Infinity RENAISSANCE 80 (sold)

Made In USA

Infinity Systems Renaissance 80 Floorstanding Speakers,

3-WAY HIGH-END SPEAKERS PLANAR MIDRANGE & TWEETER SECTIONS



(They use the fabulous and famous EMIM en EMIT drivers).



The Nudell/Christie era produced some of the best speakers ever made.



They discovered the Precision PHSS tweeter that they dubbed the "EMIT". During their heyday, Infinity made the best speakers available, in my opinion.


Pros: Superb imaging and soundstage. Smooth and Sweet yet extremely detailed highs and mids; tightest bass I've ever heard. Cabinets are rock solid.


These deliver 99% of the Infinity IRS line performance, without the space or power requirements. The High Energy EMIT's and EMIM's are perfect, and deliver that sweet sound that you only get with planars and ribbons. The Watkins woofers provide useable bass down to 35 Hz in my room. I replaced the crumbling foam on the back of both speakers. Virtually every pair of Ren 80/90 speakers is afflicted by this. I replaced it and now they sound even better than before, so there is literally no maintenance left to do on these speakers. They are in outstanding condition.



The January 1995 issue of 'Stereophile' magazine has a very detailed article on Infinity with interviews of the company co-founders, Arnie Nudell, Cary Christie, & John Ulrich. The interviews are quite detailed and very interesting to read, and the history of the company is discussed by each of them.

Arnie Nudell left Infinity to form ultra-high-end speaker company, 'Genesis', with Paul McGowan, who was the co-founder of 'PS Audio'. After Nudell's departure, Cary Christie remained with Infinity, and the company did produce some truly superb loudspeakers in the mid 90's before being sold-off to Harman, such as the Epsilon, Sigma, and Renaissance 90/80(The Epsilon is shown on the cover of Jan 95 issue alongside the Genesis II.5 and both are given the full test report treatment inside the mag).



Specifications

Type: 3 way, 3 driver loudspeaker system

Frequency Response: 35Hz to 45kHz

Recommended Amplifier: 75 to 300W

Crossover Frequency: 550, 3000Hz

Impedance: 4Ω

Bass: 1 x 203mm dual voice coil

Midrange: 1 x EMIMM

Tweeter: 1 x EMIT

Dimensions: 1051 x 379 x 281mm

Year: 1990

User Manual for reference :
http://www.davidsaudio.com/Infinity_Renaissance_Manual0001.pdf

User Review for reference :

The bass output isn't overwhelming like on many other speakers - it's tightly controlled and perfect in quantity for every genre of music. The bass extension is the best I've ever heard.

The new High Energy EMIT and EMIM drivers are spectacular. The new EMIT is definitely better than the older Kappa and RS series ones. It's sweeter yet more detailed - an extremely difficult feat. I honestly can't imagine a speaker with better highs. The EMIM is really the star of the show though - I can't believe how much better it is than the Polydomes on the Kappa's and older RS's. All of the excellent properties of the EMIT are carried down to the EMIM. Vocals, horns, guitars - everything - sound spectacular. The EMIM is so transparent that on a good recording I feel like I'm in the studio and the musicians are playing in front of me - but not too close. The sense of depth is excellent - something I've never experienced before.

The best thing I can say about the mid-bass coupler is that it is entirely unobtrusive. I never even notice it, it is so well integrated with the EMIM and woofer. The lower midrange and upper bass is full and "right" sounding, never overwhelming. The only time it ever sticks out is with recent poorly recorded albums that have a mid-bass hump to make it seem as if there is more bass on cheap speakers. That's not a fault of the speaker though - just a result of the poor mastering that is demanded by users of iPod earbuds and laptop speakers.

The footprint of the speakers is nice, too. They're actually quite small, accentuated by the trapezoidal shape. They look awesome - the wood grain is rich even on my matte black speakers. The built quality far exceeds the Kappa's - these are solid speakers. The binding posts are solid metal, unlike the plastic-capped posts on every other speaker I've seen. The grilles are perfect. The rubber surrounds are great as they're still supple almost 20 years later, the foam in the rear EMIM diffuser has been replaced by me.

As I said before, these are easily the best speakers I've ever heard. The Kappa's are good too, but these are just on another level. The imaging is spectacular - In a big room with lots of space behind and around them I know they will be even better. Same thing goes for the Amps - I don't have the money for a Krell or Levinson or McIntosh, but the Onkyo M-508 or Sony TA-N77ES do an AMAZING job of powering them. I highly recommended them for amping the Renaissance 90s on a budget, but I'd love to hear a truly high-end amp powering them.


User Review 2 :

The more I listen to these speakers the more I can't believe how good they sound. They are truly the best I've ever heard. They excell in their openness, 3D soundstaging and pinpoint imaging. These speakers incorporate not only the famous(and improved) emit tweeter but the emim mid range that significantly contributes to the incredible sound. The emim is what seperates this speaker from other speakers not using planar midrange drivers. The bass reaches very low frequencies, very tight and musical, but is not very loud, booming or overpowering. The bass demonstrates quality not quantity. They are very well built not allowing unwanted resonance from flexing. The speakers have that audiophile look and sound.

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Anyone will like to kahwin this Diva ??