Infinity Modulus

Infinity Modulus Home Theater System

Style With a Learning Curve

by David Dritsas

As far as speakers go, Infinity is probably one of the most style-minded manufacturers there is. Everything the company offers has a look. Whether it’s a silver-colored tweeter or a curvaceous center channel speaker, the company’s sense of fashion is very modern. It is not hard to say that Infinity products always look good, depending on your own taste, of course. However, when deciding what kind of speakers to buy, shopping by style alone is a dangerous path to follow. Sometimes you can get burned by speakers that look good, but lack in sound and construction quality. Infinity has done some interesting things with this system to prove to you that they are not just giving lip-service (or eye-service, as the case may be).

The Modulus system is a 5.1 surround sound speaker set with four 8 ohm, 4-inch satellite speakers, a center channel speaker with dual 4-inch woofers and a 12-inch, 300-watt powered subwoofer. Some of the design aspects include Ceramic Metal Matrix Diaphragms and the subwoofer has a unique feature built into it called R.A.B.O.S., which stands for Room Adaptive Bass Optimization System—more on that in just a moment.

The overall construction quality of the system is very good. Each speaker is housed in a sturdy metal casing and is magnetically shielded. (Magnetic shielding, a common feature of most speakers, prevents interference from other electronic devices in close range, say a TV.) Each satellite has a small, heavy metal stand that swivels on a ball at the base of the speaker. You can angle them or flip them back and place them on a wall. The stands also act as wall mounts with all the appropriate holes and screws. An additional mounting plate that ships with the set has a built-in bubble level, so you can level the speakers. An interesting feature that you will not find in most speakers is an Allen wrench that is hidden behind a rubber casing on the speaker stand. Since all the bolts are Allen heads, you won’t need to scramble through your tool box when you set up the system or move it around.

The center channel is roughly oval-shaped with a flat bottom. Placed on top of a television it is an attractive alternative to most boxy centers that come with other systems. Rubber feet on the bottom keep it steady and also act as anchors which attach to the optional TV rack that lets the satellites hang off the sides of the television. We had a chance to take a look at this rack as well. It is basically a metal rod that lies flat on the top of your television and has mounts for the two front satellites. The speaker wires stay out of sight by running through the frame and down the back of the TV. The addition of the rack is a nice way to show off your speakers, but works better if you have a wide-screen TV. I found that on my 27-inch Zenith, the effect was that of giving the TV airplane wings. I suspect, however, that most buyers of this system will have larger televisions than mine.

The subwoofer follows the design of the center and satellites, though a contrast in size. While the speakers are compact, the sub goes out of its way to say “I mean business,” weighing in at 42 pounds. It also begs not to be hidden away in the corner with its silvery finish and curvaceous edges. A gain control dial on the front lights up when the unit is powered up. What really differentiates this subwoofer from others is the inclusion of a few extra controls that you do not see on most subwoofers, and that has to do with the feature that Infinity calls R.A.B.O.S. This is a system for calibrating your system to specific surroundings in your own home. While I am not 100 percent convinced that R.A.B.O.S. gives you better bass than a comparable, properly calibrated system that doesn’t have it, I will say that it teaches the user how to get the best he or she can out of a speaker system, something uncommon in speaker systems.

This process of optimization takes a little work on the part of the user, but Infinity has included some tools and a decent explanation of the whole procedure. For those who do not wish to get heavily involved there is some help available at a special R.A.B.O.S. Web page at www.infinitysystems.com. The tools supplied are a simplified sound-level meter, measurement templates for plotting sound levels at different frequencies, a width selector used to help determine equalizer settings, an adjustment key for setting the equalizer dials inset in the back of the subwoofer and a test CD that contains test sounds at different frequencies, so you can make your calculations.

There are three R.A.B.O.S. equalizer settings—frequency, level and width—that help you calibrate your system. The frequency setting is determined through charting the sound levels at different frequencies using the test CD and the sound-level meter. For each frequency the CD plays, from 20Hz to 100Hz, a reading is taken from the sound-level meter, from -16dB to 0dB. The result is a line graph, drawn by connecting the dots, that helps you determine all of your settings. The frequency you set, and thus equalize, is the peak frequency, indicated as the frequency that peaks on the chart at 0dB. In other words, this is the frequency at which the subwoofer comes closest to the midrange sounds being emitted by the satellites. This is where an overpowering in the bass response can happen.

The next step is to determine the width and level settings. Width defines what bandwidth—or range of frequencies—of the subwoofer output will be equalized and level defines the level in decibels that needs to be reduced from peak frequency. Much of this can be a bit head-spinning, especially if you are new to acoustic equalization. The width and level adjustments are calculated using the width selector, which is placed over your plotted line graph. Once the adjustments are made to the R.A.B.O.S. controls you then set the gain using the sound-level meter and test CD again, matching a -10dB on your volume level with a -10dB on the meter by adjusting the gain dial till you get that number.

For those not wanting to fool with the width selector, an online site will calculate the settings for you after you plug in the numbers that you get by plotting the line chart. The instructions in the manual for equalizing this system are clear and easy to follow, though I still think the beginner is not going to have learned a great deal, since explanations of room acoustics are not completely fleshed out. Still, the user will have the satisfaction of having optimized the modulus system according to his or her environment. Since this can vary so much and in ways that defy a standard, the company has included a number of example line graphs that users may encounter, in other words, rooms that have double peaks, extremely narrow peaks, or dips. Advice on how to adjust for these is supplied.

I found the result of the equalization helpful and that it improved the overall sound quality of the system, which I was generally pleased with as a whole. This system delivers good bass, after all, it is a 300-watt sub. It has a price of $1,700 and though I have heard other 5.1 systems that sound just as good for a few hundred dollars less, there are other points of the system that should be considered, such as construction quality, the inclusion of an optimization kit and the style that the Infinity Modulus system carries. This is a status-piece system to be sure.