Infinity RS1b

[OldiesButGoodies]

@Mark - that is my concern - if he tested them,  and he said he did, what x-over was protecting those tweeters?  None.  So unless he was really gentle it could be a headache of a purchase.  But yes one could go active and forget the x-over. 

[OldiesButGoodies]

Turns out they do have a passive x-over in the back after all.  Will understand better tomorrow when they are delivered.  Will keep you all posted on the sound.

[OldiesButGoodies]

Driving the ribbon stack with the Bob's and the woofer stack w the PS Audio Delta 100:


Splitting the signal fed to the Bob's to feed the Delta - not ideal but works - need to find out what the ribbon impedance is - using the 4 ohm tap now:




The passive crossovers in the ribbon towers prob need recapped - the whole setup also would probably benefit from an active x-over:

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

I've got to come hear those.

[OldiesButGoodies]

Definitely need to add an active x-over to emulate what the original did (it was not included in the purchase,  someone is asking $1645 for it on ebay - don't think so!).

[Slim-Shaddy]

A crossover for the 4.5s recently sold on epay for around $500. I really want to hear those things!

[Falcon]

Awesome score!!!!   I have heard these with Krell mono blocks, excellent system..
   You need to call Nick and get his Melos 402 mono blocks.  400 watts each of tube power, and run them on the low end!!  With your carvers on top!!

  Congrats on the great score!!

[OldiesButGoodies]

Thanks all..

I will test a DBX223 crossover on them by mid-week.  I need more power for the bottom end,  but first I will insert an active crossover to help control the balance between the bass towers and the ribbons.  Without the cross over the bass tower is also singing freqs it was not meant to so it sounds weird.

The needles on the Carvers do not move nearly as much driving these ribbons (I was concerned I would have to replace the meters in a few years at the place they were flicking, seriously).

Pepe

[schwarcw]

Very nice!  You have the room to set them up and that certainly helps. 

An active crossover is a must.  The one on eBay is way overpriced.  Is someone else making these?

Regards,

Carl

[OldiesButGoodies]

So the tale of the $$ so far:

I have one bad EMIM mid driver (and it has to the one right in the middle - my near term fix may be to swap for a less critical one).  They sell for $329 on fleabay,  or a seller will repair for $183.  Mine, I believe,  has a bad diaphragm,  so will explore sourcing that .  All the fuses (4 per speaker need replacing and the fuse cases cleaning.  The rheostat are dirty as heck,  but don't want to touch them too much unless hurting sound.  The wiring inside the passive x-overs and throughout the speaker is Monster Cable from 1985,  and is thick and stiff like 12 gauge electrical solid core (but is not really solid, a very tight braid).  Very hard to solder without a Lincoln Electric arc welder.   .   

The bass towers are laughably out of their element playing full range(they could make do as "full range" speakers for someone sufficiently deaf.   So not doing anything else with them until the x-over arrives Wednesday or tomorrow. 

The caps in the passives mostly look good except a couple of electrolytics - that may be sweating a little.  Will post pictures of all that shortly.

[OldiesButGoodies]

Pictures to supplement the previous post:







In this one you see one of the cables that came off when I took the cover off. I had to resolder it - it was a pain.  Seems like the speaker wiring is designed for high power - good place to try your TFM-75:

[badgolfermike]

Hi,

I recently bought a set of RS1b's to rob parts for my IRS Beta's. After getting them home and hooking them up, I couldn't go through with the cannibalization, they just sound too good, it seemed to be a sin. So they are relegated to the man cave. They do need a big room. The original infinity active crossover hummed so I replaced it with an Ashly  XR 1001 which works great, you just loose the pseudo servo functionality of the original.

If you haven't replaced the EMIM yet, you can usually find them on the auction sites, just be patient for the right price. Mine had bad EMIT's on the rear of both, so I acquired some for around $50. The third EMIM down on each tower does most of the work so if that is the bad one, a replacement will make a huge difference. 1, 2, and 4 and 5, 6, and 7 are wired in series so if one goes (open) you will actually loose three.

If you take the time to position them correctly, and get all the drivers working, I am sure you will love them.

Mike

IRS Beta
RS1b
ESS AMT 3
Pioneer HPM 100
Klipsch KG4

Yeah I'm a collector........

[OldiesButGoodies]

Hi...

Thanks for posting this.  I do not meet many RS-1 owners in these parts.  I use a Peavey 23XO but may give the Ashly a try if I find one for a good price - their claim is that the xover maintains phase,  which is a must for these speakers. 

I still have the original xover in good form and have spent some time troubleshooting.  If yours has a hum I recommend you look at the 100 ohm resistors that separates the oc board ground from chassis ground.  If goes into the screw holding the transformer chassis to case ground.  It snaps easily after these many years.  A $2 Radio Schack fix. 

I never did find the "servo" a big selling point - Peavey sounds better to me.  Will look for an Ashly to try on Ebay.  If you are local we should coordinate to have you drop by and help me with speaker positioning.   .  What amps are you driving yours with?

Thanks,

Pepe

[MacGeek]

Pepe,

Will need to do the EQ over if you move the speakers.  Let me know

[Jim Pittsburgh]

thanks for the listen Friday...  awesome clarity and incredible sound stage. I had not ever heard those before and was definitely worth the long drive to do so lol!  I did think the sound was more "integrated", if that's the right word, with the units a little closer to being in the same plane....   Nice to see you using the Pro-Control Four... and the tuner.... always cool when "stuff" goes to a good home!