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Infinity Renaissance 90 questions

Hi fellow AG'ers, I have just pulled the trigger & purchased a pair of Ren 90's in black ash & had some newbie questions for more experienced members. Firstly as they are still shipping from the US, I'd love to know what finish (Black ash or blonde oak) you prefer? In my case, a micky mouse pair came up for sale at the right price in Black ash, so I grabbed them..

Also, I will be initially running my Rens with a Classe Cap-2100 integrated amp which has been bench tested at 235watts/4 ohms. I know most punters advocate giving them 400 watts per channel, so what do you think? (although the Classe has a truckload of current to compensate). I should mention I plan on upgrading to a Ca-2200 pa & AR Reference 3 in a few years, but for now, the Cap will doing regular duties.

Finally, I would be interested to hear from any members who have re-wired their Rens & had a high-end external crossover built & what results you got? I am planning a very high end x-over mod & re-wire of my Rens with Acoustic Zen wire next year and would appreciate any suggestions.

Cheers!
melbguy1
beatlefred
17 posts
 
Congratulations, its always nice to see other Ren 90 owners online. I own two pairs of them, one in blonde oak, the other in the special hi gloss black lacquer. The hi gloss are very hard to find, so I feel very fortunate to have been able to buy a set a few years ago. Cary Christie actually signed a color-copy picture of the Ren 90's I had sent to him, which I thought was a very cool thing to do.

Greetings from New York/Happy Holidays

Fred
hemidakota
20 posts
 
Still own my ren 90's and love them! Only if there was more time to listen to them.
bimmer8
5 posts
 
My rens utilize a 10w 5 ohm resistor at the positive (r2) & a 5w 0.5 ohm near the negative (r1)
I noticed the schematic has them both 5w 0.5 ohm. I swapped the 10w 5 ohm for a 10w 1 ohm (r2) and the sound is more forward compared to how they were originaly.
Was there production changes? If so why such a dramatic change and which was the original way? I found mine to sound very relaxed on the top end originaly while others say theirs sound forward. Maybe this explains.
timpani
40 posts
 
AFAIK, All Ren 90's come standard with a 0.5R resistor in series with the EMIT and 2x 0.5R resistors in series (1R) at the input to the tweeter crossover. The tweeter crossover is identical to that (same values) used in the Sigma / Epsilon but the latter drive 2x EMITs in series. The crossover values are actually optimised for 8 ohms, not 4 ohms and the response exhibits a pronounced peak at 4kHz followed by a saddle at 5-7 kHz before rising above 10kHz. My guess is that this gives a reasonably flat response at 30 degress off axis, although I've not performed measurements to confirm.

The other point to note about the Ren's is that the EMIM crossover is not quite as well optimised as it in the Sigma or Epsilon, thus allowing scope for considerdable improvement which means a flatter response and a less demanding load on the amplifier driving it.

With a few value changes and component upgardes plus fitting of a fabric acoustic disperser to the EMIT, it's possible to gain a ginat lift in accuracy and purity.

winnietp
2 posts
 
Have had my R90's for 5-6 years now and i really like them. I am feeding them with Electrocompaniet amplifiers (EC 4.9 pre and AW 2x120) and source (EMP/1). I also use a couple of Infinity RS6b as surround speakers (amplified by ECI1). I have liked the combination of Electrocompaniet and Infinity since the early 80's. It sounds great and I have so far not had any trouble with either of them. But now the R90's will sadly get some competition since I have just bought myself a couple of IRS Betas :)
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