Infinity Reference R253 Tower Loudspeaker Expired

Pasting from the last deal:

Here are a few things to consider about these speakers and brand, based on tons of reading and online research I've done over the past few months. Admittedly, I moved from not knowing about this brand to having a 3.x setup with them, then 5.x and now 7.x. Obviously, that's based on my impressions so YMMV.

The RC263 is a behemoth of a speaker. It's powerful, has nice bass to it (although it could benefit from a dedicated sub) and delivers clear sounds. It's really of insane value given its price. As mentioned, it's HUGE. make sure you account for its size on all dimensions before making the purchase. Take the measurements and verify it fits your media console or can comfortably sit on top of it. Some people suggested hanging it on a wall, but that sounds too obtrusive too given its size. Here's a review from the fantastic site "Audio Science Review" (link [audiosciencereview.com]): "The Infinity RC263 has excellent objective measurements for a budget center speaker. They have tried hard to hit key aspects of good sound in a horizontal center speaker within a very tough budget. So unless you can afford to spend a ton more, the RC263 makes for a very good center speaker in a home theater, augmented by a subwoofer"
The R162 (I have 4 of those) are amazing for their price. It's really a great speaker. Review [audiosciencereview.com](quote: "The Infinity R162 definitely seems to have benefited from good design. Whether on purpose (to sell better in showroom) or not, the elevated highs are a bit of an issue but fortunately that cam be tamed with equalization. The rest of the performance both objectively and subjective is very good and not at all that of a cheap junk speaker"). Once I got the R253 I actually felt that the R162 are of less value, but given their size they are still great. I use them for surround channels (L/R and back L/R. I put them on "PERLESMITH Universal Floor Speaker Stands 26 Inch for Surround Sound" for $70/pair).
The R152 are supposed to be little brother of the 162. They are smaller, but I don't know if its worth buying those when you can get the R162 for a few $ more.
The R253 tower (I own 2 of those) are fantastic. Review [audiosciencereview.com]: "The Infinity Reference 253 is one hell of a package. You couldn't build one quarter of it for what they are selling it for right now. The new measurements show excellent performance, sans two bits: a dip around 2 kHz and too much treble energy. Both were easily fixable with EQ". That review also reports an issue with the tweeter range, but it's unclear whether that was a one-off or not. I couldn't hear issues with my unit, but I'm far from being an audiophile, and I don't own the relevant equipment to measure the sounds, as was done in the review. I'm happy with my units, to be clear.
The R263 are supposed to be even better than the 253. They are slightly bulkier, so I didn't get/hear them.


Brand/Service/Delivery:

When in stock, they ship super fast - you get it in 3-4 days. Don't think twice - order as IT WILL GO OOS soon.
When things go OOS and backordered, some have us waited ~6 weeks with very poor and conflicting communication from Harman Audio reps regarding the status of orders.
Many report packages arriving banged up. Mine missed a few inches of cardboard. However, I haven't read on someone who got a banged up product. Definitely take photos of the boxes once you get them, instead you need to report an issue.
HA have a 30 days return policy. I haven't tried it, but it sounds good on paper.
Some people report getting coupons codes for a small discount after contacting HA support and complaining about issues with past orders. YMMV.

Good luck!

I don't need them. I don't need them. I don't need them...

FWIW - I have two Sub R12's and have compared them side-by-side with the Klipsch R-12SW (Costco), and the SVS PB-2000. I am by no means an audiophile, but thought my experience may help others who have the same questions I did before I compared them next to each other. I compared all three subwoofers with just one sub running at a time and then with the second Sub R12 running as a dual sub for all three. I understand this isn't ideal.

Sub R12 - When I first received it I was having to turn up the gain a lot to get a decent amount of sound out of it and was very underwhelmed. Over the course of a month I have found myself dialing back the gain and it seems to be getting louder over time. I find that the Sub R12 now hits pretty hard and precise (mid-bass). It is not boomy at all and works well for both home theater and music for my taste. I dislike boomy sounding subs.

Klipsch R-12SW - It was loud straight out of the box and it didn't need much gain. I found it to be boomy and imprecise in comparison to the Sub R12 and SVS PB-2000. Even after the bass notes in the music or movie were over, the subwoofer seemed to reverberate for much longer than the others causing it to sound a little bloated and imprecise. It does give a lot of sound, but it wasn't the right kind of sound for my taste.

SVS PB-2000 - I got a good deal on what some people call a "big boy" sub and really wanted to try it out. I was expecting this sub to be a significant step up based on reviews I have read. It performs great, goes very deep and the precision is middle of the road in my opinion (compared to Sub R12 and Klipsch R-12SW). The excursion on this sub was great, but I found that I prefer the more punchy mid-bass of the Sub R-12 for most things I watched and listened to. For most of the movies I watched (13 Hours, Ford vs. Ferrari, Lone Survivor etc.), they seemed to have more of the mid-bass from explosions and car engines. The SVS PB-2000 and the Sub R12 sounded somewhat similar to me, although the Sub R12 was a little more punchy and tight and I could feel the explosions more. The PB-2000 was a little smoother and fuller, but didn't have quite the same punch. I then watched a couple of movies with some very deep bass and could tell that the PB-2000 could go lower without distortion, but I found that I didn't really miss it much when running the Sub R12. Also the PB-2000 is huge. The Sub R12 is much more compact and easy to hide.

I could be very happy with both the Sub R12 or the SVS PB-2000. The performance of the SVS PB-2000 would have had to have been significantly better or I would have to be watching movies with a lot of really low bass to make the price and size difference worth it to me. In the end, I will be keeping the Sub R12's and sending back the PB-2000. If price and overall size were not factors in my decision I would probably go with dual PB-2000s, just to have the ability to dig deep when needed. I got 2 R-12's for a total of $280 (no taxes) and the SVS PB-2000 was $590 after tax (new from SVS).