Delivery by mail man not courier dropped off a heavy wooden crate with proper hinges. One of the entry latches had been immobilized by tie wrap and left alone by customs. What emerged was a very substantial silver beast with extra-thick case work and a massive subtly curved and scalloped baffle adorned with a fat central power button, two small colour-changing status LEDs and one tiny reset button. This clearly was no nCore, ICEpower, Pascal or Anaview. This was an altogether beefier concept. Once powered up, it quickly ran toasty on the heat sinks and cover. This underscored the Naiu difference. Sonics followed suit with a vengeance. This was not your father's class D even though this one's roots date back as far as 1985. First though, the obligatory parade of guts and glory. The opening photo shows the switch-mode power supply at left, the modulator in the middle and one analog board on the right (the other sits beneath it). We note the thick cables for critical flying leads, the copious use of ferrite rings and trim pots, inductors of unusually thick windings and stout aluminium stock for all transistor rails, three of which are additionally coupled to heat sinks. The ungodly amount of 62 such heat-sinked transistors signs on the dotted line - of difference with a capital 'D'. Given Mircea Naiu's history, poor web presence and inexplicably delayed full emergence, I in fact thought that his particular strength of circuit innovation not business dealings might be best served were an established leader in the field—Bel Canto Design come to mind—to license this mature proven circuit and take over production, sales and marketing. Why this could really be a win/win, the listening comments will explain. For now, let's complete the hardware investigation.