Infinity BETA 20 Bookshelf speakers
The front panel is covered with a removable metal grill, and the bass-reflex port is brought out to the back. The solid-diameter port has a rounded exit (the engineers obviously tried to minimize the whistle that occurs when playing low bass). But there is also a fundamental difference from competitors: the terminals allow only two-wire connection.
All Beta 20 walls, with the exception of the sidewalls, are perfectly damped, and the front also has a curved profile. A horn for a tweeter is formed in its embossed plastic false panel. The systems have a fourth-order filter that separates the signal into bands at a rather low frequency of 2.4 kHz.
Finally, the drivers themselves in Beta 20 have a trendy texture. Yes, now many manufacturers are trying to use new materials instead of cellulose or plastic. Someone prefers Kevlar, others - carbon fiber. Infiniti was one of the first to join the "metal" camp (AE, Canton, Monitor Audio) and began experimenting with aluminum diffusers. So Beta 20 really has a metal tweeter and woofer, and their diffusers are with a proprietary CMMD ceramic coating, which reduces the coloration of the sound.
We have become accustomed to the fact that aluminum can achieve a clear and uncolored sound even in inexpensive systems. But I would not rush to cite Beta 20 as an example for this indicator. With clarity, everything is in order - and the middle is extremely legible, and the upper range sounds free, accurate and detailed. But this clarity is perceived somehow separately. Just in the sound area, which accounts for the division between the midbass and the tweeter, the sound causes a feeling of inconsistency, which is why the entire tonal balance no longer seems neutral.
The systems cannot be reproached for the quality of bass transmission - drums are fast and full, parity reigns in the sound of bass guitar or double bass strings (any note does not dominate the others, as sometimes happens). Therefore, it is not surprising that, with such a solid bass foundation at their disposal, American monitors are primarily able to reproduce modern music. Both the rock of the seventies and modern acidic compositions sound amazing - rhythmically, in a hooligan way, "with pepper". And some things recorded live sometimes take to the soul so much that you want to quit all this test fuss, go to a rock club and sit there until dawn and a slight ringing in your head.
However, Beta 20 is quite versatile. In our test, they showed their loyalty to various genres both in classical music, and in chamber music, and in acoustics with vocals. Jazz also sounds provocatively, but not classical, with a wind section, but improvisational instrumental - copper falls just on the area where Beta 20 does not "obscure" it very conveniently.
