The EMIT - Electro Magnetic Induction Tweeter, found its way in many Infinity speakers - from these tiny InfiniTesimal models, to the Reference Standard series and the kings of the Infinity line, the IRS Beta's. EMIT tweeters used a very powerful Samarium Cobalt magnets covered by a thin diaphragm. It was a ribbon style tweeter that was very light, thin, and super fast. Although not indestructible, they had a very clear high end.*
How do they sound? Tight, light, and great when paired with a subwoofer. These are great little stand-alone speakers for piano, some classical, and some jazz, but to rock out, you'll want a sub to suplement the bottom end. They are accurate, clear and crisp though - quality speakers, and surprisingly heavy for their size.
I have to get mine repaired. It wasn't until I removed the grill and took these pictures that I noticed the dust cap has separated from the cone. You can see a close up of this HERE. I just noticed something else. The woofer with the dust cap problem is a replacement. The original woofers for these is a clear, milky colored polycarbonite like the other one in the pair. I did some side-by-side sound checks, and there is a slight difference in sound between the two, but nothing too dramatic. Oh well :)
If you have any photos or stories about your EMIT tweeters or InfiniTesimal speakers, leave a comment or email me.
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* Thanks to Bobby Shred's Inifinity speaker pages.
I love my EMIT tweeters which I acquired a few days ago. I have a bi-amp setup - my current system is:
ReplyDeleteAsus Essence STX sound card with opa2107 opamps
Marantz PM7003
Ashly crossover
Yamaha A-700 (old 80's 100wpc class A amp)
Speakers:
Basically home built speakers which consist of large 80's Marantz cabinets, Canton crossovers, emit tweeters, Canton 5 inch mid/woofers and cheap 80's 12" drivers :-)
The PM7003 drives the emit and the canton mid/woofer. I run a line-out from the PM7003 to the Ashly which crosses over at about 200hz, and the Ashly feeds the lower frequencies to the A-700 which drives the cheap 12 inchers.
I originally had canton tweeters in my cabinets, but put the EMITs in, and the result is a much smoother sound - the emits seem to be very sweet in the upper range and not harsh. All I want to do now is buy a pair of decent 10" - 12" inch drivers for my cabinets, and I'll be very happy.
Hi, I have a pair of the Infini Tesimal
ReplyDeletespeakers and was wondering what they are worth, any ideas?
Fair price should be $300 to $400 depend on physical & cosmetic condition.
DeleteDepends entirely on condition. These can go as high as $400 per pair to a collector. Mine sold for $275/pair. Slight imperfections in the cabinet/grill and a replaced woofer. Thanks for reading!
ReplyDeleteI was actually looking for a pair in good working condition,,, tweeter diapham good, no woofer buzzing... if anyone is looking to sell at a REASONABLE price please contact hamptman@optonline.net
ReplyDeleteI used to sell audio years ago and always liked the look of these... Thanks
I have a pair of Infinitesimals that I would be willing to sell. One woofer was replaced. It was a factory part, but looks different than the original. Extra EMIT tweeter diaphragms. In good shape considering their age.
ReplyDeletebik.r@briodzn.com
Brad, if you haven't sold your Infinitesimal .01's, e-mail me @ gdn1@sbcglobal.net...I'm in the market for a less than perfect pair. Thanks, George
ReplyDeletehave a pair of 0.2 Infinitesimals,just redid the enclosures ,and have to say they came out quite well, original ,dual voice coil woofers, and the emit tweeters, just saw a pair went on ebay for 900.00 that looked no where near as good as mine ,could that be true ,cause i will sell them
ReplyDeleteMichael--
DeleteIf you've still got your Infinitesimals for sale, I'd like them!
John
j_jessey@yahoo.com
Hi Michael - These are worth whatever a collector wants to pay. In great shape, expect to get $300 - $600 a pair. If you can send me a photo or two I can better assess value. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThe first picture with the black top and bottom is 0.3 and has different woofer than 0.1 just for clarification
ReplyDeleteI had a pair of these in 80-82, in an AMC Spirit hatchback!! Driven by the original Rockford Fosgate The Punch Amp, with a 2nd one driving a Cerwin-Vega 12in house woofer in a plywood box!
ReplyDeleteAlpine cassette deck and some off brand under dash EQ that also powered the Alpine door speakers.
Would blow away and car stereo around. Amazing what started coming out on the market within just a few years though!!!
When drive-in theaters started broadcasting in FM, I'd back into the space, open the hatch back, flip the speakers around on the brackets and crank it.
Many fond memories of those long ago days. Wouldn't mind having a pair today but am not prepared to pay what people are asking.
I have a pair of very early infinity-infinitesimal which I purchased in early 81 s/n 114543-4. They have held up much better than any audio device I purchased. Today they still sound & look I=like new. While you can not get the low freq. from a 4" mid-low end driver pair these with a sub and they are excellent.
ReplyDeleteMy 1st set of Infintesimals were rescued from a traded in Corvette back when I sold Datsun's about 1978. I plugged the originals back in the car and took home these sweet speaker's for free! I've always dreamed of finding me another set to go with the one's I STILL own for a "surround sound" type of set up. I once found a pair at a flea market that had just been sold to another for $75! I missed it by 15 minutes! That was about 3 years ago. Yesterday, I was able to outbid a lady for a set that matched mine (oak cab's) for $110 after buyer's premium and tax! So, I may be the luckiest guy on earth to not only own a set, but 2 sets!
ReplyDeleteOh, and the reason I started to write here was that in my experience, the ribbon diaphrams lose some of their high end after years of use and need to be replaced. I haven't tested my new ones yet, but I did replace my old one's years ago after prying a set away from the companies parts manager at the time for big money! They probably don't even have them available anymore. If they are, let me know. John Merringer-john@merringer.com
Hi! Can anyone on here tell me which is the best model of these, the .1 or the .2? I know everyone raves about the Emit tweeter and Watkins woofer...I think both of these models have these but wiring schematic is different? Any other differences that make one model preferable? Thanks for any info, Leigh
ReplyDeleteI guess I had .1s, got them in summer 1980.
ReplyDeleteI also notice they were different than any in the pictures:
They were wood caps, not black, but were much lighter than the ones pictured, almost a blond oak.
The woofers were the original yellowish polypropylene, not the black poly/graphite mix black woofers in the other pictures, and the EMITs were gray, not black framed.
I also think the grille symbol was different than any of these.
Wish I still had them!
I no longer use Infinity in vehicles, there are far superior speakers on the market, but my main system in the living room still uses classic Infinity's (RS Kappa 9s and RS 4s) and wouldn't replace them with anything!
I have the .1s from around 1980. At 4 ohms what is a minimum wattage they need to be driven well?
ReplyDeleteHi, I'm an infinity speaker fanatic as well. I have two RS II B floor standing speakers (which I got for $300) , with infinitessimal speakers for surround sound downstairs. Upstairs I have mini-advent speakers with EMIT tweeters which I bought on ebay. They sound great too. I have Carver subwoofers for both systems. I wish I could find two grilles for my infinitessimals I bought them without them on ebay
ReplyDelete