From B&W to Vivid Giya
 

M considering a migration from B&W 802 Diamonds to Vivid Audio Giya G2. Seems sort of natural given the heritage of Vivid Audio technology
from B&W. Anyone else go this route? Any feedback is appreciated.

I did the same at a more modest level 804 to B1. The B1 was preferable to the 802D, which was the other option. Only heard the G3 so can't comment on the G2, but you know it's going to be sweet.

I had the 802N's before and now the Vivid B1's. The Vivids are a much better speaker overall. You will be very happy with the swtich.

Ariess,

I have had two Nautllus 802 for over 10 years and I now read everything I could find about the Giyas. I still have not heard these speakers, but from what I read I am very much convinced I should go for the Giyas. I will be able to audition the Giyas in October.....This is a long wait for me. I love my N802, but if the Giyas are Laurence Dickies best speakers, they should smoke the N802...and maybe these could be the speakers for the rest of my life.... I am very curious to compare the two and can´t wait....

I would be interested to hear your comment, once you heard the Giyas next to the N802.

Kind regards

Burkhard

The B1's are already top to bottom better than the 802N's. The Giya's would be "overkill".

Ariess,

Two years ago I considered upgrading from 803 Diamond to 802 Diamond because that seemed to be a logical step without breaking the bank. The audition made it clear that that upgrade was fully justified, but the dealer asked me to come back one week later and listen to a particular, weird and wonderful speaker. One week later I was listening to the Giya2, compared it to the 802 Diamonds and concluded that the Giya was simply better in all departments. The 802 Diamond is a really great speaker, the logical continuation of a brilliant concept that delivers magic and never becomes tiresome. But the Giya is a clear improvement of that same concept, with a very clear sound and a magnificent bass. Piano and voice are as "live" as you can imagine, and you truly get the feeling that the artist is performing right in front of you. The 802 Diamond is a magnificent speaker, but it's still a speaker. The Giya disappears as if it is replaced by pure music.
In short -I was sold, managed to convince my wife (who still thinks they're ugly), broke the bank and bought the Giya2's. It was a huge difference in price, but well worth it.

I would hope so the 802N's are now 3 generations old and the Giya's and even the B1's are speakers of the present. If Vivid couldn't deliver a better speaker today then the 802N was over a decade ago it wouldn't speak much of them as a speaker manufacturer :) I suppose the only thing I could think of where an old B&W 802N might beat a B1 would be in the in the bass performance in that it could perhaps play lower. This of course suggests nothing of the quality of the low bass between the speakers and like you suggest the B1 may have more control in the bass.

Also with respect to the Giya's, the cheapest, the G3 is what $15k more than the current B&W 800 Diamonds so I would expect everyone of them to give a more refinement in performance.

Listened to Giya G2 at my dealer's place. They are dynamic and highly resolving. However at times they were a bit bright and fatiguing. Since I haven't read this as a complaint , I could chalk it up to something in my dealer's setup. I was hoping to get an in home audition to be sure they sound excellent (and not bright ). In my system. The problem is my dealer is not keen on in home auditions because he feels the Giyas are very difficult to transport and he has the risk of them getting dinged at which point he would be out a lot of $$$. Any suggestions or experience with in home auditions of Giyas?

Was your audition at the dealer with electronics similar to yours? If for example it was with solid state electronics I would expect a much more musical and engaging performance with your ARC gear. Just something to consider.

Slightly OT - apologies to the OP - are both the B1's and to a lessor degree the G2's G3's hard to drive?

@OP - Well if you have any reservations, I'd be listening to them at home before parting with the cash. They aren't cheap.