Infinity 2000A Hybrid Electrostatics

[hakka26]

Picked up a pair of these at a moving sale last month for $5 includng stands. Planning to fully audition them end of this month. Seems like all drivers are working though difficult to be sure of all panels. Anyone have any experience with these?

[Titanium Dome]

Looks like they've been "customized" with some putty.

The original spec (from a reliable source):

[hakka26]

Actually, I believe it is Bluetac and was used by Infinity to alter mass and sound. 35wpc rating is the minimum. If all goes well I might have some space to at least put them side by side and give a better listen.

[Tom Brennan]

Those are interesting. Are the tweeters firing out the back?

[hakka26]

THe tweeters fire to the front but the box is open to the rear also. Grill cloth covers the rear opening.

[Hoerninger]

Lots of information you can find here:
http://www.infinity-forum.de/2000A.html
(Was looking for Infinity Servo Static 1, an old love only for one afternoon)
____________
Peter

[hjames]

Okay, its a muggy, rainy morning, so Emma helped me bring them in and I hooked them up to the Carver TFM-25 amp and fed them from iTunes ...
I handed Emma her iPad (remote) and let her choose music - her tastes run more to pop but pretty sure her ears are (younger) and better than mine.

Marty Stuart (Way Out West), lots of Mark Knopfler, Spandau Ballet, Funkadelic, Herb Alpert (Rise), Earth Wind & Fire, and finished with Aja ...
I played Trio (Parton, Harris, Ronstadt), Kinks, Dominic Miller/Botti, Daft Punk, and KLF.
Her prognosis is they are impressive - but they do get a bit bogged down with very complex music with a lot of instrument & vocals going.
Bass is amazing - unexpected, even tho specs say 30-30kHz (when new, in 1971!) The tweeter area is open to the rear - so its back and front firing
My feelings - amazement - all in all, they are really impressive for 50 y.o. speakers!
(I really should recap them) ... Heck of a deal for free!

[DerekTheGreat]

Those are indeed some strange looking speakers, right up my alley. I am skeptical of the bass response as well, I'd imagine based on the literature they're down just 4dB at 30hz? I find that a little hard to believe given that my L150A's weren't flat down to 20hz as advertised (rolled off quickly after 34hz) and that the XPL200's I've got are rated -6dB at 35hz.. No idea what my current system does with it's enormous 18's and large cabinets, but even those require the BX63 type crossover which gives a +6dB bump at something like 29 hz, hence my skepticism.

Anyway, have you or anyone else ever listened to a set of Infinity Column II's? Years ago there was a set for sale locally that I wish I pulled the trigger on. Nice looking cabinets with glass tops. They also sported a 10" doped woofer in it's own enclosure. Everyone who reviewed them online said the bass response was impressive. The weird piezo tweeter and play-doh on the woofers kept me at bay while the L150A's I saw for sale got my bread instead. Now that those are gone, I wonder how things would've been had I went with the Infinities...

[hjames]

We actually played a lot of various music yesterday and I was amazed at the punch and bottom these things presented. Daft Punk, Boz scaggs Dig, Earth Wind and Fire, even the newer Marty Stuart stuff - played with a tight bottom end. Maybe its due to the huge amount of polyfill those cabinets were tightly stuffed with - I know that changes the apparent size of the cabinets. Maybe its the factory clay woofer "Mass rings" we joked about.
Sure - its not the same Bass as those UREI Monsters you recently bought from Jim, but amazing none-the-less. More than I expected!
I was more sceptical of the 30kHz claimed high end ... but still cool for 1971 speakers!
Yes, I'd love to have a listen to other Infinity speakers - sounds like Arnie Nudell (RIP) and his team was on to something back then ...

Various web pages say that Infinity began making speakers since 1968, when Infinity belonged to Arnie Nudell, John Ulrick and Cary Christie.
They made what can be considered the first pair of High End Speakers in the world, when they introduced the EMIT (electromagnetic induction tweeter) and the EMIM (electromagnetic induction midrange) drivers, flat quasi-ribbons that worked to move air based on the principle of electromagnetic induction.
Of course, since 1983, Infinity has been part of Harman International Industries (which, in 2017, became a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics). Not the same kind of magic.

Those are indeed some strange looking speakers, right up my alley. I am skeptical of the bass response as well, I'd imagine based on the literature they're down just 4dB at 30hz? I find that a little hard to believe given that my L150A's weren't flat down to 20hz as advertised (rolled off quickly after 34hz) and that the XPL200's I've got are rated -6dB at 35hz.. No idea what my current system does with it's enormous 18's and large cabinets, but even those require the BX63 type crossover which gives a +6dB bump at something like 29 hz, hence my skepticism.

Anyway, have you or anyone else ever listened to a set of Infinity Column II's? Years ago there was a set for sale locally that I wish I pulled the trigger on. Nice looking cabinets with glass tops. They also sported a 10" doped woofer in it's own enclosure. Everyone who reviewed them online said the bass response was impressive. The weird piezo tweeter and play-doh on the woofers kept me at bay while the L150A's I saw for sale got my bread instead. Now that those are gone, I wonder how things would've been had I went with the Infinities...

[DerekTheGreat]

UREI monsters, LoL. They've definitely changed how I look at speakers, thats for sure. I know what you mean though! When my Carver TFM-55x began to make chocolate pudding in it's pants the first time, I took it off main duty and hooked up some JBL LX44's to it. I was impressed with how much punch those little guys had, was not expecting that level of performance from an 8" woofer in the middle of the room. They never relented either, but I was afraid of the Carver sharding itself at those kind of levels as it was already constipated and so I backed off.

I've never heard electrostatics, I'm intrigued. I've heard people describe their sound as, "Swimming in music." I've also never forgotten about the Column II. Something about vintage gear appeals to me, is there a cure?

[hjames]

The cure for vintage gear is to collect more, but I don't know of any 12 step groups that can help.
I've owned 3 sets of magnepans over the years. A pair of MGIIc, a pair of 6 panel Tympany Ds, and a pair of MGIIbs. The Tympanies were huge in our little house, and panels started failing the morning after I got them home, The MGII speakers played well as long as we had them, (but you always knew they could fail at any time - repairable, with a lot of tedious work).
And with a M&K Volkswoofer filling in the low bass as needed. Maggies are best when in the room, not up against a wall.
Of course, sound on maggies comes from the front and the back - which is pretty amazing as you walk between them to go past them.
My wife Emma also said the Maggies were like "swimming in the music." The Electrostatic panels in the Infinities are open in the front and the rear,
so you get quite a bit of that 3 dimensional sound, (kinda spooky listening behind the speakers). My Von Schweikert VR-4s have a rear facing driver -
they do a bit of that 3D sound too.
A pity the rear of the Infinity 2000a speakers is just a view of ugly MDF, the teak room dividers hide most of that ugly 'face".
Maybe I'll paint the backs black, like the Heaths below.

And - I really liked the "UREI Monsters" - they are amazing and I considered buying them at one point, but they were a bit heavy for me to manage in our small home.

UREI monsters, LoL. They've definitely changed how I look at speakers, thats for sure. I know what you mean though! When my Carver TFM-55x began to make chocolate pudding in it's pants the first time, I took it off main duty and hooked up some JBL LX44's to it. I was impressed with how much punch those little guys had, was not expecting that level of performance from an 8" woofer in the middle of the room. They never relented either, but I was afraid of the Carver sharding itself at those kind of levels as it was already constipated and so I backed off.

I've never heard electrostatics, I'm intrigued. I've heard people describe their sound as, "Swimming in music." I've also never forgotten about the Column II. Something about vintage gear appeals to me, is there a cure?