Après le switch came propaganda perfected, truth in advertising or I told you so. In fact it'd been Grzegorz who told us so. As promised, v2's tonality was instantly heavier without any perceived losses in HF energy. For a first tickle in these calmer waters, I cued up Mark Eliyahu's "Drops" from Roads. His kemanche or spiked fiddle's timbre exhibits a trademark hollowness. During expressive modulations, into this hollow can pool whispers of the glassy, wiry and sharp. The original drivers had more explicitly 'bitten down' on these minorly strident aspects. They'd also lightened up the piano's presence as a big resonant body by depicting it leaner. The revised whizzer array and internal voice-coil changes had bolted on extra sonority and subjectively downshifted the tonality's center of gravity.

To track the same changes into something faster paced, more energetic and dense then cranked up to 11:00 for proper rambunctiousness…

icOn 4Pro with outboard 40Hz/-6dB 4th-order LR lo/hi-pass filter ⇒ Enleum AMP-23 | Kinki Studio EX-B7 mono ⇒ sound|kaos 2 x 15" Ripol subwoofer

… I ran with "The Rod" by the World Quintet. It unites power-stomping piano, Klezmer clarinet and flute, rollicking percussion and assorted raunchy brasses in the melée/swingé 4'28" bridge. By contrast, the original driver tuning had sounded more top-heavy and 'on the nerve'. Particularly at high SPL, it had emphasized more splashiness and tinkles in the piano's upper hammered keys, more shoutiness in the careening blackwood's high registers, more insistence on those of the paralleled flute. The power range of the keyboard, upright and kick drum too had gone on a small fast which v2 overwrote as though with a visit to the all-you-can-eat buffet.

The question on the minds of current Nenuphar owners is obvious: should they step up to v2?

Chances are steep. They've carefully cultivated then locked in their ideal balance with the right amplifier and DAC already. If owner acceptance of personal right lives inside a very narrow window, that balance will predictably tip. Now it'll need redressing; again. That could mean more hardware expenses. I can't predict the appeal of that unless one was still laboring over this balance or just wanted extra body. No question, new owners will have it easier to find a dream Nenuphar amp. Rather than elusive single soulmate, there'll be many. Cube Audio told no porkies. Their v2 driver is still less critical and demanding so still more girl next door than mini diva. While the F10 Neo was already surprisingly normal given its Lowther race-track DNA, v2 managed to make another surprisingly noticeable step in said direction. The result is more black less white in the color palette for yet less incisiveness in the presence region and more overall gravitas.

The upshot is even less chance of long-term listening fatigue. That happily welcomes many half-hour grooves threaded together into a lengthy playlist. One might kick off with Îsmail Tunçbilek, the Taksim Trio's celebrated electric baglama player?

It's the right stuff after swallowing today's yellow pill.

Neo to Trinity: "Now we have met!"

Cube Audio add: "If you already own Nenuphar models with F8 Neo or F10 Neo drivers, your dealer or distributor can swap in the new drivers. If there is no representative in your country, you can send the speakers to us. You will get back the v2 version. Since the enhancement involves just new drivers, the entire speaker will now be considered v2. Your representative or us will replace the drivers and attach a holographic sticker to the back plate to confirm the v2 upgrade. The upgrade is available at these suggested prices (there might be small differences depending on local taxes): Nenuphar, Nenuphar Monitor, Nenuphar BASiS with F10 Neo €1'500/pr, with F8 Neo €1'200/pr."