If you’ve seen some of my earlier videos, you may have noticed one of these speakers.
These are Infinity RS-2000 bookshelf speakers, originally from 1988.
I picked 4, yes 4, of these up from Goodwill for $5 apiece.
They all had busted foam surrounds on the woofers which required replacing, but with
an eBay purchase of new surrounds and a little Elmer’s glue later, they were working perfectly.
These speakers are certainly nothing state-of-the art, but they are a decent little bookshelf
speaker.
In fact, I quite like these.
I’m no audiophile, and it looks as though this particular model never really achieved
anything more than a lukewarm reception among the audiophile community, but I think they sound great.
I’ve grown to appreciate clarity and definition more than a booming bass, so the limited bass
response on account of the 6.5 inch woofers doesn’t bother me much.
I use these on my desk as computer speakers, and the other pair sits hooked up to my TV.
And let me tell you, I don’t think there’s a better option out there if you want fantastic
sound for cheap.
And that’s what this video is about.
Now of course, audiophiles in the audience are gonna argue with me and themselves, so
I’ll just say: your mileage may vary.
This video is based on my personal experience and opinions.
These speakers might not sound great to you, and I’m sure there are better options, but
having spent just $60 all in for 4 speakers and an amp, I think it turned out pretty well.
To start with, speakers.
You might be surprised what speakers you’ll find in a thrift store.
It does take some luck and patience, but here are some hints.
When hunting in a thrift store for speakers, there’s one thing you should do before putting
too much thought into any speaker: pick it up.
True hi-fi speakers are heavy, usually because they’re filled with dense acoustic foam
or fiber.
The cabinets tend to be made of better and thicker materials, too.
If you can effortlessly pick up a shoe-box size speaker with just one hand,
put it back down.
For reference, these speakers weigh about 12 pounds apiece.
Brands to keep your eye out for include Infinity, JBL, Harman Kardon, Bang and Olufsen, Bose,
Klipsch, and others.
This is very much a generalization, but speakers from big electronics brands are often not
too great.
A speaker boasting a Sony or Panasonic logo probably isn’t that fantastic, since it probably
came from an all-in-one, mass produced system.
I’m sure there are exceptions, but something out of a home theater in a box or a dedicated
bookshelf system likely won’t be too exceptional.
You also want to check to see how the speakers are hooked up.
A speaker with wires permanently attached to it is probably a no-go.
That’s a tell-tale sign that it came from a boxed system.
You want to see old-fashioned speaker terminals or screw posts.
Especially avoid speakers with 2 pairs of wires or connections.
These don’t have a crossover of their own to drive the woofer and tweeter separately,
which definitely means they’re from an all-in-one system.
Next, you want to check the speaker drivers for signs of damage.
Good speakers will usually have fabric grilles that can easily be removed simply by pulling
them forward.
If the drivers have cracked or blown foam surrounds, it’s not necessarily the end
of the world.
Like I said, all of these Infinitys suffered from this, and I’m sure that’s why they
ended up in goodwill.
But It’s not hard to replace the surrounds, and I’ll put a link in the description to
a good guide for doing so.
Another good thing to check is if any drivers are stuck.
I’m not sure how often this happens, but I have a pair of JBL speakers which had a
completely seized woofer.
Check for this by gently pressing on the woofer to see if it can move.
You can also do this with a mid-range driver, but you shouldn’t do it to a tweeter.
Tweeters can be very fragile, and you wouldn’t be able to tell anything by feel, anyway.
Which brings me to the next bit: you probably won’t be able to test a speaker you get
until you’re home and can hook it up to your amplifier.
If you should find that one of the drivers is dead, fear not!
It’s often easy to obtain a replacement.
Search around for a website specializing in speaker repair and you’ll find plenty of
options.
Of course, this will alter the sound of one of your speakers, so you should buy a pair
of replacements and replace both drivers.
And I know, that’s not exactly ideal, but hey, better than a broken speaker, I say.
Ideally you would find a direct replacement of the exact same part number to prevent altering
the speaker’s sound.
But good luck with that
These are the JBL speakers which had the seized woofer.
I use these with my stereo, and they’re pretty good to my ears.
Not as detailed as the inifitys, though.
You’ll also notice that they are white.
Where’d the old-school wood grain go?
Well, here you can get creative.
One of the nice things about buying old speakers for pennies is that you can do crazy things
like paint them or replace the speaker grille cloth without regret.
And in this case, I’ve done both.
I would have been happy to keep the original finish, but these were very beat up and needed
some TLC anyway.
I figured, why not go with something a little more modern?
And finally, what about an amp?
The audiophiles will not be happy with this, but I really like these little 20 watt amplifiers
you can get on Amazon for $20 or so.
They’re perfect for a PC setup, and can rest next to your monitor rather unobtrusively
and you still have access to the volume and tone controls.
Or, if you’re feeling adventurous, you can mount them to the underside of your desk for
even more flexibility.
Unfortunately the quality of these seems to have dropped in recent years, so it’s definitely
worth reading the reviews, but for a small speaker like this, 20 watts is plenty.
In fact, the spec sheet recommends amplifiers from 15 to 75 watts, so while 20 is on the
low end, it isn’t starving the speaker.
Most speakers from the same time period will work well with an amp of this size.
These little amps usually accept a 3.5 mm mini-plug in addition to RCA cables, so if
you’re fine with the blasphemy that is running them from your motherboard’s built-in DAC,
all you need is an "aux cable".
Personally I’ve never been bothered by using the computer’s own analog output, and I
think these days they’re all pretty decent, though it should be noted that for my particular
setup, my monitor is actually working as the DAC, taking digital audio via displayport
and sending it out to the amp via the headphone jack.
And, that’s it!
I know, this isn’t for everyone.
Maybe the idea of shopping in a thrift store isn’t your cup of tea, or perhaps you’re
not as crazy as I am.
Also, you might have better ears than me and think these aren’t even worth $5.
But for my money, I think these are excellent.
The biggest downside I face with these is that, well, they’re kinda big.
They eat up a good deal of my desk space.
But I don’t mind.
Also, while the oak veneer works well with a black desk, I’m not so sure it will work
with the new bamboo-topped desk I have on its way.
Overall I actually quite like the design of these, especially with the floating black grille
cloth, but the finish is rather intensely dating itself.
Perhaps I’ll refinish these, too.
Anyway, thanks for watching!
If you’re ever on the lookout for a new speaker setup, why not take a trip down the
path of oddities and see what’s available outside of your traditional retailer.
You might be impressed with what you can find.