Musings on mu-so.

[DocG]

I haven't seen or heard it either, but I am absolutely convinced it sounds rubbish.

... ?

tinky is a little irascible. Read his contributions to other current threads...

 

[manicm]

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.

The mu-so is substantially cheaper and more powerful than the Qute2. And yes its built-in speakers put any upgrades out of the question, but apart from the deafening obvious how is the Qute2 any better in this regard? Oh I get it one can attach a power amp to it - but then one needs to seriously consider one's priorities in that (expensive) regard.

Naim and potential mu-so buyers, knowing it's a significant 900 quid purchase, are not thick about the upgrade issue, but as Andrew stated it's substantially poweful and as long as it sounds good many won't care.

 

[manicm]

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?

Why? Because it can. Why did Cyrus pack in so much power in the Lyric? Cos there are many people, myself included, who would like an all-in-one system with more power.

And I happen to like the mu-so's technical look. It looks like a thick slab but I actually find it appealing.

 

[tinkywinkydipsylalapo]

?

Just commenting on those pronouncing on design and performance without actually having seen or heard the product.

 

[chebby]

Oh I get it one can attach a power amp to it - but then one needs to seriously consider one's priorities in that (expensive) regard.

No intention of adding more boxes, especially power amps! If someone adds a power amp to a UnitiQute then they have seriously mis-understood it's purpose. (Unless the power amps reside inside some active speakers and the UQ is being used as a compact 'front-end'.)

 

[tino]

I wonder how much better if at all a Mu-so is compared to something like a Canton DM50, or Tannoy Soundbase. Is it worth the extra £500? Aesthetically I like the look of the Mu-so except for the cheap looking front speaker grille. Unlike a soundbase the Mu-so was probably designed to be completely standalone unit (nice aluminium finish and chunky dial / touch control on top) - a TV on top or placement inside an AV rack is probably a no-no.

 

[Ajani]

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.

As you can probably tell from the varied responses in this thread: You really have to audition a mu-so for yourself to see if the sound, interface, etc is what you're looking for.

I wouldn't worry too much about tech changing. All that really matters is whether the device will still meet your needs in the years to come... Turntables have been "obsolete" for decades, yet they clearly still meet the needs of some audiophiles...

 

[manicm]

Unlike a soundbase the Mu-so was probably designed to be completely standalone unit (nice aluminium finish and chunky dial / touch control on top) - a TV on top or placement inside an AV rack is probably a no-no.

The Mu-so is not strictly speaking not a soundbase, neither is it a soundbar - it has no multichannel capabilities. It's meant purely as a hifi proposition, and is marketed as such. I see nothing wrong in that. Unless it's a bad-sounding, very expensive soundslab. That's what I'd call it, a soundslab. And I hope it's a good-sounding one, if not very good-looking!