Bass, thats all

Ive owned Infinity RS3B powered by Marantz 1180DC for over 20 yrs and Ive always wanted more bass. After seeing a youtube demo of the 155’s I decided to buy a set. I found a set in excellent condition and after purchasing them I checked the Ohms on all drivers and crossovers and they were excellent as well. The 155 certainly has the bass i was looking for but it seems like I could only listen to them for about an hour and I would get tired of them. So I decided to send off the crossovers for recap and performed all upgrades from the information I found on the internet (felt on inside walls, bracing, dampening, new gaskets), so they would be in perfect operating condition. Over the next 6 months of listening, this is my evaluation. I only listen to rock and all amp and speaker controls are set to flat and the sound decibel level at 80-83. For treble test Pink Floyd ‘Money’ there are 8 short ‘tingling sounds’ that starts at 5 seconds and occurs every 4 seconds. You could only hear 2 of the sounds on the 155, but you can clearly hear all of them on the RS3B and my Sony ear plugs. The midrange test Pink Floyd ‘On turning away’ the use of a fuzz sound machine creates considerable distortion throughout the entire song on the 155 making it very hard to listen to. Enya ‘Sail Away’ her voice was not smooth and clear. Chicago’s horn sections sound very harsh. Some recordings ‘Pink Floyd, Chicago, Guns n Roses produce poor results through out.

What I like most about these boxes is their ability to play very loud, even with a few watts. I added felt internally and a lot of acoustic foam reducing its internal space by 70%. On the back of the box I glued some sheets of bitumen to reduce the vibrations in the cabinet.I placed struts connecting the front with the back part. And finally I replaced the midrange speakers with 5 "rubber-edged speakers, since the original mids are very aggressive.The boomie sound disappeared completely, leaving the sound more precise.The back port keeps it well capped to avoid excessive bass Are not audiophile boxes, but for rock and jazz, as well as electronic and percussion music, are very good.These mods are inexpensive and have changed these party boxes into more refined boxes with less auditory fatigue.In addition, it is very important to place it at least 25 cm off the floor in firm and vibration-free substrates, in addition to looking for correct positioning of the same, in large rooms and away from the lateral and frontal walls.

Negative points were minimized with the above mods

After all these enthusiastic reviews I feel like I have something to contribute by clarifying a few things for the readers.

First, I own Infinity Kappa 90s (not Renaissance 90), and have listened to various new and old speakers over the last few years. For example Quadral (Platinum M4, Montan VIII), Nubert (Nuvero 14), Heco (Celan 301 XT and 901 XT), some of the cheaper Klipsch, JBL, et etc etc. I also tested various PA stuff.

What the SM 155 can do is reproduce direct, neutral sound up to very high volume levels. They also require a lot less power than most speakers to reach these volume levels, although I would still recommend a fully grown power amplifier with at least 100 watts RMS at 8 ohm to exploit all of their potential. The SM also have outstanding kick bass and therefore make an excellent cheap party box. (I currently consider them as tops for a PA setup because they can go very loud but don't suffer from the annoyingly shrill highs of virtually all PA tops.)

What the SM 155 can't do is match the resolution of the better HiFi speakers. For example the Kappa 90 have much more fine, detailed highs due to their ribbon tweeters (IF the right track plays and the rest of the system matches the quality of the speakers). They also can't reproduce that smooth rolling bass of a high quality HiFi speaker with similar bass membrane area. They also don't do the earth-shaking bass at frequencies of 35hz and below, because they simply won't go that low (contrary to the specifications).
The SM will also need a large room or open area to sound good. In a small room your ears will bleed, period.

Verdict: the SM 155 are very good neutral sounding allround speakers that can go very loud if you want them to. They don't match the resolution and clarity of great HiFi speakers, and they can't match the volume and raw power of PA speakers. They do however provide a good compromise between everything and don't have any real weaknesses. At the price you can get them at they are a real steal. Well-meant advice: for smaller rooms, get the SM 125 instead.

I have owned my sm155's since 1995 when I purchased them brand new. Originally driven with a JVC rx 707 until 2009 when that Reciever finally died. They sound great, I crank em at least 100 times a year to concert sound levels. My music is typically rock or metal which they are ideal for but anything else sounds good too. Some people have to replace the surrounds around the woofer but mine are in perfect shape after all these years. also these speakers are very efficient, I have been using a Harman Kardon 503, 40 watt x 2, for the past few years and they sound loud and powerfull. On that note, If you have a pair of these, I recommend using a stereo amp or receiver with good base control and the loudness feature so probably a vintage one. Modern 5.1,7.1 receivers just don't seem to send enough bass to the speakers.

Infinity SM-155. I have a pair in "mint" condition. $500 for the pair plus free matching center. You have to pick up though and I will give demo. My email is petersonlevi88@yahoo.com. I don't wanna get rid of, but have to. I live in Tacoma, wa

OMG!!!!! Bliss! Perfection! To me, these babies are worth their weight in gold! Infinity SM-155. I am a die hard Klipsch fan, but I absolutely love my Infinity's. I just got them a few days ago. MINT!!!! I got them for $50 at a thrift store I work at. I was there when they were donated. Are people CRAZY??? Why would somebody donate perfection. I almost didn't get them, but decided to look them up online first. So glad I did. I still can't believe I got these for $50. I have a set of 300 watt Klipsch bookshelf speakers too. I have been blessed by the lord for sure. My dream speakers have been a set of Cerwin Vega's, but I like these better! petersonlevi88@yahoo.com

These are the best speakers I've ever heard and owned. I really don't want to part with them but my wife is making me. I got my pair from the Curtchfield store locally here in Harrisonburg, VA. They retailed for $1200 back in 1998, I got an 'open box buy' at the Crutchfield store and they sold them to me for a discount. To me the speakers are still worth $500 but I'll part with them for $300 to who ever is interested.
Infinity SM155 pair
joeiipuff@gmail.com
540-746-4540

Power and detail is amazing. And they are rather cheap 2nd hand...

Very addictive....

ABout 5 years ago I came across a set of these Infinity SM 155's for 450 euros. Somebody I know has a couple of 152's and heards those I instantly decided to get these monsters. And monsters they are in sound but also in size and weight as I struggled to get them in the car.
As soon as I had these in the house I knew I had to change my wortless surround set that I had at the time but I had the time to look for something I really wanted and that was a Luxman set. I found a set for only 500 euros the Luxman c-03 and m-03. A class pre amp with a straight inn CD connection!!! The Luxman has together with the Infinity monitors are a beautifull match. These speakers are very detailed, no subwoofer needed, with very low bass and ear tingling high! Is just scarry how much power these killers produce.
Not so long ago a looked at some smaller speakers because the are big but coming back from several shops it was all very clear. These are staying!!!

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For me there is nothing similar...

plays loud, 29hz-27khz,102db sensitinity. deep sound!

bad cable conectors.steals a lot of watts from the 15" woofer. i changed the connectors. i got twice as much bass!!

BAMMM!! amasing sound! bass is strong and deep midrange is a punch in the stumick! tweeter tickles u in the ear real good for H/T HiFi is also good, but u have 2 turn up the sound to get the real bass sound. i would recomed them wery highly if ur considering a pair of CW V15F these have like much bass but midrange and treble is good 2!

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CW V15F

Solid. The mids and highs dont break up when large amounts of program material is sent to them. The 15's take what ever gets sent thier way, and is more than adequate for most listeners. Logrithmic human hearing requires more signal from the low end to equal the mids and highs. I spread out the low end with more subs. Less stress on each driver means louder, longer, listening pleasure WITHOUT cranking the overall gain controll.

Rear-firing port. Works well when positioned along a wall set out a few inches, with nothing on either side of it. When positioned in a tight space or flat against a wall, the full effect of the port is not experienced.

I gotta tell ya, the series name says it all... STUDIO MONITOR. I started out with the small SM82, and was impressed with the clairity and sensitivity of such small speakers. Then, by a stroke of luck while I was in retail, a customer was sent in by his wife (go figure) to find smaller speakers for thier new house. I happen to ask what the old ones were, and he said Infinity Studio Monitors. I did not recognise the model number, but when he said $150 I desided to check them out. Thinking back, I paid $250 for the 82's back in 1996. Once I saw these monsters the cash was in my hand before he had even turned them on. There is no replacement for displacement, period. When I experienced the detail and clairity at high volume levels, it reminded me of the professional monitors I had worked with in both studio and live sound environments. The difference... about thousands of dollars. Again, with the high sensitivity of these drivers, not alot of power is required for loud volume levels. However, when an amplifier of substancial power is put behind them, you feel like the guy in the Memorex logo. I have since upgraded to 7.1, and these 152 monsters are my fronts, while a pair of 125's are my sides, and my old faithfull pair of 82's are being used as dual center channels. I have gone through the extensive process of aquiring three replacement 15" drivers and am having my carpenter build me a custom enclosure for my low end. Not that the 152's need help, but why stress them if you dont have to? :) The pair being used for the surround back channels will eventually be a pair of SM62's. If I find a good deal on an oak cabniet SMvideo center channel, I will move the 82's behind me. That piece, I have found to be the most elusive. Plenty of black ones have shown up on Ebay, but it seems an oak one is a rare and valuable piece. All this heart pounding SPL is produced by genuine Harman Kardon high-current watts. An AVR520 powers the lot of floor standing speakers, while a Harman Kardon mono block provides the juice to those three massive 15" drivers. I can spend a day tweaking the levels of everything, but I am a geek, and enjoy that sort of critical listening. If you have the chance, and means, snag yourself a pair of Studio Monitors by Infinity. The larger the number, the more you will love them.

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JBL, Genelec, Yamaha, Parasound, Infinity Alfa, Polk, Dynaudio, Marantz, Klipsch...Etc...