Skip to main content

When sound matters but you can’t skimp on style, you want NAIM’s $1,500 Mu-so

Ultra-premium wireless speakers are hard to come by. You’ve got your Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Air, your Klipsch Stadium, and let’s toss the Sony SRS-X9 in there for good measure. That’s pretty slim pickins, but now you can add the NAIM Mu-so to the mix, a spectacle of modern industrial design, loaded with power and premium features for the equally premium price of $1,500.

What you’re paying for with this speaker is its design and power. Outside of the aforementioned Klipsch Stadium, I’ve never heard such robust, muscular sound coming from a single-box speaker solution. But unlike the Klipsch Stadium — which I might liken to a tank in terms of aesthetics — the Mu-so is more like an Audi. It’s far more refined, and certainly befitting the Apple Store vibe you’ll find it residing in. I wouldn’t buy it, but I’m willing to bet lots of people will.

Related Videos

That premium feel extends beyond the visual and into the tactile, with a control system that calls to mind Bang & Olufsen’s approach. There’s a capacitive touchscreen embedded in the middle of a large, LED-illuminated volume dial, which is sunk flush into the speaker’s top panel. Under the aluminum hood is an MDF cabinet — the sort of cabinetry you’d expect from a high-quality speaker — which houses six drivers in all, each getting their own 75-watt amplifier for a whopping 450 watts of total system power.

As for features, this wireless speaker does it all. It supports DLNA for network music playback, Apple AirPlay, Bluetooth, Spotify connect, and Internet Radio playback. Controlling the speaker is made easy by NAIM’s very well thought-out smartphone and tablet app. Wired connections are also available, with a 3.5 mm auxiliary input and an optical digital input allowing a wide array of devices to act as a source.

NAIM Wireless Speaker
Greg Mombert/Digital Trends
Greg Mombert/Digital Trends

Of course, the most important aspect of any speaker — particularly one that costs $1,500 — is its sound quality, and this is where my feelings become especially conflicted. On one hand, the Mu-so’s bass output is jaw-droppingly robust — nobody expects so much deep bass out of a speaker that looks like this. Unfortunately, for me, the bass is just too much, and it has a tendency to crowd the midrange region which, when exposed with acapella vocal tracks, is otherwise uncolored. Then there’s the high-frequency response, which is a bit on the bright and spritely side for my taste. Certainly, the treble is clean, and it lacks harshness, but everything from cymbals to the zeal of a brass instrument is unnaturally forward, calling attention to itself in an unflattering way.

I can think of countless different speaker-amplifier pairings that would easily outperform the Mu-so in terms of stereo separation, soundstaging, and dynamics, all of them well under the $1,500 price point. However, every single one of those solutions will involve more complicated setup, wires, and a good deal more space. And none of them will look as good. So, here we are again, back to praising the Mu-so’s form factor. The question is: Is that enough?

I think it will be for many people. My opinion of the Mu-so’s sound quality comes from a picky audiophile’s standpoint, one which very few others share. The fact of the matter is, people are going to love how this speaker sounds. Its sleek design will lure onlookers in, and its potent bass and sparkling treble will set the hook. If there’s cash in the bank, the Mu-so is going to go home, and it’s going to class up the joint the moment it’s removed from its box.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Apple AirPods Max 2: what we know, what we want, and how much it will cost
The Apple AirPods Max on a surface, viewed from the side.

Apple's first set of wireless headphones -- the AirPods Max -- launched to great fanfare in 2020. At $549, the aluminum-clad cans raised eyebrows for their price and design. But despite their cost and some odd design decisions (like the lack of an off switch), reviewers were nearly unanimous with their praise, especially for the Max's standout features, active noise cancellation (ANC), and transparency mode. Is there room for improvement? Absolutely.

Do we actually know anything about the AirPods Max 2? No, we do not. Given that the original AirPods Max are more than two years old, we'd have expected at least some hints at this point, if not full-on leaks. But so far all we've got are crickets.

Read more
MQair is the new hi-res Bluetooth audio codec for fans of MQA
MQair codec logo.

Just when you thought it was safe to step back into the turbulent waters of Bluetooth audio, we have yet another Bluetooth codec to consider. In addition to SBC, AAC, LDAC, and the constantly expanding family of aptX codecs, you can now add MQair (em-kyoo-air).

MQair (known also by its technical label, SCL6) is the latest technology from MQA, the company founded by British audio pioneer Bob Stuart of Meridian Audio fame, and it has just been granted permission by the Japan Audio Society (JAS) to use the society's Hi-Res Audio Wireless logo. It's the third Bluetooth codec to receive the certification, the other two being LDAC and LHDC.

Read more
House of Marley is back with its loudest, sustainably-designed Bluetooth speaker
House of Marley Get Together 2 XL Bluetooth speaker.

You've got endless options when it comes to choosing a powerful Bluetooth speaker, but if you want one with a kinder approach to the earth, it's hard to beat House of Marley's (HoM) new Get Together 2 XL, a big, $450 speaker that the company says is its loudest model to date.

In typical fashion for House of Marley, you'll find lots of sustainable materials like the bamboo front face plate, the company's signature Rewind fabric, its Regrind silicone, and easily recycled aluminum. Inside the 12.6-pound body, HoM has packed 60 watts of power split between two one-inch tweeters and two four-inch woofers, and a large, rear-mounted passive radiator. Want even more coverage for your parties? You can extend the sound to other HoM Get Together 2 speakers via party mode or create a stereo pair between two Get Together 2 XL for much better stereo separation.

Read more