Infinity Alpha 50 Review

Overall Rating

200 WATTS RMS MAX POWER
Mids and highs
Excellent craftmaship

A bit "boomy" on the bass

BEING AN AUDIOPHILE, I HAD A DIFFICULT TIME PERSUADING MY WIFE WHO IS A HOME CINEMA FANATIC, TO GIVE UP OUR BELOVED B&W 604'S. THE 604'S WERE EXCELLENT AS MAIN L-R FOR OUR 5.1 SYSTEM, BUT JUST DID NOT BRING OUT THE BEST OF AUDIO WHETHER IT WERE MP3, CD, SACD OR DVD-AUDIO.
I HAD HEARD THE INFINITY DELTA 60'S BEFORE, AND WAS IMPRESSED WITH THEIR ABILITY TO PLAY QUITE LOUD AND WITH QUALITY BUT THEY WERE MORE OR LESS IN THE SAME LEAGUE WITH THE 604'S, WITH THE B&W'S HAVING THE UPPER HAND. BUT WHEN IT CAME TO SURROUND SOUND THE B&W'S WERE MUCH BETTER.
THEN LAST YEAR I READ THAT INFINITY INTRODUCED THE ALPHA SERIES, AND WAS EAGER TO LISTEN TO THEM. IN TWO CHANNEL STEREO MODE, THEY WERE BY FAR SUPERIOR TO THE 604'S, HAVING THE MOST PRECISE MIDRANGE I'VE LISTENED TO IN THE PRICE RANGE. ACCURATE, DETAILED AND FULL OF BODY WITHOUT BEING TOO WARM. THE HIGHS WERE CRISP AND AIRY ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU "FEEL" THE CIMBALES AND HIGH HATS LIKE THEY WERE IN YOUR OWN ROOM. THE BASS WAS FIRM AND SOLID AND WENT VERY LOW. THE LOWS DID TEND TO GET A BIT COLOURFUL AND BOOMY SOMETIMES, ESPECIALLY WHEN LISTENING TO ROCK OR ELECTROPOP. NEVERTHELESS, THEY WERE MUCH BETTR THAN THE B& W'S.
NOW I HAD TO CONVINCE MY WIFE, SO I HAD TO LISTEN IN 5.1 MODE. USING THE ALPHA 50'S FOR L-R MAIN, THE ALPHA 30'S FOR REAR L-R, AND THE ALPHA CENTER THE DEMO ROOM WAS TRANSFORMED INTO A BATTLEFIELD WHEN VIEWING 'GLADIATOR' AND 'PEARL HARBOR'. ALL THIS WITHOUT THE USE OF A SUB!! I WAS IMPRESSED.
WHEN I ASKED THE DEALER TO HOOK UP THE ENERGY e:XL-S12 SUB WHICH I HAD "FELT..." AT A FRIEND'S HOUSE, I COULDN'T BELIEVE MY EARS!!! BUT THE BEST HAD YET TO COME...
IN 5.1 AUDIO MODE, EITHER SACD OR DVD-AUDIO, BASS MANAGEMENT TOTALLY NULLED ANY IMPERFECTIONS THE ALPHAS HAD HAD IN THE LOWER OCTAVES!!!
TO MAKE A LONG STORY SHORT, MY WIFE WAS HOOKED FROM THE FIRST TIME SHE WALKED INTO THE DEMO ROOM. SO WE SOLD OUR 4 B&W 604'S, 1 LCR CENTRE, AND ASW 1000 FOR THE ABOVE MENTIONED SYSTEM.

Members' Comments ongeorge.'s Review

• shaan. on 15th Apr 2003

  You are so right mate. Got the entire set of Alpha and the speakers are superb!

• Brent. on 1st May 2003

  I totally agree with the posted review. I bought four of them and with three 12" subs they sound awesome in my theatre room!

• Casey. on 13th Jun 2003

  I have the Alpha 50's and larger center and it finally made waiting for decent speakers worthwhile. For two years I had my mom's JVC bookshelf speakers hooked up to my Marantz receiver and thankfully I was forgiven by the speaker gods and granted these beautiful speakers from Infinity. I consider myself very lucky indeed. Very, very lucky.

• Fnoppe. on 23rd Jun 2003

  I fully agree.

• PQ. on 29th Jun 2003

  Completely agree. I just hooked them up a couple of hours ago and they sound absolutely terrific. Very clear, musical, and true to the real sound of the instruments. Phenomenal.

• bob falfa 55 on 15th Mar 2005

  I have 4 alpha 50's with the 37c center and 1200s sub , wow!!! running a OnkyoTX-SR600 now, will be switching to a older {lol} OnkyoTX-DS939 and really see what these can do.. I had them for a 1.5 now...with the alpha 1200 sub bass will never be a problem, but you must use the R.A.B.O.S. kit to make it work right, it's a tuning kit for the sub... and it truely works wonders... check ebay,etc..makes a sub play music instead of just thumping , it's worth checking out believe me...