[Closed] Naim MUSO sound system or....

A unitqute (however you spell it) and some compact speakers?

If your CD collection is getting bigger and bigger, and you rip to FLAC, why would you ever think of streaming something like Tidal, when you've got all that music to stream? Network coverage that can give consistent streaming is virtually non-existent; I have 4G transmitter masts very close by, one less than 100 meters away, and the signal drops out regularly, as it does with the one near where I work, about a mile away; it'll suddenly drop down to 3G and buffer for several minutes, and as for on the move, well that's a complete joke.

I was thinking about Tidal to move away from buying CD's. Tidal streams in lossless formats. Didnt see much point in investing in the Naim to then stream MP3.
I don't have any issue streaming from Spotify currently. If i went for Tidal i would connect the Hub to the unit with an ethernet cable directly. Didn't envisage any issue there... maybe need to think again.

Why not purchase wav/flac files instead of CDs?

Presumably you already have a Hi-fi, so why not feed that rather than purchase an all in one thing like the Muso?

why even bother with tidal?
just use network storage for all your flac files!
why tie yourself into a subscription service if you already have your cds

I've a mu-so. I use it as a player for my personal music collection which is all streamed from a NAS drive via either naim's own app or itunes, both seem to work as well as one another so I seem to go through fazes of using one for a few weeks then the other.

I also use the mu-so as a soundbar, it replaced a mid to high end denon amp and 5:1 KEF speaker package. What I've lost in surround sound I've gained in clarity and presence. Spoken vocals are clearer and the bass from the mu-so feel more realistic than they did with the surround sound system. It's difficult to describe but the mu-so seems to create an impressive but still realistic soundstage whereas the 5:1 system always felt a little overblown. I've not used the TV speakers since I got the mu-so.

As for whether the mu-so is worth £300 more than the sonos is going to be down to you having a listen but I went through the same thought process when i bought the mu-so and listened to them both back to back. My personal conclusion was that the mu-so was worth the extra. I can't really tell you that it will sound worth the extra to you but I do think it's worth hearing both if at all possible.

I did try spotify premium for a few months when they had a trial period but chose to cancel the subscription. The service worked faultlessly but I still prefer to buy CD's and add them to my own library, which I'm informed by my friends is somewhere between quaint and luddism. I prefer the CD's over buying the digital files as they provide a good long term backup, I copy them to the NAS then once there's a shelf full they get boxed and put in the loft.

Not got the Muso, but do have a Unitiqute II, which is different in that you add you own specification of speaker rather than use the ones driven by the Muso.
That said when doing research, we listened to Denon, Sonos 5 and the Naim systems.
Our preferences were the Naim above the Denon above Sonos.
Initially we did our comparisons with the Muso because we didn't have our speakers available to test the Qute. The Muso was streets ahead of the Denon which itself was so much better than the Sonos (In our opinion, I accept others will think differently).
Eventually we decided on the Qute because we had a nice set of Quad speakers and it seemed a shame to loose them.
I know we made the right choice.
As far as streaming music is concerned, initially we had Spotify premium at £9.99 month, then Naim introduced a free 3 month trial to Tidal (when paying its £19.99 a month). To be honest we notice very little if any difference between the two. Certainly not £10 a month difference. Maybe if you a real music connoisseur and listen in a silent room you can identify the subtle sound. But we live in a house where music is to be enjoyed whilst other things are occurring, so the sound gets distracted by normal household noise. We won't continue with Tidal. If we were that interested in the quality we'd have a better system than a Qute!

Being a long serving Naim employee, it's not fair for me to comment on your choices. I am a bit surprised that you're 150 miles from a demo though! Where are you in the UK? I may be able to locate one closer to you. Also, are you aware of the Mu-so Qb? Basically it's the same feature set in a more compact design.

I've a mu-so and a Spotify Prem account did try free trial of tidal but it didn't have the range of music or easy use app as Spotify, the quality of tidal though was excellent.

The mu-so is at least to my ears stunning aurally credit to Naim in getting that sound soundstage out of that box even 15 months in its delivers real enjoyment in listening to music love it.

Also listened to the new mu-so qb which also sounds immense for its size just trying to work out where I actually 'need' it

Why not just use your own old quality old school hi-fi and something like a chromecast? Presuming you have a hifi, you would save £870 to spend on bikes?

Thank for your thoughts. RichPenny. I'm in the Highlands. I found stockists in Edinburgh and Glasgow. I could order from the local Currys, but they're not interested in ordering one for a demo.I would have to buy.

I've just got hold of a Gramafon and use it with Spotify premium through my Hi-Fi. Excellent, not sure I would ever buy a CD again - vinyl on the other hand....

I've got a Gramofon too and use it from Spotify through our existing HiFi. It's a good bit of kit.

Surely it doesn't matter how good the Mu-so sounds, it's still one little speaker. I can't imagine not having stereo speakers as my main music system - personally speaking of course.

Agree about the stereo speaker issue - have just gone back to that after only using a Sonos Play 1 for a while...