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Infinity R162 Bookshelf Speaker Review

Koeitje

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Sucks so much there isn't an European Infinity dealer anymore.
 

Dennis Murphy

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I may be wrong, but I would be doubtful if any vintage speaker has the wide, even dispersion you see here. In particular for a center channel where dialogue is important, I would think something like this would be better. Could certainly be wrong, and it would be interesting to see a few more vintage speakers tested so we know how they do.

I wouldn't bother with the AR3a or AR2x, they're a magical mystery tour through driver interference patterns.
 

Dj7675

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I was thinking of maybe a vintage JBL 4410 or 4312. I have a pair of JBL 18ti that also may be interesting. It would be interesting to see how technology has evolved.
 

GXAlan

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I was thinking of maybe a vintage JBL 4410 or 4312. I have a pair of JBL 18ti that also may be interesting. It would be interesting to see how technology has evolved.

The 4319 represents a modern expression of the 4312. Although the dispersion is not as good as the latest narrow-baffle designs with multiple small woofers, there is something to be said about the low distortion of the large 12" woofer. Should take a look at both Amir's testing (with the tweeter a bit hot) and my testing.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/jbl-4319-studio-monitor-review.12986/

Amir also has my XPL-90 for test.

One thing that the old designs seem to do well (as I agree w/the 4319) is this sense that there "they are dynamic and never get confused with intermodulation products of any type."

http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulle...esigner-s-Post&p=110349&viewfull=1#post110349
 

QMuse

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Speaker Listening Tests
First impressions were very positive. Good bass performance and nice detail. Alas, it doesn't take long until that extra treble energy gets to you. I played with a few EQ settings and the one that worked best was aimed at reducing the distortion shown earlier:

View attachment 56787

Hmm.. With this filter you further attenuated a region which is already showing a dip in PIR just because it's showing increased distortion. IMHO doing that you put more weight on distortion than into frequency response linearity which is not something that is generally recommended by Toole et al.

Inifinity R162 Bookshelf Home Theater Speaker CEA-2034 Spinorama Predicted In-Roon Frequency R...png
 
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Dianoda

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Alice of Old Vincennes

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Heads up for those interested in these speakers and based in the US, these are back on super sale from Harman direct for $160/pair: https://www.harmanaudio.com/loudspeakers/REFERENCE+162.html

Likewise for the RC263 3-way center https://www.harmanaudio.com/loudspeakers/REFERENCE+RC263.html

Plus a few others, specifically the R152 bookshelves, RC252 center, and RS152 surrounds (sadly, the sale does not include the R253's that I've been eyeing).
Boy, you really have to keep eyes open. No way to predict.
 

diablo900t

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I have a pair of these that are sitting in my closet. I was using them for surrounds until the JBL Studio 530s were on sale again.

I'm kind of surprised that the measurements for the 530s were not as favorable as I'd expect based on how they sound.

For surround duty, are the R162s better than the 530s?
 

Alice of Old Vincennes

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I have a pair of these that are sitting in my closet. I was using them for surrounds until the JBL Studio 530s were on sale again.

I'm kind of surprised that the measurements for the 530s were not as favorable as I'd expect based on how they sound.

For surround duty, are the R162s better than the 530s?
I use R162s for surround. They probably sound similar to 530's for surround.
 

Slare

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Hopefully this is not against the rules, but Harmon is running the sale on this lineup again, bookshelf and center models in this round, no towers or subs. A set of 162s and the matching big center would be under $400 delivered.

The big center channel from the lineup remains a stand-out deal in my opinion. Centers seem to just get worse and worse in budget lines as time goes on.
 

Slare

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I have a pair of these that are sitting in my closet. I was using them for surrounds until the JBL Studio 530s were on sale again.

I'm kind of surprised that the measurements for the 530s were not as favorable as I'd expect based on how they sound.

For surround duty, are the R162s better than the 530s?

Nothing wrong with 162s I'd say, but JBL has a bunch of wall mount offerings from different lines if you are looking to wall mount them and are using them for home theater (not multichannel music). Infinity has one too from the same line but it is a little odd with two tweeters and a rear woofer.

If you are using them on stands just ignore me.

JBL Arena 120, studio 210 would be examples of the wall mount designs. Quite a few JBL lines over time have had a model similar to the 210 so you can usually find them used without much trouble as well. Benefit being they are designed to be wall mounted and you save the cost/hassle of separate hardware.
 

lonewolf

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Hopefully this is not against the rules, but Harmon is running the sale on this lineup again, bookshelf and center models in this round, no towers or subs. A set of 162s and the matching big center would be under $400 delivered.


I had a look at that sale, but it seems Harman doesn't deliver to Canada. A real shame as I have a friend looking for some cheap speakers and I'd love to recommend these. For the price, I doubt he'll find better.
 

Alice of Old Vincennes

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Hopefully this is not against the rules, but Harmon is running the sale on this lineup again, bookshelf and center models in this round, no towers or subs. A set of 162s and the matching big center would be under $400 delivered.

The big center channel from the lineup remains a stand-out deal in my opinion. Centers seem to just get worse and worse in budget lines as time goes on.
That is what I did last sale except make sure the 3 way center is on sale. I will never go back from 3 way center. The difference is startling.
 

Slare

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I bought one of the 263 centers when I posted the sale notice above, it has now arrived and I am still in disbelief of the value of the thing. The cab is definitely not fancy, plain vinyl finish and all sharp edges, but the thing is huge and feels to be solid. Short of that the only other nitpick I can find is the grille is rather delicate and the pins are very small. I plan to apply a little grease to them to reduce the fitment force as I could see them easily breaking if you intend to work the grille very often.

I can say with full faith that if you are using any vintage speakers that don't have a dedicated center channel... I would not hesitate to pick one of these up while they are still available. Testing shows it is certainly capable of keeping up and will be tamed by modern room correction, and the thing is an absolute monster.

At the sale pricing this unit is a better value new for a center channel then I can recall seeing... ever.
 

Alice of Old Vincennes

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I bought one of the 263 centers when I posted the sale notice above, it has now arrived and I am still in disbelief of the value of the thing. The cab is definitely not fancy, plain vinyl finish and all sharp edges, but the thing is huge and feels to be solid. Short of that the only other nitpick I can find is the grille is rather delicate and the pins are very small. I plan to apply a little grease to them to reduce the fitment force as I could see them easily breaking if you intend to work the grille very often.

I can say with full faith that if you are using any vintage speakers that don't have a dedicated center channel... I would not hesitate to pick one of these up while they are still available. Testing shows it is certainly capable of keeping up and will be tamed by modern room correction, and the thing is an absolute monster.

At the sale pricing this unit is a better value new for a center channel then I can recall seeing... ever.
263 will grow on you. I am 2 months in and continue to watch old movies again.
 

StevenEleven

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I bought one of the 263 centers when I posted the sale notice above, it has now arrived and I am still in disbelief of the value of the thing. The cab is definitely not fancy, plain vinyl finish and all sharp edges, but the thing is huge and feels to be solid. Short of that the only other nitpick I can find is the grille is rather delicate and the pins are very small. I plan to apply a little grease to them to reduce the fitment force as I could see them easily breaking if you intend to work the grille very often.

I can say with full faith that if you are using any vintage speakers that don't have a dedicated center channel... I would not hesitate to pick one of these up while they are still available. Testing shows it is certainly capable of keeping up and will be tamed by modern room correction, and the thing is an absolute monster.

At the sale pricing this unit is a better value new for a center channel then I can recall seeing... ever.

I’ve had the RC263 for several days now. I got it on one of Harman’s blow-out sales and it‘s finally here. Totally agree. There is something uncanny about it. It’s awesome. Here are my more specific impressions: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...enter-speaker-review.12442/page-3#post-418840

I might well order a pair of the R162s if and when Harman has its $165 / pr. price on them again, just as part of the audio hobby, based on my affection for the RC263. :)
 
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s10sondek

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As good as the R162's are, I suspect the R152's would measure better and be perceived by most as a better-balanced speaker overall. It would be lovely if Amirm could acquire and test a pair of the R152's. They are something special in the Infinity Reference lineup, in my opinion (so are the R263's).
 

BillG

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