Infinity 4.1t - Manual (Page 2)

ISSUE NO. 28 • SUMMER/FALL 2002 17
describe the subject of this issue’s loud-
speaker review, the Infinity “Inter-
mezzo” 4.1t, by appropriately tying
together function and music. The 4.1t
is simultaneously an intermediate
speaker in Infinity’s home theater lines,
positioned between the higher-priced
Prelude MTS and the lower-priced In-
terlude, Entra, and Modulus lines; and
at the same time, of course, does an ex-
cellent job playing music.
The Intermezzo 4.1t is a tall and
relatively narrow floor-standing loud-
speaker with built-in powered sub-
woofer, packaged in a total system that
combines first-class industrial design
and handsome good looks. The 4.1t
system couples a three-way direct-radi-
ator system operating above 80 Hz to
a powerful subwoofer using a side-fired
very-high-excursion 12" metal-cone
woofer operating in a closed-box en-
closure, powered by a built-in 850-
watt power amplifier.
The upper three-way portion of
the design is passive and combines a
6
1 ⁄
2
" cone midbass driver with a 3 1 ⁄
2
"
midrange and a 1" dome tweeter, all of
which are mounted on the front of the
enclosure and crossed over at a rapid
24 dB/octave rate. The bottom half of
the system is devoted to a rather sizable
closed-box enclosure housing the 12"
woofer, amplifier, system controls, and
connections. All driver diaphragms uti-
lize Infinity’s sandwiched composite
metal/ceramic diaphragm material,
which is said to be light weight, quite
rigid and inert, and allows all the dri-
vers to operate essentially as pure pis-
tons over their respective operating
bandwidths.
I last reviewed a set of an Infinity
systems similar to the 4.1t for Audio
magazine back in 1996. These were the
Infinity Compositions P-FR systems,
which are similar to the current Pre-
lude MTS line. It performed excel-
lently in all regards except for a
low-frequency response that did not
quite keep up with its upper bass and
higher-frequency performance. My
measurements of the bass output of the
Intermezzo 4.1t, described later, reveal
that it quite significantly outperformed
the bass response of the P-FR systems.
Infinity has been doing their home-
work! The bass improvements started
with the higher-priced Prelude MTS
line, whose subwoofer is quite similar
to the 4.1t’s. The Intermezzo line in-
cludes a separate powered subwoofer,
the 1.2s, which is equally powerful.
The Intermezzo 4.1t includes a
rich complement of controls and in-
puts on the rear panel of the sub-
woofer enclosure (see rear panel
graphic). The system is equally at
home in a complex home theater setup
or a simpler two-channel stereo situa-
tion. Inputs and controls have been
provided for many different operating
configurations, from standalone stereo
operation driven by an external power
amplifier with the system’s sub deriving
its signal from the speakers terminals,
to a complicated home theater setup
driven by a Dolby Digital or DTS
processor with separate power ampli-
fiers or a multichannel amplifier.
The 4.1t’s subwoofer power ampli-
fier utilizes a high-efficiency switch-
Manufacturer’s
Specifications
Type: 4-way, floor-standing, with
powered closed-box subwoofer
Drivers: 12" cast-frame woofer
with 3" voice coil, 6
1 ⁄
2
" cone mid-
bass, 3 1 ⁄ 2 " cone midrange, 1"
dome tweeter, the last three with
Ceramic Metal Matrix Di-
aphragms
Crossover Frequencies: 80 Hz,
500 Hz, 2.8 kHz, 24 dB/octave
Rated Frequency Response: 30
Hz to 20 kHz, ±1.5 dB; 23 Hz to
22 kHz, ±3 dB
Rated Sensitivity: 87 dB at 1
meter, 2.83 V rms applied
Rated Impedance: 6 ohms,
nominal
Recommended Amplifier Power:
25 to 500 watts
Internal Amplifier Power: 850
watts continuous with less than
0.1% THD @ 50 Hz
Dimensions: 51 1 ⁄ 2 " (height) x
12 1 ⁄
2
" (width) x 27" (depth) =
1308 mm x 318 mm x 686 mm
Weight: 93 lbs. (42.3 kg) each
Infinity “Intermezzo” 4.1t rear panel