[Ro]

"KW" wrote in message
...
After 20 years of use my beloved Infinity's finally died. After a few
weeks shopping for replacements Ive come to the conclusion that speaker
manufacturers today are nothing but crooks.

I want audio speakers NOT home theater speakers and as such I want full
range speakers. Not skinny towers with no dispersion or low end. No one
makes full range speakers today because they want you to buy subwoofers.
So whats the point of buying a tower when its frequency response is the
same as a bookshelf? You sure don't get any better dispersion!

My Infinity's had 10 (or 12) inch woofers with passive radiators (not
ported). It had the cleanest bass of any speaker I've ever heard. Not
overpowering and not boomy- just accurate. More punch and definition
than 99% of all the subwoofers out there. (it went down to 28hz) and
these speakers would fill my room with stereo imaging no matter where I
stood.

Sure, I could buy a $500 dollar subwoofer but all the ones Ive ever
bought (for my home theater) have crapped out on me within 3 years.
Their built in amplifiers are in no way comparable to the clean and
dependable power from my Denon receiver. In addition most affordable
subwoofers aren't true subwoofers in that they bleed into the midrange
ruining the imaging. They are simply designed to add the bottom end that
most speakers 15 years ago did on their own! So to get a comparable
sound I need two of em! Subwoofers may be good for home theater but they
suck at the accurate reproduction of music.

I paid $700 for my Infinity's in 1986 and nothing today even comes close
to them at twice that price. (28hz-20khz +/-3, high efficency 93db 1
watt/1 meter) Today only KLH and Cerwin-Vega make full range speakers
and I don't really consider them in the same class.

Bottom line: the old speakers were better: Better definition, better
imaging, and better bass. To get something comparable today you have
spend ALOT more money than you should. Its frustrating to know I'll
never again be able to afford and enjoy audiophile quality because of
slick marketing. Lets face it speaker technology hasn't changed that
much in 20 years. Cabinets, drivers, and crossovers are still basically
the same. The only thing thats different is the marketing.

Am I the only ones who feel this way? Any solutions?

KW

I totally agree with you. What's more disheartening is the amount of people
that go for the slick marketing..

Best way to go IMHO these days to get the best value for your money is to
build your own speakers using a good pre-designed kit (don't think you will
be able to design something decent from scratch unless you have serious time
and resources!). Best resource used to be falcon-acoustics.co.uk. Not going
any more though, but you'll find some good info there to get started...

Ro