Without the Infinity Servo crossover, the bass towers roll off at 12db/octave below 60Hz. This can be fixed with a digital shelf filter (or an analogue one), but using the DBX or Rane crossover without some equalization throws away the low bass. If you try to fix this with a bass level control, you'll have a peak between 60Hz and 150Hz. |
Tomtab,
70Hz works for me but the woofers in the ML are still active not like your system where the EMIMs come in at 150Hz so the lower setting works in my system. The blend is very good. The DBX is part of the pro line so it has either 1/4 inch cables or XLRs, the XLRs work for my system, not so much for the 1/4 cables.
Sound quality wise yes I'm happy with the crossover vs the Infinity Servo. I don't think I've lost anything but I don't have any data to back that up. I don't think I'm going to repair the Infinity unit, I'm just going to put a note on it or give it to my nephew as a 3rd spare for his RS1Bs.
Thanx again. |
good to hear russ69. set at 70hz,wow that's pretty low.im set at about 150hz with the infinity mid/tweeter panels. that's all you have to go up to,to blend in with the m,logan panels. im surprised you went with the xlr model since you had to adapt to rca's anyway. whats nice though is you can set the overall volumn now between both panels. glad you are happy with the results. like you I dident think I lost anything the factory xover had to offer also. so if you get the infinity xover fixed would you be in a rush to go back?? |
I got the DBX crossover today. Got it all plugged in and running. It took a few minutes to get the settings in the ball park but I seem to have a handle on it now. I ordered the DBX223XL with XLR connectors. I used XLR to RCA adapters mostly because I had some on hand and just needed two more adapters to finish the connections (six total). I'm not the golden eared audiophile I use to be and I didn't have a lot of hours playing the Infinity towers in my system. However, I am pleased with the results. Once set properly I seem to have the same performance as the original Infinity crossover. If I'm missing some extension, I can't tell, it goes subsonic with ease. At least at the volume levels I listen to. I have the crossover point set at around 70 Hz and that seems to work for my system.
For the guys that have never heard one of the big Infinity tower systems or the big Genesis systems you have no idea how awesome and full scale these systems sound. It's a rare treat and to duplicate that sound cost tens of thousands of dollars. I bought the towers from my brother for 1500 bucks. Thanks for the tip Tomtab, I'm back up and running and all in all I'm very happy with the results. |
"... so you can sent just a bass signal to it you said you have it set to 100 hz? does that mean you have a dbx now and are using it..."
No, I have the Infinity controller LOW PASS CUTOFF set at LOW. The literature says that is 100HZ.
"...its stereo and mono so be sure to follow the stereo connections..."
I read the owners manual on the web, I understand how it gets connected. Heck, if you can hook up the Infinity box and not blow up your system, you can hook anything up, lol.
"...the speaker setup you stated must sound pretty good. ml panels for the top and infinity bass columns for the bottom.."
I run a pair of AES six pack tube amps and a Cary SLP-98 preamp on the top and a Parasound A21 for the bass. Yes, it's not bad but a tad on the bright side. I need to put it in a bigger/softer room.
"...i have been in audio for 40 years and to me all decent amps (and im not talking comparing a $800 amp to a $4,000 amp. sound very close. unless something is really off i just cant tell..."
40 plus years for me also. Yes, a lot of good amps sound very much the same. The biggest differences are in the bottom end and the top end.
Thanx again. |
russ, keep in mind 95% of speakers don't have a servo feedback control for the woofers. the 1b bass column is just a big box with six 8 inch woofers in it. a good amp is all that is needed to drive it.although you need some kind of xover so you can sent just a bass signal to it you said you have it set to 100 hz? does that mean you have a dbx now and are using it. the speaker setup you stated must sound pretty good. ml panels for the top and infinity bass columns for the bottom. a few thing to remember if you get a dbx223. its stereo and mono so be sure to follow the stereo connections. that's why on the back panel there are markings on top and bottom of the inputs. the only led that should be on the front lit up is the middle power one.nothing else. i had a parasound 3500 running the bass for a while.strong,deep and powerful. with power to spare. a pair of odyssey mono's for the top panel. very smooth,clean wonderful soundstage. a very good amp indeed. i like to change things up a bit every once in a while,like all us audio nuts do. so now i have the odyssey mono's on the bass and a pair of jolida 502p's running in mono for the top. jolidas still breaking in but they sound good already. not sure which setup sounds better. both very,very good. i just cant seem to hear all these little differences everybody seems to think they can hear. i have been in audio for 40 years and to me all decent amps (and im not talking comparing a $800 amp to a $4,000 amp. sound very close. unless something is really off i just cant tell. do i have a tin ear????? ive had 7 or 8 different amps on my top panels and they all sound 99% the same,go figure. the reason i say this is because they all sounded very good. the speakers to me always offered the biggest sound change. 10 speakers,10 totally different sounds. amps are tougher for me. but big infinitys like tube amps for the top so thats what i have for now.let me know how it goes |
Tomtab,
Thanks for the info. You seem to have a good handle on the ins and outs of the Infinity X-over. Everything you have said is the same as I understand it. I don't have the mid panels from the IRS 1Bs, I got the extra woofer towers from my brother who had the full system and 2 spare bass tower set-ups with 4 crossovers. I run my system with some ML electrostatic panels. I'll probably cross over a little lower than you do. I have it set at 100hz now.
I wont be able to change out my system until after Thanksgiving but I'll post up my results as soon as I get it working.
Thanx again. |
russ69, I spoke to greg from the company that made the eq for the infinitys and he said no problem using the dbx with the ib woofer towers. he said if anything you might, and he used that term lighty, said the bass wont go as low as with the infinity xover. I have found that not to be the case. bass is tight, deep,and smooth. and the dbx offers more control overall. I dident want to use it at first,but my xover started to act up. I have been using it for a year now and very happy with it. there are a lot of guys on the audiokarma site with the same speakers and using the dbx 223 and they all are very happy with it. and remember, the bass panel crosses over to the mid panel at 140 hz. many reviews say the emims don't like going that low. I have my bass fq set at 150hz to help the emims out. now the bass panels go to 150 and then cross over to the mid/high panels. do your self a favor and get one. they are cheap enough. I picked up a used one for $100. I leave mine on along with the bass amps on all the time. if you are going to un plug it after listening then turn off the amp first. if you unplug the ex first you will get a slight pop through the bass panels. hookup is very easy. I have the model with the 1/4 inch plugs so I picked up the adaptors at parts express. getting the infinity xover fixed is a pain in the ass these days. almost no body does it. I found a guy out in ca that works for the company that made them for infinity. I sent him mine in feburary,still dident get it back yet. I call every few months to see how its coming along. dident get to it yet!!. even if or when I get it back,im still going to use the dbx. I just would like to have the factory unit because its part of the set and can always use it again. good luck. im sure if you go for it you will be happy. I am |
I just had my right channel develop a hum. I haven't changed anything so something "broke" in my servo/crossover unit. Tomtab, I'm going to try the DBX crossover but that means the servo controller is non-functioning. Servo feedback is supposed to be a trick way to handle the woofer distortion but my feeling has always been that if the woofer is out of control, feeding it a corrected signal is just a band-aid and not the true fix. The true fix is a woofer that tracks the input signal, rather than just adding correction to an out of control mass.
At any rate, dumping the Infinity servo controller would be nice, it's not reliable and it's always been a source of problems. I hope I have good luck, I want to keep the woofer towers, they really sound good, when the are working. They energize the room like nothing else I've ever heard. |
if interested in the dbx223, it comes with two types of inputs xlr balanced and 1/4 inch phono plugs. need 1/4 to rca adaptors for it. parts express has them. to get an idea of that this is look at item # 181259015846 on ebay. this is xlr balancsd one. good luck |
yes, I had the same problem. sent it out to get fixed. did not get it back yet!! but I did what other owners of this speaker did and that was to get a dbx 223 crossover instead. I dident want to do this at first because I like to keep things the way they were ment to be used. well all I can say Is I will probably not use the infinity eq when I get it back. the dbx is so much better. and very simple to use. four knobs for each channel overall gain, bass cutoff fq, bass gain and high gain. no more matching high amp inpedence. bass amp now connected directly to bass amp. as for sound way more control. bass is better sounding,tighter,smoother. and you can adjust the panel overall to your likeing. just get a dbx 223 and don't look back. new they are around $170. on ebay you can get one for around $100. they come in black and white. mine is from about 3-4 years ago. the new ones look a little different. |
Which one are you in search of ? repaired one a little while a go
Best of Luck
Peter |
