Loudspeakers

While small boxes, and especially small low diffraction cabinets, offer the promise of a very natural midband performance, there’s often a tussle between sensitivity, bass extension, response flatness and amplifier loading. Vivid’s Kaya S12 navigates this balance rather better than most, very nearly matching its 87dB rating with an 86.7dB/1kHz sensitivity (or 86.2dB between 500Hz-8kHz). Neither is the Kaya S12 a tough nut to drive – its 6.35ohm/250Hz minimum is actually easier than the specified 5.3ohm while the phase angles (all between ±60°) contribute to an equally modest EPDR of 2.90ohm/165Hz.

Cabinet modes are minimal [see Graph 2] while the forward response is essentially very flat with errors of just 2.4dB and 2.25dB, respectively [see Graph 1; off-axis, grey]. The top-end response of both the C100L bass/mid driver – reaching out to 2.6kHz before rolling steeply away (the crossover is cited at 3kHz) – and, in particular, the D26 alloy dome tweeter is very impressive. Although the primary breakup of the latter looks closer to 32kHz than the claimed 44kHz [pink shaded area, Graph 1], the D26 does have a final 56kHz extension (–6dB re. 10kHz). Pair matching is an astonishingly tight 0.2dB over the Kaya S12’s range with just a couple of minor dips to 0.35dB at HF. The ‘exponentially-tapered tube’ bass reflex is tuned, very sharply, to 41Hz drawing bass extension down to 75Hz (–6dB re. 200Hz). The bass roll-off continues very gently to 42Hz (–7dB) but drops steeply thereafter and, although the ‘bass’ unit is no bigger than many a midrange at 100mm, LF distortion is no higher than 0.3% down to 80Hz (re. 90dB SPL/1m). PM