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Kappa 9. Parasound HCA-3500 WILL NOT power them

I purchased a pair of Infinity Kappa 9's a few weeks ago. I had the Infinity RS3A's and decided to sell them and upgrade to the Kappa's. I first hooked them to one of my Denon POA-2400 200wpc amps. Not enough power. So posted this problem on here and after some research I decided on the Parasound HCA-3500 350wpc dual mono amp. So I bought one from a real nice guy here on audiogon. I hooked it up last night and this thing won't power them! The amp gets real hot fast. It clips when turned up and the speakers sound like crap. We hooked up a pair of Infinity SM-152's to a Denon POA-1500 150wpc amp next to all this and it sounds better! Also, I think I blew one of the soft poly mid-ranges. The yellowish white rubber on the mids turned clear around the outter edges after listening to moderatly loud music. I'm really frusterated. Three thousand dollars later my stereo sounds way worse and I can't turn it up as loud as I used to. Does anyone have any advise? Could there be a short in the speakers? Why did my midrange blow? What amp should I buy now?
400bill
stefanovitch
64 posts
 
From what you described it sounds more like the loudspeaker. Call Bill at Millersoud. He repairs your speakers to the original specs. The crossover should be checked too.

If you experience a knacking sound in the midrange and tweeter it can also be the polyswicthes. Those protection circuits need to be removed. They don't work well within the age.

On the other hand a Parasound HCA 3500 can drive a Kappa 9 very good. I have had them to my Kappa 9's and it really sounds like your crossover is defective.
mjwpicman
30 posts
 
Bill

What everybody is telling you about the speakers being defective in some way is true. It's the Kappas, not the amps. The Denon had more than enough power, and if the Kappas were right the Parasound would launch them. Something is wrong with the Kappas, and it sounds like they are shorting somehere. The guy in Tennessee is Bill Watkins, who worked with Arnie Nudel at Infinity and designed the Watkins dual voice coil woofer. He still repairs stuff. I bought some RS 2.5s a couple of years ago which Bill Watkins had just refoamed. You can find him online.
Klaus Polig's Infinity-Classics.de website has a lot of Infinity info. Here's the address for the Kappa 9 page which has a schematic.
http://www.infinity-classics.de/infinity/models/Kappa-series-1987/index-Kappa.htm
If you haven't already, post your question on the AudioKarma website. They have an Infinity only forum.
It's the speakers, not the amps.
Plus if you keep them you are going to have to bi-amp them. If you are putting all that juice into them the mids are a little delicate, and they won't handle the load after a while. I just asked my friend Jay who works on them about your problem and he says you will have to modify the crossover. It forces the woofers down to 1 ohm. So if you want to avoid all that, sell the Kappas and buy some Vandersteen 3As. They may not play quite as loud, but they will hammer the Kappas in every other aspect.
Good luck, Martin.
sogood51
2,157 posts
 
Guys......you do know that this thread is almost 4 years old don't you?

Dave
weseixas
519 posts
 
LOL.......... :):):):):):)
mjwpicman
30 posts
 
Bill

What everybody is telling you about the speakers being defective in some way is true. It's the Kappas, not the amps. The Denon had more than enough power, and if the Kappas were right the Parasound would launch them. Something is wrong with the Kappas, and it sounds like they are shorting somehere. The guy in Tennessee is Bill Watkins, who worked with Arnie Nudel at Infinity and designed the Watkins dual voice coil woofer. He still repairs stuff. I bought some RS 2.5s a couple of years ago which Bill Watkins had just refoamed. You can find him online.
Klaus Polig's Infinity-Classics.de website has a lot of Infinity info. Here's the address for the Kappa 9 page which has a schematic.
http://www.infinity-classics.de/infinity/models/Kappa-series-1987/index-Kappa.htm
If you haven't already, post your question on the AudioKarma website. They have an Infinity only forum.
It's the speakers, not the amps.
Plus if you keep them you are going to have to bi-amp them. If you are putting all that juice into them the mids are a little delicate, and they won't handle the load after a while. I just asked my friend Jay who works on them about your problem and he says you will have to modify the crossover. It forces the woofers down to 1 ohm. So if you want to avoid all that, sell the Kappas and buy some Vandersteen 3As. They may not play quite as loud, but they will hammer the Kappas in every other aspect.
Good luck, Martin.
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