Infinity R162

They color the sound heavily, with scooped out midrange and exaggerated, aggressive treble. And they also have pretty weak bass extension for their size. You can get quite a bit better for the same money or less, even when the RP-600M’s are on sale. For example: Wharfedale Diamond 225 or 220, Emotiva B1+, Monolith Encore B6, JBL Studio 530 on sale, Infinity R162, JBL Stage A130, Elac Debut 2.0 B6.2, PSB Alpha P3 and P5, Kanto YU Passive 5.25”, HSU HB-1 Mk2, KEF Q150 on sale… the list goes on.

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. ".

If we stick with the pb1000 ($500) which is a good choice, though they just updated the model into the pro, you could spend the 500 on infinity reference speakers the next time they go on sale. They'll be bookshelf for fronts but say, R162 fronts $160 RC263 center $170 R152 surrounds $130 (prices might be slightly off, just going on memory) would get you in under $500. Need to add stands but that's a pretty good set of speakers.

I think speakers are snake oil. I got 3 dollar speakers that sound as good if not better than my Wharfedale Diamond 225's or my Infinity R162's. It is all about lots of good clean power and your shit speakers will sound better than you think.