Why are the Infinity IRS, Reference 1b, Beta ect speakers passive on the mids and highs?
partroysound I don't think adding another amp would be too much in cost or space ...Well then, why not give it a try and report back to us? |
No, Passive is not better.... I think the real issue is that these are all older speakers. When these came out, small amplifiers were not abundant as they are today. At Marcof, we were experimenting with building chip amps for just this purpose. If Infinity revamped these today, I would not be surprised to see the drivers individually crossed and amped. |
The quality of the passive xovers in those higher end Infinity’s were beyond reproach, and for the mids and highs far better than listening through the half a dozen opamps per channel of an active xover. But for the bass, yes by all means use an active xover as then it can be direct coupled, which is always better for bass. Cheers George |
Hi Marc, Well, I can at least speak to the RS1B.... On the top end, we found that carefully matching the sensitivity of parts and fixing their output rather than using the pots was noticeable improvement. We never really changed the design, but a few key parts changes also made a difference. No doubt, they were well thought out...Not sure about beyond reproach. I'd rather listen to them matched with a good electronic crossover and amp any day. No comparison. If anyone truly multi amped these speakers with quality product, then take the time to properly adjust them out, t I would be surprised if you liked the passive crossovers better. |
