INFINITY ALPHA
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they penetrated the murk of Chris Whitley�s austerely ribbon-miked Dirt Floor to throw a spotlight on his adenoidal voice and acoustic steel guitar. Lesser speakers turn this recording to mud. On the Who�s Live at Leeds, the drums sounded light but effective, and I could sense Keith Moon�s cymbal stands swaying under the microphones. The Alpha 50s lent fascination to certain recordings but did so without being ruthlessly revealing or abrasive. I broke the 95-dB barrier happily and often. By the time I got to Road to Perdition, I wasn�t surprised to hear the detailed trajectories of bullets zipping in all directions. What shocked me were the waves that washed through the soundfield during the �nal scene of bloodshed. It wasn�t just background noise to accompany the �ying lead�it felt more as though the waves were swooshing through my nervous system. Another aquatic effect that
Alpha 50 Tower Speaker Alpha 37C Center-Channel Speaker Alpha 25ES Surround Speaker Alpha 20 Bookshelf Speaker Alpha 1200S Subwoofer In�nity Systems (800) 553-3332 www.in�nitysystems.com Dealer Locator Code IFY $499 $399 $349 $399/pair $799

raindrops as a dull wash. In contrast, the C.M.M.D. drivers rendered each drop as a separate tiny event. For a split second, I thought I could smell the rain. As with any highly detailed speaker, I wouldn�t mate the Alphas with a cheap ampli�er or a room that has lots of bare, re�ective surfaces. There�s a lot more to these speakers, though, than just the familiar dichotomy between bright/ forward and mellow/laid-back. C.M.M.D. has some unique qualities. It can play loud without falling apart, yet it can whisper a clearly articulated texture. It also has a chameleon-like versatility and a penchant for conjuring new feelings from familiar recordings. Two-channel loyalists will find it to be an engaging companion. While the Alpha Series doesn�t have as huge a soundstage or all of the unnerving transparency of the higher-end Prelude and Intermezzo Series (which cost several times as much), the matched driver materials do give the Alphas an unusual degree of tonal unity for their price. They use a completely different palette to paint music and effects than similarly priced speakers with metal, plastic, or textile drivers. This is especially true in the upper midrange, which is prominent and distinctive but not detached from the rest of the sound range. For just under three big ones, the Alpha system is full of intelligent strategies that are more than just gimmicks. C.M.M.D. is a welcome addition to my frame of

reference, and I won�t be happy until I�ve found a way to add R.A.B.O.S. (or its equivalent) to my system. Demo HIGHLIGHTS the Alphas with high� All drivers made of anodized quality ampli�cation; you aluminum/ceramic material have nothing to lose but � Surround speaker can run your preconceptions. bipole, dipole, or monopole * Mark Fleischmann is � Sub has parametric EQ for the author of Practical level, bandwidth, and frequency Home Theater, now in its second edition, available through www.practicalhometheater.com (or 800/839-8640).
In�nity Alpha Speaker System
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HT Labs Measures: In�nity Alpha Speaker System This graph shows the quasi-anechoic (employing close-miking of all woofers) frequency response of the Alpha 50 L/R (purple trace), Alpha 1200S subwoofer (blue trace), Alpha 37C center channel (green trace), Alpha 25ES surround (red trace), and Alpha 20 rear channel (yellow trace). All passive loudspeakers were measured at a distance of 1 meter with a 2.83-volt input and scaled for display purposes. The Alpha 50�s listening-window response (a �ve-point average of axial and +/�15-degree horizontal and vertical responses) measures +1.58/�2.16 decibels from 200 hertz to 10 kilohertz. The �3dB point is at 61 Hz, and the �6dB point is at 49 Hz. Impedance reaches a minimum of 3.98 ohms at 10.5 kHz and a phase angle of �57.98 degrees at 66 Hz. Sensitivity averages 90 dB from 500 Hz to 2 kHz. The Alpha 37C�s listening-window response measures +1.36/�1.95 dB from 200 Hz to 10 kHz. An average of axial and +/�15-degree horizontal responses measures +1.80/�1.36 dB from 200 Hz to 10 kHz. The �3dB point is at 103 Hz, and the �6dB point is at 80 Hz. Impedance reaches a minimum of 3.26 ohms at 10.5 kHz and a phase angle of �66.21 degrees at 96 Hz. Sensitivity averages 90 dB from 500 Hz to 2 kHz. The Alpha 25ES�s three-face averaged response in dipole mode measures +2.74/�3.48 dB from 200 Hz to 10 kHz. The �3dB point is at 73 Hz, and the �6dB point is at 58 Hz. Impedance reaches a minimum of 2.82 ohms at 20 kHz and a phase angle of �66.13 degrees at 84 Hz. Sensitivity averages 83 dB from 500 Hz to 2 kHz. The Alpha 20�s listening-window response measures +0.74/�2.18 dB from 200 Hz to 10 kHz. The �3dB point is at 56 Hz, and the �6dB point is at 45 Hz. Impedance reaches a minimum of 4.02 ohms at 15.4 kHz and a phase angle of �48.87 degrees at 2.9 kHz. Sensitivity averages 87 dB from 500 Hz to 2 kHz. The Alpha 1200S�s close-miked response, normalized to the average level from 40 to 80 Hz, indicates that the lower �3dB point is at 37 Hz and the �6dB point is at 32 Hz. The upper �3dB point is at 190 Hz with the LP switch set to off.�AJ

got to me was the brief rainstorm that comes about 107 minutes into Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. A less-precise speaker system would have rendered the thousands of

Infinity Alpha Speaker System