Port city – That's Lumin's new N1, a 10-port LAN distributor aka network switch with six RJ45 1GHz copper and four SFP fibre-optic connectors. There's also a ground post, 50Ω 10MHz clock input and RJ45 LED defeat switch. The black or silver chassis is based on the existing D3 and U2 Mini and the internal power supply is a linear sort with "extra-large" toroidal transformer. The N10 ships with one pair of optical modules plus fibre link.

Herr Mark der Zweite – Boenicke Audio have officially released Mk2 versions across most their loudspeakers. "The W5, W8, W11 and W13 add key innovations with a next-gen filter topology to guarantee absolute phase coherence; advanced management of resonances with the introduction of new parallel electromechanical resonators in combinations of copper and gold; optimization of materials from the choice of Mundorf and Duelung caps to the use of C37 lacquer and Green Harmonia technology; and driver optimization to recalibrate the long-excursion woofers and rear ambient tweeters for faster transient response." Perhaps old news but new to me when I just logged onto Sven Boenicke's site, there's now also a centre channel for home theatre.

Bridged – You can be with Lindemann's Bridge [€1'650], the new model in their Woodnote range. Fitted with a low-draw linear power supply, socketry includes RJ45 and USB storage then AES/EBU, Toslink and coax outputs as well as coax and Toslink inputs plus HMDI eARC.

Solving crime in hifi style – In Sogn Murders, a new Scandi Noir crime series based on the 15 novels by Jørgen Jæger and starring Kristofer Hivju (Game of Thrones) and Eili Harboe (Thelma), "the lead character, Norwegian police investigator Ole Vik, is a dedicated audiophile. Hence production company Nordisk Film sought to find a brand that shared his purist analogue mindset." As the press release tells it, Audio Note UK was it. The TV series already airs in Norway, Finland, Denmark and kicks off in Sweden this month. It will release in Germany in the autumn and then the UK and US later this year. Bushy beard, tubes, vinyl and brainy crimes. What kind of music will Ole Vik cue up? Typical audiophile or more adventurous stuff? What Audio Note models will his system consist of? Place your bets then wait for the show to air in your country…

FiiO flagship grows wood – But it's not just wooden side panels which distinguish the new K17 R2R Pro streaming DAC from the precursor. As the name indicates, the AKM converter chips made room for a discrete 24-bit resistor-array DAC with NOS/OS modes. Also, the remote wand finally goes metal. Otherwise it's still a 4wpc/32Ω headamp, still sports RCA/XLR line outs, a 35W linear power supply, 4" screen, RCA/4.4mm analog inputs and integrated WiFi antenna. There's even software-based 31 PEQ adjustable via control app or web browers, with our compensation curves saved directly to the unit. Pricing TBA.

J&H – It's not a new clothing label but the integration of HQPlayer in the Jplay app. "With full integration of the HQPlayer library, users running HQPlayer Embedded or HQPlayer Desktop can now browse, control and play their HQPlayer library directly from our app's refined audiophile interface with HQPlayer's upsampling and DSP capabilities. This removes the need for a separate local UPnP server. The new History screen makes it effortless to revisit what you've played. Tracks are organized by day and a calendar view highlights listening activity. Days with longer sessions appear as brighter dots in the calendar grid so users can instantly find their most musical days and jump back into them. Smart Playlists are created automatically based on user-defined filters so by library, genre, audio quality, year and more. The new JPLAY update is available now as a free download for existing users on the App Store."

Funkin' a – Affirmative. Jaeger Thelen's Cinquettio 212 [€73K/pr] does do things different. To layer up a point source, a vertical arc of four AMT precedes an open baffle of shallower bend housing twin midranges which themselves shadow dual 12" woofers arrayed in a ~120° angle relative to each other while airing out the bottom. All of it is actively driven by built-in Abacus Dolifet gain modules. The concept itself scales up and down so starts with dual 8" woofers and tops out with dual 24-inchers. Check it out.

Sign here – It's Wilson Audio's Autobiography, an 8-driver 5-way with paralleled 2" upper midranges, paralleled 7" midranges with 5 AlNiCo magnets each, 12" + 15" woofers and front/rear-firing tweeters. The aggressively skeletonized frame for the MMTMM array contains tooth-gear sleds to independently front/aft align the two midrange modules whilst the inner MTM array moves on its own sled. Further adjustments are up/down tilt of the head array; whether the cross-load slot port opens in front or rear; and resistive output calibrations plus separate ambient tweeter level control spanning a 40dB window. A plethora of colour options applies and given the ambitions of this design, refer to the company's own promotional materials for the full story and specifications.

FiiO's tube amp – Called the EA13, it's a 28wpc stereo integrated with NOS Sylvania PCF80/9A8 inputs driving EL34 outputs biased in pure class A. There are four RCA line inputs and a 6.3mm headphone output plus obvious VU meters and remote control. For more we must still wait. FiiO also just introduced passive 3-way speakers so this brand is not just on an ascendant but in the midst of a category expansion…

K400 – It's Kerr Acoustic's "pro-level performance for small spaces". It packages a 45mm true-ribbon tweeter and 15cm ScanSpeak mid/woofer in an 18mm cab with 24mm Baltic birch-ply baffle, 12mm internal bracing and transmission-line loading. Claimed bandwidth is 39Hz-45kHz, sensitivity 88dB, nominal impedance 6Ω, weight per side 7.5kg, with dimensions of 341 x 164 x 310mm HxWxD. Finish options are Oak and Walnut real veneers or satin or gloss lacquers in any RAL colour. Pricing starts at £4'695/pr whilst the stands add £595/pr.

Ø's Ymir – It's the 4th model in the Norwegian portfolio, a 12" two-way floorstander with triple sidefiring ports, 76mm compression tweeter/mid in a custom waveguide, aluminium baffle, stainless steel outriggers and 1st-order crossover with Zobel network and notch filters. At 120kg each and 26Hz-22kHz response, this is a serious affair. Dimensions are 114.5 x 38.2 x 52.9cm HxWxD, sensitivity is a nicely high 93.5dB. As shown, two wood finishes in blond and dark apply.

Laiv's Crescendo is getting louder – Welcome their Crescendo Beat and Chorus, a linear power supply for the 3-in-1 Verse; and a high-speed switching power amp respectively. The Beat is a dual-stage 5V+15V supply with just 50µV of max ripple. Chorus is a GaNFet amp of 50/120w into 8Ω stereo/mono claimed to trickle down tech from their bigger dedicated class D Harmony monos. Axpona has the world premiere of both new Crescendo components.

Clarity on route 66 – It's Radiant Acoustics's new 3-driver 2-way floorstander called Clarity 66 [€7'998/pr delivered]. It combines a waveguided AMT with dual Purifi Ushindi 6½" aluminium mid/woofers reflex-loaded out the rear via a massive Superflare port. A 15mm aluminium front baffle bonds to a 21mm MDF carcass with extensive bracing plus steel rods terminating in the woofer magnets. 86dB/4Ω and 24Hz-20kHz, 2'400Hz filter hinge, 22.2 x 102.5 x 35.5cm WxHxD and 40kg/ea. are the basic specs.  And, there are three different finish options.

Noise buster – Hello Clarus Concerto Mk2 [$12K], an 8-outlet AC conditioner with application-specific filtering. "Sensitive analogue components benefit from high-permeability common-mode nanocrystalline inductive filtering which virtually eliminates ground-referenced noise without current limiting current or dynamic compression. The four outlets labelled 'Digital' receive power from a combination of differential-mode and common-mode filter circuits designed to suppress HF noise generated by digital circuitry. The two outlets labelled 'High Current' receive power from a common-mode filter engineered to suppress noise as well as deliver large transient currents while reducing conducted interference and mitigating the effects of radiated noise. These filter networks provide effective noise suppression without introducing series resistance or nonlinear behaviour under dynamic load conditions. Newly added oil-filled capacitors improve thermal stability and the long-term reliability of the analogue and high-current circuits."

Nordic preamplitude – It's Electrocompaniet's new EC5 preamp [€22K], a fully balanced dual-mono class A proposition with 0.1dB x 1'000 steps for the electronically switched resistor-network attenuator. Relays or mechanical switches are eschewed elsewhere too, again in favour of electronic switching. Bandwidth is 0.5Hz-450kHz, THD+N 0.0002%. i/o execute on 4:2 XLR:RCA inputs, XLR/RCA outputs, a tape loop and trigger ports. The Ethernet jack is for app control and firmware updates. As a purist linestage, there is no phono, streaming or D/A conversion.

Power ambitions gone rogue – It's Rogue Audio's new M-250 Ultra monos which generate namesake 8Ω power from a six-pack of KT-88 run in ultralinear, about half that in triode. There are rear-switchable RCA/XLR inputs and 8/4Ω speaker tabs. In keeping with the output glass of choice, each mono weighs 88lbs.

Mobile users alert – We recently did a comprehensive recoding of how this site presents for smartphone users. Nothing at all has changed for the tablet, laptop or PC views but the site now renders far better and quicker on a narrow small display. If you still spot errors whilst browsing 6moons on a cell phone, please notify me at srajan-at-6moons.com and share what smartphone model and browser you're using; and which page or function doesn't render or behave correctly so we can fix it. Any major recode job typically entails small bugs and with the broad variety of devices, OS and browsers in use, we may not have caught all of them yet so your help is appreciated to exorcise them all. Thank you very much. Srajan

Reiki X – It's not an energy massage with a happy ending. It's a new range of LAN devices, the SuperSwitch X and Pro X PSU [€5'110 for the combo]. "Since its 2023 launch, the SuperSwitch and its Pro PSU benefited incrementally from improvements like a grounding post, increase in chassis thickness from 3mm to 5mm and respaced rear ports to better accommodate larger Ethernet cables on the input side. The SuperSwitch X and its accompanying power supply represent more than incremental changes. The chassis have doubled to 10mm thickness for even better RFI shielding. The switch circuitry now encases in non-conductive resin for further suppression of micro vibrations. The fully linear supply received a 25% larger transformer. As the result of a partnership with fellow British innovators Stack Audio, we even offer an upgrade to a specially commissioned threaded version of their excellent Auva EQ isolators."

Don't call it a soundbar – The Livebox is what happens when Weiss Engineering digital, PSI Audio speaker and Illusonic algorithmic tech hook up. There are AES/EBU, coax and Toslink inputs, USB-B, UPnP/RJ45 and analog RCA/XLR. DSP includes tone shaping, de-esser, vinyl emulation, loudness equalization and dynamic playlist adjustments, room equalizer and crosstalk cancellation. Control is via IR remote or web browser. Streaming integration includes Roon Ready, Qobuz Connect and UPNP (Jplay, Mconnect, Audirvana). The global power supply auto-detects our mains voltage.

WA12 Zircon – It's Woo Audio's new solid-state amplifier "reimagined to deliver our 'house sound' of vacuum tubes". This class A design operates on a power supply switchable between Lithium-Ion battery and AC mode. Outputs are XLR4, 4.4mm, 6.3mm and one ribbon-direct inverted XLR4. Each port is fronted by its own push button so four headphones can remain connected at any one time then select by switch. Power output is 7.5wpc into 8Ω, 6.5wpc into 30Ω. Full-power output hits 90kHz bandwidth. Output impedance is 1Ω. Inputs are dual XLR and single RCA. Dimensions are 11.5×8.3×5.75"SxWxH, weight is 11kg, price €8K.

P2 – It's Lumin's new PCM384/DSD512 network player and digital preamp with RCA/XLR analog inputs, twin ES9038Pro converters, dual-toroid linear power supply, Lumin's latest processor engine, fibre-optic networking and lossless Leedh volume control. Digital socketry includes AES/EBU, coax, BNC, USB, 3 x HDMI plus HDMI/ARC out, USB host, RJ45 and SFP. Analog outs are on RCA and XLR. Finish options are black or silver.

Herr Buchardt the Third – It's their S400 in its 3rd incarnation. "First shown as a prototype in 2016, the S400 quickly became a cornerstone of our line and has since built a reputation as one of the most widely recommended stand-mount speakers in its category. The new model introduces a larger cab along with all-new tweeter and woofer, aimed at improving dynamics and headroom while preserving the balanced and natural presentation of the original. Only a single part i.e. the binding posts carry over from the previous generation. One of the most notable changes is the 7½-inch SB Acoustics Satori papyrus mid/woofer offering 65.5% greater displacement for increased dynamic capability, stronger bass authority and greater physical impact while the cabinet size itself only grew by 18%. The new tweeter uses a custom 26mm aluminium dome paired with a newly developed waveguide to improve refinement with higher perceived clarity and resolution. Buchardt continue to collaborate with Jantzen Audio on the new 1st-order crossover. The rear-ported S400 Mk3 will initially be available through a limited pre-order campaign of 75 pairs per finish at the introductory price. Estimated delivery is late summer 2026." Prices in black are €2.3K/pr incl. VAT/shipping, pre-order €2'100/pr; €2'450/€2'250/pr in real wood veneer.

X1 – It's Korean Hifistay's half-priced new rack [€2'500/tier] which embeds roller-ball isolation in the floor interfaces, column-to-column couplers and beneath each individual shelf. Different lengths of the damped uprights afford customization, tiers are easily added or removed and a conversion kit accommodates double-wide setups.

Meze Astru – It's a new titanium-built IEM [€899] with single 10mm dynamic driver, "premium balanced cable and full accessory kit for high-end portable listening". The dome driver "features over 80 ultra-thin gold layers applied during a 48-hour magnetron sputtering process in a physical vacuum which then bond to a titanium layer atop a Peek base." Specs are 5Hz-35kHz, 32Ω, 111dB/mW, 2-pin input connectors and weight of 13.4g.

Uniquely Unico – It's a new Unison Research range of hybrid class A-A/B electronics with valve inputs and transistor outputs. The first two models are the Unico Pre V2 [$7.5K] with ES9018MkII DAC and MC/MM; and Unico DM V2 [$11K]. The fully balanced class A preamp with no negative feedback runs a pair of 12AX7 Gold Lion bottles and 15/20dB of voltage gain on XLR/RCA. The class AB stereo amp offers 220wpc/8Ω or a whopping 650W in bridged mono. It has a dual 12AU7 front end with a triple-pair Mosfet current buffer. Multiple finish options apply.