Musings on mu-so.

chebby

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Just thinking in public about which direction to take my 'big radio' in next. (By that I mean my system which plays some form of radio most of the day, every day.)

The plan was something like... upgrade my M-CR603 to a Naim UnitiQute 2 (plus ATV) then - in a year or thereabouts - get some Harbeth P3ESRs (best case) or similar.

Now there is the imminent launch of the 'mu-so by Naim' to consider at £895. It has everything I need (apart from FM which I can take care of - until it eventually ends - with something like a Sony ST-88 plugged into the mu-so's analogue input).

No seperate speaker boxes, at least a couple more square metres of 'no-go' zone freed up in our living room and less clutter/cables. Oh yeah, and about £1800 cheaper than 'plan A' :)

Andrew Everard's hands-on review of the mu-so a couple of days ago has really got me rethinking all this.

However, I still cannot let go of the desire for those little Harbeths, despite their price, and I am finding it difficult to envisage the mu-so being any kind of long-term fixture given how quickly technology changes.
 

Vladimir

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The mu-so despite its Naim badge is latest tech fad / bathroom hi-fi. No way arround it.

I vote Harbeth, just put them on your shelves and enjoy music. You will grow old together with your Harbeths. If you wanna feel young, power them with some Class-D.
 

stevebrock

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Vladimir said:
The mu-so despite its Naim badge is latest tech fad / bathroom hi-fi. No way arround it.

I vote Harbeth, just put them on your shelves and enjoy music. You will grow old together with your Harbeths. If you wanna feel young, power them with some Class-D.

Exactly

To me hifi is seperates is source>amp>speakers this site is turning into a pile of rubbish and is geared up for the iphone/social media generation
 

manicm

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I find some comments here a bit baffling. Any all-in-one system is bound to age, and the mu-so no more than any than even Naim's other integrated systems, so what??? And I don't think calling it another 'bathroom system' is fair. WHF reviewed the similar 600 quid JBL system and was non-plussed - my bets are confidently on the Naim.

With a true 75w to each drive the mu-so has substantial substance to back up the style, and at 900 quid is actually rather good value. I'm seriously considering one for our new home (when we find one, and we just acquired a fab new 48" Samsung LED), and I'm sure the better half will prefer it to my RX1s, no matter how delicious they look.
 

Overdose

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stevebrock said:
Vladimir said:
The mu-so despite its Naim badge is latest tech fad / bathroom hi-fi. No way arround it.

I vote Harbeth, just put them on your shelves and enjoy music. You will grow old together with your Harbeths. If you wanna feel young, power them with some Class-D.

Exactly

To me hifi is seperates is source>amp>speakers this site is turning into a pile of rubbish and is geared up for the iphone/social media generation

Hi-Fi is short for high fidelity, surely it matters not, how this is achieved?

I am not suggesting that the Muso is Hi-Fi however. Also, an iPhone can be more Hi-Fi than any high end system given the right headphones.
 

Vladimir

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On your substantive point, Chebby, I can see the appeal, but given I recall you listen to a lot of p lays and speech as well as music I would doubt the tonal balance will suit you. And surely will be far more coloured than a Harbeth.

They can tweak the balance to fool us some of the time on pop music, but speech will surely be a weakness?
 

Vladimir

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I find the Mu-So to be equaly monstrous and grotesque. Far from humble or petite or cute.

6 speakers, each powered by a 75W amp in a 13kg wireless speaker.

Why?
 

Overdose

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chebby said:
My 'grotesque' comment referred to this photo from your previous post ...

... actually I will revise it to 'monstrous'. (Except for the speakers of course.)

I'm fairly certain that most normal people walking into a room and seeing that monstrous collection would start their first sentence with 'WTF?'.
 

chebby

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nopiano said:
On your substantive point, Chebby, I can see the appeal, but given I recall you listen to a lot of plays and speech as well as music I would doubt the tonal balance will suit you. And surely will be far more coloured than a Harbeth.

They can tweak the balance to fool us some of the time on pop music, but speech will surely be a weakness?

That's why Mr Everard's opinions on it's abilities with classical and BBC (R3 and R4) streamed internet radio content was so interesting.

However, as I stated earlier, it's the almost certain technical obsolescence of these kind of devices that make me uncertain about investing.

The UnitiQute 2 is not going to suffer quite so quickly and the Harbeths (or any decent speaker from a long established brand) hardly at all.

It needs more thought and some listening to decide. I can wait. I am still really chuffed with my present system after three and a half years despite it's detractors. (Ok, one notable detractor.)
 

ID.

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I'm sure it sounds pretty good. Certainly par for the price. I quite like the look too, but I'd actually have more trouble fitting this into any of the rooms in my house than a more conventional setup with greater separation between the speakers.
 

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