Opinions on Infinity speakers

[EddieG]

I thought Infinity made decent speakers, yet of all my inquiries they have not been mentioned.

Are they worth a look?

Thanks!

Eddie

 

[gmichael]

Infinity does not make bad speakers at all. I have the Primus 360's and 150's. They are a great bang for the buck speaker.
But, they do spend a fair amount of money on advertising. This expense gets passed on to the customer. There are other brands that don't spend as much on advertising, so you end up with a speaker that is, well, "more bang for the buck" as they say.

 

[annunaki]

Infinity makes some very good speakers. The Primus are a very good entry level speakers (very solid cabinets). The Beta's are very nice too. The Cascade series have been reviewed very well in Home Theater Magazine. So well in fact, I have considered them myself, however I need to get a listen first.

 

[EddieG]

I know I was told to stay away from 5.1 speaker systems and that I am better off spending the money on good mains, but what about the Infinity TSS-1100?

(I hope I don't get thumped on the head for asking this).

Thanks!

 

[avaserfi]

I own a pair of the 360's you can see my impression in the my HT link in my sig. I really like the speakers and would not hesitate to recommend the 160 or 360 to anyone (not the 162/362 as they are lower quality). The problem is the 160/360 are no longer in production but you can still find them used on ebay/craigslist an Harman is selling the 160 for $90 a piece direct from factory.

http://www.harmanaudio.com/search_browse/product_detail.asp?urlMaterialNumber=PRIMUS160BKS-Z&status=

The Primus are a very good entry level speakers (very solid cabinets).

I will have to disagree there. I find the cabinet to resonate quiet a bit and it fails the knuckle rap test pretty easily IMO. That being said I wouldn't expect any speaker in the price range to be braced much better as they are braced to the typical extent done by the average DYI builder from what I have read and seen inside the cab itself.

The speakers real secret lies in its drivers wide, reasonably linear, dispersion make for a great full sound that make the 360 more enjoyable than other speakers with more well braced speakers. (This is the reason the drivers are going to be used in my build).

For reference check out the measurements in this review: http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/605infinity/

 

[annunaki]

I own a pair of the 360's you can see my impression in the my HT link in my sig. I really like the speakers and would not hesitate to recommend the 160 or 360 to anyone (not the 162/362 as they are lower quality). The problem is the 160/360 are no longer in production but you can still find them used on ebay/craigslist an Harman is selling the 160 for $90 a piece direct from factory.

http://www.harmanaudio.com/search_browse/product_detail.asp?urlMaterialNumber=PRIMUS160BKS-Z&status=



I will have to disagree there. I find the cabinet to resonate quiet a bit and it fails the knuckle rap test pretty easily IMO. That being said I wouldn't expect any speaker in the price range to be braced much better as they are braced to the typical extent done by the average DYI builder from what I have read and seen inside the cab itself.

The speakers real secret lies in its drivers wide, reasonably linear, dispersion make for a great full sound that make the 360 more enjoyable than other speakers with more well braced speakers. (This is the reason the drivers are going to be used in my build).

For reference check out the measurements in this review: http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/605infinity/

For speakers in their price range they are fairly well done. they use 3/4" MDF if I remember correctly. Not much for bracing but sturdy for a $200.00 speaker. Doing some simple DIY bracing in the existing cabinet could yield very favorable results.

 

[avaserfi]

Doing some simple DIY bracing in the existing cabinet could yield very favorable results.

Very true, especially with the way the drivers model the missing volume will not change performance, but the added bracing will give a huge boost to performance.

 

[zumbo]

I am not an Infinity/JBL fan. Just not.

 

[Brian_the_King]

I feel like they are a solid brand, and you can't go wrong for the price. At the same time though, they are not really an amazing deal. Not a lot of bad things to say about them, but they never get raving reviews.

As far as sound, I think the only generalization that can be made about Infinity is sharp, clear highs without being harsh or overly bright.

I own 250's and used to own 150's.

 

[Seth=L]

You will always have this. If you spend $300 on a speaker package with a subwoofer and 5 speakers vs. $300 on a stereo set of speakers the stereo speakers are going to handle stereo reproduction than two of the satalite speakers can, and possibly even the subwoofer. The catch is you don't get surround sound right away. But once you have enough money you can add a subwoofer, then some surrounds and finally a center channel. Once you have all those combined they will easily outperform the all in one system in every aspect aside from being compact (but that isn't what audio nirvana is all about).

 

[Joe Schmoe]

But, they do spend a fair amount of money on advertising. This expense gets passed on to the customer. There are other brands that don't spend as much on advertising, so you end up with a speaker that is, well, "more bang for the buck" as they say.

More advertising=more sales=greater buying power and economies of scale. This can lead to considerably better bang for the buck.
I think the Primus line sound great for the price. (One can do better if spending more, however.)

 

[alexsound]

For speakers in their price range they are fairly well done. they use 3/4" MDF if I remember correctly. Not much for bracing but sturdy for a $200.00 speaker. Doing some simple DIY bracing in the existing cabinet could yield very favorable results.

Both of you are correct on this. For the money, the cabinets are
pretty well made, and it is the drivers that definitley make the
speaker in this case. I will tell you that the Beta series is
better built than the Primus series as far as the cabintry is concerned as well as having better drivers. The main thing about Infinity is finding them at a reasonable price, and not pay full retail for them. I pieced together my Beta system from 3 different Circuit City's (when they dropped Harman) and an online store for the surrounds, and spent a total of about $ 1800.00 -Beta 50's front, C360 center, 20's rear and ES250's surround and CSW10 sub. I also picked up (not included in the 1800.00) 2 PS12 subs (one was a demo), 2 pairs of Primus 150's (one pair new, one demo) , and a Beta C250 center for another 625 bucks total. This is my younger son's surround system in his bedroom (only one sub hooked up).

 

[gmichael]

More advertising=more sales=greater buying power and economies of scale. This can lead to considerably better bang for the buck.
I think the Primus line sound great for the price. (One can do better if spending more, however.)

It can work that way, but it doesn't in most cases. If so, Bose would be the best bang for the buck speakers.
But I do like my Primus speakers. Very nice sound that doesn't break the bank. The JBL E20's I have aren't so bad either.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

It can work that way, but it doesn't in most cases. If so, Bose would be the best bang for the buck speakers.

Companies like JBL and Infinity recycle some of their profits into designing decent products, and use their economies of scale to achieve lower prices. Bose, by contrast, are common thieves who will happily take the consumer's money and give them dog poop in return.

 

[gmichael]

Companies like JBL and Infinity recycle some of their profits into designing decent products, and use their economies of scale to achieve lower prices. Bose, by contrast, are common thieves who will happily take the consumer's money and give them dog poop in return.

Agreed....

 

[alexsound]

Companies like JBL and Infinity recycle some of their profits into designing decent products, and use their economies of scale to achieve lower prices. Bose, by contrast, are common thieves who will happily take the consumer's money and give them dog poop in return.

But it's VERY WELL marketed dog poop. That's where BOSE spends most of
their profits, marketing. I would guess they spend more than any other
audio/video company in the world on marketing in comparison to the amount they spend on actual product development/research.