About six months ago I picked up a set of Infinity Speaker cabinets this guy had in front of his house. They are real nice but have no speakers in them no crossovers nothing they are Infinity Kappa 6.1 speakers built sometime in the early 90's. The cabinets are like new so do you think it's worth it to get some aftermarket crossovers and drivers put it all together and see how it sounds? It will prob cost around $275-350.00 each speaker to do it right that's new tweeter, midrange, woofer and crossover from an aftermarket company since the original drivers and crossovers are no longer available.
Infinity speaker rebuild
- Thread starter Camprunner
- Start date
- Status
Sounds like a cool project, if you like to tinker. This PDF has a schematic of the original setup in case you don't have it:
http://www.infinity-classics.de/technik/manuals/Kappa_6.1_technical_sheet.pdf
I just don't know how easy it would be to achieve a flat frequency response using aftermarket components.
$700 can probably get you a somewhat decent set of floor standing speakers these day, but you won't have the satisfaction that you built them yourself, and the enclosures may not be of high quality.
I snagged a pair of Jamo C607 towers from Amazon a few years back for around $600. Pretty nice for the price.
http://www.infinity-classics.de/technik/manuals/Kappa_6.1_technical_sheet.pdf
I just don't know how easy it would be to achieve a flat frequency response using aftermarket components.
$700 can probably get you a somewhat decent set of floor standing speakers these day, but you won't have the satisfaction that you built them yourself, and the enclosures may not be of high quality.
I snagged a pair of Jamo C607 towers from Amazon a few years back for around $600. Pretty nice for the price.
If you have $700 to spend and want to DIY, I'd suggest paying for a completed design (drivers + XO), then building a cabinet or modifying the ones you found. Mis-matching a woofer to an enclosure will result in large, uneven bass especially if you "stuff" it in. Big mistake. It will be sort of like playing ring toss from 80 feet.
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
I just don't know how easy it would be to achieve a flat frequency response using aftermarket components.
A small investment in software can get very good speaker design tools; as crossovers are fully mathematically modelled, you can get a very good design that will behave very similar to designed after implementation.
diyaudio and audiokarma are 2 really good forums full of useful information and advise.
I just don't know how easy it would be to achieve a flat frequency response using aftermarket components.
A small investment in software can get very good speaker design tools; as crossovers are fully mathematically modelled, you can get a very good design that will behave very similar to designed after implementation.
diyaudio and audiokarma are 2 really good forums full of useful information and advise.
Originally Posted By: AVB
I would do it, but I don't think that I would invest that much in them. I would go to parts express or ebay and pick out some drivers and crossovers.
+1
Stick with Parts Express. They have quite a bit of advice and reviews to help you as well as excellent free technical support. If you call them they should be able to recommend the appropriate components for your speakers.
Otherwise, do some research and calculations, pick the woofer drivers based on the characteristics of the cabinets, they MUST match the cabinets if you expect to get good sound from them. If memory serves, the Kappa 6.1's used a base reflex (ported) enclosure that uses rather oddly designed/shaped ports, this is going to complicate your woofer choice and you may need to modify the ports to get them to properly match the woofer drivers that you choose. You could even seal the cabinets and make them into acoustic suspension speakers if you use the correct woofer drivers. Also, the crossovers in the cabinets likely won't work for your replacement drivers, so the replacement crossovers you choose MUST be a match for the mid range and tweeter drivers that you choose.
Don't worry about how inexpensive the drivers are that you choose, you don't have to spend a fortune to get good sound if all the components match with each other and cabinet properly.
I would do it, but I don't think that I would invest that much in them. I would go to parts express or ebay and pick out some drivers and crossovers.
+1
Stick with Parts Express. They have quite a bit of advice and reviews to help you as well as excellent free technical support. If you call them they should be able to recommend the appropriate components for your speakers.
Otherwise, do some research and calculations, pick the woofer drivers based on the characteristics of the cabinets, they MUST match the cabinets if you expect to get good sound from them. If memory serves, the Kappa 6.1's used a base reflex (ported) enclosure that uses rather oddly designed/shaped ports, this is going to complicate your woofer choice and you may need to modify the ports to get them to properly match the woofer drivers that you choose. You could even seal the cabinets and make them into acoustic suspension speakers if you use the correct woofer drivers. Also, the crossovers in the cabinets likely won't work for your replacement drivers, so the replacement crossovers you choose MUST be a match for the mid range and tweeter drivers that you choose.
Don't worry about how inexpensive the drivers are that you choose, you don't have to spend a fortune to get good sound if all the components match with each other and cabinet properly.
I would have to say no...
You would be designing backwards...finding drivers to work in an enclosure...which is VERY difficult. You always start with your drivers, then design the enclosure and crossover network. This is especially true if they are ported enclosures.
I you insist on finding drivers for your enclosure, I would seal up the existing porting, and consider re-porting to proper dimensions for your box size and tuning frequency, and remember you can add bracing and materials to the enclosure to reduce its volume if needed...that way you at least have some flexibility.
Google for WinISD Pro...that is a good free program to help in basic enclosure and crossover design.
Good advice above to head to Parts Express for drivers and components.
You would be designing backwards...finding drivers to work in an enclosure...which is VERY difficult. You always start with your drivers, then design the enclosure and crossover network. This is especially true if they are ported enclosures.
I you insist on finding drivers for your enclosure, I would seal up the existing porting, and consider re-porting to proper dimensions for your box size and tuning frequency, and remember you can add bracing and materials to the enclosure to reduce its volume if needed...that way you at least have some flexibility.
Google for WinISD Pro...that is a good free program to help in basic enclosure and crossover design.
Good advice above to head to Parts Express for drivers and components.
check out www.partsexpress.com or www.mavin.com
Personally, I wouldn't spend ~$300 per speaker to get questionable results versus either putting that toward new speakers or utilizing a company/site that specializes in the drivers/modules for those particular speakers. For example, I have a pair of mid-70s EPI 150s that a company will retool with product that's designed for those speakers for around $150/each.
If I spent $600 to refurbish a pair of early 90s Infinity floor standers, I'd probably only do that if the DIY route or getting them refurbished/operational meant more to me than putting that money toward something newer and better.
If I spent $600 to refurbish a pair of early 90s Infinity floor standers, I'd probably only do that if the DIY route or getting them refurbished/operational meant more to me than putting that money toward something newer and better.
- Status
Similar threads
