Infinity 4000 speakers

[CallMeJoe]

I saw a pair of Infinity 4000s in a local thrift store for $50. I hesitated to get them even at that price, because they are not an EMIT model, and not one with which I am familiar. It's a three-way design; it looked like 10" woofers, 4"? mid and 1"? cone tweeter in a ported box. Is anyone here familiar with this model? Is a pair worth the $50?

 

[herm0016]

if they are in good shape they will probably sound pretty good. I like the infinitys. what series are they?

 

[CallMeJoe]

I don't remember seeing a "series" name on them, just Infinity and 4000. FWIW, I found a picture posted at Audio Karma. Second post on the page, speaker on the left. I PMd the guy who posted the pic, but he replied he owned the set for only a short while and didn't recall any specifics. It's hard to believe it's so hard to find information on a major manufacturer's product in the 21st century; there's not even anything on Infinity's web site in the Product Support section beyond a link to the name.

edit: they do appear to be in good shape, but I didn't try to check them out in the store. If they're still there tomorrow, I'll probably give in to temptation.
If they're not that great but the bass is tight, I could always eBay some Kappa series mids and EMITs, and see how they sound...

 

[dawgtuff]

The bass won't be "tight" since the are a ported design.

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: dawgtuff
The bass won't be "tight" since the are a ported design.

I love randomly assessed audiophile terms

 

[herm0016]

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: dawgtuff
The bass won't be "tight" since the are a ported design.

I love randomly assessed audiophile terms

lol. yea. there is no way anyone that has not heard them can say anything about the sound. ported or not, if they are designed well the base can be "tight" or rather the low end freq. response will be good.

 

[erwos]

It'll probably sound pretty reasonable if it's still in good condition. Check the foam, that's usually the first stuff to go.

When I was first setting up my sound system, I used a pair of old Electro-Voice speakers that very strongly resembled those Infinity 4000s, and I was quite impressed with the sound reproduction. Didn't measure up to my PSB T65s, naturally, but they didn't hurt the ears, either. Way better than nothing, or your TV speakers.

 

[CallMeJoe]

Originally posted by: herm0016

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: dawgtuff
The bass won't be "tight" since the are a ported design.

I love randomly assessed audiophile terms

lol. yea. there is no way anyone that has not heard them can say anything about the sound. ported or not, if they are designed well the base can be "tight" or rather the low end freq. response will be good.

:thumbsup:
Ported designs can be flat or peaky in the low frequencies depending on the match of the port to the woofer. I'll generously assume that dawgtuff has heard only badly ported designs with a "bump" in the second octave to hide the lack of first octave response.

I went ahead and bought the speakers despite deteriorating woofer surrounds; refoaming drivers is no big deal, and the overall sound was decent (allowing for Goodwill acoustics). The cabinets, crossovers, midrange drivers and tweeters are all in good shape. Twenty bucks for a 10" refoam kit and a couple of hours' work should yield a decent pair of speakers. They won't push my JBLs out of my main stereo, but they'll do well in the garage if I don't sell them off.

 

[cheesehead]

I can't find any information on these, but if these use cone tweeters, I'd just chuck 'em. Also, even if they don't, listen to the speakers with the mids and woofers disconnected - ferrofluid deterioration can make older tweeters sound like crap.

 

[ericlp]

yeah I agree, these tweeters look old school ... Check the foam on the woofer and if your gonna buy them do it before the kids push on the cons and stick their fingers in the tweeters dunno why kids love playing with speakers! If anything you can go to Audio Express and put new drivers in. I've done that. Tho, I'd think you'd have better luck just making your own box and recommended "matched" drivers then just mixing and matching what was already in the box.

Personally I'd pass on anything infinity makes unless it had silk dome tweeters or the ribbon ones.

 

[cfrancis]

I saw a pair of Infinity 4000s in a local thrift store for $50. I hesitated to get them even at that price, because they are not an EMIT model, and not one with which I am familiar. It's a three-way design; it looked like 10" woofers, 4"? mid and 1"? cone tweeter in a ported box. Is anyone here familiar with this model? Is a pair worth the $50?

I own a pair of these speakers, I purchased them brand new in the late 70's for $225.00 a piece. They can take 300 watts each, I've shaken pictures off of walls with them before. I loaned them once to my brother in law, he used them on an old style pre-amp and tuner and dumped 125 watts into them, no distortion. I had to recone them woofers for $75 a piece (as I drove them HARD!) and were appraised at $1300 to $1500 each. $50 WOE!!! I no longer have the Marantz receiver but power them now with a Demon DRA-685 and love them still. Second to none!!!

CallMeJoe was asking about the speakers in 2009. Hopefully he has made a choice by now.
admin allisolm