Infinity RC263 Center Speaker Review

[Dianoda]

$159??? That is incredible.

Yep. There have been some ridiculous sales on these and other speakers in the same line. Last sale from Harman direct (US) in early/mid March had some very nice prices on nearly the whole lineup:

Infinity Reference RS152 Surround Speakers (Pair) - $134.95
Infinity Reference R152 Bookshelf Speakers (Pair) - $134.99
Infinity Reference RC252 Center Speaker (2-way) - $134.95
Infinity Reference RC263 Center Channel (3-way) - $159.95
Infinity Reference R162 2-Way Bookshelf Speakers (Pair) - $159.95
Infinity Reference R253 3-Way Tower - $169.95 (these sold out pretty quickly IIRC)

Shipping was free, too.

I bought a pair of the RS152's, but I'm pinching myself for not just replacing the rest of the speakers in the setup, very tempted to order a RC263, a pair of the R152's, and a pair of either the R253's or R162's the next time they go on sale.

As for the RS152's, I had been looking for some rear surrounds with extra wide dispersion to use wall-mounted in a 7.1 HT arrangement (as I only have about 3ft from the main listening position to the wall). They are very solidly built and dispersion seems quite good judging from what I've heard so far, although the timber differences vs the rest of the speakers in my setup are rather obvious to my ears (I'm a bit new to surround sound, but still probably should have known better than to mix speakers from different brands for the surrounds).

 

[JohnYang1997]

I can see some correlation between preference and distortion.

 

[andreasmaaan]

The increase distortion frequencies is rather broad which makes it easier to hit so likely is a much bigger problem than a spike here and there. I am tentatively setting a 0.5% as maximum acceptable for broad distortions and RC263 violates that fair bit, peaking to 1.5%.

Amir, please forgive me for intervening again, but I feel that this kind of commentary obviously amounts to a comparison of distortion measurements between speakers, which you've agreed is flawed and unfair given the current measurement conditions.

This speaker is 3dB more sensitive than most others you've measured at 10V. There's no way of knowing whether (or the extent to which) your comparative 0.5% limit would be exceeded if it were measured at the same SPL as a more typical 86dB-sensitive speaker.

I posted here a simple formula for scaling the voltage drive level to desired SPL based on voltage sensitivity.

Perhaps you could employ this in future measurements so that you can actually decide on meaningful and fairer arbitrary limits like this 1.5% limit you've decided on now.

FWIW, the formula again is:

V = 10^(Lv/20 + log10(2.83))

where Lv = (target SPL) - (voltage sensivity in dB/2.83V/m) i.e. gain in decibels from SPL at 2.83V

and V = voltage required to reach the target SPL

There's a more detailed explanation in my earlier post.

EDIT: by way of example, there's a difference in voltage sensitivity of about 6dB between this speaker and the Verdant Bambusa. For this reason, the distortion comparison between these two is completely meaningless: the distortion of this speaker was measured at about 100dB vs at about 94dB for the Verdant.

This is a particularly significant difference given 95-100dB is about the range at which drivers of the kinds used in these speakers tend to reach their linearity limits.

You commented on this speaker "rather high distortion", while on the Verdant you commented "good, low distortion", yet based on the measurements taken, there is no basis for the belief that either speaker produces lower/higher distortion than the other.

 

[Prana Ferox]

If listeners are +- 30 horizontal to the center channel, that seems like the listening positions are too close to the screen. At best your relative distances to the L-R would be all screwed up too.

 

[Alice of Old Vincennes]

Yep. There have been some ridiculous sales on these and other speakers in the same line. Last sale from Harman direct (US) in early/mid March had some very nice prices on nearly the whole lineup:

Infinity Reference RS152 Surround Speakers (Pair) - $134.95
Infinity Reference R152 Bookshelf Speakers (Pair) - $134.99
Infinity Reference RC252 Center Speaker (2-way) - $134.95
Infinity Reference RC263 Center Channel (3-way) - $159.95
Infinity Reference R162 2-Way Bookshelf Speakers (Pair) - $159.95
Infinity Reference R253 3-Way Tower - $169.95 (these sold out pretty quickly IIRC)

Shipping was free, too.

I bought a pair of the RS152's, but I'm pinching myself for not just replacing the rest of the speakers in the setup, very tempted to order a RC263, a pair of the R152's, and a pair of either the R253's or R162's the next time they go on sale.

As for the RS152's, I had been looking for some rear surrounds with extra wide dispersion to use wall-mounted in a 7.1 HT arrangement (as I only have about 3ft from the main listening position to the wall). They are very solidly built and dispersion seems quite good judging from what I've heard so far, although the timber differences vs the rest of the speakers in my setup are rather obvious to my ears (I'm a bit new to surround sound, but still probably should have known better than to mix speakers from different brands for the surrounds).

Good luck on r253. I received wrong order on r253 and was told by Harmon that speaker may never come back. Maybe this site will change their mind.

 

[Alice of Old Vincennes]

Harman is trying to scrounge up a pair of r253 and was told might have found some to replace returned wrong speakers They sent $4000 PA speakers by mistake.

 

[Alice of Old Vincennes]

I ordered JBL Studio 290 out of frustration. If the r253 show up I will compare and report back.

 

[QMuse]

Consistency within the listening window leaves a lot to be desired. People sitting at ±30° will have a bad time:

Well, response there is still within +/-3dB so for that kind of money I'd say the time will not be bad at all.

 

[QMuse]

Speaker Listening Tests
First impressions were rather positive but after a bit, lack of bass performance made the overall experience rather bright. Dialing in a few dBs of bass boost cured that. To my surprise, this did NOT result in the drivers bottoming out showing the excellent power handling of the RC263.

Well, this speaker has obviously been made to serve as centre channel and as such it will be designated as "small" with XO set by AV processor to 80Hz and LF below that will be sent to sub(s) or to "large" mains if no sub exists. In any way this speaker would not be ask to reporoduce freqs below 80Hz so I'm not sure if it makes sense to test it outside of it's usage scenario.

Regarding distortion comments, I fully agree with @andreasmaaan 's post - commenting distortion graph is not realistic unless figures are normalised.

 

[edechamps]

The horizontal polar looks good though. Would you explain this assertion a little more?

If you look closely at the horizontal polar and draw an horizontal line at ±30°, you will see that the line hits the same deviations as the ones that appear on the graph I posted. It's consistent. It doesn't seem as bad on the polar map but that's only because of the color scale used. The polar map has a huge dB scale because it tries to cover all angles, so even significant deviations such as -5 dB only end up with a slightly different shade.

 

[BYRTT]

Radars based Amir's spindata Infinity verse Revel ...

Horizontals comparison:

Verticals comparison:

 

[BYRTT]

Some technical curves for RC263:

Modeled baffle diffraction on axis at 2 meter for positions of 25/85/127mm pistons:

Spin plus system impedance:

 

[carlob]

Another brand that is impossible to find in Italy and difficult to find in Europe. Revels are also difficult to find but Infinity does not exist here.
I don't understand the distribution strategy of the Harman group.

 

[SimpleTheater]

I posted here a simple formula for scaling the voltage drive level to desired SPL based on voltage sensitivity.

I'm no sound engineer, but if the above method is difficult to implement into @amirm 's current testing setup, would it be simpler (if maybe not as accurate) to check the SPL at a specific distance from the speaker and run distortion tests at this level for every speaker?

 

[richard12511]

Very good measurements given the budget and center channel limitations.

 

[Ron Texas]

It's hard for me to get excited about center speakers because they are intended to be used with compatible mains. Besides, I am a stereo guy.

 

[airs]

It's hard for me to get excited about center speakers because they are intended to be used with compatible mains. Besides, I am a stereo guy.

I'm planning to use this RC263 with R162's as rears and Revel F208 as L/R. Denon AVR for movies, ADI-2 and NC400 monoblocks for music. Not too worried about them being "compatible" but maybe that's short sighted..

 

[stren]

It's hard for me to get excited about center speakers because they are intended to be used with compatible mains. Besides, I am a stereo guy.

Well I think this review is particularly to complement the bookshelf review. But I have to say, I'm the opposite wrt excitement. I have a built in unit, that is essentially a shelf that is my only spot to place speakers. Towers won't work. I'm increasingly of the opinion that 3 way bookshelves would be ideal, but there aren't that many - the R3 or philharmonic BMR are good examples, but the R3's woofer seems a bit small. But there are surprisingly large amount of 3 way centers, and some of these Revel's with 2x 8 inch woofers seem like they could be used for stereo too. Some centers are even rotatable 90 degrees into "bookshelf" format. Why limit ourselves to bookshelf speakers that are simply bookshelf speakers

 

[ROOSKIE]

It's hard for me to get excited about center speakers because they are intended to be used with compatible mains. Besides, I am a stereo guy.

Myself as well alough it should be noted that center speakers can be used as L&R channels and there are some that are worthy of that. For some folks the short & wide horizontal profile works better in their set-up due to any number of factors. These could for example fit the bill as a decent stereo pair with a sub.

 

[ace_xp2]

The reason you might want to be careful with center speakers is it seems modern avrs are still using the thx spec of 12db highpass and 24db low, and relying on the design of the sealed volume of each the speakers to roll off the bottom at 12db as well.

Not sure if it applies to these specifically but note how the bass energy of both of this r162 and the c52 drops off quite smoothly @ approx 100hz versus a lot of the bookshelfs reviewed here even though both centers have typically a whole other woofer, let alone that they're often larger woofers to boot.

 

[SDX-LV]

Another brand that is impossible to find in Italy and difficult to find in Europe. Revels are also difficult to find but Infinity does not exist here.
I don't understand the distribution strategy of the Harman group.

Yep. Infinity speakers are all great for the price, but Harman still is not able to sell them in Europe! But then they also are terrible at marketing most of their hi-fi equipment in Europe, so only very few products are actually available.
No problem to get the Bluetooth speakers though