinity has been rumored to be closing up shop for over a year now. Maybe it's now?

 

[KEW]

Nope. Not much to see at all. I'm thinking your take on what might have happened is the correct one. It probably got dropped flat with the drivers facing that direction and the force disconnected both internal tuning ports and the one driver right out of its screwholes.5 pounds of metal/ magnet can do that in more of a low density fiberboard which this enclosure seems to be made of. That whole JBL Pro thing seems strange as he said it was just for this line of speakers. Nothing about that on the website mentioning JBL. Infinity has been rumored to be closing up shop for over a year now. Maybe it's now?

I'm not sure if their car audio division is still going strong (but I don't know squat about that). I think they have established pretty good brand recognition in the car audio market.
It does seem that they are at least closing out the Home Audio division. For some reason, the larger R263 tower is no longer present (maybe it might show up later) leaving only the smaller R253 tower. This Reference series keep staying around despite having these 60% off sales about 5 times a year!
I'm guessing they either have a lot of inventory piled up or just decided to keep making and selling them until the tooling for the parts wears out!
They were introduced in mid-2014, and per this article, the rumors of Infinity leaving the Home Audio division were around back then such that the introduction of this Reference series came as a surprise!
https://www.audioholics.com/tower-speaker-reviews/infinity-reference-series-speakers

Whatever they are doing, I guess we can be glad it results in these speakers being sold at a 60% discount periodically!

 

[roadwarrior]

I'm not sure if their car audio division is still going strong (but I don't know squat about that). I think they have established pretty good brand recognition in the car audio market.
It does seem that they are at least closing out the Home Audio division. For some reason, the larger R263 tower is no longer present (maybe it might show up later) leaving only the smaller R253 tower. This Reference series keep staying around despite having these 60% off sales about 5 times a year!
I'm guessing they either have a lot of inventory piled up or just decided to keep making and selling them until the tooling for the parts wears out!
They were introduced in mid-2014, and per this article, the rumors of Infinity leaving the Home Audio division were around back then such that the introduction of this Reference series came as a surprise!
https://www.audioholics.com/tower-speaker-reviews/infinity-reference-series-speakers

Whatever they are doing, I guess we can be glad it results in these speakers being sold at a 60% discount periodically!

Yup, I sold Chrysler Jeeps for the last year I was in the car business at the multiplex I worked at where I was at the Chevy store my whole career before that. They are Infinity all the way. Nice sound systems in the 300's. I think I might step down and reorder but the 152's instead . Didn't realize how big the 162's are.

 

[KEW]

Yup, I sold Chrysler Jeeps for the last year I was in the car business at the multiplex I worked at where I was at the Chevy store my whole career before that. They are Infinity all the way. Nice sound systems in the 300's. I think I might step down and reorder but the 152's instead . Didn't realize how big the 162's are.

Yeah, they are kind of large.
Well one good thing is the smaller 152's are less likely to experience shipping damage - just basic physics - drop an ant from 15' off the ground and he'll just walk away. Drop an elephant from 15' off the ground and "splat"!

 

[roadwarrior]

Yeah, they are kind of large.
Well one good thing is the smaller 152's are less likely to experience shipping damage - just basic physics - drop an ant from 15' off the ground and he'll just walk away. Drop an elephant from 15' off the ground and "splat"!

If I had dedicated stands for them they'd be fine. It's my jury rigged front B speaker setup that dictates bookshelves sized more like my Wharfedales. I'm thinking that as well shipping wise. I'll think on it a bit then probably order them tonight or tomorrow.

 

[Hokies83]

If I had dedicated stands for them they'd be fine. It's my jury rigged front B speaker setup that dictates bookshelves sized more like my Wharfedales. I'm thinking that as well shipping wise. I'll think on it a bit then probably order them tonight or tomorrow.

R162 work on elcheapo stands, just gotta screw them into a wide base, like $15 at Lowe’s and you get enough timber to do 10 stands.

 

[roadwarrior]

R162 work on elcheapo stands, just gotta screw them into a wide base, like $15 at Lowe’s and you get enough timber to do 10 stands.View attachment 29705

Appreciate it but I don't use stands as they are a second set of stereo speakers. I have angled foam pads and they sit on top of my main tower speakers. Only way I get 2 stereo setups without having to move things around.

 

[roadwarrior]

KEW, There's also just pressure holding it in from felt strips along the edges of that metal ring around the woofer. I pushed it back in to check. There's felt pieces all along both the inner and outer edges to hold it in place.

 

[Hokies83]

I really want a set of r263 towers... they got rave reviews before they vanished from exsistance,
I found a single for sale but was $500 used lol.

 

[nbk13nw]

I really want a set of r263 towers... they got rave reviews before they vanished from exsistance,
I found a single for sale but was $500 used lol.

I think they were $400 a pair when they went on sale.

 

[KEW]

The party's over!
Back to MSRP as of today!
So they seem to have this sale every Memorial Day, starting on (or before) Memorial Day and lasting through the following Sunday.
Like I say, they do this about 5 times a year, but it would be nice to figure out their schedule so if someone is looking for speakers a week before the sale, we can clue them in on this option.

 

[roadwarrior]

Ok, now JBL Pro says they don't know what the first Infinity rep was thinking giving me over to them and then JBL Pro gave me another universal CS line and they in turn tried to give me JBL Pro's number again. I felt like I was eating crazy pills. I hung up on that dude and called the original CS # I found on the website I actually ordered the speakers from and Steff got me handled but that was pretty bad. Proud of myself though. I never started yelling and only hung up on someone once. The 152's should be here on the 5th.