The Legendary ? Infinity IRS V

rvito

Has anyone ever had a chance to compare these to the IRS Beta?

I've heard them both, but not in comparable systems or rooms. Some listeners think the Beta's bass is better than that of the IRS. But I think each is best in differently sized rooms. As big as the IRS Beta system is, the IRS system is bigger still.

I have heard one IRS V system and all other electronics with it were Mark Levinson and it was a sound to kill for and I had never heard anything with a sound that big! The room was large with some furniture and  lots of room to development its sound stage. I was magical for sure but you need almost unlimited funds for the system my friend had!

Bill Legall of Millersound in Lansdale, PA whom Will (tubegroover) and I mentioned, had 2 pairs of IRS V in his home, in different rooms.  And he's had 2 or 3 pairs of Betas and several lower iterations in another room in the years since.  He did sell one of the IRS V, the ones I mentioned having the flawless, mirrorlike finish.  Personally, I would have kept those, as they were one of a kind.  And if this doesn't sound completely ridiculous, the other pair looked pedestrian in comparison.

How do the IRS V and Betas compare?  Well, as you can imagine from their huge difference in size, they likewise sound as different as that.  I've not listened to Arnie Nudell's Genesis take on the IRS V, but I can say there is NOTHING else I've ever heard that sounds at all like them.  Obviously, huge in every way, but with a relaxed liquidity you may not have expected.  That said, over the years I've evolved to a place where I find larger than large loudspeakers fall down in the areas of imaging, especially, in relation to height.  The IRS V do exhibit very good timbre / tone, and the sort of naturalness that we aim for.  Apart from imaging and the ability to site them in most people's room, the IRS V better the Betas.  That's a bit interesting, because I have found, somewhat counter intuitively, so often in this business, the sonics of a brand increase for the better as you move down their product line.

Of course, take all of this with the grain of salt that Bill leaves almost nothing stock, and works his magic on more or less everything that exists in his life.  So, how far does the typical Infinity come?  Unfortunately, I can't really say...

I just came across this.  I too had the good fortune to listen to Bill's  IRS V's.  They were among the best speakers I have ever heard.  Yes he told me of the mods and his own crossover.  I cant recall whether is was the whole winged Emim and Emit tower, but the amp was a low powered Antique Sound labs 845 tube based unit.  The sound was simply magnificent.  He did sell that pair much to my dismay, but he did have two and he made out well on the sale.The simple answer to the OP a couple of decades too late is yes  they are legendary, with the proviso that they were modded.He also sold a pair of IRS Betas which he gave me first dibs on but I didn't have the cash at that moment.  I always wonder if I should have just found a way to buy them.  He did say that unlike the V's the Emims on the Betas needed a high current amp.  I might have have something that could have worked.  I know I would have to find a top notch SS amp, that was Bill's advice and it would be foolish to doubt him.Trelja introduced to Bill an extraordinary speaker man.

@mechans "I too had the good fortune to listen to Bill’s IRS V’s."

Doctor, do you remember when we listened to those 50 watt ASL push-pull 845 monos at Bill’s with the IRS V? You and I have heard big amps. And we’ve heard big speakers. But I’m not sure I recall experiencing that sort of thunder anywhere else.  Of course, it was 15 years ago, so maybe I'm putting more shine on the moment than actually occurred...