Unless you’re an audiophile, you’ve probably never heard of Naim. This hi-fi brand is known for two things: sticker shock (their flagship amplifier is $240k), and reference-quality components that defy obsolescence (Naim Aro tonearms, introduced in 1989, still sell briskly on eBay). Now, the British purveyors of high-end audio nirvana have accomplished the seemingly impossible: Build a soundbar that will make even the most hardcore audiophiles melt in their listening chair.
Of course, the dreaded S-word is never mentioned. The Naim website refers to the mu-so as a “wireless music system” instead. Don’t kill the copywriter. Any company that makes a soundbar capable of crushing the stereos found in most white collar homes can call their little box any euphemism they damn well please. The nitpicking audio press, which favors tower speakers and 50-pound pre-amps over Wi-Fi antennae and digital-filtering algorithms, has already lavished the mu-so with enough praise to make industry execs nervous. If the legendary “Naim sound” is now bundled into a $1,500 soundbar, who will buy all those $43,000 Opus speaker cables?
With just a couple reviews under its belt, Naim’s new soundbar is still a best-kept secret. Calling the mu-so a soundbar, though, is like calling Einstein a bright guy. This is basically a pimped out boombox for millennials weaned on Wi-Fi. To begin with, it pumps out serious lease-breaking power: 450 watts. No, that’s not a typo. The speakers are pretty special, too. No OEM parts here. All six active drivers are custom-designed by Naim’s crackerjack team sonic. You want fancy? The high notes are filtered through silk dome tweeters instead of the standard metal cones, and the “audio brain” of this rig is a 32bit/234khz digital signal processor capable of 150 million calculations per second. This DSP runs proprietary code that controls, among other things, the “bespoke EQ system.” That may sound like Anglophile marketing hooey, but it’s not. There are two room settings, for instance, to optimize the sound signature when the mu-so is placed near or away from wall. Audiophile tip: The closer speakers are to a wall, the bigger the bass response.
And speaking of bass, there’s plenty of it. All of it tuned to perfection by a patented port designed to reduce resonance, lower distortion, and deliver “serious kick for powerful music performance.” And it looks good doing it. From the acrylic base, which gives the illusion of an objet d’art floating in space, to the touch-panel volume control made from a solid ring of bead-blasted anodized aluminum, to the four interchangeable speaker grills, to placate interior designers and finicky girlfriends, the mu-so is a shelter magazine icon in waiting.
Here’s the rub, though: The Naim mu-so is a gateway drug that will lead to late-onset OCD and financial ruin. It may start innocently enough: streaming ALAC files from an iPhone, sampling the Mood Booster playlist on Spotify, maybe blasting Urge Overkill while screening Pulp Fiction on the Vizio. Sure, the expansive and thoroughly convincing soundstage this Mighty Mouse unit projects is downright eerie. And the iOS/Android app, with all its customization options and metadata, is certainly convenient. But this glorious honeymoon will end. Eventually you’ll find yourself pricing Bentleys and toying with the idea of selling your house and moving to Kentucky in order to afford a “proper Naim sound system.” Listen to this thing at your own risk.
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