Vivid Audio Moya M1 loudspeakers
The Moya is by far and away the largest loudspeaker that Vivid have ever made, in fact it’s one of the biggest speakers that anyone has ever made outside of the wild world of horns. Each one is made up of six parts; a plinth, four bass cabinets weighing 60kg each and a baffle containing the mid/bass, midrange and treble drivers. Each loudspeaker weighs nearly 350kg (770 lbs) so the fact that it is made up of six parts is pretty much essential when it comes to transporting and installing the things. Vivid demonstrated Moya at the Munich High End show in May this year and blew many minds with the sound they got in a flimsy cabin on the ground floor, I have never heard such clean high pressure sound at any show anywhere.
But would they fit in my modestly sized room? I have had a number of substantial speakers in here before including PMC Fact Fenestria, Bowers & Wilkins 801 Signatures, Dali Epikore 11 and others but the Moya are in a different league in terms of scale. Each cabinet is 166cm (5 ft 5 inches) tall and 121cm deep, it’s the latter figure that concerned me, the room is 6.5m long by 4.4m wide and I listen across it. So with the speakers against the wall their front baffles would be less than three metres (9 feet) away from my ears. Occasionally there have been speakers with so much bass output that they end up this close but it’s rare. Vivid designer Laurence Dickie thought that they would work and fortunately he was right, I found a few tracks where it was necessary to lean toward the speakers to reduce bass reinforcement from the wall behind the chair but on the whole the room was not an issue.
The Moya came about because the market demanded it, and of course, every loudspeaker designer wants to build a cost no object, no holds barred design that incorporates all of their ideas. This particular designer also wanted to make an ultra-fi loudspeaker that is capable of studio monitor sound pressure levels, Dickie set a target of 120db to achieve the latter and this is what prompted the massive scale of Moya. In order to deliver 120dB at 30Hz with 225mm bass drivers you need eight of them, you could do it with fewer but larger drivers, but the more voice coils you have the greater their ability to disperse heat and the less likely they are to suffer from power compression. This latter is incredibly low in Moya and means that the bass drivers are ticking over when playing at concert levels, but don’t try that unless the amplifier is also up to the job.
Which doesn’t mean that it needs to be hugely powerful, Moya’s sensitivity is quoted as a high 93dB albeit at a lower than usual five Ohms, with a minimum of 2.5 Ohms in the low bass. So you need an amp with a stiff power supply but not hundreds of Watts, and I felt that the 150W Moor Amps Angel 6 was more than equal to the task. What these speakers need is quality not quantity and it would be thrilling to try something more exotic with them, but I’m not complaining about the results I achieved.
The array of drive units is similar to Vivid’s previous range topper the Giya G1 Spirit but Moya is a five-way so has an extra pair of drivers to provide lower midrange. The array consists of a 26mm tweeter, 50mm upper mid, 100mm midrange, two 175mm lower mids and the aforementioned eight 225mm bass drivers. All of the drivers are alloy and incorporate radial magnet systems, the domes that cover the upper frequencies are not hemispherical but catenary in shape for extra stiffness and in this incarnation have a diamond-like coating for enhanced stiffness. The drivers covering midrange frequencies (50mm, 100mm) use copper shielding on the rare earth (neodymium) magnets.
The side firing bass drivers are braced against one another in a reaction cancelling arrangement that means the minimum of energy is transferred into the cabinet, this is the way that nearly all Vivid bass drivers are installed and does what it says on the tin; maximises efficiency and minimises noise.
Every driver has Vivid’s preferred tapered tube loading and the bass system is also reflex loaded, in the case of the 175mm lower mids the tubes run vertically beneath the sides of the front baffle, while the smaller drivers have re-entrant tapered tubes of the sort seen on some of the Vivid Kaya models. The bass cabinets have the largest tapered tubes alongside reflex loading via the elliptical ports next to each driver, these are tuned to 19Hz and are placed such that even with the backs of the cabinets against the wall there was no problem with low frequency control.
The cabinet itself varies from other Vivid models by virtue of being made out of carbon fibre rather than the glass reinforced composite found in the Giya range. Carbon fibre is that much stiffer and even more so when it is vacuum formed into a sandwich with a low density core. This aspect of Vivid speakers clearly has a significant impact on their sound which is typically devoid of cabinet colouration in any form. The absence of sharp edges anywhere near the drive units is also a factor and in this respect the Moya appears less aerodynamic than the much slimmer Giya designs. However the front firing drivers don’t see any sharp edges and the transition from front to sides is smooth and continuous.
The cable terminals are at the bottom rear of the cabinet and a bit tricky to access when the speaker is against the wall, they consist of a bi-wire pair that accepts spades, plugs and theoretically at least, bare wire. It is possible to move the Moyas on a carpet thanks to five roller bearings in the plinth. There is also provision for spikes and an inflatable bag system which allows you to lift the speakers one side at a time to access the spikes.
These speakers can be finished in any automotive paint and are largely limited by the buyer’s imagination. The standard finish is a lacquered paint but you can have pearlescents as seen in some of the Giya models or even multi-colours if you are looking for maximum wow factor. The review sample had satin matt bass cabinets with a full gloss mid high baffle, given their carbon fibre construction it would be interesting to see what a raw carbon pair would look like.
Moya sound
I connected the Moyas up to the Moor Amps with single runs of Townshend Fractal F1 and used that same company’s Allegri Reference preamplifier to control the situation. The analogue source consisted of a Rega Naia turntable with Aphelion 2 cartridge and Tom Evans Groove SRX Anniversary phono stage. Digital varied with Melco N10 and Pachanko Labs Constellation Mini SE servers, Lumin U2 Mini streamer, Mutec MC3+ USB/ Ref10 Nano reclocker and DACs including a dCS Lina, iFi iDSD Pro and a Border Patrol DAC 1SE. Analogue interconnects were from Atlas, digital from Network Acoustics which also provide the filtering and switching in the streaming system. Reviewing the Moyas made me appreciate just how much I need a better DAC, this level of revelation does tend to shine a light on the weak links in a system and a quest is now on.
The Vivid Moyas are in a different league to the majority of this system, the turntable being the main exception, but it was clear that these loudspeakers are exceptional in pretty well all respects, not least transparency. Vivid loudspeakers have always been largely devoid of the usual loudspeaker distortions or colourations, the cabinets have no apparent signature and the drivers never show any strain in the way that more conventional examples do. Here both these factors are amplified and when this is combined with bass extension and power that is off the scale you have a loudspeaker that knows few peers.
Moya is exceptionally revealing of signal, source and amplification and this provoked quite a lot of experimentation and tweaking in the digital department, as much as I tried I could not provide a signal that was in the same league as the vinyl or really in the same ballpark. The difference came down to digital sources providing impressive, expansive sound with phenomenal imaging while vinyl provided access to inner details, to the magical essence of the music making that lies at the heart of the format’s appeal yet is so rarely realised as completely as it was with Moya. These speakers provide a totally open window into every aspect of the recording and performance, you can track every instrument and voice in a mix without having to try. Steely Dan’s Barrytown (Pretzel Logic) is a very familiar tune but I never realised that it has so many guitar parts, it seems like overkill but the end result works a treat, you can hear the recording’s 1974 origin but this doesn’t get in the way of the musical experience.
This year’s Love Heart Cheat Code by Hiatus Coyote has a much more buoyant sound and is cleaner and slightly more dynamic, it digital in origin but has a warmth and slight thickness. Alongside this is the obvious use of limiting in the recording, presumably to give it more punch, thankfully this is not heavy handed but does introduce a slight grunginess. However, the brilliance of the musicianship is obvious as is the power of the grooves that they deliver with such energy, and for once it was possible to understand the lyrics. By track three, Make Friends, it’s clear that the stylus or its suspension are beginning to warm up which allows the music greater flow and propulsion. Don’t play your favourite tune with a cold needle if you have Moya levels of transparency on hand.
One of the many vinyl highlights that these speakers provided was courtesy the Joni Mitchell album of the moment in these parts, The Hissing of Summer Lawns. In France They Kiss on Main Street features a superb bass line from Max Bennett but the rest of the band is usually masked to some extent, here it was possible to appreciate what the keys, guitars and backing vocals from G. Nash, D.Crosby, J.Taylor and J.Mitchell herself. When you start to look at the credits it becomes a bit clearer why this album is so strong.
Having so much capability in the bass the Moyas made the most of every ounce of whatever low frequency energy there was on each recording, occasionally there was a bit too much such as in Kenny Burrell’s Love is the Answer, but more often these speakers were able to deliver a foundation to the music that is very rarely heard. This was exemplified on Nonkeen’s I’m Sure where the power and extension totally energised the track, I have played this on a few large loudspeakers but they all add a little bit of their own character by comparison with the Moyas. Here the bass is as clean and articulate as the mids and highs, and as capable of delivering huge SPLs as mentioned above, I didn’t push the system that hard but hearing Nuclear Burn by Brand X at the Munich High End earlier this year left me in no doubt about their capabilities in this department. 99.9% of demonstrations at shows that involve high volume prove to be a painful experience for those of us who dislike typical loudspeaker distortions, the Mola Mola/Moya system was totally clean even at room bending levels.
Having this degree of bass capability did inspire me to dig out tracks which usually have plenty of low end, this revealed that some of them don’t go down as far as had seemed to be the case but merely emphasised port tunings or room modes. What proved more rewarding were tracks like Patricia Barber’s Company where the double bass and kick drum have been captured extremely well, enough to make them solid and three dimensional in the room whilst having the immediacy and tactility that makes them real.
Absence of overhang is what you get with a cabinet that doesn’t store energy, there is no blurring of the attack and decay of each note so when the transient comes along it isn’t competing with the overhang of the previous note(s); the background is that much quieter. The more dense the music the more beneficial this is which is why I was able to discover more about the busier pieces and appreciate just how much work had gone into them.
But the music doesn’t have to be intense to be captivating, the ambient sounds of Naono by Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto (Sumvs) were totally uplifting as a result of the expansive, generous, calm delivery provided by the Moyas. The recent e.s.t. 30 live album by Magnus Ostrom and Dan Berglund provided one of the more impressive examples of image realism, this recording allowed these huge loudspeakers to effectively disappear in the room, just close your eyes and you’re there in the concert hall with level to match the original event. Even with a relatively affordable power amplifier like the Moor Amps you get a sense of limitless headroom. Dickie describes the drivers ticking over at normal listening levels and this is right on the money. Where most loudspeakers make it clear that they are having to try as the volume is increased these do not, they never shout when a saxophone blasts nor squeal if a violin is played with intensity, they just turn the signal into as close a copy of the original sound as I have ever heard.
Conclusion
The Vivid Moya is a phenomenal loudspeaker, a genuinely world class design that is unlikely to be bettered in terms of pure transparency and absence of colouration. Some music lovers will prefer the sweeter sounds of a high end loudspeaker that has been tuned to flatter their test tracks, the Moya is a monitor in more senses than pure level capability, it is also straight down the line neutral, it reveals everything about the music and the equipment used to reproduce it. Vivid’s approach is to remove all traces of colouration from the loudspeaker and in the Moya they have done this whilst also delivering full bandwidth and massive headroom.
Dickie has also managed to do this in a design that while substantial does not require a ballroom to be enjoyed, this was made clear in my 6.5 by 4.4m room where the bass remained controlled at all times. Likewise while they will really sing with top flight ancillaries it’s possible to get spectacular and totally engrossing results with hardware that costs a tenth of the speaker’s price. Component choice, matching and set up are more important than high prices.
I had a real ball with these speakers and played hours and hours of great music through them, finding detail in many that had never been hinted at before thanks to the phenomenal low level resolution and absence of colouration. If you get the chance to hear them take it, the Moyas are the stuff of audio dreams.