[beat]

Hey guys.
anyone familiar with these? 5.5 feet tall, 7 drivers three of which are planar with one facing the rear toward the wall, 2 12 inch woofers? Here is the deal. They seem like they should be quite rockin. Yes they do have nice highs and mids but the bass seems to lack even bi amped. I guess they are just inefficient with all the switches and Lpads.  I got them from an uncle who was getting rid of them because the woofers surrounds were shot to hell. He repaired them once with duct tape. Nice eh? I rebuilt them and they are working well...or so it seems. Maybe they just need to burn in? I don't know. Anyone know these and want to share their knowledge?
thanks, Beat

[Bemopti123]

I have a pair parked in my mom's garage in Atlanta.  They are gems hidden to be driven correctly.  They were the last of what Andy Nuddell did at Infinity before his picking up shop and setting up GENESIS audio technologies, with their fabled speakers. 

The Kappa 9 cost about $3300 retail back in the late 1980s.  A similar type of speaker today will run you upwards of 10-20K easily.  You have a nice find there, but here is the BIG catch.

In order to drive them correctly, you will need to get an almost unlimited current amplifier or some call it, "soldering" machine.  The crossover in these beasts are very complex, making the ohms dip to closer to 1 ohm or sometimes lower.  You will need a LOT of watts and amps in the amplifier...if you do not wish to fry the emit tweeters...

Some amplifiers that people have used to succesfully drive these speakers:

Aragon 4004 BB?

Aragon 8008 HC?

Sunfire Signature (which produces 600 watts at 8 ohms) per channel

The older Krell KSAs (Class A)

These speakers have the reputation of being "amp destroyers."

All of these might make you wonder whether is worth the hasle of making them run correctly....

They produce glorious midrange as well as a low frequency or "bass launch" has hits you in the chest at modest volumes.  It is to be felt.  ...

Some people will complain about potential harshness, but that has got a lot more to do with an amp that is driving them, that is "currency" limited.  Some people run with upgraded and dedicated power wiring. 

You got a great pair of classic speakers.  The used prices for them do not begin to tell the story of these speakers. 

[warnerwh]

I remember reading that the Parasound HCA 3500 will work ok with them also.

[beat]

Thanks guys,
I monkeyed with the set up last night and it sounds much better........I am embarassed to tell you what I did. Especially after hearing what they could be worth..I assumed the woofers were not wired in series and put them back in the cabinet with red on red and black on brown. After I took an ohm reading from the binding post and found my problem I went in and removed some of the stuffing to find they are supposed to be wired in series.  Of course they sound better and I'm glad I didnt fry anything, amps included. I will try something different tonight when I get home. I have an old 700 watt pro amp sitting in the garage. Since it is just for bass perhaps it will suit the set up well for now. The mids and highs really are nice in my opinion. I'm sure they will rock my face off eventually. I'll keep you all posted and thanks for sharing.
later, Beat

[Bemopti123]

Rock on

Another nice possibility are the new breed of Digital amps such as the H20 which have a robust power supply.  How to tell a tiny power supply digital power to real digital POWER?  Check the weights!  The H20s easily weight 50 lbs+, something similar to my DNA 225...a bear of an amp. 

After you got things going, you will easily tell what they can really do, when you add better components upstream.  The first should be a very very fine power amplifier....Monos that are like rocks would rock them out of this world.

Paul

[beat]

These speakers have the reputation of being "amp destroyers."

All of these might make you wonder whether is worth the hasle of making them run correctly....

They produce glorious midrange as well as a low frequency or "bass launch" has hits you in the chest at modest volumes.  It is to be felt.  ...
 

well shit howdy!!! I have been running them in "normal mode" with my pair of ird mb100 which should run at 200+ watts at four ohms. I was worried about the impedance dip (which goes below 2 ohms) when biamping the 12s separately too much to try running the irds on them in extended mode. Well I busted out the mackie. It drives 700w at a 2 ohm load safely and has a butt load of current. I am now running them in extended mode and Needless to say I have no more bass issues and it is to be felt. The midrange is indeed completely glorious. I love em. Totally inefficent and perhaps an overthought crossover but with a ton of power behind them they kick ass. I love to rattle the glass out of the windows on occasion and these do it in spades. It is so different than what I have had in the past which has alway been on the minimal side...low power, high efficiency stuff. These things rock in a different way. Thanks for all your input guys. I am out to tweak now.

beat