We’re currently working on our July 2010 issue, which will include Wes Phillips’ review of the Vivid Audio G1Giya loudspeaker ($65,000/pair). Near the end of Wes’ auditioning, the domes of both upper-midrange units were inexplicably damaged. As you can see from <a href="http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/damaged_domes/">the picture</a>, it appears the domes were poked by some sort of dull object. Wes didn’t do it; Wes’ wife didn’t do it. We’ll never know how the damage occurred. What we do know is that the aluminum-dome midrange unit is incredibly delicate and has a strong magnetic pull.

Every job requires a specific tool and replacing the Vivid G1Giya’s midrange unit would take a 6mm hex key, which we didn’t have. On our way to Wes’ place, therefore, John Atkinson and I made a quick stop at the local hardware store and purchased a hex key set. Then, we were ready to get to work.

Near the end of Wes’ auditioning, the domes of both upper-midrange units were inexplicably damaged.

The replacement midrange drive-units for the Vivid G1Giyas arrived in this well-packed and clearly labeled box.

Upon opening the package, which had been shipped from South Africa, we found that one of the two replacement drive-units had been severely damaged. Crikey!

The Vivid G1Giya’s midrange drive-unit is connected to a tapered tube transmission line, which runs the depth of the speaker and attaches at the speaker’s rear via a long hex screw.

The Vivid G1Giya, designed by Laurence Dickie, incorporates the “tapered tube loading” concept originally developed for the B&W Nautilus. Inside the tapered transmission line are several strands of damping fiber.

In the kitchen, we sat down and took a couple of deep breaths before moving on to the next few steps of the process, which I imagined would be infinitely more dangerous. We set down the damaged drive-unit (seen here) and got to work on its replacement.

We very carefully unpacked the replacement drive-unit (seen here) and connected it to the tapered tube transmission line. <i>Without</i> damaging the new dome. Yikes!

With the Vivid G1Giya’s midrange unit removed, we can see a bit of the speaker cabinet’s internal structure.