PROS:
1) Good low frequency extension from speaker of this size
2) Reasonably decent value at the sale price ($600/pr. @ Circus City), but the same money will buy superior speaker that won't play as low.

CONS:

1) Insanely long wait times on their customer service line (40+ minutes!). Shouldn't the bigger companies be able to provide decent customer service?
2) The dreaded clicking of the powered bass section at normal listening levels. After a forty (!) minute wait on their customer service line, they agreed to send me their "fix" for the problem, a pretty hack attachment for the binding posts.
3) Reasonably good-looking, but otherwise unpleasant stands (to set up, mount speakers in, change height of...).

With a few improvements, this could have been a really special product, as it turns out, the Infinity guy told me they were getting away from this design and that they weren't expecting to release a new version.

Audition these carefully if you're looking to pick up a pair, ESPECIALLY if the seller doens't have a friendly return policy.

My review is based on use as stereo speakers in a small den/home office:+ Stunning design especially with stands. No other speaker in this price range ($600/pr)looks this good.
- Stands hard to assemble, but essential (pull cables and wires throught first)
+ Stands have three point spikes and direct bolting to speakers for optimal anchoring
+ No subwoofer needed
+ They just sound good- same "sound" as larger Overatures- comfortable,open, not too harsh nor bland with well-defined lower bass. This is the only Infinity line that approaches high end.
+ Excellent magazine reviews (SR 3/97, Stereophle Guide to HT Summer 97 (they disliked it as a center speaker))
+ Frequency response for a speaker this size is unmatched by anyone
- power-on light is on back of speaker (as I suppposesed to be psychic?)
+ At $1000/ pair, there are a lot of excellent and/or better speakers.
At a close-out price of $600=/- plus stands, I know of no other speaker that can provide this kind of spaciousness and full range sound
+/-"Sound" falls between my NHT Superones and Celestion Threes (both with subwoofers) that I have previously used in my listening room.
+ Shortly after purchase I upgraded to Kimber 4PR cables ($60w/ spades from Audio Advisors) and was surprised at what a difference cables could make. Try them.
Equipment:Arcam Alpha 8 integrated amplifier, Carver SDA490t CD player

Bought a pair of these speakers for $273 each after I heard them on a friend's system. I have been pleased with their performance at the price that I have paid for them. They produce good bass, and are small, which is a plus. However, they do tend to bottom out with really low, loud bass. I am not really complaining though, as I don't expect too much from an 8" woofer. I am just pleased that it even has an 8" at all, considering the size. Overall, not bad for the price I paid, although I don't know If I would have bought these for the MSRP $550 each.

I submitted on 1/6/99 that I was about to purchase the ovr-1's, and that I was hearing impaired. Well,I've used the Ovr-1's now for 6 months, and I can tell you that the greatest attribute is not that they can play loud, but that they can be very accurate when played normally, or soft!!! This is a truly wonderful experience for me, since loud noises are very aggravating to me. I must say that most speaker revues go into the "bone crushing bass", or "they make the walls shake." I do not knoe if these little gems do all that, but I do know that Earl Wild's recording of Rach's 2nd piano concerto is clear, precise, and totally balanced, with no low, mid, or high frequecy abberations.
Bravo, Infinity! I am hearing about all sorts of price deals on the Ovr-1 series. I hope this does not mean they are being discontinued.

OK, I bought a pair of these in an outlet store.
The story goes: there are a pair of overture1 (beated up, scratched) sit on an a pair of old stands in an audio outlet store. The price is too high for what they looks like. because of the small size, and the design is very special, I decided to give it a try. At first, it was unimpressive at all. They sounds so muddy and boomy. I thought someone must be crazy to buy these. Two days ago, I noticed that the price on those speaker had been reduced almost 40%. I decided to look it up on the web and saw all these fantastic review here. I started to think there must be something wrong of the setup in store. Because that outlet store has a very good return policy, I decided to bring them home to try it out. I was surprise by the saleman that there are better condition units in stock. At the beginning I was going to buy those two floor model even they looked so beated up. I finially brought home a like new condition pair with the same reduced price at $399/pr. (if someone knows that I can get them new for same or less price mail-order, please let me know ASAP). The first moment I fired them up, I was shocked. These are the best sounding bookshelf I ever heard. Very clean and natural. The only draw back for these is that the clicking noise from the switching of power-amp during low volumn listening. I hope that I can get a fix from Infinity soon. The base is amazing. For the price of a pair of Bose AM3, the Overture is 1000 times better. BTW, most of local audio shops are stop selling Bose home speakers, they are closing them out. (even the local Sam's club) I wonder why...

5 stars

I recently purchased the Infinity OVR-1, they are incredible sounding speakers. They sound excellent at both soft, and loud volumes. For their price range they are the best sounding speakers I have heard.

In case you had any doubt, these are very good speakers. I replaced a large pair of Infinity Studio Monitors with a pair of OVTR1's. Since I had both pairs of speakers in the same room, I did some A/B testing. The OVTR1's made the SM's sound like an AM radio playing inside a coffee can. The SM's, with PolyCell tweeters, sound pretty bright. The OVTR1's have so much better tonal balance that there is no comparison. The 8 inch powered sub on each OVTR1 offered deeper bass as well. One of the SM speakers is larger than a stack of seven or eigth OVTR's, but I guess that size is not everything :-0
One issue I do have is that the grills are not so great. On my pair of speakers, the grills don't seem to stay on very well.

TIP: If you do not have room for large speakers, then these are the speakers for you. If you do have the room, then try to get a pair of OVTR2's on www.ubid.com. OVTR2's are going for about $750 including shipping. I paid $688 out the door (stands and 10 year warranty) for the OVTR1's and yes, the OVTR2's sound better. Money well spent.

I got a pair of OVTR 1 from www.soundpros.com for $610 and a pair of stands for $125 with $40 for shipping about 5 months back. You may be able to find a better deal.The soundstaging is excellent. The base is little too much. But the highs are crisp and the midrange is excellent.

The best speaker for the price.

Excellent full range sound for a small speaker.

Auto on for sub to seensitive

This is an excellent full range speaker in the size of a dictionary. Has great bass from a very small box. This is due to the side firing 8" powered subwoofer. Can be placed on its side for use on a bookshelf and there is a stand to use it for a ceenter channel (I think a different model #)
Over all this is a good choice if you have space restrictions or need bookshelfs but want full range speakers.

The only drawback is the auto on circuit for the sub amp will turn of on low volumes. This is a bit of a problem when watching TV late at night.

Similar Products Used:

none

size/bass extension (stands of some sort a must)

finish

at $300 per pair a lot of speaker ideal as rears in 5.1 set-up.Being discontinued...