Infinity RC263 Center Speaker Review

[Bear123]

Currently on sale for $149! I wish I could fit the vertical dimension Hilariously this is almost surely a far better speaker than my much much more expensive Revel C25. It would block less than 1" of the bottom of my 75" screen.....almost worth it despite that.........

C25 is 7.25" high and I have about an inch of clearance......RC263 is 9"......


For sale, Revel C25 lol......

Edit...just placed order for R263. If it matters *that* much, I can probably get my TV 1/2" higher. Will possibly be a huge PITA but if it blocks the screen too much, its possible. Have to remove a big heavy 75" that is mounted very high above a mantle, and somehow reposition wall mount up a 1/2" or so....which means drilling a bunch more holes in my wall on top of all the ones already there from several mounting attempts and precariously lifting the 75" TV back up onto the mount almost flush with my 9' ceilings..............

 

[Steve Dallas]

Currently on sale for $149! I wish I could fit the vertical dimension Hilariously this is almost surely a far better speaker than my much much more expensive Revel C25. It would block less than 1" of the bottom of my 75" screen.....almost worth it despite that.........

C25 is 7.25" high and I have about an inch of clearance......RC263 is 9"......


For sale, Revel C25 lol......

Out of curiosity, how is it almost surely a far better speaker than the C25? Its measurements are generally good, but show higher distortion than what Revels typically measure and has some resonances that Revels typically do not have.

Sure, it is a 3 way vs. a 2 way, but 3 ways are not always better, and often worse at lower price tiers due to cost savings realized in the crossover and cabinet design.

 

[richard12511]

Out of curiosity, how is it almost surely a far better speaker than the C25? Its measurements are generally good, but show higher distortion than what Revels typically measure and has some resonances that Revels typically do not have.

Sure, it is a 3 way vs. a 2 way, but 3 ways are not always better, and often worse at lower price tiers due to cost savings realized in the crossover and cabinet design.

3 ways are pretty much always better for center channels.

 

[Bear123]

Out of curiosity, how is it almost surely a far better speaker than the C25? Its measurements are generally good, but show higher distortion than what Revels typically measure and has some resonances that Revels typically do not have.

Sure, it is a 3 way vs. a 2 way, but 3 ways are not always better, and often worse at lower price tiers due to cost savings realized in the crossover and cabinet design.

If it were a vertical 2 way design such as M16 vs R162 I'd agree. Horizontal 2 way centers are bad off axis. The C25 might be less bad than some but I show A LOT more variation in response below 3KHz compared to my vertical speakers.

I'm betting the C25 would fare much better than something like Ascends 340 center channel due to the C25's waveguide and very closely spaced woofers.

 

[Mike Lima]

I ordered mine. Thank you for the tip! At that price, it was a no-brainer.

 

[Bear123]

3 ways are pretty much always better for center channels.

You have a large variety of good speakers. How do you feel about your R263's?

 

[MZKM]

You have a large variety of good speakers. How do you feel about your R263's?

Bonus, compare it to the Emotiva T2+.

 

[richard12511]

You have a large variety of good speakers. How do you feel about your R263's?

I really like them, and for the price I paid(63% off), I think they represent incredible value, so I must say the R253 review really surprised me. If the 263s measure similarly hot, then perhaps my listening impressions were influenced heavily by expectation bias. Being a Harman speaker, I expected stellar measurements, and that's a large part of why I bought them. I used them for a few days in my main listening room after purchasing them, and I thought they held up very well against the JTR 210RT and Revel M105. I didn't get terrible listening fatigue like those 253 measurements suggest I should(assuming the 263 and 253 are similar). Who knows, though. Expectation bias can be a powerful force.

That said, I'm no where near as critical of speakers in general as some here seem to be. I tend to think all of my speakers are capable of delivering a great music experience, though some are obviously better than others. I need to spend some time comparing it directly to the 308p to find out which I prefer more. I compared both to the M105, and slightly preferred the M105 over both, but I've never really compared the 308 to the 263 directly.

Bonus, compare it to the Emotiva T2+.

When I compared them, I preferred the Infinity. The Emotiva did have a more sparkly? top end, maybe due to the ribbon tweeter? I could see where some might prefer that. I preferred the midrange and overall presentation of the Infinity, though.

 

[MZKM]

I really like them, and for the price I paid(63% off), I think they represent incredible value, so I must say the R253 review really surprised me. If the 263s measure similarly hot, then perhaps my listening impressions were influenced heavily by expectation bias. Being a Harman speaker, I expected stellar measurements, and that's a large part of why I bought them. I used them for a few days in my main listening room after purchasing them, and I thought they held up very well against the JTR 210RT and Revel M105. I didn't get terrible listening fatigue like those 253 measurements suggest I should(assuming the 263 and 253 are similar). Who knows, though. Expectation bias can be a powerful force.

That said, I'm no where near as critical of speakers in general as some here seem to be. I tend to think all of my speakers are capable of delivering a great music experience, though some are obviously better than others. I need to spend some time comparing it directly to the 308p to find out which I prefer more. I compared both to the M105, and slightly preferred the M105 over both, but I've never really compared the 308 to the 263 directly.


When I compared them, I preferred the Infinity. The Emotiva did have a more sparkly? top end, maybe due to the ribbon tweeter? I could see where some might prefer that. I preferred the midrange and overall presentation of the Infinity, though.

Stereophile measured the OG T2, and it did have some excess treble in the top octave.

 

[Bear123]

I really like them, and for the price I paid(63% off), I think they represent incredible value, so I must say the R253 review really surprised me. If the 263s measure similarly hot, then perhaps my listening impressions were influenced heavily by expectation bias. Being a Harman speaker, I expected stellar measurements, and that's a large part of why I bought them. I used them for a few days in my main listening room after purchasing them, and I thought they held up very well against the JTR 210RT and Revel M105. I didn't get terrible listening fatigue like those 253 measurements suggest I should(assuming the 263 and 253 are similar). Who knows, though. Expectation bias can be a powerful force.

That said, I'm no where near as critical of speakers in general as some here seem to be. I tend to think all of my speakers are capable of delivering a great music experience, though some are obviously better than others. I need to spend some time comparing it directly to the 308p to find out which I prefer more. I compared both to the M105, and slightly preferred the M105 over both, but I've never really compared the 308 to the 263 directly.


When I compared them, I preferred the Infinity. The Emotiva did have a more sparkly? top end, maybe due to the ribbon tweeter? I could see where some might prefer that. I preferred the midrange and overall presentation of the Infinity, though.

Either the 253 was defective, or something was wrong with the Klippel for that test. I think there was something wrong, as Amir had issues with the next speaker he tested, and said he needs to retest the 253, and closed the thread. He said he would post new measurements today.

 

[MZKM]

Either the 253 was defective, or something was wrong with the Klippel for that test. I think there was something wrong, as Amir had issues with the next speaker he tested, and said he needs to retest the 253, and closed the thread. He said he would post new measurements today.

Yep, he stated the cap on the mic came off and he didn’t notice.

 

[Haint]

If it were a vertical 2 way design such as M16 vs R162 I'd agree. Horizontal 2 way centers are bad off axis. The C25 might be less bad than some but I show A LOT more variation in response below 3KHz compared to my vertical speakers.

I'm betting the C25 would fare much better than something like Ascends 340 center channel due to the C25's waveguide and very closely spaced woofers.

I think the largest issue centers face are being much closer to a floor or ceiling as they're usually placed below or above the TV by necessity.

 

[Steve Dallas]

If it were a vertical 2 way design such as M16 vs R162 I'd agree. Horizontal 2 way centers are bad off axis. The C25 might be less bad than some but I show A LOT more variation in response below 3KHz compared to my vertical speakers.

I'm betting the C25 would fare much better than something like Ascends 340 center channel due to the C25's waveguide and very closely spaced woofers.

Interesting. Thanks for the info.

I don't recall ever having a 3 way center for comparison. I get the center seat in our HT, so I'm quite happy with my C25.

This is mostly worthless, but this is how Audyssey measured mine. I have not had it long and have not bothered to measure it with REW/UMIK.

[/digression]

 

[Alice of Old Vincennes]

Interesting. Thanks for the info.

I don't recall ever having a 3 way center for comparison. I get the center seat in our HT, so I'm quite happy with my C25.

This is mostly worthless, but this is how Audyssey measured mine. I have not had it long and have not bothered to measure it with REW/UMIK.

View attachment 96621

[/digression]

I've enjoyed RC263 for 6 months. I can discern voices ALL the time.

 

[Rottmannash]

I think this center will match well with 208

I just bought a pair of 208's and have the option of buying a used C205 in matching walnut for around $550. I'm tempted by this center channel due to its lower cost but it won't match the beautiful walnut finish of the 208s. Excluding the esthetics has anyone heard both center channels? How do their graphs compare?

 

[Alice of Old Vincennes]

I just bought a pair of 208's and have the option of buying a used C205 in matching walnut for around $550. I'm tempted by this center channel due to its lower cost but it won't match the beautiful walnut finish of the 208s. Excluding the esthetics has anyone heard both center channels? How do their graphs compare?

I have not heard the 205. It is a 2 way. The 263 won't match aesthetically. But, my God, the 263 sounds wonderful.

 

[Euphonious]

The folks over at AVS are reporting lengthy delivery delays on the RC263.

 

[Alice of Old Vincennes]

I tested the RC 263 tonight with room correction disabled. It was not pretty. Enabled Anthem Room Correction and the difference was stark. Since setup, I had not tested for some odd reason. I just don't know but suspect the Canadian company is my key to the Gates. I speculate would not have noticed absent comparison. Maybe Dirac will have same affect. Yet the threads describe a difficult journey. Anthem demands some effort, but not much.

 

[Rottmannash]

$159??? That is incredible.

I just paid$149 for it as well.

 

[muslhead]

I am so glad someone revived this thread.
I bought one and am using it in my HT
Am i the only one who thinks the design of the cabinet is F'ed up?
As soon as you put in speaker cables, the weight of the cable pull the back of the cabinet down which pivots the speaker's front up to the ceiling.
My cables arent that heavy its the funky design/shape of the cabinet that causes this.
I had to put a block under the back of the speaker to keep it parallel to the stand it is on.

Come on, no one else finds this horrid or you do and its what you get for buying a $150 speaker? LOL