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Budget two-way speakers the LX-2 and LX-3 (shown) are the debut models from Mission’s latest entry-level loudspeaker range, the LX Series. Despite their affordable price tags, Mission informs us that the new models have been designed to deliver compelling musicality. For the LX Series the company has produced a tweeter with a neodymium magnet (selected for maximum magnetic force in such a small space) and a 25mm microfibre dome. This is partnered with the 130mm mid/bass driver unit (one in the case of the LX-2 and two for the LX-3), sporting cones fashioned from an advanced fibre formulation apparently selected for its superior self damping and excellent stiffness.

In the 1986 hit, Huey Lewis and the News famously sang: “It’s hip to be square”, but is it really? Could it be that the man behind the eighties powerhouse The Power Of Love hadn’t quite managed to get his facts straight? There’s no doubt that when it comes to the most popular shape for loudspeakers, square – or perhaps more precisely rectangular – is the way to go. But what if someone were to break from the norm and come up with something a little bit more exciting looking? Could it really be possible to get a high-end performance from a shape other than those boring four straight lines that make up an oblong? And while they’re carrying out the process ofreinventing the audio equivalent of the wheel, how about making just one of the things, rather than the pair that we’ve hadto make room for up to now? Enter the clever folk at Geneva, who with the AeroSphère Large (HFC 407) have created something that looks more like a piece of high-concept furniture than a way to impress your friends and terrify audio traditionalists. Beneath that slightly flattened 40cm orb, is a rather more angular forward-facing structure that houses two 25mm tweeters, a brace of 102mm mid/bass drivers and an upward-firing 152mm subwoofer. These are configured within three separate acoustic chambers and powered by individual, DSP-optimised Class D amplifiers capable of some cunning fine tuning to suit your room via a free app that can be downloaded from the Geneva website.

First introduced in 2006, Furutech's Demag was intially greeted with scepticism – why on earth would an LP that's made from plastic need to be demagnetised we all found ourselves asking. Now in more enlightend times, we understand that the culprit is actually the pigment that's added to the plastic during the manufacturing process as it contains small amounts of a ferrous material that becomes magnetised as the record spins on the turntable. Enter Furutech's Demaga Alpha, which is also designed to to discharge the magnetism residing on optical media (CD, DVD, SACD etc) as well as vinyl. The Demaga Alpha can also be used to keep interconnect cables, connectors and power cords demagnetised to prevent magnetic signal distortion.

Cabasse has unveiled the latest addition to its Artis Series, the Murano, which is claimed to benefit from innovations initially developed for the reference La Sphère. These include the coaxial midrange tweeter and specific technologies that were incorporated in the design of the woofer. The honeycomb dome membrane, borrowed from La Sphère’s woofer, and the long-throw motor system are claimed to enable Murano's 17cm woofer to provide clean and deep low frequencies. Meanwhile, guided by a long voice coil in the 45mm deep air gap of a 4kg oversized motor, the driver is described as giving the bass the sort of purity and strength that is unexpected from such a small device.

Based in Baia Mare in Romania, Meze is attempting to go its own way when it comes to headphone production and its unique approach centres on its use of wood. The Meze 99 Classics is the latest in the Classics series, using real Walunut and Maple for the earcups. Each earcup is processed on a five-axis CNC machine and then polished by hand. The design of the 99 Classics is not purely aesthetic, but also practical says Meze, with each component being held together with screws only.

The idea behind Pie & Vinyl is simple, a combination of “our love and passion for music with one of England’s favourite old-fashioned comfort foods”, reads the enterprise’s mission statement. So, now we’ve got your attention… “We wanted to create an experience. It’s my idea of heaven,” explains Pie & Vinyl’s founder and co-owner Steven Courtnell as he introduces some of the team behind this Victorian-themed feast for all the senses. Two smiling Robs – Rob Litchfield, co-owner who looks after the kitchen, and Rob Addison, retail general manager – offer a warm welcome as I begin to tuck in.

It might have the appearance of a speaker that looks like it’s sinking into the ground on which it’s standing, but there’s a theory behind the rather unique design of XTZ Sound’s Tune 4 loudspeaker. Believing that the vast majority of people that have hi-fi setups at home tend to place their speakers below ear level – thus resulting in a less defined sound, due to the tweeter being off axis relative to the listener’s ear – Tune 4 has come up with the tilted baffle. And what about those that do have their speakers positioned at ear level, we hear you ask. Well XTZ Sound has thought of this and added a special foot.