Hi, finally got a QB after lusting over one for ages.
I have to say I’m really disappointed with the sound, it’s completely lacking in bass and sounds very very tinny.
The Bose 500 smart speaker I sold to fund the QB had miles more bass.
I’ve tried fiddling with the audio settings but although there are differences, none of them are giving the sound I expected.
I’m streaming from Spotify and although there may be disadvantages to that, I’m not changing my music supplier to suit the QB.
Any suggestions?
Should I give it a while for the speakers to ‘bed in’?
Gutted is putting it mildly, I very nearly boxed it up again to exercise my 14 day distance selling rights.
Not sure of potential causes, but lacking in bass and tinny is not my experience at all with the Qb. Ours, which is located in our kitchen about 15 centimeters away from the back wall, has a full and engaging sound with plenty of bass. Don’t recall if the Naim app has an EQ facility. If so it might perhaps be set wrong?
My experience of Bose all-in-one devices it that they exaggerate bass a lot, making them sound artificially impressive for their size. I’m not familiar with your 500, but if this is the case it can be hard to adjust to a different player that is more neutral.
I would also suggest that you leave the QB playing as much as possible as it should improve with time. Also try different positions in the room and maybe use the audio settings to see if that gives better results.
Ultimately, if you still prefer the Bose perhaps you should just stick with it.
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Only the wall distance and loudness, nothing detailed, and I think he fiddled with that.
It’s always so difficult to tell. “The Bose has more bass” is not a statement about quality. Though “tinny” sounds not right.
Question: Did you hear it somewhere else before and was it better?
Similar thoughts here too. Bose sound is built around impressive (exaggerated) bass. Nothing wrong with that as such, it’s what makes jaws drop and invites wow comments along the lines of “how can something that small sound so big?”. They’ve sold a lot of equipment this way.
The fact is that Bose sound is Bass oriented and deliberately not neutral or strictly accurate. However, given the constraints of one box form, it’s a perfectly valid solution to the brief. Muso is also far from perfect, but it doesn’t go down the Bose route on Bass. Could be you just don’t like Naim’s version of how a one box should sound. Fair enough. That doesn’t make you wrong at all. If you dig Bose, stay with it.
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No lack of bass on my QB2 and I’m using the close to wall setting in the app and it’s a good 8” away.
I sat in the Bose demo room at a hifi show in Manchester once, my bum wasn’t in the seat long enough to warm it.
If you were into car stereos and playing Robert Miles’ “Children” all day it was great.
Two Qb’s. I would never describe them as tinny. Something is amiss.
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Thanks for the replies.
I have it in the middle of a side board, back close to a wall, so I’ve fiddled with the sound settings for ‘wall’ and also made sure the loudness is on to give better bass at low volumes.
I’ll give it a chance to ‘bed in’ while keeping an eye on my 14 day right to return.
If it doesn’t get significantly better I’ll have to get something else.
I didn’t get the chance to hear one as there are no retailers up here do them, I went with all the reviews that said ‘stunning’
That sadly is the opposite of what I thought when I first heard it…
I’m not a Bose fanboy at all, just expected a more impressive out of the box sound from the QB.
Not an instant “oh…” and frantic fiddling with settings to try and improve the sound.
I’ve also had a vita audio (Ruark) R2 in the past that gave much better bass and a warmer sound.
I’m going to Glasgow at the weekend and am going to try a B+W zeppelin (hopefully).
Reviews mention it’s more bass heavy than the QB and that’s what I’m after.
It will need some running in from new. Even just 48 hours of use should make quite a difference as the drive units “free up” a bit.
Placement is important -it’s a high performance speaker after all, so you can’t just place it anywhere and expect miracles. I have found it’s best to try not to have too much shelf in front of it. Try it in a few different places to get idea of how it works with the acoustics of your room. Give it a decent chance and I reckon you’ll be delighted. Of course, it’s easy to let initial disappointment cloud all, but hopefully it will show its true colours soon. And if not…
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Tinny no, and as for bass I had to move it away from the wall.
As with all things there are criticisms which could be made but lack of bass is not one of them. My 16 year olds QB has relocated temporarily to the room above our living room and I’m having to crank the 202 up to drown the thing out.
I’d venture to suggest that the issue here is your sideboard. A QB on a solid piece of furniture will maybe need tweaking but will be fine. The word sideboard hides a potential multitude of sins. I’ve heard a Muso on an IKEA one which sounded awful. Move it to the next more solid pice of wood and it sprang to life.
A picture may assist.
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Placement shouldn’t be an issue, should it?
There’s literally one place I can put it, moving it isn’t an option.
Surely a good product should sound good anywhere.
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It’s a speaker and therefore effects of the acoustics of the room and where it’s placed will be inevitable. Naim provide two parameters to help here - setting the rear wall distance which effects the bass shelf, and loudness, which can compensate for how the ear hears frequencies at lower levels.
With loudspeakers in particular, that is most definitely not the case. That is why some people spend large sums of money on speaker stands and aftermarket support tweaks. And many enthusiasts spend hours moving their speakers about and even use acoustic room treatment to improve the sound.
Having said all that, I have a Muso QB which has been used in various locations and it has never sounded “tinny” or lacking in bass, rather the opposite in fact. I think you may have to face up to the fact that the sound of the Muso is just not for you. Taste in music reproduction is very subjective IMO, and it’s your ears that matter. I would try all the suggestions above that are feasible and especially give it a few days to run in. But if while there’s still time to return it, it’s still not floating your boat, I’d exercise that option and try something else.
Roger
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I get this, but I’d argue it’s not ‘speakers’ per se.
It’s a smart speaker that should be able to produce good sound wherever it’s placed in a room.
Having to find a spot in your room for it, that may not be at all convenient, is a ludicrous situation.
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The Muso my work had playing in the middle of the menswear dept sounded decidedly average - I was a bit embarrassed as I’d been enthusiastically recommending Naim to customers.
My own Muso QB sounds lovely, so I tend to think placement is a very important factor.
For example, moving my speakers from their ‘park’ position just a foot or so out into the living room brings benefits in terms of SQ.
Hi Bowfer,
You don’t specify where ‘up here’ you are but I assume, as you are planning to visit Glasgow, you are somewhere in Scotland.
In which case, you might want to give one of the Naim dealers in Glasgow a shout to hear how the Qb sounds when well run-in (and possibly compared with the Zeppelin?).
As others have said, the sound you describe does not represent what I hear from my Qb which has a well-balanced, punchy sound, with plenty of well-controlled, tuneful bass.
Perhaps you are used to hearing a ‘fuller’ bass presentation and prefer this; in which case, the Qb is perhaps not going to be to your tastes.
Good luck!
Ian
I have two Mu-so Qb 2nd generation and I’m very satisfied with the sound. In my opinion it’s a incredible all in one system.
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