Hello,
I’m new to this forum and would like some opinions from some people that may have more knowledge on this subject. I have a pair of Infinity RS-8 floorstanding speakers that I recently purchased for $99. I can’t complain about the sound for the price that I paid. I currently have them ran off of a 90’s model Pioneer VSX-502 A/V Stereo Receiver. The speakers are made from a combo of a 1” dome tweeter up top, a 6 1/2” midrange, and a 8” side firing woofer. The towers are equipped with their own 100w amp for the woofers.
I pulled the two factory woofers out because they have fallen victim to the inevitable foam rot and were completely shot all the way around both speakers. I replaced the two with a pair of MTX road thunder entry level speakers. The 6 1/2” speakers seem to sound fine although one of the speakers is missing its dust cap. Not sure if that affects the performance at all.
Anyway, I’m wanting to improve and upgrade these towers. I’d like some suggestions on how to do this from speakers replacement to enclosure mods. I want to replace the two 8” woofer with something that is budget friendly but packs HiFi quality sound. I have thought about changing out the pair of Infinity 6 1/2” mids for something else.. the sound and quality of the infinity speakers are good but could I possibly get an even better sound and flatter response from a different type/brand? I’d do something with the 1” tweeters if possible.. a different material some tweeter or a horn style is something I’ve had in mind.
The two 100w amps in these towers produce plenty of power for them. I have used polyfill and packed the lower half of each tower to experiment with the sound effects it will have on the woofers. Any tips or suggestions would be highly appreciated. I’d like to keep this budget friendly as far as the speaker upgrades would go. As far as enclosure mods/crossover/other mods go I would be open to all suggestions. Whether they’re going to be free or cost me a few bucks. I want better sound out of my setup. I run these two towers in stereo mode and or “studio” mode on my receiver. I have two tears hooked up that come on in studio mode. They’re Bose Model 21’s and I’m not impressed with them at all but they work for a rear channel and giving me a better center image. Sorry for such a long post. Thanks in advanced.
I have included a few photos of the speakers just to give anyone an idea of what I’m working with. The two Bose speakers are no longer sitting on top of the infinity towers as this caused imaging problems for me.
I’m new to this forum and would like some opinions from some people that may have more knowledge on this subject. I have a pair of Infinity RS-8 floorstanding speakers that I recently purchased for $99. I can’t complain about the sound for the price that I paid. I currently have them ran off of a 90’s model Pioneer VSX-502 A/V Stereo Receiver. The speakers are made from a combo of a 1” dome tweeter up top, a 6 1/2” midrange, and a 8” side firing woofer. The towers are equipped with their own 100w amp for the woofers.
I pulled the two factory woofers out because they have fallen victim to the inevitable foam rot and were completely shot all the way around both speakers. I replaced the two with a pair of MTX road thunder entry level speakers. The 6 1/2” speakers seem to sound fine although one of the speakers is missing its dust cap. Not sure if that affects the performance at all.
Anyway, I’m wanting to improve and upgrade these towers. I’d like some suggestions on how to do this from speakers replacement to enclosure mods. I want to replace the two 8” woofer with something that is budget friendly but packs HiFi quality sound. I have thought about changing out the pair of Infinity 6 1/2” mids for something else.. the sound and quality of the infinity speakers are good but could I possibly get an even better sound and flatter response from a different type/brand? I’d do something with the 1” tweeters if possible.. a different material some tweeter or a horn style is something I’ve had in mind.
The two 100w amps in these towers produce plenty of power for them. I have used polyfill and packed the lower half of each tower to experiment with the sound effects it will have on the woofers. Any tips or suggestions would be highly appreciated. I’d like to keep this budget friendly as far as the speaker upgrades would go. As far as enclosure mods/crossover/other mods go I would be open to all suggestions. Whether they’re going to be free or cost me a few bucks. I want better sound out of my setup. I run these two towers in stereo mode and or “studio” mode on my receiver. I have two tears hooked up that come on in studio mode. They’re Bose Model 21’s and I’m not impressed with them at all but they work for a rear channel and giving me a better center image. Sorry for such a long post. Thanks in advanced.
I have included a few photos of the speakers just to give anyone an idea of what I’m working with. The two Bose speakers are no longer sitting on top of the infinity towers as this caused imaging problems for me.
Attachments
Amplified woofers have dedicated equalization implemented in the amplifier. I advise you to keep the original woofers . 8 inch foams are very easy to find , see Aliexpress .
+1
Refoam the old drivers. Dropping in replacements that have different parameters is unlikely to give you optimal results.
I've fixed up a few sets of old speakers recently and here's some of my recommendations.
If the speakers are old it might be worth replacing the caps in the crossover with higher quality variants. For me this resulted in a subtly cleaner sound. Not night and day but probably worth it.
Check to see if they've been adequately stuffed.
Brace the enclosure with a couple of lengths of wood (broom stick work well here). Keep the braces off center to avoid creating new resonances.
You could try placing felt pads around the tweeter to improve diffraction too.
Most of this stuff you can do pretty cheaply but I did it as a fun learning exercise and didn't worry about spending a little bit.
You may have to refoam the woofers while they remain in the cabinet as they appear to be glued in place. See this thread: Infinity RS-8 Subwoofer Removal
RS-8 Service Manual available here: RS-8/RS-8a Reference Series Speaker System SERVICE MANUAL | manualzz.com
Note the instructions for removing the woofer!
Note the instructions for removing the woofer!
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Swapping out drivers will most probably destroy the sound quality. To do so would require you to create a new crossover.
The speakers are from the late 90’s I believe. If I do replace the caps should I just replace them with the same brand/type but new. I know that should be pretty obvious but I didn’t know if there were any go to brands or types that would be better.
The cabinet was stuffed up top from the factory with the same type of stuff as roll out insulation. It looked like rock wool. The tweeter and midrange are housed up there but they’re in these black closed ended cylinders.. I’m assuming to keep the sound waves from interfering with each other. I did stuff the bottom of the of the enclosure that holds the woofer with polyfill. It sounds better. The box has some internal bracing already from the factory. If I go the route of re-foaming the woofer... can I do all new voice cool, spider, and speaker cone? They have huge magnets and seem like they would produce some serious sound but the cones and all are just trashed from the elements
The speakers are from the late 90’s I believe. If I do replace the caps should I just replace them with the same brand/type but new. I know that should be pretty obvious but I didn’t know if there were any go to brands or types that would be better.
The cabinet was stuffed up top from the factory with the same type of stuff as roll out insulation. It looked like rock wool. The tweeter and midrange are housed up there but they’re in these black closed ended cylinders.. I’m assuming to keep the sound waves from interfering with each other. I did stuff the bottom of the of the enclosure that holds the woofer with polyfill. It sounds better. The box has some internal bracing already from the factory. If I go the route of re-foaming the woofer... can I do all new voice cool, spider, and speaker cone? They have huge magnets and seem like they would produce some serious sound but the cones and all are just trashed from the elements
Half way there;
infinity rs 8 speaker & crossover lot | eBay
They probably need new surrounds, but those are easy to find.
infinity rs 8 speaker & crossover lot | eBay
They probably need new surrounds, but those are easy to find.
I know this is an old posting, but I'm on a similar path and looking for some insights.
I have a set of RS-8s also that I picked them up off CL. The woofers needed new foam surrounds, so I took care of that first thing.
After I refoamed the woofers, I was very pleased with the sound quality. I thought I'd do some preventive maintenance, so I recapped rhe plate amps. No issues. While I was at it, I recapped the passive crossover. I replaced the electrolytic capacitors with metalized polypropylene (except for the 330uF which I replaced with a new electrolytic due to size and cost).
The speakers sound awesome - definately keepers.
Here is my question/concern...
The woofer cavity contains no sound insullation around the bass chamber. There is a little bit of insulation stuffed around the misdrange/tweeter section, but none in the base cavity. I've attached pictures.
I ordered polyfill; however, should this chamber, which is a vented enclosure, have sound damping material added? What comes to mind is an accoustic guitar - no one stuffs an accoustic guitar with polyfill. This is an easy fix and low cost to go either way.
I posted it in AK and the feedback was to put only a little or leave it as is.
My inclination is to put a thin blanket at the top, bottom, and side walls.
What are your thoughts or experiences in this area?
I have a set of RS-8s also that I picked them up off CL. The woofers needed new foam surrounds, so I took care of that first thing.
After I refoamed the woofers, I was very pleased with the sound quality. I thought I'd do some preventive maintenance, so I recapped rhe plate amps. No issues. While I was at it, I recapped the passive crossover. I replaced the electrolytic capacitors with metalized polypropylene (except for the 330uF which I replaced with a new electrolytic due to size and cost).
The speakers sound awesome - definately keepers.
Here is my question/concern...
The woofer cavity contains no sound insullation around the bass chamber. There is a little bit of insulation stuffed around the misdrange/tweeter section, but none in the base cavity. I've attached pictures.
I ordered polyfill; however, should this chamber, which is a vented enclosure, have sound damping material added? What comes to mind is an accoustic guitar - no one stuffs an accoustic guitar with polyfill. This is an easy fix and low cost to go either way.
I posted it in AK and the feedback was to put only a little or leave it as is.
My inclination is to put a thin blanket at the top, bottom, and side walls.
What are your thoughts or experiences in this area?
Attachments
Refoaming subwoofers
Thanks for posting the service manual! I had these speakers in storage for years due to corroded foam on the woofer surrounds, but replaced it this weekend with an order from Simply Speakers. Removing the drivers was a challenge (there was a thing film of rubber adhesive holding them in place, so I recommend using a twisting motion to loosen them, then I wedged my hand behind the plate and was able to get enough leverage from pressing against the back wall to push it out. (A few gentle taps with a rubber mallet also helped.)
(The manual was very helpful in guidance on removing the amplifier plate, as well.)
One question for the group... I've noticed that my left channel keeps going from active (green light) to standby (red light), even when it's receiving a signal (the right channel is fine). This has always been the case, even before I refoamed the surrounds. I've switched inputs, and get the same problem, so the issue is with the speaker. Any suggestions would be appreciated!
Thanks for posting the service manual! I had these speakers in storage for years due to corroded foam on the woofer surrounds, but replaced it this weekend with an order from Simply Speakers. Removing the drivers was a challenge (there was a thing film of rubber adhesive holding them in place, so I recommend using a twisting motion to loosen them, then I wedged my hand behind the plate and was able to get enough leverage from pressing against the back wall to push it out. (A few gentle taps with a rubber mallet also helped.)
(The manual was very helpful in guidance on removing the amplifier plate, as well.)
One question for the group... I've noticed that my left channel keeps going from active (green light) to standby (red light), even when it's receiving a signal (the right channel is fine). This has always been the case, even before I refoamed the surrounds. I've switched inputs, and get the same problem, so the issue is with the speaker. Any suggestions would be appreciated!
