# Infinity Alpha Speakers Alive & Well. Please read.



## louisp (Apr 4, 2011)

Is anyone out there still using Infinity Alpha Series speaker?

I use Alpha 50 front's, Alpha 37c Center, Alpha 20 surrounds, Alpha 10 rears (stored away, not used). My huge Alpha Sub 2 is stored away due to its size. I use a Paradigm sub instead.

All of my Alpha's came in black ash yet I applied a feaux cedar finish. The secret to keep Alpha's going for many years is to routinely test them periodically. If any fault is discovered any worn out part is easily replaced. All parts, with the exception of the grills, can be purchased directly from Harnan Kardon. I can tell you these superb speakers are very difficult to find for sale. 

Infinity replaced the Alpha's with the lower rung and cheaper Beta series. The same fate awaited the Beata's. They were replaced with the even still available economy line Primus series.

I look forward to your replies.


----------



## theJman (Mar 3, 2012)

I've never heard the Alphas personally, but it's quite evident you're happy with them. And that's a good (and exceedingly rare) thing for HT lovers; seems like we always have an itch to upgrade, which tends to make this an expensive hobby. At least your wallet remains intact... :T


----------



## vaultman (Mar 17, 2012)

Yes, I have the infinity Alpha's. Still going after ~10 yrs. Love them! 

I am interested in what types of tests you are doing to make sure they are working well?

I haven't done any replacement of parts, but I think my kids crushed a tweater. It has a little dent in it.

I have seen the replacement parts online, but not sure how to test what parts to order.

Thanks for the info!


----------



## louisp (Apr 4, 2011)

vaultman said:


> Yes, I have the infinity Alpha's. Still going after ~10 yrs. Love them!
> 
> I am interested in what types of tests you are doing to make sure they are working well?
> 
> ...


Every now and then I run a test tone provided by my Denon AVR. It's very easy to id a busted speaker. I lost all sound from one of my 50's midrange speakers. I removed the non-performing midrange and swapped it with the other 50's midrange. This swap out confirmed the speaker was good. After calling Infinity I knew the problem was a bad crossover network. As for your dented tweeter, if is not cracked it is ok. If it is cracked, in some cases you can use simple scotch tape to mend the split. These half ping pong ball like tweeter cones are the Achilles heal of the Alpha line.

Keep loving your Alpha's.


----------



## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

Hello,
I have no doubt the Alphas provide a stellar Music and Movie experience. The Alpha Series are excellent Speakers as you and Vaultman well know.
Cheers,
J


----------



## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

I have yet to hear any of Infinity's home audio gear i have had a ton of there car audio stuff however. I always bought the Kappa series from them, the 6x9's i had sounded incredible as well as the subs so i have no doubt the home gear is just as good or once was.:T


----------



## turbo v6 camaro (Jul 20, 2012)

i have the TSS-1200 

the sub lasted 4 years / replace with polk 12inch sub

the speakers are all GREAT still. 

the only thing this system lacks is some good mid-range. 

i fell in love with infinity from car speakers because they where the only ones that didn't distort and the only one that still play fine after i had smoke rolling out of my 6x9's do to wiring mistake on my part (i was 16) 

whoops


i'm open to options now but i always check infinity first lol


----------



## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

Infinity makes quality Speakers. However, the TSS-1200 is aimed squarely as an alternative to a Bose 5.1 Speaker Package. We are talking about tiny Satellite Speakers with 3 1/2 Inch Drivers. Given this, it is acoustically impossible to have satisfactory Midbass Performance as the Speakers probably cannot play lower than 150-200hz which means the Subwoofer has to handle frequencies that no decent Subwoofer should ever be tasked with. A 10 inch or 12 inch Subwoofer simply sounds horrible when having to handle such high frequencies. More often than not, Subwoofers and AVR Crossovers will not go that high simply leaving a giant hole in the Frequency Response.


----------



## pharoah (Jul 21, 2012)

i know my infinity speakers are not nearly as good as yours.i am very satisfied with the sound of my rs6 kappa's.


----------



## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

pharoah said:


> i know my infinity speakers are not nearly as good as yours.i am very satisfied with the sound of my rs6 kappa's.


Hello,
It truly is not about that. Rather, I think it is a fantastic idea to start with replacing your Mains or Front Speakers with something like the Infinity Primus, Klipsch Icons, SVS S-Series (currently 50% off), PSB Speakers, or something else along those lines.

And Infinity Kappas are utterly fantastic. Around 8 years ago when I put together my Car Audio dream system, I truly debated over whether to get Focal Utopias or Kappas. I ended up going with the Focal Utopia Component 6.5 Sets (Front and Rear), an Alpine CDA-7949 H/U, JL Audio 12W7 Prowedge, 2 JL Audio 300/2's and a JL Audio 1000/1.

Unfortunately, when I got my Infiniti M45, there was simply no elegant way to integrate any of the equipment with the exception of the 12W7 Prowedge and the 1000/1 by tapping off the Rear Speakers of the horrid Bose System that was in the car. After being used to fantastic SQ from top to bottom, I just could not live with having quality Bass and Bose quality Highs and Midrange so I ended up selling my entire setup to a friend. To this day, I listen to either Sports Talk or BBC World Service 95% of the time in my car. The other 5% my GF complains so much that I relent and listen to Music and wince. After knowing truly exceptional Car Audio, going to something like what is in my car is just depressing...
Cheers,
JJ


----------



## pharoah (Jul 21, 2012)

Jungle Jack said:


> Hello,
> It truly is not about that. Rather, I think it is a fantastic idea to start with replacing your Mains or Front Speakers with something like the Infinity Primus, Klipsch Icons, SVS S-Series (currently 50% off), PSB Speakers, or something else along those lines.
> 
> And Infinity Kappas are utterly fantastic. Around 8 years ago when I put together my Car Audio dream system, I truly debated over whether to get Focal Utopias or Kappas. I ended up going with the Focal Utopia Component 6.5 Sets (Front and Rear), an Alpine CDA-7949 H/U, JL Audio 12W7 Prowedge, 2 JL Audio 300/2's and a JL Audio 1000/1.
> ...


i see you are talking about car speakers.what im talking about are not.








[/IMG]


----------



## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

Indeed. My bad. On another Thread there was a discussion about an Infinity TSS-1200 Owner and I honestly got the Threads mixed up. I am sure those still sound great. It makes me sad that listening to Music once was so much more of a communal event. While Turntables have seen somewhat of a resurgence, it is still decidedly a niche whereas the iPod has become ubiquitous.


----------



## pharoah (Jul 21, 2012)

yeah i agree with the turntable comment for sure.honestly though most of my listening is cd's.digital formats such as ipod,pc etc can be very good.with a proper external dac of course.


----------



## mulalleybs (Aug 4, 2012)

louisp said:


> Is anyone out there still using Infinity Alpha Series speaker?
> 
> I use Alpha 50 front's, Alpha 37c Center, Alpha 20 surrounds, Alpha 10 rears (stored away, not used). My huge Alpha Sub 2 is stored away due to its size. I use a Paradigm sub instead.
> 
> ...


I have Infinity SM152's does this count?


----------



## louisp (Apr 4, 2011)

Yep!


----------



## mulalleybs (Aug 4, 2012)

louisp said:


> Yep!


Sweet. They were originally my dads and I took them off his hands when I was 18, 24 now. Anyway, I'm starting to buy everything for a HT/stereo system.

Are those still decent speakers by todays standards or would they be out preformed with a 5.1 set up? (Still can't decide what speakers to buy)

It would be 50/50 for music and movies by the way.


----------



## louisp (Apr 4, 2011)

mulalleybs said:


> Sweet. They were originally my dads and I took them off his hands when I was 18, 24 now. Anyway, I'm starting to buy everything for a HT/stereo system.
> 
> Are those still decent speakers by todays standards or would they be out preformed with a 5.1 set up? (Still can't decide what speakers to buy)
> 
> It would be 50/50 for music and movies by the way.


These are very old an by no fault of their own very out dated speakers. As for new speakers, you must consider the quality of the proposed new AV hardware. Only you know your overall budget. Some complete 5.1 speaker packages are good some not so much. To incorporate your existing Infinity speakers may be very difficult. Look on this forum along with sites like Crutchfield and Best Buy for system and or speaker buying advice.

Best of luck to you.

For reviews of your vintage Infinity's go to this link http://www.audioreview.com/cat/spea...nfinity-systems/sm152/prd_119635_1594crx.aspx


----------



## louisp (Apr 4, 2011)

louisp said:


> Is anyone out there still using Infinity Alpha Series speaker?
> 
> I use Alpha 50 front's, Alpha 37c Center, Alpha 20 surrounds, Alpha 10 rears (stored away, not used). My huge Alpha Sub 2 is stored away due to its size. I use a Paradigm sub instead.
> 
> ...


*January 2015 update.*

Just wanted to say my Infinity Alpha's are stilling going strong each and every day. lddude:


----------



## louisp (Apr 4, 2011)

Let's keep this thread alive! Speak up Infinity owners.


----------



## Gregwa (Apr 5, 2017)

Alive and kicking! I just picked up a preowned pair of alpha 10s, Yamaha ax396 amp and ,5cd player £100!!!! I came across this thread via my search for more info on the aforementioned speakers. I was looking to fall in love with my cd collection all over again.... And it's working ?


----------



## goatfarm (Mar 31, 2007)

My 2-channel system is a pair of Infinity Overture 3s that I bought new in 2000. They don't dig extremely deep, even with a total of 8-6 1/2 inch powered woofers; but they are just so sweet sounding, not to mention good looking. These preceded the Alpha line by several years. It's my understanding that Andrew Jones had a hand in the design of the Overture series. Had a pair of Alpha 20s that I gave to a neighbor when I broke something in his garage (just to stay on topic).


----------

