Vivid Audio Giya G1 Speaker Review

Bass Response and Extension

When I audition speakers that are billed as “full range” and start the “analytical” stage of my evaluation, I like to begin with bass response. In this regard the Vivid Giya G1s are easily among the elite. The Wilson Maxx and Alexandria may have a smidgen more “oomph” in their delivery, but with the Vivid G1 Giyas, the integration of the bass with the rest of the music is, in my subjective opinion, better and more balanced. We’re really splitting hairs here, which is what leads some people to conclude, probably correctly, that audiophiles are nuts. I would also characterize the bass as very natural. By “natural” I mean both the tonality of the particular bass instrument involved and the combination of bass weight and bass speed. As a general rule, jazz that features a walking bassline is great for evaluating a speaker’s bass response.

Walking basslines can be made by a double bass, organ, piano, tuba, electric bass guitar and various other instruments with very different tonal characteristics. The artists also use a mixture of scale tones, arpeggios, chromatic runs, and passing tones that outline the chord progression of a song or tune. They often incorporate a melodic shape that alternately rises and falls in pitch over several bars. Bassists often seek to add variety to the walking bassline by periodically inserting variations on the basic theme, such as changing keys in the descending scale that follows the ascending scale; shifting to swung eighth notes from quarter notes; holding notes for two, three, or four beats; or plucking muted percussive notes. These bass melody patterns allow you to listen for attack, decay, extension, tonality, PRaT and just about any other characteristic that is relevant to bass reproduction. You can also listen both to isolated notes and the music as a whole, making it easier to evaluate a speaker’s overall bass capabilities. The G1 was excellent in all aspects of reproducing walking basslines, and the integration of the bass into the overall musical presentation was seamless. Among the tracks I played were “Baby Talk” from Sex Without Bodies by Dave’s True Story, Stewart Hamm’s “The Tenacity of Genes and Dreams” from Outbound and “Billie Jean” from Thriller by Michael Jackson.

I also included evaluation of “rumbling” bass notes, such as those in several of Sting’s tunes in Brand New Day and those found in movie music. This is more difficult to evaluate because you can’t really compare the tonality of a recorded rumble to the “live” thing. I mean, where would you go to hear a specific kind of “rumble”? However, you can evaluate the gut impact of the rumble and make some subjective judgments in comparison to other speakers.

Absolutely everything about the G1’s bass performance was excellent, and there are very few full range speakers – heck, there are very few so-called “subwoofers” – that can match the Vivid’s low frequency excellence.

Midrange and Treble

Though I spent a large portion of my time evaluating the mids and highs, I find that I have little to say except “Bravo!” and “Encore!” Because I tend to hear a lot of speakers with great mid and treble performance, I’ve come to focus on the nitpicks when I differentiate those speakers. Some are a bit brittle and glassy at the upper extremes, especially with violins and piccolos, but have you-are-there midranges. Others are incredibly smooth and mellow at the extremes, but sound just a bit unnatural in the midrange – almost too rich.

None of these minor nits apply to the Vivid G1. I have not been able to find a single shortcoming that I can put my finger on. It all sounds so good and realistic that trying to find a fault would simply be misleading. Fabulous in every way.