Vivid Audio KAYA S12 Standmount Loudspeaker Launched
Vivid Audio continues to forge its own path of loudspeaker design with its latest offering, in the KAYA range, the S12.
Vivid Audio's KAYA S12 is a two way, two driver standmount whose curvaceous cabinet is made from RIMCast Polyurethane. While only measuring 12 litres of internal volume and tipping the scales at under 7 kg, Vivid Audio states that the KAYA S12 is packed with its patented tech.
Sporting the same in-house designed and manufactured drivers as its larger siblings as well as the exponential tapered tube on the D26 26mm tweeter, the S12 boasts Vivid Audio's new patented Omni-Absorber cabinet design. The Omni-Absorber, says Vivid Audio, annihilates the common distortion all other two-way monitor designs suffer from. Apparently, this has taken the company "years to develop" and to quote the company's chief designer and co-founder Laurence Dickie, (he of B&W Nautilus fame), "If we would not have solved/cracked this problem, what would be the point of offering it?"
As you will probably have already guessed, the KAYA S12's form isn't purely ornamental. The cabinet's curves reduce edge diffraction and permit time-alignment of the D26 tweeter's output to the C100D 100mm mid/bass driver which hands over at 3 kHz. The cabinet also gives the tweeter a waveguide and, on the inside, accommodates the aforementioned exponentially tapered tube-loaded reflex.
The result is a reported sensitivity of 87dB (@ 2.83VRMS at 1m on axis) with an 8 Ohm (5,3Ohm Min) impedance. Frequency response is a decent 45–25 kHz (-6dB) coming from a reasonably compact 480 mm x 250 mm x 270 mm (HxWxD) cabinet.
The S12 can be wall-mounted or purchased with the equally organic-looking custom stands. You can order the speakers in Piano Black, Pearl White, Oyster Matte, Elba Green, or Borasco Gray for £5,995/pair. Custom colours are available on request.
More information at Vivid Audio
Jay Garrett
StereoNET’s resident rock star, bass player, and gadget junkie. Jay heads up StereoNET as Editor for the United Kingdom and Europe regions. His passion for gadgets and Hi-Fi is second only to being a touring musician.
Posted in: Hi-Fi
JOIN IN THE DISCUSSION
Want to share your opinion or get advice from other enthusiasts? Then head into the Message
Forums where thousands of other enthusiasts are communicating on a daily basis.
CLICK HERE FOR FREE MEMBERSHIP
Trending
applause awards
Each time StereoNET reviews a product, it is considered for an Applause Award. Winning one marks it out as a design of great quality and distinction – a special product in its class, on the grounds of either performance, value for money, or usually both.
Applause Awards are personally issued by StereoNET’s global Editor-in-Chief, David Price – who has over three decades of experience reviewing hi-fi products at the highest level – after consulting with our senior editorial team. They are not automatically given with all reviews, nor can manufacturers purchase them.
The StereoNET editorial team includes some of the world’s most experienced and respected hi-fi journalists with a vast wealth of knowledge. Some have edited popular English language hi-fi magazines, and others have been senior contributors to famous audio journals stretching back to the late 1970s. And we also employ professional IT and home theatre specialists who work at the cutting edge of today’s technology.
We believe that no other online hi-fi and home cinema resource offers such expert knowledge, so when StereoNET gives an Applause Award, it is a trustworthy hallmark of quality. Receiving such an award is the prerequisite to becoming eligible for our annual Product of the Year awards, awarded only to the finest designs in their respective categories. Buyers of hi-fi, home cinema, and headphones can be sure that a StereoNET Applause Award winner is worthy of your most serious attention.