The Legendary ? Infinity IRS V

Hi Trelja

Sorry I missed your follow-up. Yes indeed it was Bill LeGall's system I heard which was prior to him starting on the pair he had in the Living Room. What I found remarkable about Bill, a genius of sorts, is his intuitive knowledge of what to do to get a particular result. He explaned to me that he doesn't understand himself how this process works other than it is kind of a built in, he just knows. He says he has been like that his whole life so it is more than just experience.

The pair he had in the set-up I heard actually belonged to Arnie Nudell. I too have heard many remarkable systems through the years but it is Bills gift and the absolute quality of the IRS 5's that made this system so special. He claims to be not an audiophile but a speakerphile! The rest of his home looks like a vintage audio boutique with no less than 5 wonderfully matched systems in various spaces throughout his home. He and his wife Loretta are among the most charming and gracious people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.

I have a set of Infinity IRS series III that have been VERY heavily modified and rebuilt from the ground up - new, much more intense cabinets, extra servo amps, Series V EMIT tweeters (modified) and Series V EMIM diaphragms (modified), Magnaplaner Tymapni III-B mid-bass panels (modified) added into the diffraction wings, and on and on...

The EMIMs in the IRS Series I, II & III operated from a little over 100 Hz to 5,000 Hz. The Series V (there was no Series IV) operated up to 6,000 Hz due to a lighter diaphragm. IMHO the EMIMs are not terribly comfortable operating down to 100 Hz which is why I added the Maggies and now have the EMIMs starting at 225 Hz. EVERYTHING about the EMIM's performance has been significantly improved because of this. I have applied compliant ceramic to selected portions of the EMIM diaphragm which also aids in reducing resonances and improving transparency. In addition, I have introduced another damping material into the hollowed areas behind the front and rear ABS faceplates which also significantly reduces sonic problems.

For a number of years I offered modifications to EMIMs and EMITs for owners of the IRS, RS-1 series and RS-2 series speakers.

Best,

Barry

Tubegroover, your statements are 1000% right about Bill and Loretta! I think they are truly the finest two people in high end audio period.

I was over on Saturday afternoon because Bill wanted me to hear the ASL 1009s driving the mid/tweeter columns. Wow! Do those double 845 tube amps sound absolutely huge in his system. My goodness! The difference in thump between them and his old Fourier OTLs is night and day. The detail of the ASL were as good as things get.

Then Bill called me Tuesday night to tell me that I NEEDED to come over again to listen as he had improved the sound to a degree that I would not believe. He changed out all the wiring(not the stock wiring - it actually came from some application in the World Trade Center), which he claimed to be absolute junk and had two 10 ohm resistors in parallel to the midranges. Cutting one resistor out brought the resistance up to 10 ohms and satisfied him in taking the edge and the relentlessness off the sound.

did he ever sell the pair from his family room?

I have a set of IRS V with no modification other than replacement of the 12 foam surrounds on the woofer tower and bypassing of the passive x-over(due to multi amping) The speakers are powered by Passlab x-600 for EMIMs and Classe for EMITs. I use Ashley x-over between pre and power. My cables are top-of-the-line MIT and Siltec. I have had the fortune to listen to the last set of WAMMs ever manufactured (over 5 visits) as well as different versions of Statements, which are the only comparable U.S. systems to IRS. Unfortunately I have not yet heard a full Epilogue system nor some of the German legends. However, of all I actually got to hear over the years, my taste in sound always fall for my IRS. Hope that answers your curiosity. By the way, while I love to listen to authentic Baroque instruments on my IRS, in the other end of the spectrum IRS literally makes you believe that helicopers are hovering over your home if you used them for HT for "BLACK HAWK DOWN." Too bad you are not one of my (lucky)friends with whom my entire family shares countless nights of HT experiences. JC,Los Angeles