# I need help keeping an old system going.



## ArtGuy (Oct 6, 2015)

Hello,

I need some advice. I have an old receiver and two speakers that both go back to the 1990's. They mostly work for me, but are getting old. I live in a small apartment and don't use high volume levels. I also don't have the budget for much new equipment.

Receiver: Onkyo TX-SV424.
Speakers: Infinity Reference Three (woofer, mid, tweeter)
TV: Vizio M401i-A3 (not hooked to receiver at this time)

The speakers have foam deteriorating around the woofers, and probably the mid-range soon. I'm not sure the tweeters work.

I am considering trying to repair the speakers by refoaming at least the woofers. I've never tried that before. I also have two bookshelf speakers (Yamaha NS-AP4400S) but they don't sound as nice as the Reference Threes. The other option is to buy two new inexpensive bookshelf speakers such as the JBL Loft30 to replace the Reference Threes.

What should I do?


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## Tonto (Jun 30, 2007)

If the tweeters are not working, they may not be worth fixing. They are not bad speakers, but advancement in quality have come a long way. You can get excellent speakers pretty reasonable nowadays! What king of budget are you looking at?


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## fusseli (May 1, 2007)

The Andrew Jones Pioneer speakers are supposed to be quite good. I got a pair of the monitors upgraded by Philharmonic and they are very impressive to me for the cost. The only downer is the low power handling (if used without an HPF) which isn't a problem for you. 

http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-SP-BS...44178491&sr=8-1&keywords=andrew+jones+pioneer


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## Lumen (May 17, 2014)

Chane A1rx or A2rx are excellent overachievers.

http://www.chanemusiccinema.com/chane-loudspeakers



Here's a review of the A2's.... http://www.hometheatershack.com/for...7865-chane-a2rx-c-5-0-loudspeaker-review.html


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## ArtGuy (Oct 6, 2015)

Thank you all for responding.

I have a budget of only about $100 total.

The Chane A1rx would, unfortunately, be more than this. The Pioneer SP-BS22 might work if I can find them on sale.

Before trying to fix the Reference Threes, How can I verify that the tweeters are working right? There isn't any visible motion to them. Like Tonto says, it might not be worth fixing them.

The cases are in such good shape it seems sad to get rid of them, but maybe that would be the best move.


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## Lumen (May 17, 2014)

Hmmm... for $100 I think you will almost certainly have to buy used. There are good deals out there, but you could also wind up with someone else's problems! Make sure you look good before you buy. But we're getting ahead of ourselves.  

You're idea to check the tweeters first is a good one. We don't want to cause any more damage to the woofers, so go easy with the volume and play music with a lot of high frequencies (HF) like cymbals. Then just put your ear next to each tweeter. If they play, then your half way there. The next step would be to make sure your tweeters aren't distorting, so play either a sweeped HF test tone, or some other music with sustained HF information like synthesizer or piano.

If the tweeters are good, then your $100 can be put toward a good re-foaming kit.


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## jtalden (Mar 12, 2009)

ArtGuy,
You are in DIY thread so I assume you feel capable of the repair. If you like the speakers there is probably not anything new for $100 that is likely to look or sound better to you than the Reference 3. Ebay has foam kits for the woofers and also is now listing a used dome TW; both at reasonable prices. You should be able to hear if the 2 TWs are working easily enough even with music. Just use low volume and move very close to the TW. Also, you can send a test signal from a computer to your receiver, or even just check the voice coil resistance. 

If you decide to buy new speakers you may be able to sell any working drivers on Ebay to help offset the cost.


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## ArtGuy (Oct 6, 2015)

I listened to some classical with lots of HF and the tweeters are definitely working. They seemed fine.

I have decided that the best thing is to keep the Reference threes. I tend to go the DIY route when I can. I haven't refoamed speakers before, but there are some videos about it online, so I will give it a try.

If I botch the job, finding cheap (new or used) speakers will be my fall back position. Now its off to find a refoam kit. Hopefully, my future report will be about a successful refoam job

Thanks for your help.


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## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

Maybe try calling these guys?
http://www.oaktreevintage.com/Infinity_Speaker_Parts.htm
eBay can be a great source too.


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## Lumen (May 17, 2014)

Botch? It's easy. Just follow the instructions and go easy on the glue/sealant.


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## fbov (Aug 28, 2008)

ArtGuy said:


> ...I have decided that the best thing is to keep the Reference threes. ... I haven't refoamed speakers before, but there are some videos about it online, so I will give it a try.....


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Infinity-Re...nd-Repair-Kit-Woofer-Refoam-Kit-/300706880225

I've done my Advents with excellent results. Lots more links but this one seemed dead-on.

Frank


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## ArtGuy (Oct 6, 2015)

Well...I have refoamed one of my Infinity Three speakers.

I ended up ordering a kit on Ebay that came from Simply Speakers. That worked out great and it was most cost effective to get the kit that covered the woofers and mid-range at the same time.

Refoaming wasn't quite as easy as the tutorials portrayed, but maybe if I'd done a thousand speakers before it would be just as easy.

One thing I've noticed is that the speaker that has been refoamed seems to produce a little less volume for the same setting as the other speaker. Maybe that is due to the stiffness of the foam.

It's not a problem for me as I don't use high volume levels.

Now I just have to do the other speaker.


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## Lumen (May 17, 2014)

Excellent! Good to hear it's working out. Give the newly refoamed driver time to break-in. Once you repair the other, the sound should even out.


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