Interested in any feedback from current Kharma or Vivid speaker owners


Earlier this week I had the chance to listen to several lines of speakers.  I listened to Kharma, Vivid, Magico and Fyne.  Independent of price, I found the Kharma DB9S and DB11S and Vivid GIYA G2S2 to be a notch or two above the Magico M2 and were signifcantly less expensive. Value for the money hands down were the Fyne speakers.  

I'm inquiring to see if any current Kharma or Vivid owners can share their opinions or experiences with either of these two brands.  

Thanks in advance.
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I have a pair of Kaya 45s in my dining room that I listen to virtually every day while working and have spent time with most of the line.  I am a dealer.  

They are extremely fast and drift to the forward side of neutral. You will want neutral to warm amplification.  Anything you would drive Magicos with will work for Vivids.  (Pass, AVM, VTL, MSB, etc...)

Vivids work surprisingly well near front wall and despite the side firing woofers, have minimal issue with side walls.  They are extremely easy to place and your biggest issue will be a low ceiling.  Anything under 8' can cause some bass bloom.  You will get very good results in almost any room.  If you take the time to get them just right, results are beyond the price they are.  

Musically, they are fast.  Incredible decay and the cabinets just don't store energy so the speed is apparent.  No significant break in time.  They will sound great out of the box and you should expect only minimal changes over the first 20 hours or so.  Musically, they one of my favorite speakers for piano as there is a sparkle they capture that borders on addictive.  But they are not a one trick pony and are really pleasing with almost all types of music.  

I have not heard the Kharmas (though I hear great things).  I can't speak about them as I have no direct experience. 

Will be happy to answer any questions you might have about the Vivids.  
Do you have any comments or feedback on a comparison between the VIVID Giya 2's versus either the Wilson Audio Sasha Daw or Alexia 2's?  I have had several sets of B&W speakers and one pair in a smaller setup so I like the Vivid sound.  Do you need subs with the Vivids or do you get nice deep tight bass with their arrangement and no port?
I have not spent time with the Sasha DAW or Alexia 2.  The bulk of my listening experience with Wilson is the TuneTot, Sabrina and Alexx and I have heard the Sasha 2.  

The Alexx sounds massive and delivers a soundstage that just rolls over you.  It is different than Vivid which sounds more energetic and engaging.  I found the Sarbina's sound much smaller and although they image well, don't sound massive the way the Alexx's do.  Compared to the Sabrina's, I can't imagine a scenario where I would opt for them over Kaya 45s (which I am listening to as I type this).  I can see a scenario where someone would prefer the Alexx over the G1 but as I said, it would come down to experiential preference and accompanying equipment.  

In the middle, I have a strong preference for Vivid over Wilson.  It is more a matter of my personal taste and how it matches with tube amplification (driven easily by any amp with 4 ohm taps) to the aesthetic and associated technology.  Given my own speakers use similar cabinet technology (though I don't do a transmission line) to Vivid, it adds to my bias in that I like they way they reproduce sound.  

In most cases, Vivids are in-stock in the US and you can have them very quickly.  The exception is the G4 which typically arrives in 6-8 weeks.  Unless you are very short, I do recommend the plinth with the G4.

Whether you need a sub really is dictated by exactly what model you purchase and what music you listen to.  G4s probably need a sub if you listen to anything other than rock music that isn't bass heavy as the go to 36hz +/- 6DB.  A bass guitar and drum go to ~40hz.  Low frequency on a piano is 28hz and if you are really into organ music or hiphop, 16hz.  G1s go to 25hz at+/- 6DB which is good for most music.  

These are not sealed cabinets but use a dual porting system that is integrated into the curved design.  For what it goes too, it is extremely tight and refined.  The key more than anything is picking the right speaker for your room size.  

If you add a sub(s), I strongly advocate for Perlisten.  The tech is incredible and they basically have leapfrogged JL in terms of DSP integration.  They are currently being reviewed as the tech is relatively new but they effectively recalculate speaker integration 1000x per second.  


I totally love the sound that I have heard from all of the Vivid’s that I have heard. I wanted to state that up front. I had an opportunity to look inside one of their speakers recently, please PM if you would like my impressions of what I saw.