NAIM MUSO 2 Wireless Music Speaker Review Great ALL in ONE
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NAIM MUSO 2 WirelesS Review - Great ALL in ONE
I often say that the best piece of hifi gear is either the one you have, can afford, or the one that gets used the most. For example, you may have a knock-out two-channel rig somewhere in your home that you’ve spent time and money on assembling; then you may have a smart speaker or pair of powered monitors elsewhere that always seems to be playing music. While your dedicated rig may be the better performer, is it the better system? In today’s review, we take a look at the Naim Mu-So V2 All in One Music System.
The Naim Muso is now in its second generation and according to NAIM almost everything about the Muso 2 has been re-engineered to include new drivers created in partnership with Focal, better bass performance, HDMI connectivity, smart home integration, greater compatibility with streaming platforms, more advanced processing and more.
While I never had the pleasure of demoing the original Mu-so, gen one and gen two do look eerily similar, so all of the changes are largely internal. Though one noticeable change that I am happy to see in the second generation Mu-so is the addition of customizable grille colors, of which there are 3 colors to choose from, olive, terracotta and peacock.
While the Mu-so V2 may be an all-in-one music system, it’s physical shape is more like a soundbar than your typical smart speaker. Actually, it looks a lot like NAIM’s own Uniti Nova, only the front features an array of speaker drivers versus a large color screen. Still, I think the Mu-so is striking, and looks as much at home in a living room environment as it does resting below your TV serving as a two-channel soundbar.
easy to use all in one wireless music system from Naim
whole home audio control
The design and construction of the Naim Muso 2 is next level. Every material NAIM has chosen looks and FEELS premium. Like with our Uniti Atom, it is a piece that invites you to interact with it, no doubt because of its large, physical control wheel and touch interface. If you don’t want to mess with manual or remote control, the Mu-so 2 can also be controlled via the Naim App. You can easily control all of your connected NAIM devices via the app for whole home audio control -something we did when pairing the Mu-so V2 with the Mu-so Qb 2. The Mu-so Qb 2 as a quick aside is a smaller form factor Mu-so 2, though it doesn’t quite fit the bill of a two-channel system replacement as it does a mildly more omni-directional, background music player. Still, it has most of the same functionality of the Mu-so 2 -though it does lack an HDMI input as well as true stereo sound.
The app has full integration of all the popular music streaming services such as TIDAL and Spotify. There is native support for audiophile favorites like Roon and Qobuz as well. I even found it easy to integrate into our Google Home ecosystem. While all of that sounds great, and it is, what then is the Mu-so 2? Is it just a fancy all-in-one smart speaker, or can it legit replace a dedicated system?
Why don’t we start with what it isn’t, or what it won’t do. The Mu-so V2 is a two-channel system, no question. However, it’s not using any fancy DSP or reflective loudspeaker tech to try and convince you that you’re listening to two discrete speakers separated by several feet of physical space. So, we have to adjust our thinking just a little bit -or do we? The Mu-so 2, while more directional sounding, still manages to be spacious. There’s definitely depth and some width to its sound, that is to say, it sounds larger than its physical size -a lot larger -it just doesn’t sound like two speakers coming together to create that effect.
With respect to soundstage, we want good detail and separation between the speakers and a strong center image. Well, the Mu-so 2 does all that, arguably better than a lot of stereo setups. Now, the Mu-so 2 doesn’t aurally disappear the way stereo speakers can, but that’s due to the fact that it’s literally in the center, and as a result, your mind doesn’t really let it. Sit with your eyes closed for a track or two and suddenly the Mu-so 2’s sound begins to feel a little more traditional.
what does the mu-so V2 sound like?
Taking soundstage off the table and focusing solely on sound, the Mu-so 2 is a NAIM product through and through. What does the Mu-So V2 sound like? You can hear the lineage in the Mu-so 2 just as I can in my Uniti Atom. So you’re either going to love it, or it may not be for you. If I had to describe the sound of the Mu-so 2 in a single word it would be, CLEAN. This is not a neutral, or organic sounding speaker in that it’s not going to fool you into thinking you’re listening to a real violin. Though that violin is going to sound incredibly detailed and articulate through the Mu-so which you may prefer.
Stepping away from its overall signature, you should know that for a small speaker such as this, the bass it is capable of putting out is startling. It’s not going to shake your pictures off the wall with its ultimate low-end extension, but it will likely surprise you with just how rich and taut it truly is. There is no way to add a subwoofer to the Mu-so 2, though in most rooms I don’t think you’ll need nor want one as the bass is so wonderfully balanced with the rest of the speaker’s frequencies that a sub may spoil the coherence. You can “tune” the bass slightly by going into the app and selecting one of the three bass reinforcement settings with respect to boundary compensation, but that’s about it.
In reality the Mu-so 2 is basically a NAIM Uniti Atom attached to a soundbar-like speaker, and as a result it has all of the functionality of a high-end digital two channel system for both music and movies. This makes comparisons a little harder for there just aren’t that many products like the Mu-so on the market.
In comparison to our Sennheiser AMBEO Soundbar, the AMBEO does a better job at coming off like a proper ATMOS surround sound system and through the use of its app and DSP can even approximate a real two channel sounding system with two-channel-like separation. But, the AMBEO is nowhere near as stylish, nor does it have all of the built-in digital music functionality of the Mu-so 2, so it is a great all-in-one speaker, but not an all-in-one system and speaker make.
The same can be said for our LG SN11RG Soundbar. Again, it does a better job sounding like a surround sound system and even like two discrete loudspeakers when setup right. That said, the SN11RG Soundbar sounds far more lean and forward compared to the Mu-so 2 and the AMBEO. I still like the LG for movies and television especially when using the wireless surrounds but I prefer the Mu-so 2 for music all day.
Setting aside true stereo separation, if you were to build a system that is capable of all of the things the Mu-so 2 can deliver you’re likely going to spend more than its asking price of roughly $1700. A NAIM Uniti Atom with an HDMI input will set you back more than three grand and that’s before you add speakers, which if you go with Focal speakers you’re looking at maybe an additional $1000. So for the right person, or environment, the Mu-so 2 really IS a complete digital two channel system in a single chassis. The fact that it is also a satisfying and competent soundbar for movies is another feather in its cap. As part of a whole home NAIM ecosystem the Mu-so 2 is a no brainer, for paired with a Mu-so QB or even our Uniti Atom in our main system it’s high-end distributed audio at its finest. But more than that, what makes the Mu-so 2 so good, is that it keeps you listening and that really is the point of any system, isn’t it?
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