Hifi World testar Vivid Audio B1. igen 5 utav 5 möjliga i nytt test!

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Detta är samma högtalare som Martin Collums testade i Hifi+ och det var mycket intressant läsning eftersom jag höll honom som en av de mest seriösa.

Där det stod...

Based in Durban, RSA, Vivid Audio was founded by engineers Phil Guttentag and Bruce Gessner with Deone Gessner at the head of the organisation and finance. In a previous life they were agents for B&W speakers and they saw a personal challenge in going their own way in the speaker industry. In fact they wouldn't have started up without the availability of a useful local engineering base, capable of precision castings as well as steel and alloy tooled components and high quality, acoustically sound, mineral based polymer enclosures.

UK speaker designer Laurence Dickie, who was almost entirely responsible for creating the landmark B&W Nautilus system, had since gone independent. While busy designing some advanced pure piston units which were intended for a new generation of studio monitors, he was introduced to the Vivid team. Bruce and Philip recognised advanced technology when they saw it, and further input let to Laurence becoming a full partner in Vivid and going on to develop the characteristic loudspeaker systems which they are now releasing on the world market. With three driver designs to play with, it was possible to create three separate systems. There's the B1, a three-way system with a pair of mid-bass drivers built into a medium sized enclosure with an integral stand (7,750) and under consideration here. There is also a larger version called the K1 that doubles up on the mid-bass drivers (10,750) as well as a centre channel speaker, the C1, that has been designed for home theatre use. More systems are promised.

Laurence is determined to push boundaries, driving both magnet and diaphragm technologies to set new standards in their class. For example, the mid and treble dome (patent pending) employ new catenary contours, while the tweeter, in conjunction with a specified circumferential reinforcement of carbon fibre, pushes the first resonance (the failure to remain a piston) up to 40kHz, quite remarkable for an aluminium type; the usual competition resonate rather freely from as low as 23kHz, reducing the highest audible registers just a few kilohertz below this. Some driver designers require the expense of the exotic and toxic metal beryllium to get to 40kHz, but Dickie managed it through innovation engineering. Likewise, applying the same principle to the Vivid 50mm upper-mid dome radiator, this formed of deep anodised aluminium alloy, results in a class leading performance reaching to 20kHz for first bending, greatly easing crossover design for the speaker system.

The compact bass-mid driver for these designs has a beautiful, open spoke, die cast chassis, free breathing and powered by a dazzling radial neodymium alloy magnet, which presents the smallest possible area to minimise any rearwards directed reflections. This nominal 160mm, '7 inch' driver has a 125mm alloy piston diaphragm reinforced at its centre by a massive dome. The combination has sufficient rigidity to defer the first resonance to an astonishingly high 6.5kHz and also avoid significant 'cone' cavity effects.

Laurence has filed for a number of patents concerning the technology used in the Vivid loudspeaker. One concerns the dome shape and rim reinforcement, designed to maintain rigidity and optimised for maximum bandwidth. Another relates to the opposed bass drivers, mounted for force cancellation, in particular where the bandwidth of one driver is limited to 900Hz. In the spirit of vibration suppression the loudspeaker has the reflex port arrangement as a symmetric opposed pair so that even the reaction forces from the moving air mass in the ports are largely cancelled, the first time that I have seen this used.

As discussed earlier, all this driver technology is useless without a suitable cabinet. Ideally, the enclosure should be completely inert, free from vibration, and physically stable to provide a reference platform for the drive units to launch pure sound waves. It is not enough to perfect the mechanical structure and motion of a radiating diaphragm since vibration in its mounting will degrade the accuracy of the radiated sound, a form of Doppler inter modulation. This design has a heavy rigid, shell-like enclosure of immense strength aimed to provide that inert platform.

In addition the smooth blended curvature of the monocoque moulding helps the drivers to launch sound waves free of the diffraction imparted by square edged cabinets. Taking materials, structure, the port arrangement and appearance into account, it's clear that as impressive as the drive-unit technology is, just as much care has been lavished on the enclosures. there is clearly going to be no excuse for poor performance.

Remarkably and yet appropriately, remember the use of advanced, minimal resonance technology, the Vivid B1 has very little sound of its own. Typically loudspeaker systems are balanced, tuned and tweaked with the designer mindful of the inherent and generally inevitable flaws. Ideally all is skilfully accounted for, blended and rounded out to try and find that sweet spot where it all makes aural sense.

Vivid Audio dispense with such aural juggling. The B1 design aims squarely at the theoretical acoustic frequency response target without the need to make any concessions. So low is the inherent coloration that this speaker almost vanishes into the sound field it recreates, an ideal situation. Much like the best electrostatic designs, its performance seems rather too self-effacing for some. The danger is that it may be felt to be too soft, lacking sufficient protection and attack.

In comparison to almost all other speakers, some aspects of the B1 may best be defined by description of what it actually fails to do. For example, there is no cone 'cry' or midrange 'shout' which in other designs can bring a false sensation of enhanced dynamics and vocal projection. There is no nasality or hardness in the upper crossover region, a defect which can add attack and speed to percussion. There's also no excess in the high range which can cause over concentrated sibilants, excess brilliance, false up-front perspectives and a zingy, excessively 'airy' sound. Furthermore this speaker is totally lacking in the false tonal colour which is associated with the behaviour of cabinet panels. Unwanted enclosure radiation is almost zero with this design. Taken as a whole, these omissions make the sound in some ways reminiscent of the finest electrostatic headphones, if not quite matching this standard for absolute resolution. That said, by accepted speaker standards, the B1 was undoubtedly capable of high resolution and breathes easy in the company of a top class audiophile system noted for clarity and transparency.

This speaker delivered wide, deep stereo images with impressive layering in successive depth planes. Perspectives were quite stable, very well focused for a variety of programme types and sound levels. Belying its relatively compact dimensions, it sounded naturally weighted, full bodied with quite deep, generous yet respectably punchy, articulate bass. In a larger, well damped room, the bass was nicely balanced, tending to favour the USA style of timber frame open plan house than the UK brick built home or apartment. An essentially free space location, well clear of the wall boundary behind it, helps to align the bass, while the mid and treble are then allowed free reign to re-establish top class spatiality.

With a fairly difficult load impedance, and intrinsically generous bass, tube amplifiers are more or less ruled out, as are any ancillaries, cables, equipment supports and sources that are either soft or slack in the bass-mid region. This speaker's inherent precision demands this quality in equal measure from its sources, with no need for additive or corrective 'flavourings'. Conversely in the mid and treble, the B1's almost creamy purity will tolerate a shade of hardness and brightness which could be unacceptable with other less perfect transducers.

That particular mid and treble purity, so characteristic of ribbon and electrostatic models, tells of low distortion and this is a distinguishing characteristic of the work, one which engenders greater listening ease, an absence of aural fatigue from this sophisticated transducer. Few direct radiation speakers achieve this: the Sonus Faber Stradavari Homage is one, the Avalon diamond is another, while historically the Wilson Audio Grand SLAMM also proved the case, by combining a winning 1000W power handling with an ease to drive eight ohm impedance, a high 96dB sensitivity and low distortion, albeit at a truly majestic size and price.

The Vivid speaker teaches refinement, subtlety and the value of layered detail. It can play at any realistic volume and its sound quality remains commendably stable, only the bass 'sharpening' a little when really driven hard. The force balancing and decoupling technology promises very little vibration and enclosure readout, and by lab measurement this is certainly true; nevertheless employing firm coupling via the thumb-wheel adjustable floor spikes remains well worthwhile. In return, you will get a substantial gain in low-level clarity, crisper transients and not lease, an impression of greater dynamic expression. I found achieving this quality essential if the speaker's inherent 'sweetness' was not to cloy to blandness.

But if all this sounds to good to be true, there are negatives. While this speaker sounded very smooth, pretty well seamlessly integrated over is distinguishable operating ranges (the resonant box system, the bass driver to 900Hz, the upper mid to 4kHz and the treble driver to the edge of audibility and beyond) it was not the most upbeat nor well paced and rhythmic sounding design in its class. While it's certainly very presentable by absolute standards, with its amazingly focused transient response helping out here, the B1 did not excel so far as foot-tapping drive and listener involvement were concerned. To some degree the quality of its music performance appeals more to the head than the heart, more of an aesthetic than an emotional experience. It didn't catch fire on fast paced rock, but middle period jazz fared well while much of the classical repertory including tough propositions such as opera and solo piano were despatched with aplomb.

I carried out a few tests on the B1, covering basic issues such as sensitivity, amplifier loading, distortion, frequency response and energy storage. Given an appropriate venue, the discussion of these generally excellent results could cover a few pages. Suffice it to say, Paul Messenger succinctly summarised the pertinent technical features of this speaker design, including those opposed and thus force cancelling reflex ports in Issue 32.

Considering the axial frequency response, the designer might find the targets of near zero reaction force and a power response smoothly maintained to high frequencies to be in conflict. Laurence Dickie had to juggle with the almost perfect omni directional low frequency output from this system deriving from the opposed woofers and ports which then passes through a transition to half space or forward plane coverage somewhere in the midrange, in the region of 500Hz, not far from middle C. Moving up the midrange and before the front facing 170mm bass-mid has a chance to become directional the jump is make to the 50mm upper-mid. Before that narrows its coverage the next transition is to the 25mm tweeter. Such transitions impart changes in the power response, which may be heard in the driven room acoustic.

I poked a measuring microphone at the B1 and checked a few things out. Sensitivity is a bit lower than claimed I got about 87dB per '8 ohm watt' at 1 metre over the broad midrange. Even this moderate value is tempered by the fairly adverse impedance which averages 3 ohms in the bass, (minimum 2.7 ohms at 38Hz) but lifts to close to 12 ohms over 1kHz, underlying the complex drive requirements of a system such as this. In my opinion low impedance cables and powerful, current capable amplification is a prerequisite, adding significantly to the overall system price. The K1, being equipped with twice as much low frequency radiating area achieves the same voltage sensitivity as the B1, but at twice the impedance and can reasonably be called an 8 Ohm nominal load.

Meeting the expectation of its exacting engineering the resonance decay properties were first class, both for the enclosure and for the drivers. Decay speed and frequency associated energy storage were at a minimum confirming that clean, low coloration sound. In this regard the measured performance was also comparable with an electrostatic.

An amazing close tolerance ± 1.5dB frequency response was achieved from the critical 80Hz to 18kHz range while the claimed better than 40kHz, this at the very limit of my Bruel and Kjaer laboratory condensor microphone. Measured off the central axis, a very good interpolation of the driver outputs was shown, in many respects a textbook performance for energy uniformity. So, to put it another way, he obviously got the driver sizes and crossover points right, as well as handling the potentially difficult frequency transitions with equal competence. Low distortion bass was available down to about 37Hz which is a fine performance for the size of the cabinet.

Conclusion

Unusual in the world constrained by the vagaries and pressures of a fashion conscious market, the Vivid Audio B1 represents an almost perfect test piece for the technology involved. The pure piston drivers pioneered by Laurence Dickie in his original

B&W Nautilus have been honed to a fine focus in this loudspeaker system. It performed powerfully, providing qualities well beyond its price, delivering audiophile sound of great finesse and purity. Its modern looks will suite some interiors more than others while the appearance of such designs is strongly influenced by the chosen colour. It does however succeed in looking smaller than it is.

While some designers are too forward and frenetic the B1 just edged to the other side of the line, being a touch more laid back, spacious, classically balanced but very good for all that. To an extent this reflects the absence of the additive edge and excitement found in other speakers, although long term listening rewards with a totally fatigue-free experience and a growing appreciation of the speakers' unobtrusive, yet seductive qualities. Sympathetic component selection from the matching system is, as always the with such a high-quality transducer, essential in helping to create a capable, well blended sound.

I found much to admire in this marvellously crafted speaker, a work of near watchmaker precision. Its purity and clarity caresses the ear and in a sense encapsulate the primary virtues of an electrostatic in a package that is at once compact, powerful, wide bandwidth and musically sensitive. Stereo imaging was of reference class, while the mildly downbeat, laid back and less obvious dynamic presentation was countered by a big, full bodied and powerful sound of great neutrality and intrinsic accuracy.

Vivid are to be congratulated for achieving so much in a thoroughly modern and complete package. With reproduced sound of this subtlety and clarity it compares extremely well with the competition. The B1 successfully represents the virtues inherent in its theoretical approach whilst, even if not eliminating or ameliorating the problems, at lease rendering them manageable. Attend to the issues of impedance and sensitivity and the demands they place on the driving amplifier, and this speaker system's inherent neutrality provides the basis for an exceptionally natural system. However, when it comes to partnering equipment, it also highlights the tonal vagaries rendered acceptable or even demanded by less rigorous examples of the art. In this respect, the Vivid Audio B1 is a double-edged-sword- albeit on with a near perfect balanced and beautifully polished blade.

As such it's true to its theoretical mode, show-casing both the benefits and the complex issues involved realising the potential advantages of pistonic drivers. Undoubtedly a technical tour de force, Laurence Dickie and Vivid Audio are to be commended for instilling it with equally impressive musical virtues, exploiting the technology as a means to an end rather than an end to itself.

Gillar dessa passagerna...

That particular mid and treble purity, so characteristic of ribbon and electrostatic models, tells of low distortion and this is a distinguishing characteristic of the work, one which engenders greater listening ease, an absence of aural fatigue from this sophisticated transducer.

Few direct radiation speakers achieve this: the Sonus Faber Stradavari Homage is one, the Avalon diamond is another, while historically the Wilson Audio Grand SLAMM also proved the case, by combining a winning 1000W power handling with an ease to drive eight ohm impedance, a high 96dB sensitivity and low distortion, albeit at a truly majestic size and price.

The Vivid speaker teaches refinement, subtlety and the value of layered detail. It can play at any realistic volume and its sound quality remains commendably stable, only the bass 'sharpening' a little when really driven hard. .

[Guest B-200]

ojoj där har man att läsa i helgen...

[Guest patrikcaesar]

ojoj där har man att läsa i helgen...

Ja och enligt uppgift från Vivid får du snart ännu ett "fem-utav-fem möjliga test" att läsa, fast denna gång rör det sig om K1.

När kommer du ner och tar en kopp kaffe på limhamn?

MVH

Patrik

[Porta]

K1-testen i Hifi Choice var ju inte att leka med.

"One of the finest speakers on the planet" låter onekligen ganska positivt.

[Guest B-200]

Jag har funderat på det länge och nu när man har bil igen blir det inte omöjligt att man dyker förbi. Jag har lovat mig själv och andra att ge Vivid Audio en seriös lyssning innan jag någonsin uttalar mig igen om dessa skapelser.

[Guest patrikcaesar]

Jag har funderat på det länge och nu när man har bil igen blir det inte omöjligt att man dyker förbi. Jag har lovat mig själv och andra att ge Vivid Audio en seriös lyssning innan jag någonsin uttalar mig igen om dessa skapelser.

( test av Lidl-kameran utan blixt )

Ja, du är så välkommen ner, kaffet är alltid varmt och idag bjöd jag på lite Belgisk choklad som tilltugg.

Kommer du nästa lördag ska jag upprepa det, jag lovar.

Välkommen

[Guest Jonne]

( test av Lidl-kameran utan blixt )

Ja, du är så välkommen ner, kaffet är alltid varmt och idag bjöd jag på lite Belgisk choklad som tilltugg.

Kommer du nästa lördag ska jag upprepa det, jag lovar.

Välkommen

Tror Det var K1 på Malmö mässan för några år sen?

Ett mässans bästa ljud tyckte jag spelade med Octave elektronik.

Tummen upp för Vivid

[Guest patrikcaesar]

K1-testen i Hifi Choice var ju inte att leka med.

"One of the finest speakers on the planet" låter onekligen ganska positivt.

Ja, det känns som om det Asiaterna, med Japanerna i spetsen och ett växande gäng i Sverige, nu börjar inses av tidningar runt om i världen också.

Det var ju naturligtvis ett erkännande av både Vivid och ens egna intryck.

Det kommer att finnas K1 att lyssna på både i Stockholm och Göteborg innan årets slut, så att ni kan få höra hur otroligt snabba de är.

En god vän brukar säga att " det är den mest homogena högtalare" han hört.

Detta är en person jag respekterar efter hans mer än 30 åriga erfarenhet av High End.

Förhållandena i Limhamn är dock inte så lysande

Påminner om ett mässrum (betong i taket, smalt och lågt i tak) men man kan höra en del av potentialen.

Patrik

[Sanfrid]

När tror du att man kommer att kunna lyssna på dom i Stockholm?

Ser definitivt fram emot det

[Guest patrikcaesar]

När tror du att man kommer att kunna lyssna på dom i Stockholm?

Ser definitivt fram emot det

Jag är snart färdig med huset, så innan årets slut, det är ju bara drygt 2,5 mån kvar, men jag lovar att lägga ut det på forumet så ni kan gå och lyssna.

Patrik

[Transient Design]

Lidl eller ej, SNYGG BILD! Futurism möter retro?

Mvh Lasse

[Guest patrikcaesar]

Lidl eller ej, SNYGG BILD! Futurism möter retro?

Mvh Lasse

Ja, kanske skulle ha med mig ner fler, de är slutsålda sånär som på en.

Patrik