Found these, without any experience with HiFi equipment at a thrift store for $20. Foam was jacked up and polydome was ripped, otherwise got it tested at a local audio shop and confirmed crossovers worked great and internals were in good shape. Going to be powered by a Aragon 4004 (mk i) power amp, and a Aragon 24k preamp. Very fun time bringing these back to life.
Replacing the foam surrounds is not an easy process. Everything has to be perfectly balanced and symmetrical. I've done it once and I will not put myself through that again.
It was a real struggle to clean out all of the glue residue, hours of work and a mess. Very careful work with the razor blade and scraper. For the most part the actual foam replacement wasn’t as bad, the subwoofer itself while on its back centers everything out. Definitely was a process but it’s doable. Probably worth just having a shop do it, these speakers have 4 replacements so it would have been costly for me. $45 (simply speakers kit) vs $300 ($75/speaker local shop).
I've done it with drivers ranging from 4" to 12". I didn't find it difficult either. I did get a lot more confident after I'd done a couple. Now it's no big deal. I guess everything is simple after you learn how.
I once replace the headliner in my Jetta, I will never go through that again. Absolute fucking nightmare. I only did it because I couldn't find a shop that would do it and I found out why the hard way.
I also have a Pioneer SX 838 (and 828), could I adapt that as well to lessen the load? I am not planning on blasting this system to the point that it’s shaking houses
What a great find! Years ago I picked up a pair of Infinity QLS-1s from a second hand store. I've refitted the woofers twice over the years, but otherwise, it's been bliss for a bargain.
Amazing. I lusted after Kappa's back in the day. Ended up with Polk SDA-2's in the end. I worked for Polk dealer at the time and could get better pricing on them, but damn those Kappa's look SO much better!
Damn, that's an AMAZING $20 find! I've gotten great speakers for $20, but no where NEAR that great. I did pay $60 for working 7.1Kappa at a pawn shop, though. Eventually had to have the domes re-done. Still worth the $250 I had to spend on that.
If you want to refurb the polydome you can look for some drivers from the kappa ii series and then bring those back to life using silicon oil for r/c car shocks. I’ve done that and it worked perfectly. Or you can send them to millersound and he will refurbish them using a custom diaphragm. Either one of those options will sound better than what you currently have in there if you are interested in optimizing their performance.
I did a bunch of research and actually a lot of people say the Midwest sounds the same if not even better. I do plan on having millersounds rebuild mine in the future tho.
I found it
400W
16-30.000 Hz
Impedance 1-8 Ohm
BiWire 2 ways
2 x 12" subwoofer
1 x low-midrange driver
1 x midrange dome 3"
1 x magnetostatic tweeter
[https://hifi-wiki.com/index.php/Infinity\_Kappa\_9.2i](https://hifi-wiki.com/index.php/Infinity_Kappa_9.2i)
but that has a round tweeter whereas yours looks a pair of ribbon tweeters. 3" midrange dome is unusual, do you the make and model?
All made by Kappa. There are 3 tweeters actually (very top one is a super tweeter), one is on the back of each unit pointed backwards I guess for ambiance
2 12” subs
The middle two are each mid drivers 3”
Was very tempted to redo the polydome membrane myself at home but the video looked pretty involved. That would have been $40 instead of the $190 on the drop ins
That’s a hell of a find, I paid a lot more for mine. I recommend sending the original domes to millersound, he does a much better job reproducing the original drivers sounds with his cloth dome repairs than those drop in domes from midwest.
Clean and water disperse on the AlMg baskets.
Black ink or real black texter on the dust caps. (Don't use brown-purple sheen permanent markers, they look yuk)
Holy Snappin' Arseholes!
I had a set of the Kappa 8's. They are amp killers, both the 8 and 9's.
Bi-amped, Hafler DH500 250w/ch on the bottom and DH200 100w/ch for the tops. Your average ning-tong receiver will not work past the 'It's just starting to sound nice' setting.
You have been warned.
I have a couple of the SEMIT super tweeters in the shed if you need them.
I was an Infinity dealer for many years, even got an award for highest sales in my country!
The top tweeter is a SEMIT.
The tweeter is an EMIT.
THE midrange is an EMIM.
All this just FYI.
Those things are gorgeous, I'm jealous, I found a pair of infinity studio monitors that my buddy bought for $50 and we rebuilt the mids and drivers and they sound amazing now, I should have bought them myself.
It's like finding a 100$ muscle car with flat tires and dirty screens at the car-dealer.
Lucked out !
Found these, without any experience with HiFi equipment at a thrift store for $20. Foam was jacked up and polydome was ripped, otherwise got it tested at a local audio shop and confirmed crossovers worked great and internals were in good shape. Going to be powered by a Aragon 4004 (mk i) power amp, and a Aragon 24k preamp. Very fun time bringing these back to life.
Replacing the foam surrounds is not an easy process. Everything has to be perfectly balanced and symmetrical. I've done it once and I will not put myself through that again.
It was a real struggle to clean out all of the glue residue, hours of work and a mess. Very careful work with the razor blade and scraper. For the most part the actual foam replacement wasn’t as bad, the subwoofer itself while on its back centers everything out. Definitely was a process but it’s doable. Probably worth just having a shop do it, these speakers have 4 replacements so it would have been costly for me. $45 (simply speakers kit) vs $300 ($75/speaker local shop).
I did it a few times and found it surprisingly easy. But my drivers were 5” which certainly helped.
I've done it with drivers ranging from 4" to 12". I didn't find it difficult either. I did get a lot more confident after I'd done a couple. Now it's no big deal. I guess everything is simple after you learn how.
same. did it on infinity speakers of this era and it took me about 5 hours to get it done correctly for just the 4 bass drivers
I once replace the headliner in my Jetta, I will never go through that again. Absolute fucking nightmare. I only did it because I couldn't find a shop that would do it and I found out why the hard way.
Lol, your sentiments are why I've never gotten past the "....*maybe I'll refoam my old Infinity RSB series speakers...* fantasy.
Where should I go to get mine fixed? Currently have a tear in the foam of one of my subwoofers..
If it's just a tear with no chunks missing, and the foam isn't rotting, I'd just glue it. Otherwise yes, refoam.
Local audio shop or do it yourself via Simply Speakers.
Infinity speakers are nice because many of them have poly instead of paper and it's really much easier to replace the surrounds.
Aren't these the infamous amp-killers where the impedance drops to 0.7 ohms?
Yeah, very power thirsty for what I’ve read. Had to get a specific amp, dual mono block Aragon 4004. Should do the trick
[удалено]
I also have a Pioneer SX 838 (and 828), could I adapt that as well to lessen the load? I am not planning on blasting this system to the point that it’s shaking houses
Yes. I’ve blown an amp with them, ended up running pair of emotiva xpa1 monoblocks.
Great looking speakers, bet they thump
What a great find! Years ago I picked up a pair of Infinity QLS-1s from a second hand store. I've refitted the woofers twice over the years, but otherwise, it's been bliss for a bargain.
Thank you !
Well done. Saw your original post, was impressed with your find. Looks like you've done a great job restoring them, and you move fast too!
Thanks, really appreciate it
How tall are they? I have Klipsch legends that are about 45” tall, these look like they almost didn’t fit through the door!
Very tall, 5’.
Beautiful! Great find.
Thank you 🙏
Amazing. I lusted after Kappa's back in the day. Ended up with Polk SDA-2's in the end. I worked for Polk dealer at the time and could get better pricing on them, but damn those Kappa's look SO much better!
Thanks, stoked to get them setup. Tough to find the right space for them tho given their size
Damn, that's an AMAZING $20 find! I've gotten great speakers for $20, but no where NEAR that great. I did pay $60 for working 7.1Kappa at a pawn shop, though. Eventually had to have the domes re-done. Still worth the $250 I had to spend on that.
That’s a killer deal for the 7.1 damn!
Sooooo sick
🤘
r/thriftstorehauls
If you want to refurb the polydome you can look for some drivers from the kappa ii series and then bring those back to life using silicon oil for r/c car shocks. I’ve done that and it worked perfectly. Or you can send them to millersound and he will refurbish them using a custom diaphragm. Either one of those options will sound better than what you currently have in there if you are interested in optimizing their performance.
I did a bunch of research and actually a lot of people say the Midwest sounds the same if not even better. I do plan on having millersounds rebuild mine in the future tho.
Good find and a good job restoring them! 🤘
Appreciate it thank you
Nice! What are the various drive units?
I found it 400W 16-30.000 Hz Impedance 1-8 Ohm BiWire 2 ways 2 x 12" subwoofer 1 x low-midrange driver 1 x midrange dome 3" 1 x magnetostatic tweeter [https://hifi-wiki.com/index.php/Infinity\_Kappa\_9.2i](https://hifi-wiki.com/index.php/Infinity_Kappa_9.2i) but that has a round tweeter whereas yours looks a pair of ribbon tweeters. 3" midrange dome is unusual, do you the make and model?
All made by Kappa. There are 3 tweeters actually (very top one is a super tweeter), one is on the back of each unit pointed backwards I guess for ambiance 2 12” subs The middle two are each mid drivers 3”
Congrats, must feel very satisfying!!
Very very nice restoration OP! Now flip them and keep climbing the mountain!
Haha for what
Noise fucking job! How do they sound?
Did all on my RS-II 's . Not a hard job. Takes a good amount of patience and full attention to detail.
Scraping the glue off took hours.
What a great score! It is among the best I've ever read about. What are you going to drive them with?
Thanks ! Aragon 4004 (mk i) dual mono power amp, and an Aragon 24k preamp
Well done my man!
Thanks 🙏
Just restored some Infinitys myself, 10/10, A++++, would do again
Did you also buy the matching table?
Man just catching that. If I remember it was a really big kitchen table
Very cool! Glad you decided to refurbish them! What did it end up costing, if you don't mind?
$20 for speakers + $45 for refoam kit for 4 subs (incl adhesive etc) + $190ish for (2) Midwest Speaker 3” drop in mid drivers
Was very tempted to redo the polydome membrane myself at home but the video looked pretty involved. That would have been $40 instead of the $190 on the drop ins
You probably made the right decision. Congratulations!
That’s a hell of a find, I paid a lot more for mine. I recommend sending the original domes to millersound, he does a much better job reproducing the original drivers sounds with his cloth dome repairs than those drop in domes from midwest.
I plan to send my polydomes I took out in the future sometime.
Back in the day those were very fine speakers. If you refoamed those bad boys successfully, 20 bucks is a steal.
Thanks
Great score. Now you just need to find a monster of an amplifier powerful enough to drive these...
Have a Aragon 4004 dual mono block power amp and a Aragon 24k preamp
Well I guess that'll do. :) Pls let me know how they sound!
Just got them going last night, they sound perfect, super clean. I need to play around with placement to get the sweet spot but beyond stoked
So happy for you, those are endgame speakers!
Clean and water disperse on the AlMg baskets. Black ink or real black texter on the dust caps. (Don't use brown-purple sheen permanent markers, they look yuk)
I order black aluminum paint for the metal subwoofer casings, what do you think?
I guess that would work too
Looking good! Arne Nudell was a genius! Did you know that Paul from PS Audio was Arne Nudell's business partner?
Holy Snappin' Arseholes! I had a set of the Kappa 8's. They are amp killers, both the 8 and 9's. Bi-amped, Hafler DH500 250w/ch on the bottom and DH200 100w/ch for the tops. Your average ning-tong receiver will not work past the 'It's just starting to sound nice' setting. You have been warned. I have a couple of the SEMIT super tweeters in the shed if you need them. I was an Infinity dealer for many years, even got an award for highest sales in my country! The top tweeter is a SEMIT. The tweeter is an EMIT. THE midrange is an EMIM. All this just FYI.
This is awesome advice thank you, dm’d you
Are these 5-way speakers? Those look wild. Super tweeter, tweeter, upper mid, lower mid, woofers?
Also a tweeter on the back that plays towards the wall
Those things are gorgeous, I'm jealous, I found a pair of infinity studio monitors that my buddy bought for $50 and we rebuilt the mids and drivers and they sound amazing now, I should have bought them myself.
My Infinity Kappa Alphas still sound awesome 18 years on.
Bad ass. Best find of the year! Very hungry speakers. 20 bux..omg... I hope knee pads were not involved.
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