Naim has launched a new wireless loudspeaker system dubbed Mu-so Qb, a more compact version of the Mu-so. It is claimed to combine Naim’s normal priorities of a highly enjoyable and engaging sound quality with dramatic but understated design and remarkable ease of use. Mu-so Qb takes these attributes and delivers them in a compact structure that is easy to accommodate in most rooms.
“With Mu-so Qb, we use the same principles that helped form the original Mu-so: no compromise on materials, sound quality or features.” says Naim Audio’s Technical Director, Roy George.
Design
One of the biggest design challenges with the Mu-so Qb wireless loudspeaker system was to configure the individual speakers within the smaller (21cm/8¼ inch high) cabinet. Naim’s engineers had to optimise every component and adjust speaker angles by the smallest of degrees to achieve a desirable result. It presents an arrangement of five drivers, offset and angled to create an ideal left-right dispersion. Mu-so Qb uses tweeters with microfibre domes, while its mid-range drivers have rare earth magnets and copper capped poles. And when it comes to low frequencies, Mu-so Qb has another surprising design feature. Unlike the original Mu-so, there isn’t the space for a long bass port. Instead, two tuned pistonic bass-radiators work alongside a custom-made woofer that’s driven by a 100 Watt amplifier to create a depth of sound that you would never expect from a system this size. The touchscreen interface on the top of Mu-so Qb is a solid aluminium ring, illuminated to float above the core structure and compliment the seamless volume dial movement.
Sound
At the heart of Mu-so Qb is a 32-bit digital signal processor – the same high-spec component used in the original Mu-so system. The DSP controls the flow of music information to each individual drive unit and, with intricate computer analytics, was finely tuned to perform perfectly within the smaller cabinet space. The end result is a refined audio experience with increased speaker accuracy life, dynamics, energy and an expansive sound at home in any room, large or small, from office to lounge, bedroom to kitchen.
The material chosen for the main cabinet is a 20% glass-reinforced polymer chosen for its extra stiffness and dampening properties. Elsewhere, an anodised aluminium structural top and heatsink is used, as well as the acrylic base, all of which damp unwanted vibration, stiffen and strengthen the structure of Mu-so Qb even further.
Mu-so Qb will be on demo and on sale in shops early March 2016, MSRP £595 Inc. VAT. ($999.95 ex. tax)