Naim Audio was born at a time when people were beginning to think differently about music and how it should be listened to. It was the 1960s. Living room record players and wood-paneled car stereos the world over blared new sounds — folk, funk, the beginnings of punk rock. Julian Vereker, the founder of Naim Audio, had a good system. Friends’ bands would come to his home and use his audio setup to record jam sessions. But to Vereker, the quality of his audio setup wasn’t good enough — it wasn’t even close to the quality he believed it could be. So he began tinkering with amps and loudspeakers, pioneering new and different ways of putting out powerful, beautiful, hi-fi sound. In 1973, Vereker turned his passion to the people, founding Naim.
Today, Naim is a worldwide leader in hi-fi audio systems (their digital speaker technology is offered as an add-on in every new Bentley), and continues to be headed by passionate audiophiles in relentless pursuit of the perfect music listening experience. Naim’s latest creation, the Mu-so wireless music system, a high-end wireless audio setup, is the closest they’ve come yet to a perfect convergence of hi-fi audio and total user convenience.
Mu-so connects via wi-fi or Bluetooth to devices that can stream services like Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal and internet radio; alternatively, it can access music stored offline on its own built-in memory. There are three ways to control the music: the speaker’s wireless remote, a small LED touch panel on top of the speaker, or a Bluetooth-connected device. This part’s the simple and straightforward part; it’s also where the speaker’s “simple” traits end.
It’s the closest they’ve come yet to a perfect convergence of hi-fi audio and total user convenience.
For sound quality, the Mu-so’s six digital amplifiers blast out 450 watts of power, and the speaker cabinet, crafted carefully to allow for more efficient airflow, thumps heavy bass. All of this power orchestrates the sound by way of a 32-bit processing chip designed, programmed and refined by Naim’s expert audio engineers. It’s the speaker’s brain, coming from one of the top braintrusts in audio.
The music playing also isn’t limited to only one speaker. A Mu-so speaker can connect wirelessly to up to five other Mu-so speakers — including the new Mu-so Qb, a 300-watt compact cube speaker with the same high-powered tech that comes in the bigger Mu-so — all placed in different rooms of a home. Using an optional Naim app, the speakers can be controlled individually or en masse. You can play one song on every speaker simultaneously, or play different songs in different rooms, separately. As for looks, both the Mu-so and the Mu-so Qb are made of sleek, polished aluminum, and feature interchangeable fronts; black comes stock, but additional colors include blue, red and orange.
Vereker and his company have come a long way since the mid-century. So has how we listen to music. Record players and analog stereos have been largely replaced by digital music. But, evolving along with our listening habits, Naim continues to make the best speakers, and the new Mu-so line comes as yet another outstanding addition to Naim’s impressive history of hi-fi audio.
