Infinity Prelude MTS


Does anybody here have anything good to say about these speakers which, for what it's worth, are in class A of Stereophile's Recommended Components, have been well reviewed by Michael Fremer in the same publication and by Anthony Cordesman, but seem to be given short shrift by the subjective audiophile set, mainly because Dr. Toole does not suffer posers too well it seems. I have auditioned a pair and was astounded by the bass reproduction, felt the midrange and treble were clear and accurate and liked the fact that the stereo image seems high enough off the floor, unlike some speakers I heard that despite being at the correct height seem to have the performers only a foot and half or so above floor level. My one concern is that the bass seemed a bit detached from the rest of the range; then again, I have not heard very many music systems with subs. The rest of the system was composed of a Krell CD player and Krell integrated amp. The room was square and dreadful. I think the bass could be made to sound much better in a well proportioned room. Many thanks.
pbb
I do think the Infinity Preludes make Excellent speakers in the right application. They are excellent dynamic speakers with plenty of slamm and pace for HT and dynamic music! They are refined and clear enough, with negligable coloration on their own. They sound a bit more foreward in the pressence reigion however, and don't have the deep soundstage that other audiphile music speakers have. They tend to sound more "up-front" and 2 dimmensional than other audiophile designs. The Tweeter is about as good as B&W Nautilus and Proac, but not quite as good as the world class Dynaudio Esotar 330 or Wison Watt's tweeter however! Still, very good overall, and balance is excellent.
I do like the MTS's as I said, and would recommend without reservation to anyone doing HT/music systems! They are MUCH MORE DYNAMIC than most any home audio passive design largely, due to the powered subs and multiple drivers in helping. This is a plus with HT for sure.
So, in summing, they have the clarity of a Thiel speaker largely, they are articulate, uncolored, fast,dynamic and authoritative! They make matching with the likes of tube amps possible, and even to consider. I would much prefer using these over MOST ANY standard passive lower sensitivity/efficiency passive audiphile design for HT and rock dubties for sure! They are involving and have lots of pressence, are focused, and hard hitting...what you want from a HT speak, indeed.
If you are into light delicate music with a deep soundstage, that sounds more traditionally laid back, like a lot of intentionally designed audiophile speakers out there, they may not be ideal....liveable, enjoyable perhaps...but not ideal.
If you do on the other hand want neutrality, great deatail, dynamics apleanty, focus, and a good involving refined sounding dynamic HT/music speaker, they have great potential! Overall I think these speakers sound an awefull lot like the excellent Thiel 2.3 with better dynamics and authority! Altough the Thiels have a deaper soundstage...otherwise the sound is very similar musically.
If someone is having problems with them sounding "detached" from the bass, I would say check the set up! There's no reason they should sound "detached" in the bass for any reason! Get the Phase, location, and level matching and EQing right and you'll have pheonominal results!
Overall, these would be on my short list of speakers for HT/music dubties at their price range for certain...one of the best, if not the best Infinity has ever made. Nice speakers
I've been living with MTS speakers for about 2 1/2 years now and I love them. It took a while to find components that I could afford that were capable of matching their performance but once I did and got everything tweaked to my satisfaction, I found them to be one of the most impressively realistic speakers I've ever heard.
Voodoochile:

Which Intermezzos do you have? Do you find them to be overly sensetive regarding placement?
jlambrick
If you ever visit the past what compnanets did you get that complemented the Preludes?
Cheers
Chazz
I've also had my MTS Preludes for a few years now. I run them with a Llano 300 watt class A amplifier and Threshold T-3 preamp. I think they are very nice.

I have a large room in my finished basement and actually have them 13 feet apart and am 13-14 feet back. I only tow them in a bit, but what a soundstage! I'm using JPS Labs interconnects and speaker cable.