This is a quick review and raw measurements of the Infinity RS152 surround speaker. It was kindly purchased new (last year!) and sent to me directly for testing. They current costs US $449 for a pair but Harman is know to have blow out discounts on these speakers at times.
Edit: our company, Madrona Digital does fair amount of business with Harman which is the parent company of Infinity. So feel free to read as much bias as you like in this review.
This is a very odd configuration for a speaker with dual tweeters in front and woofer in the back:
One look at this speaker and I knew measurements of it were going to extremely difficult. For starters, where would one position the reference axis? I choose the infinity logo. This is problematic as it forces the measurement system to use a non-optimal axis in what is to be a complex sound field. Indeed post measurement analysis shows that error shoots up above 8 kHz. As you will see even outside of this, the results are extremely strange and don't at all match what Harman says (uniform wide directivity).
I thought about sitting on these measurements and review until I could make sense out of them but I simply don't have that option. Since inception of this site, I have never had such high volume of gear to test and so much stress to get them done. So I am just going to present what I have and let you all try to make sense out of them.
Infinity RS152 Measurements
Here is our main spin graph:
Told you the data is rough!
Early window for good or bad matches the on-axis but I am not sure of its relevance in surround scenario:
Same for predicted in-room frequency response:
Horizontal beamwidth is real head scratcher relative to what Harman advertises:
Beam width graph is gorgeous to look at but I am not sure of the audible results:
Vertical data is complex as well:
Even impedance was strange with it shooting way up at lower frequencies:
I measured distortion and driver responses but frankly, they are too unreliable and strange to share. I mean what level do I go for when calibrating for 86 or 96 dB?
I have not listened to the speaker as I don't have a setup to test surround speakers in my 2-channel system.
Conclusions
I have none to offer other than cringing at the sight of two tweeters in opposing fashion trying to produce sound. And a woofer in the back which is also supposed to do midrange duty. Is this ever going to work? I don't know. You analyze it and tell me!
------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
Edit: our company, Madrona Digital does fair amount of business with Harman which is the parent company of Infinity. So feel free to read as much bias as you like in this review.
This is a very odd configuration for a speaker with dual tweeters in front and woofer in the back:
One look at this speaker and I knew measurements of it were going to extremely difficult. For starters, where would one position the reference axis? I choose the infinity logo. This is problematic as it forces the measurement system to use a non-optimal axis in what is to be a complex sound field. Indeed post measurement analysis shows that error shoots up above 8 kHz. As you will see even outside of this, the results are extremely strange and don't at all match what Harman says (uniform wide directivity).
I thought about sitting on these measurements and review until I could make sense out of them but I simply don't have that option. Since inception of this site, I have never had such high volume of gear to test and so much stress to get them done. So I am just going to present what I have and let you all try to make sense out of them.
Infinity RS152 Measurements
Here is our main spin graph:
Told you the data is rough!
Early window for good or bad matches the on-axis but I am not sure of its relevance in surround scenario:
Same for predicted in-room frequency response:
Horizontal beamwidth is real head scratcher relative to what Harman advertises:
Beam width graph is gorgeous to look at but I am not sure of the audible results:
Vertical data is complex as well:
Even impedance was strange with it shooting way up at lower frequencies:
I measured distortion and driver responses but frankly, they are too unreliable and strange to share. I mean what level do I go for when calibrating for 86 or 96 dB?
I have not listened to the speaker as I don't have a setup to test surround speakers in my 2-channel system.
Conclusions
I have none to offer other than cringing at the sight of two tweeters in opposing fashion trying to produce sound. And a woofer in the back which is also supposed to do midrange duty. Is this ever going to work? I don't know. You analyze it and tell me!
------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/