Stephen Mejias

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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 the">http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/damaged_domes/">the picture, 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.