Looking for comments on the Vivid Kaya 45


I just recently demoed the 45 at a local dealer and was very very impressed.   I'm trying to find reasons not to buy them (not counting the cost) :)

I would love to hear feedback from owners (including previous owners, or other folks who went through listening sessions) of them; specifically what do you like, any dislikes, what else did you compare them with, etc...

My current speakers are Spendor D9s (which I'm a big fan of) and my previous speakers were Magico S1s.    I really liked the resolution, speed, and imaging of the Magicos, but found them to be fatiguing on bad recordings, lean in the midrange/presence region, and limited bass (but very good bass quality). 

I find the D9s image almost as well as the smaller S1s, are not as resolving but don't lack for detail/resolution and have a much fuller midrange/mid-bass along with very solid bass and dynamics.   I'm not looking to replace the D9s as much as I was just curious what was out there I haven't heard.

I thought the 45s were extremely well balanced, with more resolution than I heard with my S1s, equal speed, a more detailed/open presentation yet, lots of deep clean bass, and a midrange that although leaner than the D9s is definitely more full and I think offers more natural tone than the S1s.

I have a 12x17 room so I think they would fit and work fine; my only reservation is maybe the slightly lighter midrange presence than I'm used to now, but they are so clean and lifelike I really felt like you hear what is on the recording with them.   Nick Cave, Johnny Cash and Tom Waits all sounded great with them, super clean but incredibly life like.

I currently drive the D9s with a SimAudio 740P+Pass XA30.8, so am hoping the 30.8 would be able to drive the 45s to satisfactory levels.   I had an X250.8 with the S1s and don't really want to upgrade amps again if I can help it.

Anyhow, any comments welcome by folks with hands on experience with these...

Cheers

 

ddafoe

if you are in the NYC area I have them set-up in our listening room in Northern New Jersey.  They ae amazing sounding.  We listened for 6 hours on Sunday striagh.

 

 

I am a Vivid dealer and have the 45s for demo here.  You are describing what you should hear from a pair of Vivids.  What I will say is they are quite a bit more forward than the Spendors but you have the right amplification tonally.  The bigger issue is if 30w is enough to drive them based on your listening habits.  
 

Peak output that system will be capable of about 10’ from the speakers is 98dB.  The Spendors are 3dB more efficient which means it’s peak output in same setting is 101dBs.  That is probably the biggest issue.  

Post removed