Infinity Cascade Speaker System - Manual (Page 3)

Infinity immediately scored ergo-
nomic points by reducing the
assembly instructions for the Model
Seven to one step: Put the speaker
on the stand. Assembly time: three
seconds. The smaller Model Five
required two screws to attach a tri-
angular metal bracket that grips a
metal tongue at the top of the stand.
Assembly time: half a minute.
The stands are cast aluminum
and extremely heavy. They give the
speakers a nearly resonance-free
foundation and would make excel-
lent murder weapons. Round gold-
nut binding posts face directly
downward in the Model Seven and
diagonally upward in the Model
Five, providing access for spade
lugs but not for banana plugs.
Blobs of plastic in the holes block
banana-plug insertion. These are a
requirement for sale in Europe and
are removable. I used an elderly
but reliable set of Monster THX
ribbon cables with bare tips.
Grilles come in the form of a
scroll-like object made of the
thinnest, softest, most lovely mate-
rial ever used to cover a baffle.
Although it’s synthetic, it feels like
silk. The ends attach magnetically.
I tried one, and it was beautiful—
but not as interesting as the
unadorned speaker. I decided to
leave the grilles off.
The subwoofer has a unique hor-
izontal shape that’s designed to sit
close to a wall. Inside is a quartet of
6-inch, square, down-firing woofers
in an enclosure that’s tapered at the
sides, like the other speakers.
Equalizing the sub was part of
the setup process. Infinity calls this
R.A.B.O.S., the Room Adaptive
Bass Optimization System. Sup-
plied R.A.B.O.S. accessories
include a test-tone CD, a sound
meter that specializes in bass, a
plastic overlay, and a set of instruc-
tions. The latter seems formidably
intricate at first glance, but the
process is fairly simple.
As each test tone plays, you plot
points on a frequency-response
graph. When the curve is complete,
connect the dots to determine the
correct settings for the sub’s volume
and crossover controls. To deter-
mine the width—that is, how much
of the audible spectrum the correc-
tion will affect—place the plastic
overlay atop the graph. A few
simple calculations are necessary. I
did them on scrap paper, but there’s
also an online calculator. Twist three
knobs, and you’re done.
Thus, reducing room interaction
soon paid dividends. The peak in
response at my room’s resonant fre-
quency pretty much disappeared.
Eliminating this distraction freed me
to focus more intently on story lines
and musical moods. I was rarely
aware of the sub’s existence except
at peak bass moments (and that’s
how it should be). The handoff from
sub to speakers at the crossover fre-
quency was seamless.
My reference gear, as usual,
included a Rotel RSX-1065 A/V
receiver. The Rotel combines
dynamically potent high-current
amplification with a scrupulously
defined top end—don’t use the
Cascades with anything less. Because
the speakers are so fond of high-rez
signal sources, my Integra DPS-10.5
universal disc player took on a more
prominent role than usual.
Strange Work if You Can
Get It
In search of something dynamically
taxing, I rented Get Rich or Die
Tryin’, based on the life of rapper
Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, and got
an unexpectedly nuanced drama
instead. As the movie started with
Jackson’s voiceover, I turned up the
volume. I wanted to catch the
softly but precisely enunciated con-
sonants that are part of his signa-
ture vocal style, affected by the
bullet lodged in his tongue. At
some point, I figured, as the all-
too-realistic violence kicked in, I’d
have to engage the Dolby Digital
midnight-movie mode or at least
drop the volume. But the subse-
quent gunplay was dynamically
Cascade Model Seven Floorstanding Speaker, $799/each; Cascade Model Three C Center-Channel Speaker, $799
Cascade Model Five Monitor/On-Wall Speaker, $699/each; Cascade Model Fifteen Subwoofer, $1,499
Infinity Systems, ( 516) 674-4463, www.infinitysystems.com > Dealer Locator Code IFY
General information
Build Quality Value Features Performance Ergonomics
OVERALL RATING
95
95
95 90 96 98 93
INFINITY CASCADE SPEAKER SYSTEM
> Absolute solidity,
flawless detailing
> Ceramic/metal
woofers and titanium
tweeters
> Heavy aluminum
stands
> It’s impossible to
compare this to other
products
> New technology
doesn’t come cheap
> Infinity’s totally
redesigned woofer
makes its debut here
> R.A.B.O.S. equalizes
the big sub
> Gets the most out of
high-rez SACD releases
> Combination of wide
sweet spot and tight
image focus
> Low dynamic-
compression bass
> Plenty to catch the
eye, nothing to offend it
> Stand mounting is
very easy
Infinity’s Cascade Series uses a
newly designed flat diaphragm to
muster a large and well-defined
soundstage with exceptional
transparency, definitive detail,
and strong dynamics. For imag-
ing, it is the reference against
which we will judge speakers in
future reviews. Add equalized
monster bass, and you’ve got a
product that amazes.