Floorstanding loudspeakers — Vivid KAYA 90

The Vivid Audio KAYA 90 is the top model of the KAYA series, a three-way floorstanding speaker with six drivers. Its name comes from the internal volume of 90 litres, and it borrows its core technology from the larger GIYA range, packaged in a slimmer and more conventional-looking cabinet.

Key specs that matter

A D26 26 mm tapered tube loaded alloy dome covers the treble, a C100se 100 mm tapered tube loaded alloy dome the midrange, and four C125L 125 mm alloy cones the bass, with crossovers at 300 Hz and 3 kHz. The D26 dome does not reach its first break-up until 44 kHz. Response is 35 Hz to 25 kHz at -6 dB. Sensitivity is 90 dB at 2.83 V/1m, impedance is 6 ohms nominal with a 4 ohm minimum, and Vivid gives 25 W to 500 W for music programme. Second and third harmonic distortion is quoted below 0.5% across the range. The cabinet is 1202 mm high, 370 mm wide and 540 mm deep, and each speaker weighs 38 kg net and 55 kg in its carton.

Engineering and use context

Its glass-reinforced sandwich composite cabinet uses reflex bass loading assisted by an exponentially tapered tube, and the curved absorber horn that is visible on the outside of a GIYA is folded back on itself inside the KAYA 90, damping resonances in the lower midrange. The four woofers work as reaction-cancelling pairs. All drive units are aluminium and made by Vivid, and the crossovers are developed and built in-house. The tweeter sits in a shallow waveguide that projects its output forward instead of spreading it sideways. Tapered tube absorbers need drivers with a large central hole, so Vivid uses rear-mounted radial Super Flux magnets, and in the D26 they give a peak flux of 2.5 T. The C125 bass chassis has 12 struts only 3 mm wide, covering about 10% of the cone area. Voice coil formers are highly vented, with almost half of their surface made up of holes, which moves the resonance of the air trapped behind the dust dome out of band. The alloy domes follow a patented catenary profile that pushes the first break-up almost an octave higher than a spherical dome. Cabinets come in Oyster Grey Matte, Piano Black or Lexus Pearl White, and any PPG automotive colour can be ordered.

Pairing

As an efficient design without a difficult load, the KAYA 90 does not demand a very large amplifier, while its generous upper power rating leaves room for powerful ones.

Alternatives

The KAYA 45 is the smaller three-way KAYA floorstander with four drivers instead of six.