Hi Outlaws,

I would like to ask you guys about your thoughts on the Infinity Beta 50's. Are any Outlaws using them, or if you herd them what do you think?

I listened to them at a local A/V store a couple of months ago by accident! I initally went to the store to test a Sunfire sub but spent most of my time there lisening to the Infifnty's and was quite impressed!

I have been leaning toward upgrading to Axiom m-60's but am now reconsidering going with the Infinity's. this would save me a ton of cash as I already am using a Infinity beta 360 center speaker (picked up on a going out of busness sale, as I had no center speaker at the time).

I was quite supprised to see that the Infinity's have recieved the Gold speaker award from Ulimate A/V, thus the 990 + Infinity's would be a "gold" combo(haha)!!

Any comments would be appreicated! You guys have helped convince me to buy the 990, 7100, and a harmoney remote, and I am totally satified with all of them!!

Either no one here has an opinion on the infinity beta 50's or a the old saying goes "If you dont have anything nice to say....."

well,i've not heard the beta 50's.

i did have 4 sterling series bookshelves with the matching center and they sounded ok.till the surrounds went

when i took my buddy to buy speakers we went to listen to infinity's but they were the primus series.but i did not hear a big enough improvement with the 3-way dual woofer tower over the 2 way bookshelf to justify the price difference.so he bought the bookshelves.

if the betas have foam surrounds, i would not recommend them.

If you don't mind the size of the Beta's, they're a very good speaker for the money. As a complete system, they really sound great on movies. I do have to admit I only heard them in a showroom, but I set-up the room personally and did many comparisons in it. (I do NOT work for the audio store anymore.)

In that price range, however, there's a lot of competition for the money. I would take a hard look at Paradigm. They have speakers in the price range, about $3000 for the whole system, that you should listen to. Make sure you listen to music, not just movies.

Good luck!

If I had $3000 to spend and music quality was important to me I'd take a good listen to the Magneplanar speakers (Maggies to those who love them). For that price you could get a pair of 1.2QR's for the front ($900 I think), a pair of MMG W's for surround ($300 online only with a 60 day return privilege), and the MMG C for the center (also $300, same conditions) and have around $1500 for a sub or two. Pretty good 5.1 system. 7.1 would cost $300 more for another pair of MMG W's. You'd have to find someone near you who has them because the MMG's aren't in stores, but all the other Maggies are. Good luck.

I don't understand the "I don't understand this either" at the end of my message. Not from me.

If you're into Maggies and don't have a lot of $$$. The MMGs sell for $500/pair. So for $1500, you've got 6 speakers. 8-) OR you can spend $1800 on a pair of 1.6QRs for the mains and another $1000 on 4 MMGs to fill in the center and surround positions.

The downside to Maggies is that they are somewhat big. But I wouldn't trade them in for anything. The sound is addictive.

Cheers,

Ritz, you're gonna confuse Dirtyshcultz. The MMGs you're talking about are fullrange 2-way models and sound terrific - I know, I tried them - but the ones I mean are surrounds made to be hinge-mounted on the wall (MMG W) or a curved center channel speaker (MMG C) and strictly for HT. I sure agree with you about the "addictive" sound.

Pay no attention to the "I don't understand this either" that might be at the end of this message.

I am using 2 generations back, the Infinity Interlude series, 3-ways plus sub for the L/R and 2-ways for the rest of the surround. The center is the IL36, a 3- way also.

I am not using a outlaw pre, only the 770 to drive them and they are great speakers for the 770 drive. I had been driving them off my pre- a Kenwood 6070, but it lacked the current drive to give the full range power the Infinities needed. Now, with the 6070 driving the 770, I am content and listen to lots of material, DVD Video/Audio, SACD, Stereo and simulated surround modes.

The Beta's are similar to the Interludes and suit my listening tastes very well. The key is to see if you can test them with the config you want to use at home there in the show room.

Yup, Mikey likes \'em.

Thanks for all the replies guys!!

I cant go with maggies my wife would kill me!

Tekdredger thanks for the link to the review, I missed that one. Nice to know I am not off my rocker to consider the Beta line.

Jason J you bring up a good point about the Paradigm's! I have heard the studio 100's and LOVE them but they are out of my price range. But you made me revisit investigating Paradigms and I realized I have overlooked the monitor line! I have discovered that the Monitor line is in my price range at about $900 for the 11's and $750 for the 9's, so now I will need to give them a try!

Since you live in NY do you know any place in northern NJ other than 6th ave electronics that carries them, I don't want to go to them I had problems with that chain in the past!

Dirty:

I'd have to agree with you about 6th Ave Electronics. I won't go into details, but let's just say I won't be shopping there again. 8-)

As for the Maggies, yeah my wife was a bit "overwhelmed" with the size at first. UNTIL...she bought some concert DVD of a couple of Irish women doing an Enya-esque concert singing traditional Celtic songs and such. She sat down to watch and after a few minutes her mouth just began to drop. Before, she used to just abandon the area when I hunkered down with some music to listen while the kids were at school. Now she makes a pot of tea, a couple of snacks and sits down next to me. 8-)

Cheers,

www.paradigm.com

Go to the website and find an authorized dealer. The higher initial cost over some of the chains will pay dividends in better service and warranty.

I worked for Sound City on 45th street in Manhattan. They don't have a great showroom for listening but they are very knowledgeable salesmen with great Paradigm contacts. They will work with you as much as Paradigm allows them to.

Are they related to the Sound City in Denville, NJ?

I went to the Sound City in Denville to checkout a demo Anthem PVA 7 about a year ago, and really liked the guys there! I couldnt pull the trigger on the amp because I was still leaning toward outlaw(by taking so long to decide I missed the Anthem and ended up with the 990/7100 combo)

I didnt realize they carried Paradigm speakers, they did have Infinity and Monitor Audio speakers from what I remember. I also recall they had sunfire subs and electronics, which I was drooling over.

When I go the paradigm site and type in my zip code all that comes up is 6th ave electronics, they have 2 stores within 4 miles of my house.
I went there today to test the monitor 11's but they dont have them on display just the monitor 9's so I left.

Thanks for the info Jason J I will give them a try

Actually, I believe it's a different company. "Sound City" is such a common name that a company can't trademark it. Good luck trying to find the speakers you want to listen to set up in a store. Retailers only have limited floor space, plus you have no idea with the electronics behind it. If you're nice, dealers can sometimes work out a deal for you to get an in home trail. Hey, it never hurts to ask.

Thanks Jason J I found the "sound city" that you are talking of. I work on 34th st and will try to get over there and check them out!!