Leyline sighting – Not a magnetic meridian in the earth, the Leyline2XL instead is Chord Company's newest speaker cable priced at a thoroughly grounded £10/m. It's a 14-gauge tinned copper build in the company's own XLPE dielectric and even available in an easy-pull 152m box for custom installs.

A Devialet for less? – The dB1 Doublebass [€299] from Singapore's UB+ does look it which can't be coincidence. This sonic Bluetooth sphere packs a 4½" two-way with silk-dome tweeter behind a port hole covered by flowery protector plus 5.2" passive radiators on each side. There's a 2'500mA battery on board and Bluetooth 5.3 which promises 20 hours of playback and the option to string together eight units. Power is 40+20W. Wired inputs are 3.5mm and USB-C which doubles as charger. There's an app with 3-band EQ, a metal remote and top rotary control. Multi-unit Bluetooth pairing covers true stereo and matrix modes. Included are three-section tripods for three different heights. The speaker attaches magnetically. For on-the-go fun, there's the leather strap on top. Rounding out the options are three different finishes so gloss white, black and grey. Whether for so little money this is mostly a plasticky exercise in derivative style is for actual owners to suss out. But it certainly looks the bomb – all 2.5kg and 185mm Ø of it.

Minus 50 – That's the €2'579 Eversolo AMP-F10's kilowatt 4Ω output rating in bridged mode. There it delivers 950 watts, then 650W/8Ω. Stereo mode generates 200/320wpc into 8/4Ω from five pairs of dual-differential Mosfets per channel. The linear power supply centres on a 1000W power toroid. Selectable voltage gain is 23/29dB, bandwidth 10Hz-30kHz ±0.5dB. Dimensions are 43x31x14.7cm WxDxH, weight is 18kg.

Ravenous? – Meadowlark Audio's new fully active Raven [$10.5K/pr] is with dual 9½" subwoofers beneath a 4" 2-way head. A 5th-order DSP high pass at 18Hz protects and linearizes the critically damped sealed bass system by allowing 6dB of built-in boost driven by 250-watt nCore. A matching class D module powers the SB Acoustics midrange whilst a 100-watt module fronts the Seas ferrofluid-less soft dome. 24/192 digital inputs cover coax, AES/EBU and optical, analog is on RCA/XLR with auto signal detect. At 85lbs and available in a range of real-wood veneers, Raven is very compact: a square-foot cross section rising to just a few centimetres past a metre. That's really small for what promises to be true full bandwidth of high output with uncommon dynamic linearity.

Giant step? – Neil Armstrong's first step onto our 1st moon's Sea of Tranquility? Nope, this is LessLoss' Giant Steps [$417/1], a footer said to work in both the material and magnetic domains. LessLoss consider this by far their most advanced product ever which is saying something. The footer's underside sports a small receiver dimple for spikes or to avoid a protruding screw head on a component's bottom whilst the larger recess on the top isn't meant to be contacted so the component to be supported sits on the raised rim. The hollow low-rider barrel of resin-infused Kraft paper with 1mm brass accent encloses a processed crystal core with laser-cut spiral. The device measures 50mm across and 17mm tall. There's no weight limit, thread or bolt.

Wishing our readers the best of holidays over Christmas and New Year's. Be safe, sound and happy. Layered art by Ivette Ebaen.

Dazzle – It's not a posh London Xmas display but Kinki Studio's 300/560wpc into 8/4Ω integrated with three RCA and two XLR inputs. It's not on their global but Chinese website so possibly not earmarked for export even though AliExpress already lists it at €13K. But then Kinki's Stunning models of preamp and 76kg/ea. 600-watt class A/B mono amps and their Taihang products don't feature on the global website either. Perhaps Kinki are holding out on the rest of the world? In which case interested consumers outside of China may need to make a bit of noise now. You want some dazzle? Say so. What? I can't hear ya!…

Core EQ? – If you mean Audirvana then yes, a 6-band multi-channel parametric EQ embedded in this software player's core is just around the corner without installing an extra plugin. A beta-tester list is active already and soon Audirvana Studio will update to add this functionality. There's even real-time monitoring to track the EQ's effect. Could this be ultra-convenient invisible free room treatment by notching out our three primary room modes in the digital domain besides altering our system's overall tonal balance to taste?

Grimm news for phono – The PW in PW1 [€5'000] isn't for pulse width but Phono Wizard and the initials of chief designer Peter van Willenswaard. It's a Fet-based transistor design with dip-switch settable loading adjustments for MM and MC with RCA and XLR outputs and an internal linear power supply.

The Book of Method not Mormon – It's Zu's newest bookshelf model called the Method. The unexpected surprise hides in its dimensions: 15" tall, 11" deep and 8.75" wide. That last figure is the giveaway. The company's signature 10.3" driver just won't fit. Instead we're getting a new dual-motor 8" coax of 94dB sensitivity that's front-ported. The main cone runs wide open, the Eminence ASD-1101 tweeter in its throat is high-passed at 5kHz. That's method acting with minimal effort.

Nordic noir? – Not quite. This is the Dan Clark Audio Noire [€1'099], an all-black sealed planar-magnetic over-ear headphone with meta material damping to combat cavity standing waves. The thin bridge of memory metal self adjusts, the pads are synthetic Alcantara and the gloss cup covers Gorilla glass for superior scratch resistance.

More bass for the buck in less than a cubic foot – That's the 10x8x10" HxWxD LC1 from Chesky Audio [$996/pr] which mates a 6½" 2-way face with 1" dome tweeter to two horizontally opposed 8" passive radiators on the cheeks and a single-wire terminal on the bum. With claimed bandwidth of 50Hz-20kHz, thinking shoppers know to expect low sensitivity in trade – 83dB to be exact. But the LC1 also promises a particularly inert cabinet built from "high-density polymer" to "embody the sound of a speaker 10 x its size". Built in the US, there's a 1-year warranty on all parts. The fractal-grooved surface treatment bracketing the tweeter is for diffraction control. Applying basic math, the surface area across which the passive radiators share bandwidth with the mid/woofer compounds to that of a single 13" woofer. Despite its puny size, this box should be capable of moving some air.

Not so tiny dancer – It's Usher's new Nereo ND-5 [$8'800/pr], a 3-driver MTM 2-way tower in a cold-laminated curved Birch cab with slotted front port. The 1.25" tweeter is the brand's own neodymium-powered diamond dome, the 7" mid/woofers exploit a German-sourced wool/wood membrane with a unique damping layer. The sum of these parts nets 90dB sensitivity and a claimed -3dB bandwidth of 28Hz-40kHz. The filter hinge sits at 2.1kHz, dimensions are 30 x 54.5 x 130cm WxDxH and weight including the plinth is 44.5kg/ea. The global hifi scene has many electronics from China, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong. When it comes to successful hifi speaker houses from the region, how many can you name? Usher who started in 1972 are possibly the most established presence in that sector. It's good to see them back in action with what looks like a special edition of the Dancer Mini-Two Diamond which we're told will be limited to just 100 pairs.

X'd up not out – It's Lumin's new T3x now with internal linear power supply, fibre-optic support and the latest Lumin processing including Leedh volume control. Data support is up to DSD512 and 384 PCM with bidrectional resampling. There's dual ES9028Pro chips, UPnP, Roon Ready, Tidal/Spotify Connect, AirPlay, QPlay, Audirvana support and gapless. Also aboard are silver or black finishes, 3/6Vrms RCA/XLR analog outputs, twin USB ports, BNC out and Lumin's popular app. And of course there's the trademark bowed fascia of Lumin's most ambitious decks.

Phono. Reference. – That's Nagra's HD Phono, an all-tube singing and dancing twin-chassis affair with embedded resonance control. The outboard power supply is based on a massive supercap bank to provide virtual battery power with faster charges and higher current load. Remote-controlled load adjustments span 10-390Ω. The 26dB step-up transformers with cobalt cores and multi-week cryo treatment are wound on site and by hand. The tube complement consists of 4 EF806S and 2 E88CC. Their gain is adjustable from 30.5-42.4dB. Compensation curves include RIAA, Teldec, NAB 100 µS, Victor Europe and Victor USA. There are two MC and one 1 MM input on RCA. Those can be run in stereo or mono.

HP-10 – Available in three guises of standard, BT and Deluxe trim, with BT adding a Sabre DAC with Bluetooth aptX HD 5.1, Deluxe a premium AKM AK4493 DAC with extra USB-C input, Gold Note's newest headphone amp can also take the PSU-10 Evo upgraded external power supply. Claimed to operate purely in the analog domain, adjustments include cross-feed, Harman Curve EQ, damping factor, gain, phase and superflat. The display navigates the options. Four headfi outputs cover 3.5/6.3mm and 4.4mm/XLR4 balanced. Analog inputs are 1/ea. RCA/XLR mirrored by matching outputs. There's remote control and gold, silver or black finishing. The circuit is a dual-mono discrete class A type. What the press released missed were the power ratings and price. Boo. A retailer's website lists the basic HP-10 at €1'890 but still has nothing on the output power. I guess prospective shoppers have no need to know? Gold Note's FB pages mention Susvara so apparently that notoriously inefficient headphone is well within the amp's remit. In which case, nuff said?

Sus goes Is? – Not exactly. HifiMan's new Isvarna [$2'899] rather diverges from Susvara. It's a hybrid which combines an elliptical 3x5cm dynamic bass driver facing inward with a planar membrane at ~300Hz. The specs reflect 6Hz-60kHz bandwidth, 16Ω impedance and 93dB sensitivity. Whilst the extra-thick aluminium-alloy ear cups seal at the ends as shown, a very sizable perforated area  presumably to vent the woofer chamber faces down. Weight is 454g. With IEM, hybrids of dynamic and balanced-armature drivers are quite common but combining a thin film with dynamic drivers in full-sized models is rather less so. It will be interesting to see whether commentators give a hearty thumbs-up to HifiMan's seamless blending of two driver types when until now, they haven't mixed technologies. EnigmAcoustics did with their Dharma D1000 which mated a 52mm dynamic driver to a small self-biased electrostatic element. So did AKG. But those all date back. Now Isvarna joins a dynamic driver with a planarmagnetic. It's not Miller but Hybrid Time. Cheers or clunk?

sMS-2000 – It's SOtM's top server with their best USB audio host and Ethernet cards, ATX power supply and matching power cables. The motherboard and processor are their sMB-Q370 combined with an i7 CPU and DDR4 RAM. Roon, MDP and DLNA are on board. So the sMS-2000 integrates many different modules previously sold separately. There's even OS support for a whopping 48TB storage. What the press release omits is price. Oops. But their shop page has it: €9'267.90 as of today's exchange rate against a fixed $10K US reference.

It's aLaiv – That's the new µDDC [$849], a digital-to-digital converter with USB, AES/EBU, coax and pin-configurable I²S inputs and one galvanically isolated I²S output for up to PCM 768 and DSD512 support via USB and I²S. There's even an external 10MHz clock input. Power comes in via USB-C or 5V/2A brick, signal routing is overseen by FPGA control, reclocking by onboard crystal oscillator. To recap, if you've wanted to hitch a ride on the I²S train but had the wrong ticket, this mini component will see you right. If on the other hand your DAC doesn't have an I²S input, this device will do nothing for you as you can't use it. So it's a very specialized problem solver. Finish options are black or silver.

Fjordic not Nordic – Fjord Audio is Fjord Chang's new South-Korean brand with manufacture in China. His present portfolio features a two-box valve preamp with four 12AU7 and two 12AT7; a two-box phono stage with 2/ea. 12AU7 and 12AX7; and a monaural power amp of two 12AU7 and four KT150 for 90W. All models operate in class A exclusively, the amplifiers eschew negative feedback and finish options are high-gloss oak, matte oak or the figured blond wood shown.

Erzetich's germ culture – Think Bacillus II [€799] and Bacillus II+ [€1'999], the latest iterations of two headphone amps. The former is a compact class AB circuit with Obbligato Gold caps in a metal chassis with wooden sides. The latter is a fully balanced dual-mono effort of 0.3wpc in balanced mode. The link has all the details.

Revox absorb Horch House – Analog master tape experts Horch House join Revox, with Horch founder Volker Lange taking on management of the Revox Group's analog division. This brings production of reel-to-reel tape in house at Revox to combine the physical data carrier and its playback gear under one roof.

Wood + Note = Combo – It's Lindemann's new all-in-one compact Combo deck, a "high-res streaming processor with power DAC". It delivers 50wpc/4Ω into loudspeakers. File support goes to 24/384 and native DSD256. "Streaming integration of leading services in studio-master quality" and "an intuitive app" combine with "an aluminium housing in a stylish retro-future look". The new made-in-Germany Woodnote range also includes the Solo which omits the Combo's speaker drive to prioritize use as a DAC/preamp hence gains analog XLR outputs.

Op-amp power squared and squared again – Grzegorz Rulka, co-developer of Cube and Qualio speakers and owner of the Virtual Hifi YouTube channel, has engaged an experiment involving listening to a plethora of available opamps, grading them, selecting the best-sounding ones then wiring them up in two, four or eight-pack modules with heatsinks and stabilizing circuity. These plug'n'play opamps start at €25 and end at €129 for the Brute Force One octo opamp. "Anyone into DIY upgrading gear that uses opamps can use them instead of any standard NE5532, OPA2134 etc. types or discrete opamps whilst drawing significantly more current."  As long as the stock circuit can support the Virtual's draw and has sufficient room to accommodate the footprint of the heatsinks, these are drop-in upgrades for socketed opamps à la Burson. The difference is, these aren't discrete but instead paralleled/bridged versions of stock ICs to give DIYers an easy way to experiment with sonic changes from opamp rolling. Grzegorz loves them for example in a €150 Chinese class D amp which he routinely brings to hifi shows and prefers to a €7'000 Naim.

You've been fyned – So sez Fyne Audio's new F701SP [€7'699/pr], a monitor with a new 'Special Production' suffix. That's about trickle down from the premium F1 range. The dual-concentric driver is an 8" mid/woofer with a 25mm magnesium dome compression tweeter in its throat. Upgrades over the standard F701 which remains current include superior filter parts like ClarityCaps and a deep cryo treatment in Fyne's own Glasgow facility. Hookup wiring now is Neotech, binding posts are WBT. Finish options are piano-gloss black, white or walnut plus a new satin walnut.