Deals with all types of music at a great price

Difficult to drive, oak panel can crack!

I've had my Kappa 90's for a little less than a year. Much to my surprise, the top oak panel on one of my Kappas had cracked when I came home from the X-mas holidays the other day! It doesnn't look pretty. I had considerably lowered the temperature in my house during the time I was away. When I turned on the heat again, the crack appeared. It could have happened when the house was cooling down, but I think it's unlikely.
I've been listening around a bit, and it seems to be a common problem with early models of the Kappa 90. It should be covered by the guarantee, but it's a hassle returning them, especially since I ordered them from Germany...

On another note, I'd like to continue the "thread" I started below about the lack of distinct bass that I experienced in some cases. The new cables made a big difference, but after a while, I came to the conclusion that there was still something missing. Really fast double bass drum fills, for example, just didn't sound tight enough. I started suspecting my power amp, Rotel RB-991 (2X200W/8 ohms, 2X300W/4 ohms), and set out to find another one to try out on my Kappa 90's. I almost stumbled upon an old (early nineties) ADCOM GFA-585 Limited Edition (2X250W/8 ohms, 2X400W/4 ohms). It's the stereo version of the GFA-565 mono blocks. I'd heard good things about it and bought it for $700. When I hooked it up to the Kappas, I could immediately tell that the bass was considerably tighter. Midrange was full and the highs slightly subdued. The Rotel had razorsharp resolution of the highs, but didn't really get a grip of the lows in the same way as the GFA-585. The GFA-585 handles dynamics a lot better too. Actually, I quite like the highs of the GFA-585, they are never harsh and make listening less fatiguing. It is all down to personal taste, but I think I've taken the Kappas to another level with the ADCOM GFA-585. Comparing the GFA-585 with the RB-991 might not be very fair, though, since the GFA-585 is more powerful and cost at least twice as much when it was new... As I wrote below, I previously had my eyes on a Rotel RB-1090 for the sheer power, but if I ever upgrade the power amp again, it will probably be a Bryston 4B ST, but that's expensive... ($3400 in Sweden).

Similar Products Used:

None

Great all-round speaker, deals with all types of music wonderfully.

Demands a lot of your equipment, if that's a weakness.

Now I've had my Kappa 90 speakers for about six months, and I'd like to add a few things to my review below. Apart from what I mentioned earlier, there are two important things to consider with these speakers (as with any speaker):

1. Placement in the room.
2. Speaker cables.

After a few months of listening to my new system, I began to feel that something was missing in the lower bass register. I simply had trouble hearing the bass drums properly on a lot of rock albums. How can that be possible with these monster speakers and my monster amp (Rotel RB-991 2X200W)? I started experimenting with the placement of the speakers in the room, and found that bass response got better when the speakers were facing the long direction of the room. There was still something missing, however. But what? I started suspecting my speaker cables, "LS-Kabel" for bi-wiring, a rather thin straight wire of German make. The midrange and treble were great, but there was some bass missing. Just for fun, I tried a crappy old speaker cable I had, that was considerably thicker than the LS-Kabel I was using. What a difference! All of a sudden, that beatiful drum-kick was there again! However, the midrange and treble became very harsh and less detailed, not enjoyable at all. I consequently set out to find a pair of better speaker cables that would give me both better bass response and nice midrange and treble. I settled for the Supra Ply 3.4 in a bi-wire setup, for about $7 per meter. I am amazed at the difference it made in my system, I would never have believed that speaker cables could make such a difference. Now I have MUCH better bass response and detailed and smooth midrange and treble. I can recommend the Supra Ply 3.4 cables as a low-cost (?) very hi-fi alternative. They are made in Sweden, but I think you can find them pretty much everywhere. By the way, there is a shielded version of this cable, the Supra Ply 3.4 S, but the dealer claimed they weren't any better, so I settled for the normal Ply 3.4. Anyway, it is very important to have good speaker cables. It seems that, in order to get good bass response, they need a certain thickness (diameter). As for the other properties, I can't explain why treble etc. sounds better in one cable than another. Just my two cents on the subject...

As for future upgrades of my system, I would really like to make my Kappa 90's sing even better with the monstrous Rotel RB-1090 power amp (2X380W, 38 kg = 100 lbs). I'm hoping for even better and tighter bass (as if it wasn't enough already...). But that beauty is a bit expensive, so it will have to wait. I'm very happy with my current system as it is.

Similar Products Used:

None.

Fantastisk upplösning i diskantåtergivningen - Emit B!. Bra tryck i ljudet om man vill "dra på" lite. Låter aldig hårda vid höga ljudvolymer. Snygga att se på(!).

Basen kan låta lite bumlig vid fel placering eller i för litet rum - kräver stora ytor. Och stor förstärkare - högtalaren kräver en riktig förstärkare för att låta rätt.

Använder nu dessa högtalare i ett hemmabiosystem med matchande högtalare: Kappa Center B och Kappa Rear. Allting låter mycket bra och flyter väl. Det finns dock vissa saker som måste till för stt de här lådorna ska leva upp:
- Förstärkare som kan kontrollera högtalaren till 100%
- Placering i rummet!
- Använd kablar av HÖG kvalitet.
- Biwire!
Mitt första intryck av dessa högtalare var en fin diskant, men nästan diffust mellanregister och slö bas. Provade mig fram med andra kablar och fann en bra lösning i TaraLabs Prism Bi-Wire kabel. Vilket lyft! Kablarna har en karaktäristik som är mer rakt på sak, vilket passar dessa relativt "mjuka" högtalare helt rätt! Jag är mycket nöjd med mina Kappa 90, men i jämförelse med exempelvis Thiel 2.5 så har de ju en del att önska i perspektivåtergivning och upplösning i de nedre registren. Men så kostar de en rejäl slant till också... Framför allt har Thielen en bättre diskanspridning, vilket gör att det inte är något krav att sitta mittemellan högtalarna för att uppleva fullt frekvensomfång och stereobild.
Jag ska inte säga att dessa högtalare är de renaste och mest neutrala högtalare jag ägt (Chacconne-pelarna i betong är fruktansvärt ofärgade och korrekta - på gränsen till tråkiga i sín korrekthet) men kombinationen av detaljrikedom och upplösning i diskanten och slagkraft i basen när man "drar på" är oslagbar!
En högtalare som passar alla musiksmaker!
Sist men inte minst - tro inte att din gamla slöa reciever ska kunna driva Kappa 90:n till fullo. Investera i en ny stärkare med massor av kraft och ström, annars finns det andra högtalaralternativ...
Jag ger Kappa 90 full poäng i betyg, men tänk på att kringutrustningen spelar stor roll, framför allt kablar och förstärkare som orkar driva de dubbla 10" basarna. Experimentera med etta och du får en kombination du inte känner att du växer ur i första taget.

Similar Products Used:

Opus 3 Chorus.
Opus 3 Chacconne.

great sound and all the things said (to lazy to copy and paste)

needed to buy new amp :-( and need a bigger room.

I bought these speakers instead of the b&w CDM 7 or 9 NT. When I heared the b&w and the sales man asked me the difference between the 7 and 9 I actually thought they sounded quite the same... I mean the price difference was not worth the sound difference. I liked te b&w becouse my previous speakers where b&w, the highs where great but the bass wasn't what I looked for ... so when I got to a great offer on ebay for some Infinity kappa 90's I took them. Also becouse my neightbour owns also a infinity kappa set with almost the same AV-amp. This is a complete bargain for these speakers, sound with the correct amp even better than the b&w CDM 9NT's

At first I couldn't believe the sound ... they sound great especialy the bass, they go low .. even so low that I was surprised hear the things I missed even my b&w speakers where also "full range" speakers. But here comes the problem ... my av-amp, denon avr-3801 couldn't manage these speakers. At some loud music it would go into protection :-( Now there running on denon poa-s10 mono-blocks and these do there job with a smile.

The first thing I need to upgrade is my room (to small) before I need new speakers.

Similar Products Used:

wharfedale, b&w, infinity

The Kappa 90 made my hairs rise on the top of my neck! Outstanding reproduction of detail and thight and smooth bass. This is a speaker that knocks out every opponent I`ve heard in this pricerange!

Since four months I own a pair of Infinity Kappa 90 speakers. They are very good sounding. Bass is very deep and precise, mids are very clear and the top end is very very good (thanks to the top of the range EMIT ribbon tweeter in the Kappa 90).
I compared them to several other speakers in the shop where I bougt them, one of them being the B&W CDM7. I can't believe the B&W is being so well reviewed in several HIFI magazines. The mids are too loud and it sounded far too "cold". The Kappa 90s were far superior, especially the top end and bottom.

I bought them for appr. $1400 (pair). Great speakers, if not (too) big. I'll rate them at 5 stars.

The highs on these Infinity's are metalic and harsh. The bass is bloated and slow. Overall this a a speaker that tries to sound "high fi-ish", definitely not natural sounding at all.

When I first listened to this pair of speakers ("cheap" Rotel Amp and CD) I didn´t like the sound at all. But when we changed Amp & CD (Advantage, 6000 dollars) the sound was just amazing. So I must agree with Charles, Yee has surely used poor Amp and Cd.

Detailed, warm. Very tight strong bass. Midrange is even better.

Heavy and big, but that's neccasary. Not every amp sounds great on these.

When i heard these loudspeakers the first time i was totally amazed. Never heard such a natural sounding speaker. Sounds MUCH better than kappa 100.

Similar Products Used:

None