Infinity Cascade Speaker System General information, Get It, Strange Work if You Can, Infinity immediately scored ergo, izontal shape that’s designed to sit, nomic points by reducing the

Infinity immediately scored ergo-

izontal shape that’s designed to sit

aware of the sub’s existence except

nomic points by reducing the

close to a wall. Inside is a quartet of

at peak bass moments (and that’s

assembly instructions for the Model

6-inch, square, down-firing woofers

how it should be). The handoff from

Seven to one step: Put the speaker

in an enclosure that’s tapered at the

sub to speakers at the crossover fre-

on the stand. Assembly time: three

sides, like the other speakers.

quency was seamless.

seconds. The smaller Model Five

Equalizing the sub was part of

My reference gear, as usual,

required two screws to attach a tri-

the setup process. Infinity calls this

included a Rotel RSX-1065 A/V

angular metal bracket that grips a

R.A.B.O.S., the Room Adaptive

receiver.

The Rotel combines

metal tongue at the top of the stand.

Bass Optimization System. Sup-

dynamically potent high-current

Assembly time: half a minute.

plied

R.A.B.O.S. accessories

amplification with a scrupulously

The stands are cast aluminum

include a test-tone CD, a sound

defined top end—don’t use the

and extremely heavy. They give the

meter that specializes in bass, a

Cascades with anything less. Because

speakers a nearly resonance-free

plastic overlay, and a set of instruc-

the speakers are so fond of high-rez

foundation and would make excel-

tions. The latter seems formidably

signal sources, my Integra DPS-10.5

lent murder weapons. Round gold-

intricate at first glance, but the

universal disc player took on a more

nut binding posts face directly

process is fairly simple.

prominent role than usual.

downward in the Model Seven and

As each test tone plays, you plot

Strange Work if You Can

diagonally upward in the Model

points on a frequency-response

Five, providing access for spade

graph. When the curve is complete,

Get It

lugs but not for banana plugs.

connect the dots to determine the

In search of something dynamically

Blobs of plastic in the holes block

correct settings for the sub’s volume

taxing, I rented Get Rich or Die

banana-plug insertion. These are a

and crossover controls. To deter-

Tryin’, based on the life of rapper

requirement for sale in Europe and

mine the width—that is, how much

Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, and got

are removable. I used an elderly

of the audible spectrum the correc-

an unexpectedly nuanced drama

but reliable set of Monster THX

tion will affect—place the plastic

instead. As the movie started with

ribbon cables with bare tips.

overlay atop the graph. A few

Jackson’s voiceover, I turned up the

Grilles come in the form of a

simple calculations are necessary. I

volume. I wanted to catch the

scroll-like object made of the

did them on scrap paper, but there’s

softly but precisely enunciated con-

thinnest, softest, most lovely mate-

also an online calculator. Twist three

sonants that are part of his signa-

rial ever used to cover a baffle.

knobs, and you’re done.

ture vocal style, affected by the

Although it’s synthetic, it feels like

Thus, reducing room interaction

bullet lodged in his tongue. At

silk. The ends attach magnetically.

soon paid dividends.

some point, I figured, as the all-

The peak in

I tried one, and it was beautiful—

response at my room’s

resonant fre-

too-realistic violence kicked in, I’d

but not as interesting as the

quency pretty much disappeared.

have to engage the Dolby Digital

unadorned speaker. I decided to

Eliminating this distraction freed me

midnight-movie mode or at least

leave the grilles off.

to focus more intently on story lines

drop the volume. But the subse-

The subwoofer has a unique hor-

and musical moods. I was rarely

quent gunplay was dynamically

INFINITY CASCADE SPEAKER SYSTEM

OVERALL RATING

Build Quality

Value

Features

Performance

Ergonomics

95

>Absolute solidity,

>It’s impossible to

>Infinity’s totally

>Gets the most out of

>Plenty to catch the

flawless detailing

compare this to other

redesigned woofer

high-rez SACD releases

eye, nothing to offend it

>Ceramic/metal

products

makes its debut here

>Combination of wide

>Stand mounting is

>New technology

>R.A.B.O.S. equalizes

woofers and titanium

sweet spot and tight

very easy

tweeters

doesn’t come cheap

the big sub

image focus

>Heavy aluminum

> Low dynamic-

Infinity’s Cascade Series uses a

stands

compression bass

newly designed flat diaphragm to

95

90

96

98

93

muster a large and well-defined

soundstage with exceptional

transparency, definitive detail,

and strong dynamics.

For imag-

General information

ing, it is the reference against

Cascade Model Seven Floorstanding Speaker, $799/each; Cascade Model Three C Center-Channel Speaker, $799

which we will judge speakers in

future reviews. Add equalized

Cascade Model Five Monitor/On-Wall Speaker, $699/each; Cascade Model Fifteen Subwoofer, $1,499

monster bass, and you’ve got a

Infinity Systems, (516) 674-4463, www.infinitysystems.com > Dealer Locator Code IFY

product that amazes.