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Help power pair of Infinity Kappa 9's please

Hi all!
I have a pair of Infinity Kappa 9's:
Nominal Impedance: 4 to 6 ohm
Power Rating: 60-340 watts RMS
Efficiency: 102 dB SPL @1 watt, 1 meter
Crossover Frequencies: 80Hz, 800Hz, 4500Hz
Frequency Response: 29Hz-45kHz +/-3dB
Physical Attributes:
1x - SEMIT Supertweeter
1x - EMIT Tweeter
1x - 3" Edgewound Voice Coil Polydome Midrange Driver
1x - 5" Polypropylene/graphite Diaphram Polygraph
2x - 12" Cast Frame , L/C Tuned Woofers
Dimensions: 59.5"H x 21.5"W" x 8"D

My room is 12'x12', I have $2500 budget and would like to play music off my computer. I need amp(s), a preamp, and a DAC i guess (is the DAC necessary at my low of a budget range?). I know my budget is low so I will be shopping for very used/old equipment. If anyone has any experience, suggestions, or words of wisdom, they would be very much so appreciated.
Thanks,
JT
jtiesel2
mitch4t's avatar
mitch4t
1,486 posts
 
.
I also said you need to bi-amp the Kappa 9, meaning that you would need TWO pair of the monoblocs, two monoblocs per speaker. That would put you at $3k just for amps. You still need a preamp and a DAC. As I said, way above your budget.

Cajunpepe, yes, a single pair of Carver monoblocs won't get you optimum results, but two pair in a vertical biamp configuration is just the ticket.
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rrog
1,958 posts
 
If you like to party and play your music loud sell your Kappa 9s and buy Klipsch speakers.
jtiesel2 OP
11 posts
 
What about the Krell MDA 300 monos? anyone? can they do it?
mitch4t's avatar
mitch4t
1,486 posts
 
.
Steakster, I also own two of the Sunfire Signature amplifiers. It will power the Kappa 9 sufficiently, but not optimally. I put two of the Sunfire Signatures on the Kappa 9 in a vertical biamp configuration and it takes the listening experience to a whole 'nother level.

I put a pair of my Pass Labs X-600 monobloc beasts on the Kappa 9 they didn't get it done, I needed two pair of the Pass beasts to get the speakers to wake up and sing.

The bottom line here is that the Kappa 9 need gobs of power for optimum results.

JT, get rid of them and get the Kappa 8.1 or 7.1 and you'll be much happier and save yourself some money in the process. The Kappa 9 are waaay too much for a room your size.
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rrog
1,958 posts
 
The Kappa 9 has been known to cause grief to many audiophiles over the years since its introduction. It is, what I consider, a poorly designed speaker because of the difficult load it presents to the amplifier. Even if you find an amplifier to deal with the load, which would be very expensive, the amplifier's sound will be degraded due to the speaker's load.

It makes more sense to design a speaker with a reasonable sensitivity and an amplifier friendly load. This type of speaker design will always produce better overall sound.

Paul Klipsch was often quoted saying "What this country needs is a really good 5 watt amplifier." What would a really good 5 watt amplifier do for an Infinity Kappa 9?
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