YG Acoustic Kipods


These are the first speakers I've heard that have got me seriously thinking about giving up my Wilson W/P8s. I'm going to take them home this weekend for a comparison.

Any owners out there who can comment on their experience with this speaker?

Wilson bashers: please Save the World on some other thread unless you simply must prove that even the feeble-eared need a hero.
khrys

I got my Wilson W/P8s 2 weeks ago...also heard the Kipods (hedgehog) Studio with it's subwoofer for a few hours, in a friend's house.
My impressions are (I heard tham in a different room/geer/time), that the Kipods are more accurate, transparent and have more details than the W/P8s. The soundstage in the Kipods is lower and more laid back, Still more 3D and they are more disappearring. The bass in the Kipods is fast and quick, but lack some punch, slam and attack in the mid-bass region (50- 70 Hz). The Kipods fit to smaller rooms than the W/P8s. They are less efficiency and need SS amp with rated power of 200Wp/c.
The W/P8s are warmer and sound to me a little more musical with ARC REF3+ ARC REF110, than the Kipods with Krells electronics (SACD Standard+ KAV 400xi). They have ability to play in a very loud SPL without any felling of strain. The bass has more bottom-end, dynamic impact and deeper extension. The W/P8s are speakers for all kinds of music. the Kipod sounds best with small groups or jazz music, but less good with electrified rock or big classical orchestra.
I think both speakers are excellent.
BTW, the Kipod now in mk II, the price has gone up $4000 to $42,000 USD per pair.
I was interested in the Kipods, but have yet to hear them. I did, however, have an opportunity to demo the YG Anat Studio Reference II in my home, and bought the pair. Needless to say, I was captivated by their ability to reproduce musical events. One problem is occasioned by their weight, which comes to 280 lbs per side. One cannot by one's self move them around to find the best placement. They are superb where presently placed, at least from my listening position, so I am not all that motivated to try other possibilities. I am running them with a VAC Phi Beta integrated, 110 watts per chanel, and can get all the clean volume that I desire. I've done a bit of tube rolling, with satisfying results. Based on achieved design philosophy, however, I suspect that the Anats might do best with electronics that are also designed and constructed to produce the lowest distortion possible -- which, insofar as I know, would be Halcros. But, of course, that is merely a speculation on my part.
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.
Just to set the record straight there is no MKII version of the Kipod. There is a version II of the Anat called the Anat Reference II. The Kipod does benefit from some of the technology in the Anat Ref II. If you are considering a speaker in the under $40K price range you should give the Kipod serious cosideration and a listen.

Disclaimer;

I am the YG Acoustics Dealer in Texas.
Heard this Kipod at the recent Rocky Mountain Audio Show 2007, suffice to say that for $40k/pair, it has some very serious competitors.
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