"A few more things which all will be in the manual coming very shortly. One, normal sources use RCA inputs 2-6. 7+8 select as one then separate out via mute / vol+. RCA1 applies an extra 12dB of cut for über high-end sources with stupidly high output voltages. RCA1 can only be used in buffer mode. Now max output level as shown by the display is -9dB. The io1 config is 6in/2out, APO is A/V bypass which is selectable only for RCA 5. Also, the icOn 5 has a new 4-layer PCB for superior grounding. Layer 1 is for analog ground, layer 2 for digital ground, layers 3+4 'connect the dots'." Thinking readers already added up that maximum passive step-up gain is 3dB. Are the whopping 7dB exclusive to the Pure? "Not so. That's from working on multiple developments at once. The first icOn 5 prototype of October 2022 topped out at +3dB. In this year's redesign I added to its PCB the +7dB switch but unlike in the Pure, forgot about it so your loaner doesn't use it. With a small firmware mod now that I remembered, I'll extend the icOn 5 to +7dB as well for my vinyl friends with extra-low output MC or insufficient gain in their phono stage. The first icOn 5 for sale will already run from -92dB to +7dB. A 99dB adjustment window really is nice progress when until 2020, my icOns only worked across a 49dB range."

For this part of the proceedings my usual MonAcoustic SuperMon Mini were back in play. PlatiMon had up and left to Berlin for a review by John Darko. The small box with the icOn sticker atop the Crayon CFA-1.2 is my custom 80Hz/4th-order active Pál filter. For my icOn4/5 comparisons, the Cen.Grand DSDAC 1.0 Deluxe worked in fixed-out mode. Later rounds would compare icOn 5 to the analog Muses on-chip controller of the DAC. Functionally the latter's ladder volume renders a preamp redundant. Its analog input can even accommodate one non-digital source. Sonically I wanted to learn whether the icOn 5 hid an ace card up its add-on sleeve. At the 20-30dB attenuation this system fluctuates between, the current boost of a magnetic volume control kicks in strong to possibly book a nice advantage.

First I had to sort passive/buffer action. Perhaps contrary to purist hopes, to me the B-side had the bigger hits. I find it most relevant to frame the offset in energetic terms. Relaxed. Exciting. Passive mode was the more chilled. Though this gap was smaller, it caused a flashback on a FirstWatt amp which runs passive voltage gain from fixed step-up transformers. It had celebrated a particularly limpid poise to perfection. Muscular angularity, propulsion, projection and drive all were sublimated in a more spirit-than-flesh sort. That hadn't been about frequency response but the tunes' inner tension. Step-up gain bled out some air for lower tyre pressure and gentler tarmac talk. In a different way, the LessLoss aesthetic with its emphasis on lengthier decays and related softness creates a parallel milieu. It too bleeds out some drama or frisson. If these references translate to some 'aha', distill their essence then call it the icOn 5's passive mode. Switch in the buffer to tighten reins, keen edges and heighten a sense of inner resolution, resolve and articulation.

The gestalt remained very illuminated or revealed but of a superbly sunny disposition. I heard no garish neon glare. I actually had the uncanny sense that this highly detailed sound was extra posh. Think of how an elite motorcar telegraphs its superior pedigree by how its doors close, the seat leather responds, the engine gurgles, the controls feel. This and more sensory feedback requires no geekdom to find its mark, no prior education. It's self evident even where a casual observer lacks vocabulary to break down the overall effect into particulars. It's how the buffer's higher immediacy or directness was wedded to tacit elegance. I also found myself built for tilt. Though Pál's values seem too marginal to matter given how their gradient spreads across a full ten octaves—at max less than ½dB/oct.—I found the feature surprisingly effective. Being able to calibrate it from the chair in such fine repeatable doses felt like a major D moment: Duh, why hasn't anyone since Quad done this? That settled, time for Dave Brubeck's most famous tune built on a 5/4th beat to put icOn 5 against icOn 4. Would that skirmish call out "Take four"?