Loudspeakers

'My love of planar drivers, and the work of Infinity's Arnie Nudell in particular, goes back to the late 1970s and my first visit to Harry Pearson's house in Sea Cliff, New York', recalls PS Audio's CEO Paul McGowan. 'HP (as he was known to readers of The Absolute Sound, the magazine he founded in 1973) had gotten one of the first Infinity Reference Standard loudspeakers [pictured] from Arnie. Up until that moment I had only been exposed to dynamic driver loudspeakers with the occasional smattering of Quad and Acoustat electrostatics, and a smidge of Magneplanars. I was more than familiar with the limitations of both extremes – dynamics performed to their namesake but lacked transparency, while electrostatic and full range 'planars hadn't much in the way of dynamics. The Infinity IRS III [pictured] changed all that for me.'

The IRS's combination of 64 ribbon tweeters, 24 planar mids and a tower with 12 servo controlled woofers 'took my breath away', says Paul, 'the transparency, dynamics, resolution, delicacy and power was unlike anything I had ever thought possible. That one listening experience set my course for life – then I met Arnie, and the rest is history.

'Three years before Arnie's untimely passing in 2017 we had been working together to develop my dream speaker. I was convinced that with modern versions of planar drivers coupled with the dynamics of proper woofers we could get close to the magic I had experienced, but at prices more people could afford. It wasn't until Chris Brunhaver joined the team after Arnie's passing that this elusive dream became a reality'. PM