VIVID AUDIO SPEAKERS

I love Vivid and am a huge fan of Lawrence Dickie.  Brilliant and it was a few interviews with him that gave me the confidence to launch my speaker line using composite cabinets.  

The integration of driver and the fiberglass cabinets that they use are extraordinary.  It is always a matter of taste and they tend to not offer deep bass so need to be augmented with subwoofers, but the frequency response they do offer is absolutely brilliant and truly one of the elite speaker companies in the world.  

When looking at Vivid (fiberglass cabinets), there are a small number of products that actually compete with them.  Wilson Benesch Geometry (carbon fiber), Kef Blades and above (fiberglass), Wilson (cast phenolic resin), Marten (cf or fiberglass in certain products), Rockport (unspecified composite), YG and Magic (aluminum), Verdant (My Company - fiberglass and cf in certain products), Kaiser (rubber composite).  There are a couple others but not many others that are produce cabinets that are not mdf/wood.  

These non-traditional cabinets offer superior damping and are really special but are pricey.   

@verdantaudio what do you say about world class speakers like ATC that are regarded as the finest in the world and obviously use regular mdf? 

Why do you think we need more speakers made without mdf when its already been done by the companies youve listed?

Vivid uses a tube on their drivers. Your speakers do not. Neither do the others. Its not as simple as choosing a particular material.  Your designs are nothing more than the usual "boxes with drivers" except you dont use mdf. 

There are several companies that make amazing and unique speakers using MDF or other wood based materials beyond ATC.  

Innovative designs and creative solutions to each part of a speaker is something I wish more people would engage in.  Whether it be in shape, where a company like Vivid really pushes the limits, driver material where someone like Accuton, B&W and Paradigm are pushing limits. 

Open baffles, planars, electrostatics, whatever MBLs  are...these companies all pushing limits and producing amazing products.  

And even within the utilisation of composites, there are multiple cores and each behaves differently.  Some use balsa, others use airex and in my case, I use a nomex honeycomb.  To my knowledge, I am the only company that uses a nomex honeycomb core and if you recall, I even sent you a white paper on the benefits of this, explicitly around sound damping. 

I would agree completely that my speakers are "boxes with driver" and I don't use MDF.  True statement but this post isn't about my speakers, it's about Vivid .  And you are correct, Vivid does many things that are different and taken in aggregate, they produce some amazing, truly differentiated products.  I don't think Lawrence Dickie get's enough credit for the innovative things he's done.  

And even within the utilisation of composites, there are multiple cores and each behaves differently. Some use balsa, others use airex and in my case, I use a nomex honeycomb. To my knowledge, I am the only company that uses a nomex honeycomb core and if you recall, I even sent you a white paper on the benefits of this, explicitly around sound damping.

No I dont believe this. This is just splitting hairs. Brick would do the job. Its cheap and readily available. There is no point in trying other materials. The point you seem to miss is that a speaker box is WRONG. it doesnt matter what you make it out of if its WRONG. 
Why do you think open baffle speakers exist? Because its an extreme attempt to solve the problem of having a box. You have an obsession with box material and its completely misguided. 
Have you read the paper yourself?

this post isn't about my speakers, it's about Vivid .  

Yes but vivid is a good example of a speaker that tries to solve most of the main problems with box speakers and for that reason its justified in mentioning bad speakers that dont bother to deal with all the problems. A speaker box made of solid 5 inch thick diamond slabs would still sound horrific if for example the crossovers were badly done. That is only one example. 
You only ever speak about cabinet material which is misleading.
I bet your speakers arent even custom tuned either. They are just mass produced. Which is another problem. 

I was close to selecting the Vivid Kaya 45 for my office. The price gave me pause and I was wondering if it was that much better than the much cheaper KEF Reference 1 or 3 that I was also considering. I really liked the Kaya 45 and since it reminded me a bit of the KEF Blades, though not exactly at that level

I have also heard the Giya Spirit G1. I heard that immediately after a long demo with KEF Blades and Hegel gear. The Vivid Giya was using Luxman mono blocks and the C900u preamp. I preferred the KEF Blades though the Vivid with Luxman was amazing. Never heard a better version of Michael Jackson’s Thriller than on that Vivid system. I also heard the Vivid line prior to the Kaya line with Luxman gear and it was also amazing.

I am going to try and have a listen to the new Vivid Kaya monitor that they are coming out with. I said I would never replace my KEF LS50’s but this new Vivid monitor maybe the one that could do it. Hopefully the price is not too crazy.

I prefer not to buy speakers where the drivers are outsourced from other companies so I have focused on brands that make their own drivers. I have demoed the following:

Paradigm Persona 3F
Vivid Kaya line
KEF Reference and Blades
Yamaha NS 5000
Focal (though not too seriously but should have)

The Vivids as clear, fast, detailed, and non-fatiguing to me, just really amazing gear. They also have unique technology, just like the other brands I have listed above.


BTW - I just noticed this thread was resurrected from the dead.