good construction, good looking

foam roll, cheesy looking grilles
very harsh highs

Found them on ubid for $37 bucks a piece, for the price a excellent speaker, the highs seem really harsh to me compared to my AR 208's. But they do a very good job as rear surrounds. If you can find a bargain on them, definately worth the money. Not too crazy about the foam roll on the woofer, but overall good sounding speakers.

Similar Products Used:

AR 208 HO

Hi sensitivity, slam factor, looks

resonant cabinet, dead in 6 years foam surrounds

Boy, what a steal! I was helping a friend speaker shop at the actual Harman Outlet in Oxnard, CA. EVERYTHING in the store sounded like garbage, mostly 'cause the demo models had beed beaten to death, and many were hooked up out of phase. The lone pair of out-of-box SM 185s was priced at $99/pair. These speakers TOTALLY susrprised me. Good tonal balance, punchy lows, crisp highs, and they can blow your ears off with any amp over 50 watts. Liked them so much, I bought them, even though I wasn't shopping for myself. I've got them in my home studio now, with the lows below 70Hz fed to a Citiation 7.4 sub. Taking the lows out of the 8 incher really opened these speakers up.

I also tried them as the L-R pair in my home theatre, where they really slammed. They get a little crispy and compressed if you hit them too hard, but are otherwise very articulate speakers. Like I said, a steal at anything under $200. I may try to scam another 2 pairs for the theater room, if my wife doesn't let me shell out for the Sounus Fabers that are my true loves.

Similar Products Used:

Design Acoustics, JBL, DCM

These decent-looking speakers produce acceptable low frequences for a cheap speaker this size, and the build quality seems to be okay.

These are some of the brightest speakers I have ever encountered. I used 14 gauge speaker wire, and I thought they were D.O.A. or out of phase or something. Forget about a break-in period, as these speakers are hopeless. If you leave your amp on with no source signal even at low levels, there is a great deal of clearly audible hiss that I react to like I do fingernails on a chalkboard. You can not tune out this loud hiss, and it makes them completely unusable for me.

I purchased these, because of their very high sensitivity rating and their low cost ($87 a pair after UBID rebate). I made the mistake of never having listened to them and expecting a lot. I simply cannot live with these speakers. I'd rather listen to a cheap minisystem. I'm not going to sell them, because I don't want to put anyone else through the misery of owning these hissing atrocities. How dare they present such speakers to the public?! I am probably going to disembowel the sm185's and use them as attractive storage crates. Always listen to the speakers you are thinking about before actually buying them, especially if you order them online and can't return them. If you are a masochist, or if you simply want to make your ears bleed, these may be for you. They are inexpensive. I simply do not understand why anyone would voluntarily listen to this speaker for an extended length of time.

Great Bass, and Highs

None

When I first bought these speakers, I used them for fronts. To that end they sound great. I would not rate them as high as the IL 50, but then again they only cost a fraction of their cost. I have had these speakers for about 2 years now, and I still am amazed at what they can do. Now I am using 2 Infinity IL 50's for front speakers, and using these for rears. They are very good rears. The 10" woofer produces room shaking bass, and the highs are wonderful. Also another advantage, when compared to many of Infinity's speakers, these are light in weight. Some people may not like that because of speaker vibration, but it is fine for a rear speaker.

These speakers definately hold the standard stamp of infinity quality.

Similar Products Used:

Infinity IL 50's

Highs, Clarity

Bass

It took me a long time to figure these guys out. They were super bright when I first listened to them, but after jacking up the bass they filled out quite a bit. I raised them up around ear level and they sounded even better. After a few weeks of them warping themselves into shape they sounded good. What can you say for $68 bucks (for the pair, new). You pay for what you get, in most cases, and these sound pretty damn good for that price. Granted I wouldn't pay over $200 for them, but they arn't a bad speaker once you tweak them out.

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch, JBL

I purchased a pair of Infinity SM-185 for "Half Price" at the PX (Military)for 160.00! I can only say they are truly worth and then some the full price of 300.00 or so a pair! They are listed as 2-way Bookshelf w/ specs: 8" Woofer, 1" Fastglass Tweeter, 98db!, 10-125watts and they claim 70-20k....... .!
I say claim because I'm sure it's more like 40-20k I even saw them listed on another site as 40-20k. The Bass would not lie, these little babies with a 8" should be better then what they say of 70-20k. I've listened to all from Classical to my true love of Jazz/New Age and Hip-Hop and like so many say......
..... "It's All Good!

Tengo un par de Infinitys Studio Monitor 185 y suenan excelente, realmente los recomiendo. Agudos suaves y limpios, medios claros y graves netos y bajos

After weeks of searching around for a well priced, high quality speaker, I decided on the infinity SM-185. I didn't audition them prior to purchase, but Infinity is a brand I know and trust. These speakers are exactly what I have been searching for. I'm a college student and on a TIGHT budget so for $206.00 delivered from crutchfield, these were a steal. The construction is excellent, it is a very solid feeling speaker. The 8" woofers provide bass to spare, especially for dolby pro-logic applications. Sure, if I had the money I would have bought overtures or deltas, but the Studio Monitor Series has proven to be an excellent value. My future plan is to move the SM-185 to the rear and add SM-225 up front. These speakers are gettin 5 stars for quality, value, and most importantly SOUND.

To All Concerned,
These speakers are well: I will first give you a Lil about my system:
It includes Adcom/Carver Power Amps, Harmon/Carver Pre-Amps, Naki/Awia Cass.
Carver CD, Audio Source/Numark EQ's and I host of other items. I've enjoyed a broad range of music over the years: Rock,RB but really New Age & Jazz!
After review of these and wanting a pair of small mains, I looked at the Spec Sheet, it said 70-20k NOT! These little babies are strong and good at 40hz
and the highs are nice and crisp! As stated my music interest is mainly acoustic
and these are at home there as well as electronic. They list for a little over $300.00 a pair, I got them for half that price at the Military Exchange Great Buy!

i bought these speakers @ the military bx in hawaii for a measly 189$ , and they sound great. i think they have a wide soundstage , crisp clear highs , are extremely loud , but still sound very detailed.