It was 1989 or 1990 when I first felt my pants legs flap in the wind created by a huge loudspeaker moving the air around. The speakers were Infinity IRS Betas, and the track was from that Koda album where the big drum falls on the floor. Since then, I’ve felt my pants legs flap a few times, which is surprising to me since I’ve heard many speaker systems that go deeper in the bass than the Betas. So when I entered the Vivid and Mola Mola and Kronos room at Munich 2024, the last thing I expected was that thrilling audiophile breeze.
Words and Photos by Marc Phillips
Grover Neville and Graig Neville told me about the new flagship speakers from Vivid Audio, the Moya M1, which retail for $465K/pair USD. That price shouldn’t be shocking, considering just how big and potent these transducers are. Of course my pants legs flapped in the Vivid and Mola Mola room–there are eight huge bass drivers in each enclosure. The Vivid Audio website summarizes these drivers like this:
“The C225 uses a radially polarised magnet structure, in this case twelve 45mm-long segments of high energy rare-earth magnet in an 11kg lump of high-purity steel. Wound on a virtually indestructible glass-reinforced former, capable of handling over 300°C, the edge-wound copper-ribbon voice coil can take extreme power in its stride.”
Going by the numbers, the Moya M1 goes down to 19 Hz and weighs over 700 pounds for each enclosure–which contains a total of 13 drivers per side. The Vivid and Mola Mola and Kronos room wasn’t just about sheer force, however–there was a delicacy and clarity that the other two brands in the room added to the mix. This was the first time I’ve heard Mola Mola in a system, even though Grover Neville and Greg Weaver have spent plenty of time with this gear.
But there was another star in the Vivid and Mola Mola room, and it was the Kronos Discovery turntable ($100K). As you glance through our show coverage, you might notice that there were many Kronos turntables at the show. Last year it was TechDas that was found in room after year, but 2024 is definitely the year of Kronos. I had a chance to speak with Louis Desjardins of Kronos and Aristomenis Georgiadis from True Life Audio, and hopefully I will able to review both brands in the near future. Needless to say, the Vivid and Mola Mola and Kronos room was lots of fun, and I need a pair of speakers like the Moya M1 that can help me break in this new pair of selvedge jeans.
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