Vivid Audio KAYA S12 Standmount Loudspeaker Launched

Vivid Audio's KAYA S12 is a two way, two driver standmount whose curvaceous cabinet is made from RIMCast Polyurethane. While only measuring 12 litres of internal volume and tipping the scales at under 7 kg, Vivid Audio states that the KAYA S12 is packed with its patented tech.

Sporting the same in-house designed and manufactured drivers as its larger siblings as well as the exponential tapered tube on the D26 26mm tweeter, the S12 boasts Vivid Audio's new patented Omni-Absorber cabinet design. The Omni-Absorber, says Vivid Audio, annihilates the common distortion all other two-way monitor designs suffer from. Apparently, this has taken the company "years to develop" and to quote the company's chief designer and co-founder Laurence Dickie, (he of B&W Nautilus fame), "If we would not have solved/cracked this problem, what would be the point of offering it?"

As you will probably have already guessed, the KAYA S12's form isn't purely ornamental. The cabinet's curves reduce edge diffraction and permit time-alignment of the D26 tweeter's output to the C100D 100mm mid/bass driver which hands over at 3 kHz. The cabinet also gives the tweeter a waveguide and, on the inside, accommodates the aforementioned exponentially tapered tube-loaded reflex.

The result is a reported sensitivity of 87dB (@ 2.83VRMS at 1m on axis) with an 8 Ohm (5,3Ohm Min) impedance. Frequency response is a decent 45–25 kHz (-6dB) coming from a reasonably compact 480 mm x 250 mm x 270 mm (HxWxD) cabinet. 

The S12 can be wall-mounted or purchased with the equally organic-looking custom stands. You can order the speakers in Piano Black, Pearl White, Oyster Matte, Elba Green, or Borasco Gray for £5,995/pair. Custom colours are available on request.

More information at Vivid Audio