Twin Peaks

The beauty of owning a pair of floor-standing speakers that clock in at just under five-feet tall can be conveyed with just one word: POWERFUL.

However, just because a pair of speakers inspires awe when someone first glances upon them, it does not mean that the speakers can deliver that same feeling of raw power during an audio demonstration.

I pause for a moment, before my testing begins, to take in the C336 3-Way floor standing speakers. The towers have three 6 ½ “ woofers, along with a 4” mid-range cone and a 1” tweeter.

Infinity’s designers used their CMMD drivers into this speaker series. According to Infinity, this Ceramic Metal Matrix Diaphragm material results in a much more rigid driver.

Infinity claims that the tweeter embedded in the C336 speaker series extends high frequencies out to 40khz. Seeing as how the C336 speakers also contain three woofers, the low-end audio frequencies should also flow perfectly even though the cabinet is of the more narrow design that has become popular in recent years.

The two speakers had a nice high-gloss black sheen to them that added to their overall powerful-looking image. They're also available in a cherry veneer. For my test I used a Denon 7.1 AVR4310 receiver and a Pioneer BDP-320 Blu-ray player.  

The C336 speakers were situated about four feet away from each other and were around five feet away from my seating arrangement.

Movies and Music

I find one of the best ways in checking out if a speaker retains decent sound imaging on all fronts is by watching and listening to a DVD movie that features an elaborate musical soundtrack. With that in mind, I played the 2008 DVD release of Mamma Mia!.

This disc would also let me check out if the C336's could handle the high-end and mid-range audio signals emanating from this highly musical movie.

The movie’s initial sequence that features Amanda Seyfried as the young girl who needs to know exactly who her father is as she boards the small boat containing three men, one of whom might be her father, the C336 speakers did an outstanding job of perfectly replicating the subtle nuances of the ocean water gently hitting the hull of the small boat.

This type of subtle “naturalness” that the speakers were able to deliver impressed me very much. And the movie’s dialogue that was coming from the two C336 speakers was very crisp and accurate, while the movie’s sound effects such as wind blowing through the trees and the softer musical score sounded organic and vibrant.

But when the musical score started to gather up steam and finally exploded with full impact, the C336 speakers definitely started to show their weaknesses. As the movie continued along, there wasn't a lot of punch in the low end.

I switched to music and inserted a CD from the rock band Incubus entitled Morning View and began to listen to their biggest hit song off of that CD, “Nice to know you.” As the song began, I noticed that the low-end did sound stronger than it did while I was watching Mamma Mia! a few minutes earlier.

As the vocals from the band’s leader, Brandon Boyd, started to heat up, the mid-range and tweeters did a very good job of sustaining this pop song’s warmth as the vocals gathered up a lot more steam, building to the song’s conclusion.

The C336 speakers were able to handle the mid-range audio during this song with a great deal of aplomb, especially when it came to handling the crystal-clear audio imaging during the lead guitar playing of band member Mike Einzinger.

Conclusion

I'd recommend these speakers, but if you plan to use them as a part of a home theater system, you should probably get them with a subwoofer.

I was much more enthused about their performance with music than with movies. If you are looking to purchase two floor-standing speakers that will highlight your CD collection, you should consider buying a pair of these speakers for yourself.

PRICE: $1098/Pair
CONTACT: 877.246.5427 Infinitysystems.com