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REVIEW: Infinity Systems IL-10 Speakers Review by sjkremer at Audio Asylum

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Well, after a protracted absence from the board brought about by the evil necessity of earning a living, I have returned. This review is for a pair of Infinity IL-10 speakers that were acquired for the bedroom. I wanted something that wouldn’t grateon the ears at a reasonable price, but I got a bit more than that.

I had been auditioning at a variety of speakers in this size range over the last year. Notice I said size range and not price range. This is a well-populated segment of the speaker world with prices ranging from the mild to the ludicrous. For those who might wonder, I would consider anything over $1,500 in this size range using conventional driver technology to be approaching outright theft.

Contenders for the belt included but were not limited to the B&W CDM1SEs, the B&W DM 601, the B&W DM 602, the Paradigm Reference 20. Generally, many speakers are not readily available locally so some that may have been worthy of consideration were skipped. Here’s a chestnut for you, if you can’t audition every speaker made, don’t loose any sleep over it. The performance of all the speakers mentioned is rather closer than not so you will likely not overlook some stunning sounding speaker to be heartbroken over later.

The IL-10 is a medium sized two-way rear ported bookshelf. The drivers utilize Infinity’s C.M.M.D. treatment, the aluminum dome or cone is coated with a ceramic compound to control acoustic characteristics. The speaker comes equipped with an extra set of reasonably solid binding posts in the rear and can be bi-wired and bi-amped. Speakers are a 1" dome tweeter and a 6.5" mid-bass cone. The rated frequency response is 56-22,000 Hz  3 dB with a rated sensitivity of 88 dB. Nominal impedance is 8 ohms and maximum amplifier power is limited to 150 watts. They weigh 18 lbs. each. They come in several finishes and are well constructed. So what. It’s the sound that matters.

Once I got them home, they were hooked up to an old Pioneer PD-7030 CD player and a Pioneer VSX-505S A/V receiver. Monster Cable on a roll speaker wire was used and Monster Cable Interlink 400i interconnect was used. There are those who would pan Monster Cable, likely because it is not expensive enough and does not have that audiophile (read expensive) cachet. Here is another chestnut for you. Interconnects matter, and the 400i is a good interconnect for the money. It does fatten up the bass a little and definitely provides much better detail. More esoteric cables (read more expensive) are not of much use on a system in this price range as they a not cost effective enough to consider, nor does the overall resolution of the system warrant their use. I am not going to drop in a set of cables that cost more than the entire system regardless of how much the vaunted mainstream reviewer goes into palpitations over them. Speaker cables help too, but not to the degree interconnects do.

By the way, the Pioneer 505 has a regenerative power supply, albeit a noisy one. Judging by the whine it operates at about 1,200 Hz or so. Gee, just like a Linn or Mark Levinson, free from powerline fluctuations. Actually, the little 505 isn’t too bad if it is given a nice 8-ohm load. Complex impedance’s and phase angles can easily cause it to loose its composure and actually activate the protective relays. I know, I’ve done it.

The speakers were placed on top of a home made set of 28" tall constrained layer dampening stands with spikes about 30" from the side walls and 24" from the rear walls. Speaker placement affects bass volume and quality due to the rear firing port. Vibra-pods are also utilized to good effect.
Initially, the 10s sounded a little bright and brittle on top, which is to be expected of any brand new decent quality speaker. After a few hours, they started to loosen up a little and after a few weeks I believe that they are run in properly. So what is the verdict?

This is a fine set of speakers, especially given the modest buy in. That brightness I mentioned turned into a nice airiness on top after run in. The rear firing port and room reinforcement allows a substantial amount of bass for so small a speaker. Generally, these speakers are not in an ideal location to really image their best; they are normally in the bedroom, which is also not ideally damped.

They do get the higher frequencies quite well. A good tweeter frees the sound from the speaker, allowing it to "float" and shimmer about the room. The 10s accomplish that little sonic trick. The mid-bass driver is a good one to, with female vocals well developed with little sibilance. There is a fair amount of air in the midrange too.

Acoustic guitar is reproduced well, with Adrian Leggs virtuoso playing and guitar sounding relaxed and natural (Guitars and Other Cathedrals, Relativity 88561-1045-2). The overtones of a hollow body guitar are evident. Perfect? Not hardly, but no transducer is at any price. But the 10s sound very natural, with good tone and getting the overtones and timbre of the guitar quite well.

The new age group 2002s "River of Stars"(Real Music RM8802) is currently getting playtime in the casa. As with much new age music it is layered and overdubbed. The little 10s are unfazed and the sound pours out with detail and texture evident. Choral passages are richly rendered. All the harmonies and harmonics are harmoniously done (that was a nice touch, don’t you think?).

The deep bass, as previously mentioned, is lacking. As it is, too much power with too much bass information can overwhelm the IL-10. A 6.5" driver will not produce deep base, even in a $10,000 speaker. But Infinity makes a matching powered sub-woofer. The sub may make its way into the mix if I decide it is worth the money.

So they sound good on an inexpensive system, what about something a little more uptown. Glad you asked. They went into the main system, a Rotel RCD – 991, a Nakamichi CA-7A (Nelson Pass/Stasis design) preamp and a Rotel RB-991 amplifier.

Guess what, they sounded great. When presented with more detail, they came through. The 10s are capable of great detail, and releasing the sound from the speakers to float around the room. They do not present as focused a sound stage as the best I have heard. The best I have heard was a pair of Meadowlark Hotrod Kestrels fed from a Plinius 8150 using a EAD Ultradisc 2000 as a source, JPS Labs wires throughout. Best imaging I have ever heard bar none. The Hotrod Kestrels run about four times the money but are worth every penny. But they are not four times better than the Infinitys.

The 10s are also quite dynamic. They go from soft passages to loud while maintaining a nice balance and considerable detail. This is a trick that many speakers don’t get right. They don’t harden or start to strain until pushed pretty hard, right to the edge of overload.

So the bottom line is that Infinity (or Harmon Kardon in reality) has produced a very nice speaker that performs very well for the price. Yes there is serious competition at this price and at this size, but at this price I have not heard anything that is emphatically better. These things are also widely available; they have been picked up by Circuit City so you don’t have to drive 350 miles to hear a set either. I would prefer to have a high-end shop in my small town, but that ain’t happening so Circuit City will do for this.

Anyhow, the IL-10s get my endorsement for decent sound at a decent price. For a beginner system or for a second smaller system, they will do quite nicely. Remember that they take some break in and that they seem to prefer a little muscle from the amplifier.


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Topic - REVIEW: Infinity Systems IL-10 Speakers Review by sjkremer at Audio Asylum - sjkremer 17:03:16 07/1/00 ( 1)