Lanny, the older Infinity speakers were quite good in their time. I have heard all the large Infinity systems at friends homes and am quite familiar with them. Of the ones I have heard, I would not rank the Renaissance models at the top of my list. I never heard the 90, but the 80 sounded bright and didn't impress me, even when they were new. Of the Infinity's I've heard, the IRS V was clearly the best, followed by the RS-1b. I don't have experience listening to the IRS Beta, but that could be one to check out as well. Bill Legall at Millersound in PA does the best restorations and upgrades to the older Infinity models.
As you know, I own the VMPS RM 30 and believe it is clearly a more transparent, coherent, and natural sounding speaker than any of the older Infinitys, although it cuts off at around 32Hz in the bass. Through the midrange and high frequencies, IRS V's are the only Infinitys that can hang with the RM 30 (dynamically), though the RM 30's seem more detailed, precise, and natural sounding.
In my view none of the older Infinitys that will fit into your room can match the transparency, dynamic capability, and detail of the RM 30 or RM 40 between 200Hz and 35kHz. The Newform research models like the R645 are also a step down, in case you're wondering, but they are better than many other speakers and can be found for good prices on the used market. Likewise, the Carver ribbons and those from Eminent Technology may serve the purpose, but cannot match the performance of the ribbons that VMPS uses its upscale models.
As you know, I own the VMPS RM 30 and believe it is clearly a more transparent, coherent, and natural sounding speaker than any of the older Infinitys, although it cuts off at around 32Hz in the bass. Through the midrange and high frequencies, IRS V's are the only Infinitys that can hang with the RM 30 (dynamically), though the RM 30's seem more detailed, precise, and natural sounding.
In my view none of the older Infinitys that will fit into your room can match the transparency, dynamic capability, and detail of the RM 30 or RM 40 between 200Hz and 35kHz. The Newform research models like the R645 are also a step down, in case you're wondering, but they are better than many other speakers and can be found for good prices on the used market. Likewise, the Carver ribbons and those from Eminent Technology may serve the purpose, but cannot match the performance of the ribbons that VMPS uses its upscale models.