New one; or network first? – Either way it means Lumin's N1 network switch with six Gigabit copper and four matching fibre-optic ports plus 10MHz external clock link for use with Lumin's own U2X or another masterclock. The linear power supply is internal, there is zero router configuration involved and finish options are the brand's usual black and silver. The chassis measures 36x24x6cm WxDxH and weighs 2.5kg. A toggle switch can defeat the RJ45 LEDs but there seems to be no provision to defeat unused ports and their ongoing link pulses looking for a connection.

Not mad but Madison – It's Wattson Audio's new Madison Phono [€5'240] here shown with the optional Madison Power S external linear power supply. The phono stage can pack voltage and current inputs for MC, MM or a special input for DS Audio optical cartridges. Then it gets mad with 32/384 conversion to digital; and coax/Toslink digital outputs for external DACs. This removes critical phono equalization from the analog domain.

"RIAA, Columbia, Teldec, EMI and Decca curves can be applied with ±0.1dB accuracy. Network connectivity supports firmware updates and remote control."

The standard power supply is an external 5VDC affair. MM gain is 34/40dB, MC 54/60dB, A-weighted noise -134dBu/10Ω termination. The user-selectable subsonic filter sits at 15Hz/1st-order. Analog inputs are on RCA as are the analog 2Vrms outputs. The method behind Madison Phono's A/D madness is RIAA equalization far more precise than is possible to achieve with analog parts.

Given Wattson's newer home at CH Precision, that doesn't sound like a frilly claim when CH have one of the world's most advanced multi-chassis digital source systems in their catalogue. By implication, modern A/D/A conversion has become so non-lossy as to no longer be an argument against using it in a phono stage. Will the prim 'n' proppa purists agree?

7th Moon podcast episode 5 – In this installment Dawid and Srajan chat with Martin Gateley of Swiss speaker boutique sound|kaos about his latest design, the Vox5.

Danish gold rush – Børresen just kicked it off with the Gold Signature versions of their M1 – M6 speaker models. Upgrades include new stainless-steel driver baskets cryo treated then coated in their most advanced surface skins. The four-layer driver membranes apply spread-tow carbon-fibre skins around an aramid honeycomb core then add an external Signature-treated titanium layer. The motor system gained a new copper, silver and gold pole ring for further inductance reduction. The internal hookup wiring has become Ansuz Gold Signature. All of these upgrades are also available to existing M-Series owners.

Buchardt S-Class – The E50-S [€4.3K/pr] is "a new addition to the E Series and a different interpretation of the E50. At its heart is a new custom-developed 7½" SB Acoustics Satori mid/woofer featuring a thin-ply carbon diaphragm and neodymium motor. Combined with its larger cone area, the new driver provides considerably higher sensitivity than the Purifi woofer of the E50 while retaining high excursion and output. The result is a speaker significantly easier to drive with amplifiers ranging from small 15wpc tube designs to powerful solid-state amplifiers. In-room sensitivity is 91dB and impedance never lower than 4Ω. Where the original E50 offers exceptionally deep bass and a relaxed, rich and slightly laid-back presentation, the E50-S places greater emphasis on midrange presence, speed, clarity and spatial information. Bass extension is deliberately lighter to be particularly well suited to smaller rooms, placement closer to walls, systems where excessive bass energy can become problematic or listeners who prefer greater focus on midrange texture and clarity. The E50 remains the choice for listeners looking for exceptionally deep bass and the distinctive relaxed character of its paper-cone woofer. The E50-S xover is free from all resistors and uses Jantzen Audio components including Superior Z-Cap capacitors and 14-gauge copper-foil cross coils mounted on high-quality PCs with heavy copper tracks. Internal wiring includes solid-core silver-plated copper as well as Duelund Coherent Audio oil/cotton-insulated copper cable for the tweeter. The E50-S is manufactured in our own Danish facilities and the cabinets are solid European wood with traditional finger-joint construction and a substantial 28mm solid-wood front baffle. The E50-S uses two extended-stroke 6" passive radiators on the rear and measures 395×200×284mm with a weight of approximately 9 kg per speaker." The in-room F3 is a stated 38Hz so far from bass shy; just not as hung as the Purifi-fitted less efficient version.

Seefluth – A new day, a new speaker brand. This one is from Germany's Michael Seefluth. His Qlang M4 [€9'990/pr intro price] is a 125wpc Hypex Fusion-powered 2-way floorstander with rear-firing passive radiator and DSP crossover. The wide shallow enclosure is crafted of solid well-braced Beech, the floor interfaces are integral ball-bearing decouplers. The soft-dome tweeter is a Morel Premium, the mid/woofer a 7" Seas unit. Dimensions are 120x45x40cm HxWxD, weight is 25kg. Bandwidth specs aren't published yet.

Episode 4 – The latest 7th Moon podcast calls 'true to the recording' in question then spins out from there. Already booked for early September is our first 3-headed chat with guest Martin Gateley of sound|kaos. Future guests who already expressed interest without a fixed date yet include Theo Stack of Stack Audio, Aleksandar Radisavljević of Raal 1995, Grzegorz Rulka of Virtual Hifi and Kevin Scott of Living Voice.

Going GaNgster – GaN is going German automotive. According to the linked article, Porsche and Burmester are launching "the first automotive audio application with GaN in the Burmester 3D high-end surround sound system. According to Porsche, a GaN-based high-performance chip handles the voltage conversion required to power the 400-watt subwoofer amplifier. The technology that will make the amplifier lighter, more compact and more efficient is scheduled to make its production debut in a future Porsche vehicle in 2027."

Beat it – The noise that is. You can with LAiV's new Crescendo Beat [$494], a 45-watt outboard linear power supply with 15V/2A and 5V/3A parallel feeds for two matching components. LAiV rate noise under load as 50µV or 0.00005V which, against a 1V reference, is -86dB down. That's very low. There's a 70VA power toroid, twin regulation for two-stage ripple rejection at >82dB plus 17'990µF of filter capacitance. Finish options are the brand's usual silver and black, the chassis is stamped aluminium with rounded corners. What can you use the Beat for? Small components with the right DC power inputs like network switches, clocks, DACs, DDCs, bridges, headphone amps, phono stages and Raspberry-Pi servers.

7th Moon podcast #3 – In this episode Dawid and I cover accessories from LHY, LessLoss, Carbide, Hifistay, sound|kaos and Stack.

Re:LAiV it? – You mean, relive it? Same thing if it's LAiV's new DAC2 [$3'994]. If you own the original Harmony DAC, an upgrade kit is coming to bolt on the changes of: 1/ a new class A output buffer that allows simultaneous use of the RCA/XLR outputs; 2/ a 10MHz clock input; 3/ full digital isolation between inputs and outputs; 4/ a hardware sample-rate converter for PCM whilst DSD simply converts to PCM sans any oversampling; a new display with refreshed graphics whose main data is legible from across the room.

Gutted – It's what you can now do to your active Buchardt speaker. Their new MkII amplifier module [€1.5K] is user-retrofittable to models dating back nearly a decade to include the A500/SE, A700 and its limited edition plus the Anniversary 10. "One of the biggest criticisms of active speakers has been that you're locked into the tech available on the day you bought them. Streaming standards evolve, processors improve, amplifiers become more efficient, new features emerge. We designed our active speakers to allow their electronics to evolve while the acoustic platform remains in service." The MkII upgrade kit replaces the amplifier, DSP and power supply assembly with an entirely new platform. At its heart is a fully digital amplifier based on Axign's digital class-D controller, eliminating redundant D/A conversion before amplification. The platform delivers 4×250W per channel at higher efficiency, lower thermal output and significantly reduced distortion over the previous generation. This pairs with a new more powerful power supply for increased current reserves and headroom. The DSP now operates at 32-bit 96kHz. It includes room correction via iPhone or dedicated Zen microphone; user-adjustable PEQ filters; adjustable low-level enhancements; high-pass filtering; and over-the-air changes of Buchardt Mastertunings. All functions are accessible through the Buchardt App using the speakers' new onboard Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) interface. The speakers can be discovered and configured wirelessly without the need for an external interface. There are new digital coaxial i/o whilst WiSA Wireless remains in play. For models which don't already have it, the upgrade kit even includes the firm's latest RFA19 tweeter. Otherwise subtract €250. Everything is designed to be installed by the owner with household tools.

SVeet. – Storgaard & Vestskov or SV Audio for short have signed on Benno Baun Melgaard as their new chief technology officer. Industry insiders will know that Benno has been involved with Danish loudspeakers for more than 30 years and was the designer behind Raidho's TD Series models and Gryphon's EOS range. This photo shows SV Audio CEO and founder Casper Vestskov Poulsen with their new celebrity chef. Bon appetit? Count me most curious and keen.

Hyped through the nose? – You decide. It's SAEQ's new flagship headfi/speaker amp called Hypnos [€13K ex VAT]. It can direct-drive ribbon headphones without intermediary transformer adapter; features a baffle-step compensation toggle for Raal's original open-baffle SR-1a/b plus their upcoming open models; and a 99-step attenuator which can remember values for two different headphone outputs to rapidly switch between them at identical volumes. The circuitry is hybrid by using an input 6N1P twin triode following a permalloy custom transformer. Headphone power is 4wpc/32Ω, speaker power 15/25wpc into 8/4Ω.

Headless? – Only if you're Medusa. Named for her slayer Perseus [€4.9K ex VAT], the latest headphone amp from SAEQ's Dragan Domanovic has three virtual heads like the Hades hound Cereberus. How so? It's reportedly able to drive Raal's Magna, HifiMan's Susvara and Abyss' 1266—simultaneously. If only we had six ears. Moons will have to suffice. It even powers the true 0.03Ω ribbons without interceding coupling magnetics so direct. With 1V input sensitivity, all modern digital sources can push Perseus to full output and gain toggles for the XLR input and one of the 6.3mm outputs allow adjustments for different load sensitivities. But that's not the end of SAEQ news. By the end of next week, their site will have three other new amplifiers all with custom input magnetics: Hyperion-LF with a triple Toshiba Jfet input stage; Armageddon Mk1; and the new hybrid range topper with tube inputs, Hypnos. Visitors to the upcoming Hong Kong show can experience all of them in person.

More luxe LS – It's the new KEF LS Luxe [€4K/pr, €900/pr for stand], a coaxial 6½" active speaker clad in a bulk-moulded organically curved cab compliments of Ross Lovegrove who previously handled the looks for the brand's Muon, Muo and Mu. New for a KEF coax is motional feedback on the mid/woofer which KEF call velocity control technology. It embeds in their DSP engine which also handles phase correction, oversees thermal and excursion limits plus intelligent bass extension to control Xmax at higher SPL. Drive comes from 100W class AB on the tweeter, 280W class D on the mid/woofer here handled in the current domain. There's 24/96 wireless support for all the usual suspects except Qobuz Connect whilst Roon Ready is enroute. There's wired 24/192 support for eARC, coax, Toslink and 3.5mm analog, no USB though one mono sub out per speaker. The cabled connection between them is via included 3m RJ45 strip. An 8m variant is optional. A backlit aluminium-trim remote includes. Finish options are white, black and titanium.

There's more air there – Hello new Micro AIR models from Germany's in-akustik: the NF-404 interconnect and AC-404 mains cord. At their core is "a sophisticated internal mesh structure which creates numerous air-filled cells within the dielectric, significantly increasing the proportion of air surrounding the conductors for the lowest dielectric constant. The interconnect combines that dielectric with "a newly developed conductor architecture. Rather than allowing individual strands to contact each other randomly, Guided Copper positions each conductor in a precisely defined geometry using PE spacers. Available in XLR and RCA terminations, the NF-404 starts at €625 for a 0.75m length. The AC-404 applies the same philosophy to power delivery with a newly developed "6-fold multicore architecture designed to provide a particularly low-impedance current path across a broad frequency range while minimising unwanted interactions between connected components. Combined with the Micro AIR dielectric and dual shielding, the design aims to reduce capacitive losses and minimise the influence of high-frequency interference on neighbouring signal cables." This cable is available in Schuko-C19 or C15 and Nema-C19 or C15 versions in lengths from 1.0, 1.5 to 2.0 metres, with prices starting at €749. Completing this range is the pre-existing LS-404 speaker cable.

Get switched on – The LHY Audio AS6 Pro [$999 pre-order] is a network switch with dual SFP and four 2.5G Ethernet ports powered by a 30V linear supply, clocked by a top oven-controlled oscillator and fitted with a 10MHz external clock input. It is available directly from LHY; or Vinshine Audio.

7th Moon 2nd podcast – Dawid and I talk about the nearfield in free space, its inversion and discuss three speakers ideal for it…

CD goes Vincent – It’s the CD-600 [€1’900] in Vincent’s new solidLine 2.0 range. At 8kg, this Sanyo drawer-based player bags conversion by ES9038Q2M up to 24/192 via coax/Toslink inputs whilst mirrored coax/Toslink outputs convert this machine into a pure disc transport. Analog outputs are on two pairs of 2.5V RCA and one pair of XLR. A 20-button dad remote includes. Finish options are silver or black.

Design one – YBA have with their Design One transportable SACD player built by Shanling who, like their domestic colleagues at Cayin, FiiO, Moondrop, Onix and smsl, are back with a vengeance in the compact-disc business. YBA's packs 2 x 21700-battery drive to go off-grid, alternate 9V/3A USB-charger power, 1.65wpc/32Ω headfi in AC mode, AK4497S conversion, a top-loading Sanyo HD850 transport, 100-step attenuator, 4.4mm and standard twin RCA line-outs, coax/USB digital outputs and PCM768/DSD512 in USB DAC mode. A magnetically attached panel can protect all rear connectors when used on the go as a minimalist headphone source. As is common for top loaders, a magnetic puck secures the disc to the spindle.

3rd volume – It’s the Volumio Primo V3 [€849], an upgraded headless network player and streaming bridge running off an internal linear PSU and Volumio’s OS. An ESS ES9039Q2M chip handles conversion and the USB output supports up to PCM 1’536 and DSD 1’024. NOS mode bypasses all oversampling. An 8-stage gain adjustment on the analog RCA/XLR outputs complements various usage scenarios. A quad-core 1.5GHz A72 processor with 2GB of RAM handles music-library navigation via Volumio’s iOS/Android app or browser interface. The HDMI port can output 4K to a TV or monitor to mirror the app’s view on a big screen.

Sealed diamond – It's in Final's new DX10000 CL, a closed-back full-size 40mm dynamic headphone with a chemical vapor deposition true diamond diaphragm, polyurethane surround, lightweight polyimide bobbin-integrated voice coil, free-floating lead wires, N55 neodymium motor and aluminium shorting ring in a machined aluminium-magnesium alloy housing of 543g. The earpads cover in Ultrasuede. A limited 150-piece edition [€9K] sports gold-coloured accents and delivers in a wooden box with aluminium headphone stand. The standard edition [€8.5K] features silver-coloured accents. Both come with 1.5m/4.4mm and 3m/XLR4 silver-coated OFC cables. Sensitivity is 92dB/mW/1kHz, impedance 20Ω.

Not a tube buffer – It's how William Baker insists we refer to his Harmonia and Harmonia Jr. They are "DHT output stages for sources which maintain a 2V output to connect to any preamplifier, integrated amplifier or receiver. Both are capable of running 45, 2A3 or 300B direct-heated triodes via a user-adjustable DC heater voltage. The Harmonia Jr [starting at $3'595] features 3 x RCA inputs and 2 x RCA outputs with an optional gain control. The Harmonia v4.5 [starting at $5'500] uses a larger chassis to accommodate a relay-based input selector (1 x XLR, 3 x RCA), balanced transformer-coupled i/o via Cinemag line transformers and an enhanced power supply. Both XLR and RCA inputs/outputs on the Harmonia v4.5 are transformer coupled. Both models offer upgrade paths." Not included in the press release but common sense with direct-heated triodes prone to microphony is some potential for self noise contingent on overall system gain.

Maiden podcast – Dawid and Srajan just uploaded the first episode of their new 7th Moon Podcast. The next taping is scheduled for July 19th. The current plan is for two episodes per month. If you're a hifi manufacturer interested to join our dialogue because you have novel tech, an unusually clever implementation or an otherwise interesting story to share with our audience, contact either of us for consideration. If two talking heads are company, three could be positively sparkling?