Tell me no LHY. When you order one from Vincent in Singapore, you might be interested in ship times. My loaner spent a full three days in Guangzhou before it actually departed on the fourth day for Charles de Gaulle. A day later it had arrived in Shannon/IE to clear customs. Next morning it was out for delivery. Total ship time was Thurs through Wed, two days less than the FedEx estimate. 7-10 days would seem a fair expectation. Our previous digs would have added at least 2 days. That was due to how shipments for Mayo Co. routed through Sligo two hours north then didn't necessarily dispatch the next day. Now we live within an hour of the west coast's airport. We get an actual FedEx van to pull up, not a subcontractor's. Proximity cuts out handovers between different firms covering remote areas. Rural living can put one on a route served only twice weekly. The FedEx call center in Mumbai wouldn't know a thing about that; nor would Beatechnik.

Completely ensconced in clam-shell foam, my sample emerged from its cardboard outers in perfect shape. It was accompanied by a UK-style fused power cord and two 0.8m umbilicals. Those had identical outer barrels but differently sized openings to account for thicker/thinner center pins in the receiver socket. Both fit but the one with the thinner opening sat tighter. The front's silk screen didn't say LPS160VA just Linear PSU. The two white fields beneath the power sockets said DCV 24V, max 5A. Between the DC output 1 and 2, a sticker read 160W plus the same in Chinese script. Beneath the power IEC the 230VAC square was marked red. All was perfectly self-explanatory. Unlike suggested in the earlier photo, the power transformer actually bolts to the belly plate. That has it sit upright while the rest of the circuit mounted to the top heatsink hangs like a sloth. Once live over these Fram Midi 150 temporarily set up on my desktop in lieu of the DMAX Super Cubes, the LHY was both mechanically and electrically quiet like that proverbial tomb. At the SPL I used, it also remained vampire frosty even after hours of non-stop play. It threw off no warmth I could feel quite as though—Anne Rice alert—ice ran threw its veins. For my particular gig, its passive thermal management was perfect overkill. Given the midfield setup of Ancient Audio's Vintage Horten upstairs, I'd use higher playback levels there. Perhaps I'd get this heart to pump even at just six beats per minute?

There the 80cm umbilical proved just long enough for the EnigmAcoustics stand when the LHY sat on its plinth. Should you need one, just ask Beatechnik for a longer leash. They treat each order as more or less custom to configure the voltage/s you specify. Cable termination and length are part of that bespoke treatment.

Back on the desktop I also tried the smaller Fram Midi 120. As my favorite of this tryptich, this nearfield set would become 221B Baker Street for the case of the LHY.

Now it helps to see more of the space. Voilà, 6moons HQ aka the office.

That eir router on the window sill is our fiber-optic access to the Internet. It supplies three computers hardwired via industrial CAT8a – Ivette's and my work PC and the main system's music iMac.