Напольная акустика — Vivid KAYA 45

Vivid Audio's KAYA 45 uses four drivers in a three-way floorstanding layout, intended for everyday living spaces as well as dedicated listening rooms. Vivid treats it as an offshoot of the GIYA line that borrows much of their technology. The KAYA family also includes the two-way KAYA 25 and KAYA S12 and the KAYA C35 centre channel with four drivers.

Key specs that matter

The D26 26 mm alloy dome tweeter and the C100se 100 mm alloy dome midrange are both tapered tube loaded, and a pair of C125L 125 mm alloy cone units covers the bass. Crossover points are 300 Hz and 3 kHz. Frequency range is 37 Hz to 25 kHz at -6 dB, and sensitivity is 89 dB at 2.83 V RMS and 1 m on axis. Nominal impedance is 4 ohms, dipping to 2.8 ohms. Vivid recommends amplifiers of 25 W to 500 W. Each speaker is 1153 mm high, 298 mm wide and 385 mm deep, and weighs 25 kg net. Shipping cartons measure 1245 x 680 x 450 mm, and a packed pair weighs 60 kg.

Engineering and use context

Glass fibre reinforces the composite sandwich shell, which is built around a lightweight core. Three standard paint colours are offered (Lexus Pearl White, Oyster Grey Matte or Piano Black), and on request the cabinet can be sprayed in any shade from the PPG automotive range. Low frequencies are handled in a reflex enclosure loaded by an exponentially tapered tube. The patented absorber horn that curves over the top of GIYA cabinets is still present here, but it is folded back on itself so it fits inside the box.

Vivid fits its Super Flux radial magnets to the midrange driver as well as the bass units, whereas GIYA uses them only in the bass. The open centre of these magnets gives the rear wave of each cone or dome a clear path into its absorber, and in the midrange they also lower distortion at higher frequencies. At 1 W, Vivid specifies 2nd and 3rd harmonic distortion under 0.5% over the whole range, while the D26 dome does not break up until 44 kHz. As a three-way design with the tweeter firing forwards rather than sideways, the KAYA 45 has a somewhat more directional radiation pattern than the four-way GIYA, and Vivid positions it for home theatre as well as music.

Pairing

With that low impedance dip, a partner amplifier needs good current delivery into low loads, though its fairly high sensitivity means it need not be a very powerful one.

Alternatives

The KAYA 90 in the same range is a larger three-way design with six drivers.