 DAVIS Acoustics is a company best known for its drivers. Some audiophiles will probably remember the superb speakers from Radmor, where the French company's drivers were used. Distinctive, bright yellow Kevlar cones become the main interest immediately - in the end this is the material that many companies like B&W (Bowers & Wilkins) regard as unbeatable, at least in the areas that are interesting to them. However it cannot be hidden, that the popularity of the yellow color in the speaker drivers becomes systematically less and less, and while other materials are bettered, especially the metal membranes, Kevlar, is slowly but systematically phased out of the mainstream. Yet Davis uses it in almost all own applications and drivers (about that in a minute), so they have the needed experience (Kevlar is a "difficult" material) and conviction, to try to create their own speaker boxes based on it. )
Model Nikita drew my attention immediately, when, during this years IFA show in Berlin (report HERE), I scanned the insides of the exposition halls. Their apparition, finish, and - you cannot escape that - yellow membranes of both drivers, made me talk to the company's distributor without hesitation, and book them for the test. I am talking about the yellow color of BOTH drivers not by mistake. First, probably due to lack of lighting, or fatigue by the size of the show, or due to lack of perceptiveness and blinding by routine, but I took that what was above the large woofer to be a coaxial mid-tweeter. From a yellow conventional cone a black element protruded, that in low light conditions could have been mistaken for a diffuser for a tweeter hidden behind it (like in the Triangle'a). The idea was strengthened due to the visible suspension of the smaller speaker, almost identical as in the UNI-Q from KEF Reference series, flat, without the fold that would allow large amplitudes - a visible sign that the driver is designed to play with very small amplitudes and may be a stable "tube" for the coaxially placed second driver. )
I was wrong. The bass and mids (the split is situated very high, at 3500Hz, so outside the critical frequency range that the human ear is most sensitive to) are handled by the powerful 20cm Kevlar woofer, with the cone covered with some kind of dampening substance and a phenomenal, very expensive rare elements magnet, TiCoNA1, dut the treble is handled by 50mm diameter driver with a 25mm coil. The black element is a phase corrector, needed to correct phase anomalies at the upper frequency range (and is also a heat sink for the coil). This arrangement of speakers necessitates a few things: firstly for such a large woofer the enclosure must be sufficiently big. And it is - this is one, if not the one, of the deepest enclosures I have seen in stand mount speakers. Do you remember the speakers Sobieski from the company Qba ? Let us add another 1 in depth and we will have the Nikita. In addition the breadth and height - quite significant. Such a large woofer, which must be characterized by a narrow angle of radiation at relatively low frequencies, would suggest the usage of a midrange speaker - as with the floor standing model Baguerra from the same line as the Nikita - or a tweeter than can handle very low frequencies. And here - neither the one or the other. The tweeter in the Nikita has a classic cone, so to have it process the high frequencies a few conditions must be met, that lead among others to limit its swinging amplitude (rigid upper suspension). And it is - a flat piece of rubber, without a fold. But why is there no dome? Davis consciously says, that if homogeneous sound is to be achieved in the whole frequency spectrum, speakers with the same material for membranes have to be used. Everywhere. As you can see it is one for another. And regardless of the fact how much I distrust the "talks" of the PR specialists, Davis is not a company that came out of nowhere, it is a regarded company with traditions, that probably knows what it is doing. Also Davis Acoustics just celebrates its 20st anniversary. It was founded in 1986 by Michael Visan, engineer and technical head of the company Siare. Firstly Davis offered speakers, with the most popular 13KLV5 and 17KLV6, later kits, among those, working in many homes until today, the models Kristel i MV7. After those experiences they returned to the manufacturing of home speakers, and recently started operations in the field of car audio. In the product portfolio of the company are cheaper models for home theater and stereo, more expensive, aimed at the home cinema, and two most expensive models only for stereo - the stand mount Nikita and floor standing Baguerra. Nikita, due to the non-standard proportions, needs a stand with large top surface. LISTENING EXPERIENCE )
These speakers are difficult to drive. Although the specifications given by the manufacturer state that the minimum impedance is 5Ohm, and the efficacy high 90dB, the speakers are difficult to drive. Low powered tube amplifiers will not do. And it is worth to listen to them in best possible conditions, because the Davis present a slightly different, very attractive, way of transduction of music. Outstanding is their tonal balance, at least if we do not look at the extremes - upper treble and lower bass. In the lower midrange and lower treble the Nikita sounds with a very well sorted, equal range. Due the untypical tweeter there is no trace of brightening in their sound. They do not hide anything, are vital, fast, but without the sometimes audible, maybe subconscious brightening, that is not identified from the beginning, but can make the listening disgusting. Nikita is a true French woman (the name was probably taken, I think so, from the main character of Luc Besson film Nikita) - skittish woman. I mentioned the need for a powerful amplifier, so now about positioning: Nikita likes it in only one position - pardon - in one setting: the speakers have to be projected directly at the listeners ears. Outside of the main axis to the left or the right the treble weakens considerably. It is even worse in the vertical direction: if we get up, it seems as if our grandmas radio is playing. Sit down and the caress returns... Even in the mentioned position the upper treble is slightly withdrawn, but this what happens below is very good. The sound as a whole has a splendid character - is sleek and powerful - the bass comes down really low, very low, lower than in many floor standers. It can be controlled very good, but under the condition that you have real Watts: 100 and more. The instruments that operate in the higher range, as well as those, that have a more expanded harmonic structure are not that open as with the Harpia Acoustics MARCUS speakers (test this month), but have a brilliant coherence below. It seems that the talk about the uniformity of materials was not only "pr talk", but was based on solid observation (let us add, that uniformity of materials was also adhered to in the Marcus, but it is aluminum there). The Hammond organ from the brilliant album of Adam Makowicz - Unit (Polskie nagrania, PNCD 935, Polish Jazz vol. 35, CD) sounded sensational - with a juicy midrange and a very good transition to the heights, that in this instrument can sound piercing, and when there is something wrong with the speaker, for example any peaks on the frequency response, it comes out immediately. Those are not there in the Nikita, or are leveled in some way, because the sound of this instrument, supported by the bass, was outstanding. The planes were located quite near, without deep placement, what is one of the weaker point of this, on the other hand successful, construction. The instruments always have a real, full body, and are never skimmed. )
The last characteristic is due to the incredible bass. The size of the speakers points to that from the beginning, but it does not prepare for something that good. The low frequencies are strong, full and really low. The speakers sounded well already with the 12 Watt Leben CS-300 (test HERE), better with the 27Watt Avantgarde Acoustic Model 5, but they really sung - as I mentioned - with the mighty, 250Watts Manley Neo-Classic 250 (test HERE), and from the more accessible price range the Arcama P1 mono power amplifiers. An alternative can be the Prima Luna Six mono power amplifiers. It is all about supplying the right power. If the speakers are hooked up to decent current source, then we get a coherent in the whole frequency spectrum sound: is this the ability of the engineers, or good cooperation of the speakers with the same shape and material of the membranes - probably both elements are equally valid - anyway, here it made it difficult to stop listening to the splendid disc e.s.t. - Tuesday Wonderland (ACT 9016-2, CD; review TUTAJ) - the fullness, holistic view of the events and showing of their musical sense, and similar. The bass drum really sounded somewhere in the middle, and not only suggested its work. Electronic music and rock with an electronic sauce also sounded incredibly, probably due to the coherence and filling of the sound. Recordings from the Radiohead disc Kid A (EMI 27753 2, CCD?) had a large, full sound, with very well defined planes. Splendidly shown were the contours of the instruments, and the bass opening This National Anthem was striking: even, low and full. Also here the most prominent was the mood creating first plane, and it made the illusion, that for a moment the musicians are here, with us. Because the Davis bring the artists to us, they do not open a window behind them, but rather bring the recording room acoustics to our room, quite close, melting it together with the air in our room. This is one feature, that will make us decide immediately , if we will like them. Also the weaker points are easy to define, so our preferences will be quickly set. There are not many of them, but they are there, so let us summarize: the listening point is very narrow, outside of the dozen centimeters in the middle the treble fades quite quickly and the localization of instruments worsens. The speakers are also not very selective in the mid and low range, showing rather larger planes than details. And these are really big speakers - with the stands they take up more area than most of the floor standers in the price range. Besides those - only advantages, with a focused, coherent sound and mighty, but not overdrawn bass. THE MAKE )
The speakers Davis Nikita are two way stand mount boxes, ventilated with a bass-reflex port. The Nikita have very untypical proportions - they are very deep and quite broad. Both drivers are manufactured by Davis itself. In the upper range works a tweeter with a membrane shaped just like the one in the woofer - there is no trace of a dome or tube. The cones is made from Kevlar - typical for this manufacturer. In the middle a large metal phase corrector was placed, surrounded with a glued strip of sponge. The suspension is ultra rigid, flat and not prepared for large amplitudes. Around the cone, in the deepening, soft material was glued, that is supposed to absorb the waves that bend around the membrane edge. It is worth to mention, that this speaker has a powerful, really big, magnet, that no woofer could be shy about. On the bass and mids a large, 20cm diameter speaker does its job, also with a Kevlar membrane, covered with a gluey substance, that should neutralize internal resonances. The tweeter is connected to the cross-over with thin, probably silver solid-core wires, the larger speaker - with silver plated braid wires. The connection to the outside is made with double wire terminals, cramps are made of the same wire as feeds the woofer. The enclosure is splendidly crafted, rigid and dead for percussion, has cut edges near to the tweeter, looking like Avalona designs. On the low end double bottom is visually separated, painted black, and separated from the main body by a dilation. In this bottom large spikes can be screwed. It is worth mentioning that stands with large top planes are needed. The whole is finished with natural veneer (there are a few to choose from). In the package we get also a grill that can be attached to the cabinet by messing clamps protruding from the front baffle.
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