Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Vivid Kaya 45 loudspeaker Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Digital sources: Oppo Digital UDP-105 universal disc player, Baetis Prodigy-X PC-based music server running JRiver Media Center v25 and Roon, exaSound e38 Mark II D/A processor, QNAP TVS-873 NAS.
Preamplifiers: Audio Research MP1, Parasound P7.
Power amplifiers: Benchmark AHB2, Hegel C-53, Classé Sigma Mono, Parasound Halo A 31.
Loudspeakers: Revel Ultima2 Studio, GoldenEar Triton One.R, Revel Performa F228Be, Dutch & Dutch 8c.
Cables: Digital, AudioQuest Coffee (USB); interconnects; AudioQuest Earth/DBS balanced, Kubala-Sosna Anticipation (RCA); loudspeaker cables, Benchmark Studio&Stage (NL2 to banana), Canare 4S11 (Blue Jeans Cable); AC, Kubala-Sosna Emotion, SignalCable MagicPower 20A.
AC accessories: AudioQuest Niagara 5000 and BrickWall 8RAUD power conditioners, HDPLEX 400W ATX Linear Power Supply, CyberPower 850PFCLCD BBU (supplied with server).
Listening room: 24' L × 14' W × 8' H, furnished with 2 MSR Acoustics Dimension4 SpringTraps in the front corners, 2 Ready Acoustics Chameleon Super Sub Bass Traps to the sides and moderately sound-absorbing furniture. Front wall has large windows partly covered by fabric drapes and 4" thick 2 × 4' OC 705 panels.—Kal Rubinson

COMMENTS

How did the Vivid Kaya 45s compare to ...

Submitted by Ortofan on January 22, 2020 - 12:25pm

... the similarly priced Revel Ultima2 Studios?
Do the Kayas capture the "flag" that the Revel Performa F228Bes "planted in the ground at the $10,000/pair meridian?"
Are the Kayas more of a "pure delight" than the Dutch & Dutch 8cs?
If the GoldenEar Triton One.R "does it all, and at a fair price", then what, if anything, does it lack?
To paraphrase the amp review, if one of these speakers is right, then the others must be wrong.

If the "the Kayas sounded good from the moment they hit the carpet" and "never failed to please, with any musical source at any reasonable listening level", then why is KR not buying them (instead of returning them and missing them)?

Upon re-reading this comment,

Submitted by Kal Rubinson on January 23, 2020 - 8:38am

Upon re-reading this comment, I feel the need to say that I do not change my equipment willy-nilly even when greatly impressed with a new product. One must admit that there are a lot of great speakers in the same general price range, some already mentioned in this discussion, and one can make a good case for any one of them.

I rely a great deal on my intimate familiarity with a product, especially a loudspeaker, as it works in my system and my room and that takes a lot of time and effort. To change, one must begin again and that's after surmounting the necessary physical and financial costs. OTOH, it is always on my mind....................

Thanks for the clarification.

Submitted by Ortofan on January 23, 2020 - 10:34am

On this site, and elsewhere, it's not uncommon to read reviews that conclude with words to the effect that the reviewer especially enjoyed the sound quality of a product, hated to see it go and will really miss it.

The reader is often left wondering if the product was truly that good then why didn't the reviewer buy it?

Perhaps such reviews should conclude with some rationale for the reviewer's decision not to buy that particular product.

As you suggested, below, the outcome might conceivably have been different with the Kaya 90.

The reader is often left

Submitted by Kal Rubinson on January 23, 2020 - 1:10pm

The reader is often left wondering if the product was truly that good then why didn't the reviewer buy it?

There are so many factors in such a decision, many of which are quite personal and not relevant to others. For example, color and style. Readers can judge these for themselves and, unless I can say something quite positive about the product in this regard, why introduce it? (Quality of finish and construction is a different issue.)
Another is spouse acceptance.

So what I try to do is compare and contrast the performance of the DUT with similar ones that I know and let the reader consider that in the context of his/her own personal preferences.

Polk Audio Legend L800 .........

Submitted by Bogolu Haranath on January 22, 2020 - 11:52am

May be KR could also review the new Polk Audio Legend L800 floor-standing speakers with SDA-PRO technology, $6,000/pair ........ L800 were favorably mentioned by RS in a recent dealer demo ...... L800 were also favorably reviewed by S&V magazine :-) ........

I prefer the overall

Submitted by Kal Rubinson on January 22, 2020 - 2:28pm

I prefer the overall performance of the Studio2s and, in particular, their bass weight and extension. It has bigger woofers. Perhaps the bigger Kayas would suit me more.

Thank you for that.

Submitted by Anton on January 22, 2020 - 4:17pm

Thanks for the added consideration!

Kaya 90 ..........

Submitted by Bogolu Haranath on January 22, 2020 - 3:47pm

The top of the Kaya line Kaya 90 are priced at $26,000/pair ........ May be worth reviewing by Stereophile :-) .......

Revel Performa F328Be ..........

Submitted by Bogolu Haranath on January 23, 2020 - 7:00am

The Revel Performa F328Be ($15,000/pair) may equal the bass extension and performance of Kaya 90, for less cost ...... F328Be are even less expensive than Kaya 45 :-) .........

I am well aware of that. :-)

Submitted by Kal Rubinson on January 23, 2020 - 7:25am

I am well aware of that. :-)

Normal vs non

Submitted by AJ on January 23, 2020 - 8:35am

I find non normalized off axis data far easier to read/interpret, thanks.
Hopefully this is the new "norm" ;-)

Here here!

Submitted by Oilman on January 28, 2020 - 6:43pm

A non-normalized off-axis view gets us closer to “spin-o-rama” information, which is well established to predict speaker audio quality. JA’s normalization of off-axis measurements are oft-criticized by Dr Floyd Toole. JA, please ditch the normalized curves once and for all and give us non-normalized!

'Spinorama' ...........

Submitted by Bogolu Haranath on January 29, 2020 - 10:02am

You may already know this ....... KR wrote an article about 'blind listening tests' at Harman facilities and about 'Spinorama' graphs :-) ........

'Spinorama' ...........

Submitted by Bogolu Haranath on January 29, 2020 - 10:27am

If you see Figures 4-6 in measurements section of Kaya 45, you can see a little bit of 'Fletcher-Munson' type of 'bowl' in the upper midrange and treble region (although, it is not that much pronounced) :-) ........

'Spinorama' ...........

Submitted by Bogolu Haranath on January 29, 2020 - 11:07am

Wanna see some 'ripples' this same region? ........ Take a look at any Wilson speaker measurements (reviewed by Stereophile) in similar section of measurements :-) .......

'Bowls and ripples' ........

Submitted by Bogolu Haranath on January 29, 2020 - 11:42am

Lot of B&W speakers also show 'bowls and ripples' in their measurements in this area :-) .......

Re: Dispersion Graphs

Submitted by John Atkinson on January 29, 2020 - 2:53pm

Oilman wrote:
JA, please ditch the normalized curves once and for all and give us non-normalized!

Space in the print magazine is limited, so I decided many years ago that the primary dispersion measurements I would publish would be normalized to the tweeter (or other recommended axis) response. It was the changes in the response off-axis that I felt more revealing. Only occasionally, as the case of the Vivid Kaya 45, have I also published the actual responses.

Perhaps for the website reprints of the magazine's loudspeaker reviews I could publish both normalized and actual dispersion graphs.

John Atkinson
Technical Editor, Stereophile

changes in the response off-axis that I felt more revealing

Submitted by AJ on January 30, 2020 - 7:16am

Quote:

It was the changes in the response off-axis that I felt more revealing.

This is generally true, since spectrally *dissimilar* reflections are perceptually harder to ignore, which normalized will emphasize.
But in the case of the subsequent Magico review, the normalized makes the >10k response look very wide, which in fact it is not, since it is actually correspondingly down in level with the on axis. I can see it this way being used to viewing normalized, but the casual reader eye might mistake it for otherwise.
I'm with Dr Toole on this one. The "raw" response impinging the surroundings is more informative, IMHO.

AJ
Soundfield Audio

Audio Physic Virgo III .........

Submitted by Bogolu Haranath on January 30, 2020 - 10:33am

If, you look at the Audio Physic Virgo III Stereophile measurements, the JA1's listening room FR measurements (Fig.7) look very much similar to Magico M2 :-) .........

Can vs Must??

Submitted by AJ on January 23, 2020 - 8:52am

Quote:

The active Dutch & Dutch 8cs must be placed close to the front wall

Hmmm, a cardioid/controlled directivity type speaker *can* be placed closer to the front wall, less detrimentally than a non-cardioid, due to the rear output nulling and controlled off axis.
However, that shouldn't be mandatory, especially with an adjustable (such as an active) speaker.
With proper adjustment, should function just fine away from wall. Subsequent spatial rendering should be commensurate.

cheers,

AJ
Soundfield Audio