Does anyone know about the Infinity Classia C336BK

[hasekisgod]

How are they and what do you think of the cmmd cones over other types of cones. a local shop have a new set in boxes, are the worth $420 for a pair? thanks

[depthsounder]

I have heard their little brother, the Primus P362, and was impressed with the value that these speakers offer. I think $420 is a reasonable price, that is only about $60 more for the pair than the P362s and you get a nicer enclosure and an extra woofer on the bottom end.

Can you listen to them in the store?

-David

[johnnyrichards]

I am a big fan of Harman International, and the Infinity and Revel brands in particular.

FWIW: Home Theater magazine did a review.

Measurements:

The top trace is the C336.

Keep in mind that HT Mag does a "listening window" type of measurement, so what you are seeing is an averaged result from on-axis, and 15 degrees +/- in the vertical and horizontal axis.

I have listened to these in a friends home, and they are - much like the majority of Infinity offerings in the last decade or so - outstanding for the money.

It is my humble opinion that Harman Int'l is pressuring the DIY crowd out of existence, at least with regards to budget/entry level/and even mid-range stuff.

Give them a listen, and when you realize a half-a$$ed table saw costs what the store is asking for these do some serious thinking about buying them.

[johnnyrichards]

I should add that I am a huge proponent of DIY for the sake of DIY, and have always argued that point. However, I have a very pragmatic side as well and in instances like this, the most pragmatic approach is to buy the Cascade speakers.

[hasekisgod]

and I believe that the primus 362 is not cmmd it is mmd, that is a big difference I was told. the cone on the cmmd is 20%/60%/20%, on the mmd it is 5%/90%/5%.

I have heard their little brother, the Primus P362, and was impressed with the value that these speakers offer. I think $420 is a reasonable price, that is only about $60 more for the pair than the P362s and you get a nicer enclosure and an extra woofer on the bottom end.

Can you listen to them in the store?

-David

[dantheman]

This is way more detailed than the Home Theater:

http://www.audioxpress.com/reviews/media/rich3244.pdf

Measurements look pretty darn good. A small off axis bloat in the 2-3kHz region.

Dan

[brkitup]

I am a big fan of Harman International, and the Infinity and Revel brands in particular.

FWIW: Home Theater magazine did a review.

Measurements:

The top trace is the C336.

Keep in mind that HT Mag does a "listening window" type of measurement, so what you are seeing is an averaged result from on-axis, and 15 degrees +/- in the vertical and horizontal axis.

I have listened to these in a friends home, and they are - much like the majority of Infinity offerings in the last decade or so - outstanding for the money.

It is my humble opinion that Harman Int'l is pressuring the DIY crowd out of existence, at least with regards to budget/entry level/and even mid-range stuff.

Give them a listen, and when you realize a half-a$$ed table saw costs what the store is asking for these do some serious thinking about buying them.

I heard a pair of Revel F12s a few years ago, and I was completely blown away at the sound for the money. Tough to compete with those.

[dantheman]

Just measured the Classia 336 and the Primus 363. Both excellent speakers, but those Classia are too heavy to do polar graphs on so don't trust their positioning as well: http://dtmblabber.blogspot.com/2011/...sia-336bk.html Note the bizarre impulse response on the one Classia that doesn't have the strong 8msec reflection. Not sure what ws up with that.
Also note that these are near field and multiway systems--in room the bass/midbass destroys any other bookshelf I've had from either of these. That won't be well represented by any stretch of the imagination on these graphs. I gotta say that both sound great. I think it's floor-standers for me from here on out. The Classia look nicer and are built better. At their current price they are a no brainer, but the Primus go deeper in my room and are a couple dB more efficient. They are sure hard not to like.

Dan

[Pallas]

Curious, is the Classia more fatiguing over a longer listen? They seem to have ("seem" because I've not seen one in person) a sharp ledge slightly above the tweeter that should cause some diffraction.

[dantheman]

They do, but I hear nothing fatiguing. Treble seems smoother/gentler than the B2031P with cotton. I was worried about the same thing.

Dan

[hasekisgod]

ok so I just went and got the bundle from vanns with the towers center channel and two of the funny looking surrounds speakers. it was a kick *** deal. the towers where 169 apiece and the channel and the each surround speaker was 75 apiece. but my question is the bass is not too good on the towers, is there a long breakin for them? I am using them on a mcintoch mc402 amp. thanks

[dantheman]

The bass/midbass beats the crap out of the B2031P in my room.... Some reviews have referred to them as forward biased. Of course I've got a pair of Allison buyout subs so they handle the deep bass. The cheaper Infinity Primus do seem to have more bass though. It measures to be more robust as well.

Dan

[GranteedEV]

The bass/midbass beats the crap out of the B2031P in my room.... Some reviews have referred to them as forward biased. Of course I've got a pair of Allison buyout subs so they handle the deep bass. The cheaper Infinity Primus do seem to have more bass though. It measures to be more robust as well.

Dan

I thin they were being looked at as speakers with an MSRP of $1800 in some of those reviews. Looking at the measurements

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/s...iew_fullscreen

It seems they were voiced to be used with little or no toe-in, but that might be problematic for the imaging. A DIYer might be inclined to throw a tiny inductor onto the tweeter to tame the top end

[critofur]

Aww, are the good deals on the Classia C336 all gone

[dantheman]

Mine measurement show a similar tilt, and they are toed in. Maybe there's a reason I can't shake the Primus's superiority(even though I don't want to believe it). The build on the Classia is in a different, hmm hm, class.




The Primus measure more consistent as well. Of course measuring that second Classia with my current neck injury was nearly impossible and it came out odd.

Dan

[GranteedEV]

I think the classia could be a great candidate for external EQing - the power response looks nice.

[dantheman]

I wonder how much of the frequency issues are related to measurement technique. The in room measurements taken by others look better, but most seem to show a rising top octave. That top octave from a hearing perspective is not particularly important really. My in room measurements after EZ EQ look perfect with either speaker. I'll do some more measurements at a later date.

Dan

[hasekisgod]

Ok after listening to the c336's for the past week the bass is alive now. these sound great for what I paid. I could never build nothing close to what I paid for them. I bought the center speaker and 5 of the surround speakers. I am thinking can I use the surround speakers for the front l/r and rear l/r? because I dont want to lose the c336 from my two channel setup in a different room. http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/it...assia-c255esbk

The bass/midbass beats the crap out of the B2031P in my room.... Some reviews have referred to them as forward biased. Of course I've got a pair of Allison buyout subs so they handle the deep bass. The cheaper Infinity Primus do seem to have more bass though. It measures to be more robust as well.

Dan

[DE Focht]

Your speakers appear to be voiced to be played in surround sound fulltime as a system. If you have a decent surround receiver and can setup your surround system properly I wouldn't be surprised if the sound of your stereo CD's in Prologic II wouldn't simply blow away your two channel sound with this system.

If you have a solid surround receiver like one of Cambridge's, Arcam or Anthem's then I would have no doubt.

Just an FYI, ymmv