My final amp option was FirstWatt's F7 whose 0.08Ω is very low for its catalogue whilst the 20wpc rating tracked the Enleum. With now Mosfet power in pure class A just no attenuator, the Laiv DAC had to change to iFi's iDSD Pro Signature with integral analogue volume. Whilst bass damping improved, overall textures thickened. That stepped down resolution and microdynamic twitch. Every listener sets these parameters to taste. Triode hounds would have happily stuck with the F7 and felt like proud pigs with a truffle. This dog is a bit old for new tricks and musty truffles so reverted to the AMP-23R for its greater illumination, treble finesse and overall detail zoom.

With that settled, the amp with true variable gain came off the floor to park on the big sub looking a bit wallflowerish. Physical size isn't everything though. Before we peel back Lotus 10 petals, a few more words on its direct competitor from the same team. Though IQ is a 3-way whose SB Acoustics 6" Satori isn't even a classic widebander, its sheer specs can run it out to 15kHz. That eliminates the genre's big no-no of a filter transition anywhere near the upper midrange. Coupled to a Mundorf AMT also in dipole mode, there's something undeniably special about the open-backed collab between these two ace transducers. Not only does their compound treble performance eclipse Lotus 10's, even the nonchalant airiness of an open baffle makes a persuasive counter argument to a box-loaded bigger widebander. There's even advantageous sidewall removal from the 'figure 8' dispersion. That a 9½" ported Satori woofer would still go farther in the other direction shouldn't surprise either.

But IQ isn't flea-watt SET friendly. Au contraire. Particularly the dipole Satori wants extra damping to compensate for its lack of restorative air pressure from a box. The very thing it thrives on is anathema to Lotus 10. That neatly splits their respective appeal. The Cube scales up the Nenuphar concept to wink at the SETist Church chasing a copasetic load for bigger rooms. The Qualio doffs its hat at high-power/current lovers singing in the key of class AB or D transistors. IQ came after Cube's rise to prominence. It was patterned on the single-driver aesthetic but altered the means thus target audience. Nobody could have predicted the success IQ's unconventional recipe and execution would enjoy in the marketplace. But it clearly put competitive pressure on Nenuphar to birth Lotus 10. At least that's my take on this sibling rivalry. No longer being a SET man myself despite the initials—and finding crisp well-damped 25Hz bass vital—it'll be clear where my allegiances remain. I also (cough) prefer IQ's smaller form factor and far lower price. With that bit of critical housekeeping done, on and upwards.

Nenuphar's triple whizzer has become a dual whizzer of different geometry.

The itch and ear/brain wash. On my small staff, Frederic and Simone face a shared challenge. Once Frederic bought his own Enleum amp, his love of single-ended 2A3 powering PHY-based Ocellia widebanders soured. He'd finally met an amp which mimicked their purity but added rather higher resolution, snap and linearity. Now he wonders whether his long-term speakers too mandate an upgrade. With his brain ear-washed by unfiltered widebanders, he seriously doubts that anything but another widebander could satisfy. With a bit of luck we might follow his explorations across some promising review prospects. Meanwhile Simone is a diehard headfi freak who plays on the cost-no-object ledge. His partner finally agreed to have a compact speaker system in their living room. He too is used to single-driver filterless immediacy at extreme resolution. Where to even start his speaker search with any hope of recreating peak headphone sound in free space? I mention this just to paint the proper picture. If you're unfamiliar with premium widebanders or statement headfi, you couldn't possibly understand their appeal or how they can ruin attentive listeners to the mess which the average multi-way box makes of the time domain. Now you're bound to write off the widebander genre as weird, fringe or last-century primitive. Given plenty of poor examples of the breed, I couldn't blame you either.