price, style, output from speaker level input on music

size.output from receiver low pass on music or video

This is an update. Ubid offered to give full refund and scheduled an UPS pickup due to sub not working from receiver level inputs. However, after that I wrenched my back carring this monster all over tne house and ran 14 gauge wire to the speaker level input once more and fired up the Dada CD "Puzzle" and it really played well. The bass was incredibly clean and tight and very musical. I then went to local audio store and auditioned NHT Subtwo and Sunfire True subwoofer as well as Velodyne and w/ using their Denon 4800 as source my infinity sounded much better. So why wont the thing work well from the receiver and why so weak on video? I even thought of keeping it and using it for music and my BIC for DVD's. Finally I called infinity again and they told me it would be under warrenty if it said so on the sales receipt which it does. I found a local Infinity repair location and they said bring it down, but it would be 3 weeks minimum wait! I called Ubid back and they offered me a rebate to keep the thing since i reported it defective W/in the 7 day period. I guess this saves them a lot of Shipping expense. So I took their money offer and the UPS man showed up to get it 10 minutes later! what a hassle this has been. I must be a glutton for punishment b/c that night I won a bid for a HPS 1000 @ $609! I will apply my rebate to it and have a great bargain if IT WORKS. When the HPS 1000 arrives I will take the 500 to the shop and see what is going on there. The genius at Infinity said it was a problem w/ the input signal someplace??? DUH! No kidding.I can tell this can be an incredible sub. In its current conditioned it alredy outperformed the Sunfire and NHT which both retail for lots more. I recommend it eventhough I have had this touble due to the price and the fact Infinity will back the warrenty. Buy it and if you have the same trouble drop it off at repair shop for free. I liked it enough I bought another for a friend who does not have the Net yet. Got it for $403 on Ubid!!!! Now the only question will be if I can part w/ it if it gets here in perfect working order. Will give a full report from the repair shop when I get my 500 back and will do a comparison b/w the HPS 500 and HPS 1000 when it gets here. If anyone finds a better solution to power it up please Email me at REGblazter@aol.com. Will try dave's experiment w/ the hookup from CD player outputs too.

Similar Products Used:

BIC America, Radioshack

Just wanted to give everyone an update regarding the issues with little to no output from the LFE. After speaking with Infinity as well as other owners....it turns out that the HPS-500 has some sort of impedence mismatch problem with many receivers out there, including Denon, Kenon, and Pioneer.

Infinity has released a service bulletin regarding this problem, so notify your service center of this when dropping off the sub....or you'll get the "if it works with CD level input, then there's nothing wrong with your sub" line.

The sound from this box is incrediable. I decided to purchase a new sub, after blowing my old one..... I was looking at the hps-1000, a really poor vega, and some velodynes.... But, I still am not sure why, I listened to this sub.... It is MUCH more accurate than it's bigger brother, those passive radiators do a lot for volume, and little for the sound quality. Get this sub online, you should not pay more than 700 for it, I got it for 550, and it was a great deal. The hps-1000 was 300 more, and just didn't sound as good.... And for a few more db's, it isn't worth it, espically, if you can get BETTER sound.`

The fact the amp is only 500 watts, it is quite heavy for only a 15, and I find the heat sink on the amp (inclosed, and you will never notice this unless you open it up, which you SHOULD NOT DO UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT U ARE DOING!) gets way to hot, and should be expanded....

Get it, plain and simple..... You don't like it? And it is past the return date, e-mail me, I could use 1 or 2 more.... :-)

Similar Products Used:

Every sub worth it's salt from $500-1500... this one simply sounded the best

Strong, Tight, Acurate Bass.

For some receivers, modification will be required. See Below for a Fix!

This subwoofer is really great. But: Many people (especially those who seemed to purchase them on ubid) have trouble. The only get a little sound from the woofer, and then come on here and post that it is a peice of junk. Well the problem is that some receivers aparantly have a different impediance than the subwoofer is expecting. After talking with Infinity, they sent me a copy of the service bulletin, so I could make the modifications necessary.

Here is an excert of what to do if you are experiencing this problem. This probably will void your waranty so do it at your own risk, and only do this if you know what you are doing. I've been in electronics for 4 years.

=======================================================
Infinity Service Bulletin INF2001-01 Rev 1 March 2001


(Change provides a net gain increase of 9.8db)

1. Lay the subwoofer on its side on a padded surface, amplifier facing upwards.

2. Locate and remove the (2) Allen head crews at the bottom of the plastic cover with a 3/32" wrench.

3. Slide the amplifier straight down until it clears the slotted brackets; pull away from the cabinet and expose for servicing without further disconnection. Wires threading through the cabinet, glued in place, should be left intact.

4. Remove the Linear/Feature PCB (with external controls) by removing (4) phillips screws and all relevant molex and faston connectors.

5. Locate R100; change this 1/4W resistor from 2K or 2.67Kohms to 6.19K ohms (Infinity Part# 271-6.19K)

6. Locate C100; change this capacitor from .068 uf to .022 uf (Infinity Part# DF15223350)

7. Replace the PCB and all connectors; replace the amplifier assembly.

8. Test unit by connecting to a music source, and confirm the output is accectable.
============================================================

If you take it to the service center to have them do it make sure you tell them about this service bulletin.

I think once everyone here has had it fixed, you will all agree this is a great sub.

--William
Current System:
Main Speakers: Infinity CS-3007
Center Speaker: Infinity Delta Center
Surroung Speakers: Infinity CS-3006
Subwoofer: Infinity HPS-500
Receiver: JVC RX-8010
DVD: Pioneer DV414

Similar Products Used:

Infinity SSW Servo, Pioneer, Mission

Good brand name product, sounds great

no auto off, LFE didn't work

I had the same problem that everyone else was having with this sub. I couldn't get any volume out of it when it was hooked up to my LFE.

I took it to the local repair shop in Sandy Utah and they couldn't fix it. I called Infinity and talked with them about it and they told me that they have had other reports of that exact same problem. They said that they have a shop in California that can fix them and they gave me a UPS pick-up order so I could send it to them.

The people at Infinity were very courteous. I am not sure why all of these subs have LFE problems but I am looking forward to receiving my sub back so I can see what kind of bass it really puts out! I would have given this all 5's but I am giving it a 4 because of the hassle of having to send it in for repairs.

Similar Products Used:

infinity BU-120

Versatile controls, tight bass that is just a bit on the bloated side, generally integrates well with my B&W 801 Series 3 when placed away from walls and freq xover set at 50hz and gain turned to midway (powered by strong output volts from a Audio Research LS3B amp through the excellent Bass Euphoria Cables sold exclusively via www.jeffssoundvalues.com ), think bass is tighter than the HPS1000 (better for music than the passive radiator HPS1000), used two in large room (25' x 30') plenty of >110 db bass (if you need more power it may be that you have already lost your hearing), nice to have controls on front

Cheap plastic front cover for amp and controls (can easily break lower molding in shipping or during placement, other fit and finish is reasonably good for this price point), somewhat bloated bass but then so is the bass in my B&W 801 series 3. If bass quality of B&W 801 series 3 below 60 hz is a 10 then the HPS 500 is a 8+ and bass quantity is 10+ for the HPS 500.

I think I said it all in the strengths column but like all subs you can get too much bass with the gain turned up. May not fastest or tightest sub but still musical and represents a super value. Cheap plastic control panel may not hold up well in shipping so be sure you carry insurance (then again anyone try to get money from UPS if they break something, Dorothy and Toto had an easier route to see the Wizard?....sorry just side commentary). Best used with fast tight bass cable like the Bass Euphoria cables sold by www.jeffssoundvalues.com . Bass Euphoria cable only really good for sub-100 Hz bass IMHO though. I actually would rate this sub a 4 overall but gave it a 5 to offset those that need a bit of technical help setting up their system or may be a bit hasty to judge.

Similar Products Used:

Velodyne, M&K, B&W, passive units via Kinergetics 800C crossover and NAD 208 THX amplification. A partial listing of my associated equipment (besides what is already mentioned) includes Magnan Vi Balanced cabling, Harmonic Tech Pro 11 to mids and highs of B&W 801 s3, Mamba and Synergistic Research AC Master coupler power cords.

Controls in front panel, construction, nice bass

none (tough to integrate a HT setup as a whole too many different consoles)

I was having similiar problems as the other Ubid customers. But i followed Mr. D's suggestions and was still having problems. But as i was working on it. I thought, "hey the DVD has similiar speaker controls as the reciever does, on the onscreen menu when the DVD is not actually playing and is just ON." So i launched that menu and lo and behold the speaker setup was for LRG - fronts, SML - Center, NO sub/surround. I went and reset all of it too match my receiver setup and.. the LFE kicked in and started thumpin. So remember there are 2 sets of speaker setups you must do when using a DVD/HTS reciever when using LFE. my setup

sony dvd-530
sony db-930 (s-video, toslink to DVD)
1999 sony XBR 32
infinity overture 1 (fronts)
infinity CC-3
infinity P-QPS surrounds
infinity hps 500

hehe carol command premium grade speaker wire w/ monster twist on banana's

oh thanks Mr. D for putting me on the right track.. i gotta put in a music CD and see what happens

Similar Products Used:

none

Tight bass response when used with quality cables.
Room shaking sound!

No auto-on circuitry or remote control switch

Clean bass response for a large driver (15"). The 500-watt amp can really shake the room if you want. I have used this speaker for two months and it blends perfectly with my tower speakers( Infinity 2000.6). My only wish is this speaker included a remote or auto on/off circuit. A lot of times I would start a movie and go about ten minutes before realizing I forgot to turn on the subwoofer. Other than that its perfect.

Similar Products Used:

None. Auditioned Velodyne

The unit produces rich, deep bass, or can also shake the house if you want it to. I also like the vinyl cabinet.

No auto on. Ubid units are defective, for some reason.

I have read all these reviews before buying it, so I knew if the unit came from Ubid, I would be in for a repair. I figured that this was a good trade off for such a spectacular unit. Infinitity couldn't tell me why they gave Ubid a defective shipment, but as long as they honor their warranty, I don't care. Getting it fixed has been a hassle, but most of this is because of the a$$hole I bought it from on Ebay, who bought it from Ubid. It took forever to get a receipt from him, and even longer for this moron to admit he bought it from Ubid.
Anyway, contrary to what some people on here have been saying, if you have to hook up a line directly to get it to work right, it IS defective. Obviously, you shouldn't have to do that. Now that I got my unit back fixed, it way exceeds my expectations. A gain setting of just "3" while using the LFE inputs while watching a movie like "Saving Private Ryan" with the opening battle scene is really intense. The deep thuds of mortar rounds thumping into the earth is truely felt, not to mention the explosions themselves will force you to secure your drinks on the table tops, as they will start to "walk" across the surface. Bass reflex seems to be tight and responsive. I tested other 15in units with similiar power and they didn't perform like this. Also, I like the way the unit looks, as silly as that is. A big piece of glass slapped on top turns this unit into an awesome, functional table.
To sum up: personally, I couldn't have justified spending even close to the retail price for this or any sub. But to get it for $400.00 and have to repair it was worth the hassle, in my opinion. For me, it was the only way to justify owning such an incredible unit. I'm a cheap-a$$ that way.

Reciever= Onkyo Integra TOL (forget model number)(90watt)
Amp= Onkyo 509 preamp (550watt)
Sony 200 cd
Onkyo 6disk
Cerwin Vega SE 12s for mains
JBL's for rear and center channel

Similar Products Used:

None really, but compared against display units at high end stereo stores.

Very deep base, not boomy.

None.

Incredible sub. VERY musical, very smooth, very deep base. If you are really into audio, this is your sub.

Similar Products Used:

JBL