Infinity Kappa 9's

The 9's are a notorious load that dip below 1 0hm. Many amps will see that as a short and automatically shut down . For amps, consider Aragon 8008 and Palladium monos or Spectron. There is no such thing as overkill for those speakers but, as your friend will confirm, underkill is easy and more likely to be fatal.

Other than that, the Kappa 8's are an easier load, shorter, lighter, and don't sacrifice much of the bass.

The 9's received a so-so review in '89 by TAS.

Hi MT,

The Infinity Kappa 9 speakers will require at least one stereo amp that has a huge amount of current as well as high wattage while also being fully stable down to 2 ohms. The Kappa 9s present a severe phase angle to an amp and many amps that are not up to the task will literally go up in smoke. The more power and current your amp can supply the better the speaker will perform - especially at high volumes producing low frequencies and complex musical signals. Passively bi-amping the speakers (with two stereo amps or four mono amps) is even better but careful amp matching is required. Good luck!

Best,

Barry

I bought a new pair of Kappa 8's after deciding between them and the 9's and kept them for about 8 yrs. I used Adcom 565 monoblocks and those will work fine with the 9's.

The one area the Kappa's could use a little help is in the mid-range and with that, you might want to look into the VR4 spkr. You get tighter bass, which I'm assuming is one of the reasons you're looking at the 9's plus some very good mids and excellent extension. Look at VR4 models with soft dome tweeter, not metal.

I actually have 2 Adcom 565's running a pair of Wharfedales as we speak (have a 555II in the closet gathering dust). Someone told me that Adcoms are "bright" on Infinity's but after 10 years of Field Artillery in the US Army, I usually have to boost treble a little more than usual anyway. I have local access to 2 Parasound HCA1200's for $800.00 (ex Bjorns audio employee) but have never seen an Aragon or Sunfire besides in a mag or on the web. 8th largest city in the U.S. and there is no such thing. The LOW average income here may have something to do with it.