Harman Audio has select Infinity Reference Speakers listed below on sale from $99.99. Slickdeals Cashback is available for this store (PC extension required, before checkout). Shipping is free.
Thanks to community member Cooney01 for finding this deal.
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Harman Audio has select Infinity Reference Speakers listed below on sale from $99.99. Slickdeals Cashback is available for this store (PC extension required, before checkout). Shipping is free.
Thanks to community member Cooney01 for finding this 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 ): "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 (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 : "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.
I have demo'd every speaker in this line in my theater room, feel free to ask me any questions you may have about the different options. Here are a few size comparison pictures between the RC252 & RC263 as well as the R152 & R162. It's a sizeable difference in both cases.
Here are a some snaps of my theater room using all Infinity Reference speakers in a 7.2.4 setup (subs are UM18-22's not Infinity). Please forgive any duplicate'ish photos. I didn't spend time going through them. Just wanted to grab some with speaker grills on and some off to give folks an idea of what these actually look like in a room. I also have a 5.1 setup to put in the living room because I like these speakers so much.
How does the RC 252 compare with the RC 263? I currently own a pair of Infinity R 263 and want a center channel. Should I wait for RC 263 to be on sale?
How does the RC 252 compare with the RC 263? I currently own a pair of Infinity R 263 and want a center channel. Should I wait for RC 263 to be on sale?
However for atmos, you have to think about HOW you will be mounting the speakers, you have to angle and tilt them towards your listening position. The R152 does not have any obvious mounting holes and weigh 12.8lbs.
Another option to look at are the Polk OWM3, they can be had on Amazon for $100 per pair, look at camelcamecamel for price history.
The Polks are lighter, easier to mount (have mounting screw hole in the back), comes in white color (if that's important for matching the ceiling) and well regarded for ATMOS duty.
Last edited by DSLisFREE May 3, 2021 at 04:43 PM.
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The 6.5" woofer versions R263 and RC263 don't stay in stock or go on sale as often, but they do offer them. They have the R162 which is the bookshelf version with 6.5" but not on sale this time for some reason
i got the RC263 for 299$ and its amazing and crystal clear. Im sure the 252 is worth it for 99
However for atmos, you have to think about HOW you will be mounting the speakers, you have to angle and tilt them towards your listening position. The R152 does not have any obvious mounting holes and weigh 12.8lbs.
Another option to look at are the Polk OWM3, they can be had on Amazon for $100 per pair, look at camelcamecamel for price history.
The Polks are lighter, easier to mount (have mounting screw hole in the back), comes in white color (if that's important for matching the ceiling) and well regarded for ATMOS duty.
Polks sound like trash my Infinity Reference blows them away and does great atmos, only speaker id ont have mounted is the center cause you can angle it up anyway. My buddy who works at an audio store says the Infinity Reference still blow away anything under 5 grand.
However for atmos, you have to think about HOW you will be mounting the speakers, you have to angle and tilt them towards your listening position. The R152 does not have any obvious mounting holes and weigh 12.8lbs.
Another option to look at are the Polk OWM3, they can be had on Amazon for $100 per pair, look at camelcamecamel for price history.
The Polks are lighter, easier to mount (have mounting screw hole in the back), comes in white color (if that's important for matching the ceiling) and well regarded for ATMOS duty.
FWIW I have R162s set up as my rear surrounds and was able to mount using a clamping bracket (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HBY4GXO/ in particular). They're even deeper than the R152s and I still had enough clearance from the wall to mount them even with the tapered sides.
I opted for the RS152s for my atmos speakers, on the side walls of the MLP pretty flush to the ceiling. It offers a nice effect at a great price.
Oh I figured you were holding a poll to find the most popular and buy the winner! 😜
All kidding aside(but actually kinda true 😎)
In my experience and I have set both those up, the rs design(di/bi pole) are not ideal for object based soundtracks, the r(direct) are more suited for it.
As someone else pointed out the challenge is mounting them as height speakers angled downward to your seating.
Keep in mind height speaker "Atmos" design is an alternative and will vary widely on how well it works.
At this level of speakers you might consider disregarding matching the speakers and consider more of a speaker designed as height in which they are already angled for you.
Good deal. I've been running the full line picked up from previous deals and have been very happy. R263 fronts, RC263 Center, R162 Surrounds, RS152 as Side Surrounds/Overheads. I have a different sub but 2x R12 should be pretty nice at this price point if you went that route.
I don't have the R152, just the bipole design RS152 as my "overhead" atmos speakers. For the bookshelf R152 vs 162, if they're for your fronts the R162 may be better for that additional headroom. When they're on sale, they're only like 30 bucks more for the pair so it's a no-brainer. For surrounds, the R152 would be excellent in most applications in a little more compact speaker
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I bought a combo of 2 r253 as fronts and 2 r162 with the rc263 center and it sounds pretty decent for my big living space. Woulve gotten the r263 but they were out of stock
Haha, I have the exact same setup! I'm wondering if it would be worth it to upgrade to the R263s at some point if they go on sale. I sorta hate that its only those that don't have the 6.5" woofers. Given that I have 1 (so far) Monolith 12" handling the low frequencies, and I'm only using it for Home Theater really, I'm pretty sure the 263s wouldn't be noticeable enough to make it worthwhile.
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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 ): "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 (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 : "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!
http://imgur.com/a/dZrLk71
Here are a some snaps of my theater room using all Infinity Reference speakers in a 7.2.4 setup (subs are UM18-22's not Infinity). Please forgive any duplicate'ish photos. I didn't spend time going through them. Just wanted to grab some with speaker grills on and some off to give folks an idea of what these actually look like in a room. I also have a 5.1 setup to put in the living room because I like these speakers so much.
https://imgur.com/a/Tm4beIp
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185 Comments
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However for atmos, you have to think about HOW you will be mounting the speakers, you have to angle and tilt them towards your listening position. The R152 does not have any obvious mounting holes and weigh 12.8lbs.
Another option to look at are the Polk OWM3, they can be had on Amazon for $100 per pair, look at camelcamecamel for price history.
The Polks are lighter, easier to mount (have mounting screw hole in the back), comes in white color (if that's important for matching the ceiling) and well regarded for ATMOS duty.
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However for atmos, you have to think about HOW you will be mounting the speakers, you have to angle and tilt them towards your listening position. The R152 does not have any obvious mounting holes and weigh 12.8lbs.
Another option to look at are the Polk OWM3, they can be had on Amazon for $100 per pair, look at camelcamecamel for price history.
The Polks are lighter, easier to mount (have mounting screw hole in the back), comes in white color (if that's important for matching the ceiling) and well regarded for ATMOS duty.
However for atmos, you have to think about HOW you will be mounting the speakers, you have to angle and tilt them towards your listening position. The R152 does not have any obvious mounting holes and weigh 12.8lbs.
Another option to look at are the Polk OWM3, they can be had on Amazon for $100 per pair, look at camelcamecamel for price history.
The Polks are lighter, easier to mount (have mounting screw hole in the back), comes in white color (if that's important for matching the ceiling) and well regarded for ATMOS duty.
I opted for the RS152s for my atmos speakers, on the side walls of the MLP pretty flush to the ceiling. It offers a nice effect at a great price.
All kidding aside(but actually kinda true 😎)
In my experience and I have set both those up, the rs design(di/bi pole) are not ideal for object based soundtracks, the r(direct) are more suited for it.
As someone else pointed out the challenge is mounting them as height speakers angled downward to your seating.
Keep in mind height speaker "Atmos" design is an alternative and will vary widely on how well it works.
At this level of speakers you might consider disregarding matching the speakers and consider more of a speaker designed as height in which they are already angled for you.
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Join The Conversation
Share your experience with the Slickdeals community
Share information with the community. Please follow our Community Guidelines and be kind!