The Mu-so has landed

I heard the Mu-So at an event at my Naim dealer last month and I think it sounds amazing.

Just as I believed it would when I put down a deposit and and preordered in May. So yeah I'm a little dismayed that the only thing I can "hear" at the moment is people discussing the fact that it's in John Lewis but my dealer still has no stock. JL is situated about 200 yards from my dealer! I understand this product is a different business proposition and the dealer network alone would not sustain such a product. I'm a patient, loyal customer, I'll wait but  come on Naim make it a fair fight on the High Street for the dealers.

+1 was the same in John Lewis Trafford Centre,  you'd walk past it unless you were specifically looking for one. In contrast I was in Acoustica auditioning speakers today and in a shop full of top end electrics they had a little Muso playing the music on its own shelf.

We expect almost  all UK retailers will have units  on Thursday this week, Apple also go live this week.

Whilst we may never see sales figures I would like to bet that Richer Sounds will be near the top of the the list as I expect Julian will ensure all his staff are appropriately trained. 

Also the sales price is probably in a sweet spot for Julan's customers who want something 'more' qualiity and off the shelf who are put off by going into a more traditional Hi-Fi shop which can be quite ominous to some.

Richard O

I'm sure Naim and John Lewis will get the displays sorted. When you go to JL the Bose and Sonos have good displays prominent on the end of the display units. This is what the Mu-so needs. Illuminated on a glass shelf it looks like it's floating and looks really cool. This sort of display is what is needed. It will stand out when it gets into the Apple Stores because of the uncluttered way they display.

Having had the Mu-so for eight days now I can see demand for it being very high. It's a class act. 

Went in to local John Lewis yesterday, who have a Muso on display. Salesman hadn't a clue how to demo it so I fiddled with it myself which entailed taking out my iPhone and pairing it via Bluetooth with the Muso by myself. Selected a tune and just about blasted the shop apart as I had not considered the volume control. No problem with power and was able to put a few tunes through it.

However, I did not order one there, I ordered it from my friendly Audio T shop who do look after me very nicely. Am going to use it in conjunction with a TV in my back lounge as an alternative to a sound bar, but obviously primarily for networked music. Let's see how this works out ��

Thank goodness our delivery has arrived, and seemingly sounds great.

Regards,
Frank.
All opinions are my own and do not reflect the opinion of any organisations I work for, except where this is stated explicitly.

Stock arrived at my dealer today and my unit was home by 4pm, complete with blue foam (to better match the kitchen decor). Had a quick listen at the dealer's before driving home and it did sound good.

The important radio 4 station has been set as preset 1. Tomorrow I will see if I can get it to play music from the NAS, which it currently will not.

Working out what to do with the remote was fun (and not covered in the quick start guide). Realising my iPad 1 would not work wasn't fun and persuading my wife to upgrade her iPad iOS was a challenge.

Did your retailer explain how to find your nas?

Nick,

Check out the Mu-so Support Page on the Naim website. There is much more information on there.

Enjoy.

Steve

Thanks, Steve J, for the hint about where to find a better, more comprehensive manual. Naim really ought to supply one of these. Now where can I get a printed copy of the instruction manual? Viewing a 2 column manual through a letterbox on-line is not the easiest thing to do. All my other Naim black boxes came with a full manual, but there is somewhat less to describe when it comes to pre-amp, power supplies and power amplifiers.

The player finds the NAS, but the files are all apparently empty. I can play them via the Sonos PlayBar. The mu-so must be feeling a little bit haughty about contaminating itself with files tainted by Sonos. 

I wonder if Naim will offer a PowerLine designed for this unit? 

Here it is in-situ with the blue grille in place; the corner of the B&O Century it is replacing is just visible.  

Looks good Nick. It's standard practice now for many products that the more comprehensive manual is online. Obviously printing costs come into play when the target market is worldwide and it has to be printed in multiple languages. 

Yes, Paul, as suppliers we did indeed discuss UPnP requirements etc, although some of these conversations were several weeks ago. As far as we can see, the issue is down to a tick box not being ticked on the Synology set-up menu. Not a device that we supplied, incidentally.

If a home visit is required to resolve, it will be made. Naturally. 

As for the manuals issue, I think the fact that whole aspects can be altered via a software upgrade makes detailed printed instructions potentially disastrous. This has been true for the uniti products too. It's the downside of products that can acquire fresh features at the drop of a file.

Must say, the little blighter does sound surprisingly good, by the way. Way better in a room than on the end of a display stand in a vast space

Picked mine up from my dealer yesterday. Easy set up without reference to the manual, and the sound is excellent, although much better when placed on the Granite coffee table than on the wooden sideboard, so I will experiment with supports.

Great to have Spotify playing with good SQ compared with the likes of musicflow, jamcast etc.

the Naim app is excellent with the Mu-so and provides extra functionality such as adjustment of the lights on the front panel, and for distance from rear wall.

Very pleased.

Seems the problem here was with the software not being installed on the Synology. Anyway, I gather they are up and running - but without artwork coming through from iTunes.

If you have a Mac, this can be useful to rectify the artwork problem:

http://dougscripts.com/itunes/...?sp=savealbumartjpeg

We've tried and it works.

Alastair

Software issues resolved - Sonos only required a half-arsed installation of the system software, which the 'more revealing' Naim exposed. And it also reveals a bit more music than the Sonos system in the bedroom ever did (and that system, using AE speakers was better than the kitchen B&O unit).

Got mine yesterday. I'm glad I mentioned my interest in one many months ago. My dealer has already sold the three they had delivered yesterday.

it sounces great had it playing continuosly for 16 hours to flex the speakers. It does have the naim traits  you get involved in the music. Love Internet radio. I've only ever used vynl and CD So this type of music delivery is new to me. It was easy to set up. I've ordered a 'floating shelf' which will take up to 45kg!

It's looks better in the flesh. I read the manual online beforehand. I'd recommend doing this especially the section on unpacking and handling and inserting the mains cable. It is very heavy and you need to take care so you don't damage it.

The online manual is very useful. I agree it's a good idea to read it first.

I've even read the manual and I haven't got a Mu-so, looks like it may be a xmas present though.

Fascinating! I have a Muso on order and it will exist alongside my B&W A7 (brilliant!) in the Conservatory, and the surround sound system in the main lounge, primarily high end Onkyo Receiver. So, as you can see there is nothing Naim in my current setup but expediency has taken me down this route. Those of you who are about to move from pure CD or Vinyl based systems to a pure streaming service be it Qobuz, Apple or your own NAS, may find what has become more and more obvious to my aged ears is the very variable production quality of all forms of music. The old adage of Garbage In Garbage Out is as relevant to music production quality as anything else. The digital to analogue conversion, however, will continue to challenge hardware and speaker manufacturers, but the music I am hearing ftom the above systems is clearer and of a higher quality than my old Tag McLaren system which had to be mothballed to accommodate the needs and predilections of myself, but much more importantly, my wife.

Just as my vinyl collection has been mouldering in my attic for almost 20 years, my CD collection is headed in the same direction. Naim has not produced the Muso for fun, it is part if the direction in which music is moving and being delivered. If you have the palacial and financial luxury to afford and accommodate a Statement based system then good luck, but I just want good quality music available throughout my house without it being an unmanageable mish mash of hardware and wires. 

Full exclusive review in the latest edition of hi Fi choice, now available to read on line if you have a subscription. Glowing as you would expect.

I dun know, I'd stick with the usual male approach meself!!! It's just not the same to be swearing for an hour, while going round in circles

WAEFRTFM.

Succinctly put, Howard.

Picked mine up from the dealer at lunchtime. Got home plugged power cable in, plugged LAN cable in and was up and running in less time than it took to open the box!

I thought I was doing so well until it took me half an hour to open the remote control to remove the tab from the battery. I think I'm in line for a Darwin Award for that one!