Напольная акустика — EgglestonWorks Kiva 2

The Kiva 2 is a passive tower speaker made by EgglestonWorks, whose cabinets are handcrafted in Memphis, USA. It is a three-way design carrying five drivers in a slim tower, and it follows the original Kiva, whose name it carries forward.

Key specs that matter

The Kiva 2 uses a 1 inch dome tweeter, its diaphragm a thin-ply carbon fibre layer. Two 6.5 inch midrange units and two 7.5 inch bass units all use proprietary pulp diaphragms. EgglestonWorks rates the response at 28 Hz to 24 kHz within plus or minus 3 dB, sensitivity at 89 dB measured at 1 m with 2.83 V, and nominal impedance at 6 ohm. Crossover points are at 250 Hz and 2.2 kHz. The footprint is 254 mm wide and 508 mm deep, height is 1143 mm, and each cabinet weighs about 59 kg.

Engineering and use context

Cabinet walls measure between 39 and 45 mm and are built up from several layers of MDF and HDF, with aluminium braces tying the baffle to the structure. Each midrange driver sits in its own heavily damped quasi transmission line tube, which tapers as it opens toward the rear of the enclosure, so the back wave of the cone is absorbed along the tube instead of reflecting straight back through the diaphragm. The fill is a non-settling type, combined with felt throughout the enclosure, and the maker notes that it keeps its damping properties over time instead of sagging to the bottom of the cabinet. Port cross-sections for the low-frequency section were sized to limit compression and air noise at high drive levels. With the two woofers handling the band below the lower crossover, the pair of midrange cones covers the range up to the tweeter without having to reproduce deep bass. Amplifier connection uses one set of copper binding posts, so the speaker is intended for single wiring rather than bi-amping.

Pairing

Moderate sensitivity and a nominal load under 8 ohm suit solid-state integrated or power amplifiers that stay stable into such loads, and the single terminal set means one stereo amplifier channel per speaker. Given their weight, the towers need a firm floor and two people for placement, and in a space of about 20 m2 the tall cabinet with rear midrange line openings benefits from some distance to the back wall.

Alternatives

The EgglestonWorks Viginti is a bigger tower in the same brand range, with dual 10 inch carbon woofers and a beryllium dome tweeter in a cabinet of about 116 kg.