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Infinity Kappa 9's sound terrible...HELP

Recently I got a pair of Kappa 8's. Plugged them into Adcom 860 preamp and to an old HK Citation 16, GFA-555 and GFA-565's. They sounded...beyond my wildest dreams! Absolutely amazing!

A week later I bought a pair of Kappa 9's. Was really excited thinking they would out preform the k-8's! Plugged them into the same system and they sounded like crap. Tried running each k-9 to 1 GFA-565 and bi-wire them, changed all knobs to flat, experimented with the adjustments on the back of the k-9's in every conceivable position, ran them in standard and extended bass modes...and they still sounded terrible!

Has anyone experienced this before? Any tests or checks I can do to eliminate any doubts of anything? If I can't resolve this on my own, I guess I'll have to take the speakers somewhere...if I can a reliable source between the Philadelphia to Harrisburg, PA area.

Also, if any can suggest any good techs between the Phila and Harrisburg area for amplifier rebuilds (Adcom GFA-555 II models) I would also appreciate getting a name and address.

Thanks guys...appreciate your help!
barricadedbob

Showing 2 responses by mitch4t

mitch4t's avatar
mitch4t
1,611 posts
 
The Kappa 8's are very good, but they are not in the same league with the Kappa 9....no contest. The Kappa 8's are much easier to drive. The bass, highs, midrange and dynamics of the Kappa 9 completely overwhelm the Kappa 8 if the rest of your system is up to it.

To get the best out of the Kappa 9's, you need to biamp them and have amps that are stable down to one ohm. I currently own the the Kappas 7,8 and 9, the Infinity Rennaisance 90 and the Infinity IRS Betas. I own four sets of of the Kappa 9 and will never sell them.

If you don't feed them lots of kickass power, they simply won't respond. Either something was already wrong with the speakers when you bought them or your amp doesn't have the testicular fortitude to get the job done.

I've biamped the Kappa 9 with two pair of Carver Silver 9t monoblocs (900 wpc @ 4 ohms) and they sounded great. I used a pair of Sunfire Signature amps (1200 wpc @4 ohms) to biamp them and they sounded great....and I've used two pair of Pass Labs X-600 monoblocs to power them and they sounded excellent. I used Audio Research LS-10, Reference 1, Ref 2 mk2 and Reference 3 preamps in front of them and the Kappa 9's sang like beautifully.

There is nothing wrong with the Kappa 9

Below are some links to Audiogon testimonials about how good the Kappa 9 sound to very satisfied owners.

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?aamps&1171199763&read&keyw&zzkappa=9

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?aamps&1140795879&read&keyw&zzkappa=9

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?cspkr&1103047552&read&keyw&zzkappa=9

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?cspkr&1060960471&read&keyw&zzkappa=9

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?cspkr&1142533363&read&keyw&zzkappa=9
mitch4t's avatar
mitch4t
1,611 posts
 
Also.......you need a big room for Kappa 9. For small to medium rooms they are overkill.
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