Infinity Black Widow
Little is documented about the Infinity Black Widow, and the record has a conflict that needs stating plainly. The Vintage Speaker Review listing identifies it as a speaker/loudspeaker, and that is the identity used here. But period audio publications from 1978-1979 describe a very different product under the same name: a tonearm, and an associated air-bearing turntable. Audio (March 1979, p.76) ran a full specification sheet for an "Infinity Black Widow Tonearm." It lists an overall length of 30 cm, a pivot-to-stylus distance of 23.7 cm, an effective mass of 3 grams, and room for cartridges weighing 4 to 8.5 grams. HI-Fi-Stereo-Buyers (January 1978, p.8) separately showed the "Infinity Black Widow Air-Table," a turntable whose platter floated on a cushion of air.
The sources at hand don't establish whether the speaker and the tonearm/air-table are the same product line, different generations of one product, or two unrelated items sharing a name. The fact sheet for the speaker has no specifications, no design details and no historical context - only the product type and manufacturer. What can be said with confidence: Infinity made something called the Black Widow, and in the late 1970s the name was attached to a tonearm and air-bearing turntable that reviewers took seriously enough to document in detail.
Known specs for the tonearm variant (per Audio, March 1979, p.76):
- Overall length: 30 cm
- Pivot-to-stylus distance: 23.7 cm
- Effective tonearm mass: 3 grams
- Cartridge weights accommodated: 4–8.5 g
- Stylus force adjustment: calibrated in half-gram steps
- Anti-skating: calibrated fine-spring adjustment
- Cueing: oil-damped
- Bearing friction at stylus point: 0.005 g vertical (knife edge), 0.01 g lateral (ball bearing)
For a speaker with the Black Widow name, the record is essentially silent - no specs, no dates, no reception. The Archive would welcome documentation, brochure scans or measurements from owners to fill that gap.
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