Audiophilepure

Vivid Audio’s Kaya S12 flat-out caught me off guard—not an easy thing to do given the number of two-ways I’ve road tested over the years. Nonetheless, few compacts have managed to achieve the overall sense of midrange balance, tonal verisimilitude, and seat-of-the-pants musicality of the Kaya S12. Within its limits it offered an unfiltered, uncolored window on the music. Its whimsical appearance belies a serious engineering effort to extend the capabilities of the small loudspeaker segment. An impressive achievement and a joy to listen to. 

https://www.stereophile.com/content/estelon-xb-diamond-mk2-loudspeaker

How’s the maximum volume? More than ample for my needs—I never came close to running out of power—though I’m not sure I’d choose speakers with ceramic membranes as party speakers. These are too good for that anyway.

And the bass? Ample quantity, approaching full-range depth while perhaps not quite plumbing the lowest reaches. Certainly, the bass was present at full volume down to the bottom note on acoustic or electric bass (41.2Hz), and it comes very close to full volume down to the lowest notes on a standard grand piano (27.5Hz). Acoustic (double) bass was lively and articulate. On tracks with lots of bass—I’m thinking of EDM tracks like Cristoph’s “Reachin’,” from Consequence of Society Vol.1 (16/44.1 FLAC, Noir Music/Tidal), the bass is fun, although the XB Diamond Mk IIs don’t quite provide the bass massage of the big-sister Forzas. In a room smaller than mine, perhaps they would.

As designers get more control over frequency response and radiation pattern, it becomes more and more clear that they are not all aiming at the same thing. This situation makes it even more important that one listens carefully for oneself. No one else can walk that path for you, of trying to decide what you want your speakers to do. The Five17s present a distinctive view and a definite philosophy of how a loudspeaker should behave. It is surely worth checking them out—there is not much else around like them, since most DSP designers are going via the narrow-pattern controlled-directivity route and for a slight, or not so slight, downslope in on-axis response. The Five17s do neither of those things but present a different view of neutral sound, and one which can be convincing, indeed. Your choice. What they do, they do very well, and in a remarkably small and elegant package.