help buying irs beta

@okeeteekid, You've owned some classic Infinities. I previously owned a pair of Reference 60's and Ren 90's. As good as the Rens were, technology moves on. My current Magico S5 Mk2's have all the magic the Rens had, but taking it much further. I've got a friend who thinks the Legacy Audio Focus SE speakers are the heir apparent to the Ren 90's...i'm not so sure.

Melbguy1, the guy I bought my epsilons from bought a pair of Legacy Audio Focus SE, I only spoke with one time after the sale was made and he said he liked the Legacy speakers because they were easier to run and there was more bass output than the epsilons, Those Magico S5 Mk2’s are beauties but can you really compare a $38,000 plus speaker to a $3600 speaker that you can buy used for $1500 for a decent pair? if the Magico’s do in fact take it much further... is it worth spending the extra $36000 plus for the upgrade? I would think the S5 Mk2’s would blow the ren 90’s away, I know a guy who had ren 90’s and thought he would upgrade to wilson audio max 2’s, when he compared the two speakers side by side he liked the ren 90’s better, he wanted to buy my epsilons, I had ren 90’s and compared them directly to the epsilons and all I could say is that everything you liked about the ren 90 is there and more with the epsilon, wider more 3d sound stage, on a good recordings the image is so good... you would think the person is right in front of you, the epsilon has way more detail from top to bottom than the ren 90, the L-emim and the 12" servo woofer make a huge difference.

I was curious about the comparison between the Ren 90’s and Focus SE’s. The Rens are a demanding load & don’t move as much air, or go as low as the Focus SE’s. Though I was amazed by the sound of the Ren 90’s at their price point, so I can only imagine how much better the IRS Omega and Epsilon sound. They are remarkable speakers. And given the similar cabinet design of the R90’s compared to the S5 Mk2’s (ie: wide, flat front baffle with a curved cabinet), their speed, staging & excellent off-axis response, I thought the S5 Mk2’s were fair game. I don’t know how Magico manage to achieve the stellar speed, staging and off-axis response of the Rens with ’conventional’ drivers, but they do. But overall, the Magicos leave the old Infinities for dead. A side by side comparison with the IRS Epsilons would be interesting though.

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What are your thoughts on integrating a pair of subwoofers with a pair of Ren 90's?

I wouldn't waste my money Mitch. The Ren 90's have a couple of achilles heels. Firstly, the acoustic foam in the transmission line midrange enclosure in most examples is rotting by now & would need replacement. And there are no NOS spare parts any more for these speakers. Also, if the grilles (which are an essential part of the acoustics of the speakers similar to Avalon) are damaged and ill-fitting due to damaged or broken pegs, or a broken frame. Good luck finding a replacement as they are basically non existent. I bought a 2nd hand pair of Ren 90's from a snake in Texas called Larry Schwartz ('lwschwarz' on forums) who sold me a pair with 'textor' repairs and a damaged grill with cigarette burns on the grille cloth. As the grills were unobtanium, I ended up selling the speakers at a heavy loss. Even if you did have a pair in decent shape. Why spend as much on the speakers for a pair of subs when you can just buy a better and much newer pair of speakers?