YG Acoustic Kipods

Dgad, the Kipod Studio with active subwoofer retails for $38k. They are easy to drive and do not require hyper-expensive amps.

Though they are made in Colorado they are indeed very well received in Asia. They are amazingly easy to position, even by one person. Since they're not ported they'll probably end up closer to the back wall than my W/P8s.

I'll let you know if it was worth the effort.

Well, it was worth the effort. The Kipods are dialed in and are now the speakers in residence, having displaced my venerable W/P8s.

The Kipods are more linear, image better and are more articulate. There is a clarity of voice and presence that rivals stats. Add the powerfully lithe bass and you have a dynamic cohesiveness that is closest to the "holy grail" of transducers as I've heard.

They are easy to drive but they do like power.
The 500 watts of SS power I have on tap makes them sing, but I intend to try 450 watts of VTL magic just in case.

Make no mistake, despite their precision these speakers are toe-tappers.

Tboooe, the Kipods are in the same family of sound as Wilsons with respect to refinement and quality but the differences are readily apparent. As with any components of this caliber, "better" simply means "preference".

The Wilsons are somewhat more dynamic, have a bigger, fuller sound and certainly sounded better on some recordings. But I found the more linearly extended frequency range and imaging of the Kipods to be preferable at the end of the day.

With my equipment and listening environment the Kipods' soundstage unfolds behind the speakers with great clarity, depth and cohesion. They get out of the way and simply do not appear to be the source of the sound. The Wilsons project the soundstage in front of the speakers very convincingly but seem to get in the way of their own sonic illusion.

Because the Kipods are easy to move by myself, they are ultimately more easy to place. But it takes some work if you want to get it right. I have never found speaker placement obsession to be more enjoyable however because I need not rely on others and can place them by ear rather than formulated compromise. Not an insignificant advantage.

I do not regret purchasing them.

I agree with most of what Tomer tsin says about the comparison between Wilson W/P8s and YG Kipods (revered Israeli children's character BTW) but take issue with two of his points:

Having lived with the W/P8s for over a year and the Kipods for over one month and both for 3 weeks I can say definitively that the Kipods have deeper bass extension. Same equipment, same room, same conditions, the Stereophile Test CD 2 warble tones go audibly deeper with the Kipods. 3/4th Octave or better.

The Wilson's midbass punch and slam which I hear in the 60 - 80 Hz range can easily be replicated by the Kipod's 4 adjustable subwoofer controls: high-pass, low-pass. boost, and gain. If you must.

I resist typifying a speaker's musical genre. A speaker for "all types of music" is likely homogenizing the sound.

Cream on top, hopefully.

If I may simplify even further, each Kipod active system requires one speaker cable for the passive upper module, and one single-ended interconnect and one power cord for the active lower module.

Don't forget the need for PCs with active subwoofers.

Unless of course you so choose.