Infinity Systems SM125 Floorstanding Speakers

Infinity Systems SM125 Floorstanding Speakers 

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-10 of 23  
[Nov 05, 2016]
Layton
Audio Enthusiast

I picked up a pair of these great speakers in absolutely mint condition for $130 off of craigslist. Not so much as a scratch on them. All the drivers were in pristine condition. First off the size of these monsters are huge! They haven't made speakers like this in a long time. Old school hifi at it's best! Just in your face loud and very precise. The mids and highs are very smooth at any volume and the 12" woofers dish out bass like it's going out of style. The more power you give them the better they sound, but are efficient enough to use with lower powered source.I didn't hear any degraded bass at any level like some reviewers have stated. Just rock solid and very loud. They also sound great at lower levels. Granted my receiver puts out 120 watts RMS but I imagine they would do well with less power.

There is no way I could have gotten a better speaker for the money. These speakers do show up from time to time on craigslist and if you see them, grab yourself a pair. You won't regret it.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Nov 10, 2015]
Jordan K
Audio Enthusiast

I picked these up while I was in college. Also have the matching center and bookshelf speakers. I have had them for 6-7 years now and have also owned a variety of other higher-end speaker systems.

Personally, I enjoy the highs and mids from these speakers. Very nice and unique tweeters and great for a surround-sound setup with an added subwoofer for bass. I have used the SM 125's in a stereo setup before with a substantial Adcom amplifier and they do put out some serious sound. As others have mentioned, the bass does fall apart a little bit at high volume. This is not a slight to the drivers, but rather to the cabinets. They are decently solid, but I anticipate that they lack the interior bracing to handle the decibel levels put out by their 12" woofers. You can definitely here some of the flex at very high volume, but I consider these extreme conditions.

These things survived many college parties, kept the ladies dancing, and still play well today. I have a Klipsch Reference system that I prefer now that I am older and have a little more refined taste in what I like in a speaker, but these Infinities are still great. If you can find a good deal on a pair of used ones, you will not be disappointed. I would say $100-$200 for a pair would be a fair price if they are in good shape.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[Jun 18, 2012]
David Guzowski
Audio Enthusiast

I bought a pair of these in mint condition off craigslist for $60. I also bought a yamaha RX-750 Natural Sound Stereo receiver off ebay in perfect condition for 40 dollars including shipping. So thats basically my setup my yamaha amp and my infinity speakers. Let me say that these things pound and are power hungry! At low and mid volumes they reproduce music exceptionally, especially Dave Brubeck on the piano, the saxophone sounds lovely and the separation and clarity are unsurpassed. When i'm pounding these babies loud I can get all the bass I need! The highs do get a bit bright but I just turn down the treble and turn up the bass. These speakers are great for Dub-step, Rock and some rap, really any music genre that pleases you. The other day I was able to hit 115db with no distortion at 75% volume with my yamaha amp! These things are unbelievable and I got them for a steal! The only thing that I can think of is the poor box design, around 200-500 hz the boxes rattle and have bad upper bass emphasis, I resolved this by dampening the box with some extra particle board and 2x4s and now they are nearly perfect! Love these, you can find these floating around on ebay or craigslist for $50-100 and they are well worth it!

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jan 12, 2008]
tpr6576
Casual Listener

Strength:

Durable and have taken quite a beating over the years; have held up despite constant use and abuse at high volumes.

Weakness:

Very heavy, bass is a bit thin at higher volumes.

I bought these back in 1996 when I was in college and I would have to say that I agree with everything -- good and bad -- that I have read in these reviews. If you are looking for champagne sound so that you can hear every hair whistle in Roger Water's nose while he plays guitar on Dark Side of the Moon then these are not the speakers for you nor will any speaker in this price range be for you.

But, for an average listener who likes decent sound and has a decent receiver to hook these up to, these have really been very durable speakers. These things were put through hell back when I was college living in a fraternity house and they still get that treatment on the weekends now that I have my own place. After over 11 years of use, I finally blew the tweeters (replacements cost $100 for the pair). Otherwise, considering what I paid (I think it was $300-$350 each back in 1996) to have gotten over a decade's worth of use is quite impressive.

One complaint I do have is that the bass is not all that strong on these at higher volumes. I have a JBL sub hooked up to my system, which makes up for the difference, but I do wish these speakers had more bass.

These are not speakers for "audiophiles" but have certainly been good for an average listener who likes to play his music loud and keeps these things in constant use.

Customer Service

You can still find replacement parts for these through the Infinity (actually Harmon) website (except for the subs).

Similar Products Used:

Cerwin Vega RE 30's (circa-1995) which are currently being used in my basement - those have more bass but a muddier sound overall.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Sep 23, 2005]
Stankboy
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Great sound reproduction at all volumes, crisp and clear. Can handle power like you wouldn't believe, and because they have crossover adjustments for the highs and the midrange right on the speaker, you can tweak them to fit into any existing system.

Weakness:

Pretty large speaker, and heavy. Don't have very tall feet on the bottom to raise them above carpet, so I pretty much always have them on short speaker stands that point them slightly upward so the tweets hit the ear.

I agree with the last guy, these are quite impressive speakers for the money. The tweets are nice and clear, but not "hissy" like so many of the newer speakers. The mid-range is the greatest strength of this speaker, in my opinion. In my system, I don't use the woofers much in these speakers, as I have an Infinity Entra series 10" sub which does a little better job. I do this by designating them a "small" speaker in my receiver setup, so the woofers aren't doing much. Anyway, after doing so, I realized the strength of the mid-range and highs, all the way from very low volume to window-shattering high volume. Great for music AND home theater. All I can say is I'll never sell these babies, and I would normally sell a set of speakers after a few years of use to upgrade to something better.

Similar Products Used:

None.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Aug 02, 2003]
mike goff
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

very low loud bass. very loud midrange and very loud highs.

Weakness:

size may be a problem for some folks

the people that are whining about these speakers are either liars or cant hear!. these speakers a very good and make these new speakers sound like crap!. not to mention the new ones are built very cheap out of very cheap materials.

Similar Products Used:

cerwin vega se series 12 inch woofer speakers. not very good!

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Oct 08, 2002]
Dani
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

they play loud... would make a good frat party speaker for those that dont give a rats patooty about imaging, soundstage and sound quality

Weakness:

EVERYTHING! flabby bass, no mids, harsh grainy highs, holes in freq response/xovers, box resonances, no imaging/soundstage, not very musical, dull and uninvolving

Yes I've had these for a long long time... I bought them way back when I was a teenager and didnt know squat about audio or sound and now I cant wait to get rid of them. The SM's were designed to be Party speakers- very efficient so not much amp power needed to drive them. They can play LOUD but thats about it. Flabby, boomy bass, grainy rough highs, no midrange, horrible imaging, no soundstage. They really cut corners on the box, completely untreated in anyway and offers horrid box resonances and colorations. The crossovers are a huge dissapointment as well.... running a 15hz to 15khz sweep there are huge holes in the tone at the crossover points where the speakers just do not reproduce that frequency hardly at all! Timbres are very 'off' and unrealistic as are instruments size and weight. The fact that they are not matched pairs kills any imaging and soundstage and makes the sound heavy to one side. I'm not sure what infinity was thinking there. More so not only am I disgusted for owning them... I'm disgusted at myself for ever thinking they sounded good when I first bought them!

Similar Products Used:

B&W 610, Magnepan 3.6R, magnepan 1.6QR, Avalon Eclipse, Vandersteen 2Ce sig, Martin Logan Aerius

OVERALL
RATING
2
VALUE
RATING
1
[Nov 24, 1999]
Rodger
Casual Listener

I bought these at u-bid and was shocked when they arrived and I saw how big they were. They thrive at higher volumes but don't perform well at low volumes (something my wife isn't too happy about since she likes to put her music on softly some times). Since I got them for playing Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, etc. (am I dating myself?) loud they fit the bill. The are one of the last of the large, heavy speakers that produce a sound all the smaller, modern speakers just can't create and I figure I'll keep them (and the 155s I bought later) around somewhere in the house forever. I would give them a 5 for people that are pissed that Jimmy Page didn't make Time's list of the 100 most influential people for the century, a 4 for everyday use and a 3 if you're into Yanni.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Feb 08, 2001]
Ammad
Audio Enthusiast

What I would say is that, its hard to get somethin as LOUD as these at this price. Their high sensitivity accounts for its loud volumes with even not to powerful amps. I have an ADCOM GCA-510. Tried a lot of speakers, the amp is rated at 50 W per channel, and well it could hardly make the cones move. Hooked it up to these massive speakers, and well, all i can say is, they made me love my amp. Ive read some reviews, and i disagree that theyre not as good on low volumes, i suggest such people should change their amps. Hook it up with somethin like a NAD 317 and itll blow your roof out.
Amazing in open spaces....

OVERALL
RATING
3
VALUE
RATING
5
[Dec 14, 2001]
K
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Very Loud, very acurate bass and crisp seperation.

Weakness:

Small sweet spot.

Bought these with one blown woofer on Ebay, Harmon send me a new one for about $150. I run it through my NAD C370, combined with it's imagining and beautiful sound... the whole rig sounds incedible for only about $1000 all together.

Similar Products Used:

Myer MSLs

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
Showing 1-10 of 23  

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