Who actually heard the Infinity IRS?


I've been looking at the very high value Arion speaker and it's called to mind a vintage speaker, the Infinity IRS.  They are not the same speakers, but honestly I never actually got to even see an Infinity IRS in real life, let alone hear one.

I'm wondering if anyone has or even owns a quad (pair would be wrong) of them could talk about the sound quality and compare to anything today.

erik_squires

I spent an evening listening to them in a private lounge, driven by what I recall was a huge pair of VTL mono blocks, along with a Rockport turntable. I thought they threw a big image but I didn't like the midrange- I was at the time a long time Quad electrostat/tube guy. The same party had a pretty crazy studio and had a pair in the studio to monitor (among others, including little Wilsons). That pair of IRS sounded better. But we are talking about nearly 30 years ago. 

There is a guy - "al rainbow" who posts at Myle's Astor's site. He has a pair, maybe modified, I dunno. It's been a long time! If you track down Myles, who is a pretty well known reviewer, you will eventually find "Al". Good luck. 

Audioquest in El Paso Tx. had a pair of IRS5's back in the latter eighties. I helped set them up and the owner and I listened and tweeked them till midnight or so. He had a customer coming in the next day to listen to them. I thought the sound was superb. They need a VERY large room. Most homes don't have the kind of space they need. They sounded best out a good ten feet from the back and side walls. I went in there in 1999 and he had them back for re-sale. I was tempted as the price was right, $3000 bucks.   

You can contact PS Audio since they use a set for voicing and have them set up in a listening room for demo’s.  They (Paul), should have a ton of info about them. 

When I worked in a really nice shop here in NE Ohio, we had a customer who owned them. I recall he blew out the mid size ribbon drivers frequently. Knowing him and the levels he enjoyed, he would have been better served with some EV pro gear. He traded them in to us and we had them on display briefly. I do remember how big the soundstage was, and when driven by good power sounded big and powerful. They were not really my thing. I was smitten with a pair of Mission 767's and/or the TDL reference monitors at the time. 

Thanks @paradisecom - I don't want " a lot of information"  just wanted to know from people who've actually heard them.  😀