VIVID AUDIO KAYA 45 - REVIEW
VIVID AUDIO KAYA 45
THE BAR HAS BEEN RAISED!
So, surprises. I have had quite a few surprises in my life, but one that stands out, relative to my writing, takes me to my screenplay writing days and a particular Sci-Fi script. The script had won a number of awards, been placed in the top ten of the Red List’s Sci-Fi Action scripts, and I had just sent it to one of the producers of the Sci-Fi film Arrival, a true favorite and an easy all-time-top-five lister.
I had sent the script via email on a Friday after a final, final rewrite, wherein I felt that the characters were fleshed out, their ‘arcs’ poignant, tragic, redemptive, and that the additional refinements had made the script even better. I did not expect to hear back from the producer for a week, two, months, if ever. That, unfortunately, is the way things ‘roll’ in Hollywood.
Well, after a rather euphoric weekend and a great feeling of accomplishment, knowing that the script was indeed in good shape, it was time to refresh/polish that Magical Realism script. And then the unexpected happened. On Monday morning, three days after I had sent the Sci-Fi script, I got the call. They loved it!
Well, not to break the momentum so abruptly, but I have just had another wonderful surprise, though not quite on the level of “We want to option your script”, but an eyeopening surprise nonetheless. It is a surprise of the audio variety, wherein a piece of audio equipment raises the bar and sets the standards higher for every piece of equipment that follows it. Simply put, things will never be the same. And that surprise has come in the form of the Vivid Audio Kaya 45 speakers.
REFRAIN: Unlike most reviews, this review will be non-sequential, as it will start, below, with how the equipment actually sounds and not the process of physically “undressing” it and/or laying out its various parts, specifications, etc. Think of this review then, as a non-linear movie—Memento, Kill Bill, Arrival, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Terminator, In the Shadow of the Moon, The Queen’s Gambit, etc—that, likewise, starts at the end and winds its way to the beginning
The SETUP
The usual. My listening room’s dimensions are 15 feet (457.2cm) by 30 feet (914.4cm). My system is placed along the short wall. The left side of the room is open, while on the right side there are two very large, double-paned windows, with very effective (sound defusing/absorbing) blinds. The floors are hardwood, the external walls are concrete, covered by large rugs with under-padding, and the internal walls are the robust, ‘60s-era-build, found in high rise buildings. All one has to do is to walk in to understand the solidity and the quiet.
The Vivid Audio Kaya 45s, with the help of Dick Diamond, were quite easy to set up, ‘spike’ and position. The Kaya 45s ended up 10 feet apart, 5 feet from the back wall, and facing forward with, perhaps, a ten degree toe-in, which gave a solid center image and a soundstage rivaling the open-baffle speaker.
The System
Grimm Audio MU1 Streamer
Bricasti Design M1 Special Edition DAC
Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC
Silent Angel Bonn NX Network Switch
Silent Angel Genesis GX Clock
Audionet PRE G2 Preamplifier
Audionet AMP Monoblock Amplifiers
LYRIC Ti 100 Single-Ended Integrated
Tri-Art Audio OPEN 5 Loudspeakers
Verity Otello Loudspeakers
Audience FrontRow Interconnects (XLR, RCA), USB, Ethernet
RSX BEYOND, MAX Power-cords
AntiCable Level 3 Power-cords
TORUS AUDIO AVR ELITE power conditioner
The Sound
The Vivid Audio Kaya 45s have a way with transparency, resolution, excavation of detail, and fullness of musical reproduction, that I had only believed electrostatic speakers and headphones capable of rendering. And yet, here they were pulling a very compelling electrostatic/open-baffle speaker mimic, with exceptional dynamic speaker capabilities. Much head shaking followed this revelation and a few drops of the jaw as I discovered their other traits, but I’m getting a bit ahead.
The Kaya 45s unfolded a ‘preternatural’ soundstage that was meticulously layered and wherein positioning, spacing, depth and breadth of venue were beautifully rendered. Whereas Choral and Live performances generally shunned dynamic speakers and open-baffle speakers as well, they became fast friends with the Kaya 45s. The resultant rendering of Choral and Live performances as portrayed by the Kaya 45s brought outstanding clarity and meticulous spatial depiction of these performances that rivaled electrostatic speakers (and headphones)! And that the Kaya 45s rendered the performances so well and consistently gave immediate insight to their ability to easily reproduce other genres/types of music, which they did. If one can lift the 500 pound weight easily, then lifting any lesser weight should be a breeze.
Well, the proof came in the Kaya 45s’ consistent ability for transparency and resolution and detail, as well to meticulously map each soundstage and the position of performers solidly therein, regardless of genre. Further, the Kaya 45s’ rendering was always imbued with the most natural tone/timbre, sensed texture, and profound musicality.
Speakers in general often excel at one or two or, perhaps, even several genres of music, but never or rarely at all. One accommodates this realization via consciously or subconsciously restricting one’s listening habits to only those genres that are well rendered by one’s systems. The Kaya 45s obviate this by rendering everything exceedingly well. This, of course, prompted me to sit for overlong hours listening to far too many albums and streams and playlists.
My reference electrostatic headphone system, which sports reference components, cables, and power conditioners from top to bottom, has stood unchallenged with regard to Choral and Live music. Nothing, to date, had been as transparent, as resolving, as meticulous at unfolding a choral soundstage and/or ferreting out the interactions. Whenever a review was completed, I’d simply return to my electrostatic system, play as much Choral or Live music as I wanted, and all would be good and well with the world again. The Kaya 45s have eliminated this need and, sadly, I no longer miss my electrostatic headphone system (as much).
Bass
What happens when a bass driver is physically detached, isolated from its containing outer shell, not directly mounted upon that shell, and thus free to ‘move’ independently?
One thing first noticed was that this freedom of movement facilitates a speed and ease of response that the various in-house speakers simply could not match. The other in-room manifestations—greater fluidity, an ease of the bass to rumble and scale, greater transparency and resolution across the bass region as well as greater detail—were consistently noted, across all bass imbued material.
All of the bass tracks typically used for component evaluation—Eiji Oue’s “Infernal Dance of King Kashchey” (Stravinsky, Reference Recording), Ray Brown, John Clayton, Christian McBride “Centerpiece” (SuperBass, Telarc), Christian McBride and Regina Carter “Fat Bach and Greens” (Conversation with Christian, Mack Avenue Records), etc—were performed on another level entirely. These diminutive speakers performed as if they were much larger and packing much larger drivers. Taken together these are, generally, the aggregated abilities one associates with reference-level speakers (read much more expensive). Amazing.
Midrange
The Kaya 45s have a rather extraordinary way with the midrange. Voices, massed voices, the spoken word and attendant lyrics are parsed and unravelled with a masterful ease that consistently exposes intelligibility. The most dense passages, previously troublesome passages, murmurs at the depths of a given soundstage, that word that you believed to be another (light, life, love), the Kaya 45s free of their ambiguity. And they do this with an ease that never diminishes the performance, the music, or its emotional pull. Remarkable.
Joan Shelly’s eponymous album (No Quarter Music) has never sounded clearer, vocals have never been better articulated—every word across the album easily parsed and understood—or more natural.
The Voces8 choral albums from LUX to Enchanted Isle to Eventide to Infinity (yes, they are a favorite of mine) were exquisitely reproduced, surpassing even that of my beloved electrostatic headphone system! And in addition to checking the boxes of all of the audiophile technical parameters—transparency, resolution, detail, air, the soundstage (depth, breadth, positioning, spacing), etc—I experienced something that I have not for a long time—goosebumps.
You may well find yourself listening to music for hours on end, and if you are not a reviewer, you will be continually rewarded. If, however, you are a reviewer, you will see deadlines drawing near and menacing from all possible angles as responsibilities are temporarily left to the side. The experience, however, will be one of sublime musical immersion.
Treble+
The Kaya 45s’ treble is sweet, beautifully extended, in that it will soar when needed with never a harsh retort, nor dissonance, nor stridency, nor sibilance. The Kaya 45s scaled the treble heights easily, free from any anomalies, whether for Hilary Hahn’s or Vilda Frang’s or Laura St. John’s violin or Joe Morello’s drum kit on “Take Five”or any of Patricia Barber’s cymbal rich pieces or the Kronos Quartet’s many-instrumented “Aaj Ki Raat—Tonight is the Night”—(Kronos Caravan, Nonesuch).
In my review of the Viva reference electrostatic headphone amplifier—Egoista STX—I stated that it was “the most natural, most musical, and it had given the most transparent rendering that I have heard to date” with regard to “Take Five” (Time Out, Columbia). Suffice to say, that new milestones have been established with the Vivid Audio Kaya 45s that seriously have me thinking whether or not my reference system can do without the incredibly synergy created with the Vivid Audio Kaya 45 speakers.
Design—Look, Feel, and Technology
Gorgeous. A design completely bereft of straight edges, that is more a modern sculpture than an audio component. Slight in its height, possessed of a small footprint, relatively lightweight, easily significant-other acceptable, as all who gazed upon it were immediately and hopelessly impressed (and smitten).
The Vivid Audio Kaya 45 in its piano black incarnation is art-candy for any museum of modern art and it can easily be envisioned in designer homes ranging from a San Francisco pied-à-terre to a luxury townhome to a large, well-appointed luxury home. Gorgeous!
Design Details on the various technologies of Vivid Audio Speakers.
Conclusion
The Vivid Audio Kaya 45s came in with little expectation from me. They sat patiently while the other in-house speakers were put through their paces. And when their turn came, well, they astonished and continue to astonish. Additionally, the Kaya raised the bar of performance and award citation for not only speakers but all other equipment as well. No small task. And this speaks to the profound abilities of the Vivid Audio Kaya 45.
The Kaya 45s will beautifully play all genres of music and have you neglecting none, as was the case with this reviewer. The high-fidelity touchstones are always scrupulously met and with a naturalness, ease, and musicality most will simply never expect. I certainly did not. That said, the Vivid Audio Kaya 45s win our highest award, the DIAMOND AWARD, while making it look easy, and yet they have made it a good deal more difficult for other speakers and components alike to win. The Kaya 45s have also cast a rethink on the most recent awards and products and especially the recent DIAMOND AWARD, but what is done is done.
Pros: Preternatural ability to play all genres of music, including choral and live music, with exceptional technical prowess and outstanding musicality. A giant stalker and eliminator of the first order. Reference speakers beware!
Cons: Addictive, potentially to one’s professional ruin (should you be a reviewer with looming deadlines)!
The Technical Specifications
VIVID AUDIO KAYA 45 SPEAKERS
The Company
Vivid Audio
https://vividaudio.com/
DISTRIBUTION
Bill Parish & Dick Diamond
GTT Audio
+1 908 850 3092
av@gttaudio.com
www.gttaudio.com