Infinity Modulus... the original

A guy over on that other audio forum has been on nothing less than an Infinity adventure, having added Ren 80's and Ren 90's to his pair of Modulus satellites. How nice it must have been to have had all three of these models together in one listening room! The keen among you will have noticed the past tense of that last sentence. He had sold the Ren 80's... and I am now the new owner of his Modulus satellites, including the original Modulus stands!

The speakers and stands were in good-to-excellent condition. The stands were new-old-stock, and it is easy to believe... they are perfect. The speakers themselves while not perfect were still in really nice shape. I fancy myself to be a good auto detailer, so I applied these skills to the black piano gloss finish of the Modulus. First I used 3M Fine Polishing Compound on the few scuff marks, then some 3M Imperial Hand Glaze to polish the entire cabinet, and finally some Zymol wax to provide the final gloss and protection. They are now every bit as good as the stands, and simply beautiful... IMO anyway. The only issue is the grills. One of them has a few cracks in the frame. I can (and will) repair these, but it is not a priority as I had planned to run the Modulus without grills.

In my home office I had been using B&W DM602 S3s, and more recently Klipsch Forte IIs. I like the Forte IIs much better than the DM602 S3s, but neither really satisfied me the way my big Infinity RS 9 Kappas do. More than anything I was missing that "EMIT magic". Those of you with EMITs know what I talking about! The problem was that the 9 Kappas are simply waaaaay to big for my home office. I do most of my listening as I work, so I didn't want to give up much quality compared to my main 2-channel system (where the 9 Kappas live). The Modulus system was a logical choice, and fortunately the timing was just right.

Having the same EMIT tweeters the top-end of the Modulus satellites is easily on par with the 9 Kappas, and they may even have a better midrange. I will need to get them side-by-side to truly evaluate the latter, but I am pretty impressed so far. What the Modulus satellites are missing is bass. It is not that the bass is weak, it is simply not there... at all. This isn't a surprise. The Modulus satellites were designed as part of a system concept that included a powered servo-controlled subwoofer. To fill in the low-end I borrowed one of my Polk Audio PSW1000s from my home theater system. Eventually I hope to find a Modulus subwoofer to complete the system, but the Polk will have to do for now.

With the low-end filled in and the Modulus satellites focused only on the mid-bass and up, the result is outstanding. It is amazing that such high quality sound comes from such a compact package. Cymbal strike and decay is absolutely amazing through EMITs. If you have never heard EMITs you owe it to yourself to do so... trust me. What repeatedly stands out to me when listening to many of the vintage Infinities is that instruments truly sound like the material they are made from. Metal instruments sound metallic, while wooden instruments still sound like wood (I hope that makes sense). The Modulus satellites also share this quality.

One a side note... way back when I saving my pennies to buy my 9 Kappas, I went back and forth between them and the complete Modulus Sub/Sat system (I had already eliminated the B&W Matrix 802 series II). My 9 Kappas would have cost me $1900, and IIRC the Modulus would have been $2100 (these were military PX prices in Europe). In the end I couldn't convince myself that one woofer (albeit servo-controlled) was better than four, so I ended up with the 9 Kappas. Now if I can find a Modulus subwoofer, I will have both.

Rob

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OoooH man! That's definitly one of the best small speakers that i remember read about. I never listen to them but as a sucker for small speakers like i am, sure i remember well what the British press wrote about them at the time....
They look incredible, just like new.
Congrats, enjoy and many tanx for sharing.

Congrats! I've never heard high-end Infinities, just some dreadful SM and RS series consumer crap and the somewhat underwhelming RSIIIB. Your Modulus look like they have a lot going for them including time aligned drivers and the woofer the is mounted well away from the baffle so there is no reflection. Good stuff! I would love to hear a pair someday.

The brochure claims... "This unique stepped baffle is designed to maintain the very subtle time-relationship of the high frequencies to the low frequencies as they reach the ear."

It also says... "this stepped contour also prevents the reflection of sound off the speaker enclosure"

and finally... "Cabinet influence on the the sound is so minimal, the EMIT k tweeter measures the same acoustically as if it were suspended in free air."

I know those quotes come straight from the marketing department, but I believe those same principles are also leveraged in other designs.

Rob

can I say "dick" without you taking offense, I am just jealous. really jealous. awesome looking speaks.

elroy