Hi all,
Im going to start my journey in to Naim today and either buy the mu so 2 or the qb 2.
The end plan is to buy the uniti atom HE from which ill power my active Adams Tensor Deltas from in my loungeroom while playing naim speakers (yet to purchase) in the kitchen, 2nd loungeroom and deck.
I would prefer the qb (gen 2) size wise in the kitchen but am worried it wont give me enough “oomph” hence why im considering the mu-so 2.
I listen mainly to electronic music and/or ambient/modern classical. In other words for the majority bass heavy.
I have a little enclosure that will just fit the mu-so 2 or would quite easily for the qb. ThiThis is the microwave compartment (currently has a coffee machine in it in thr pic)
Any advice as to 1 or the other appreciated.
Also, can anyone envisage any dramas with having the muso located in that area of the kitchen?
Note the room is a long rectangular room approx 8m long x 5m wide. The speaker will be pointing straight down into the long area of the room.
Thanks
Ed
The muso or Qb needs to be in open space. Putting it in that little compartment is a recipe for boom and generally bad sound. The bottom of the compartment is quite flimsy looking and both the Naim units are heavy. Overall it’s a bad idea.
We have a Qb in the kitchen. It sits on a granite worktop and sounds great. Like any speaker they are very much influenced by what they sit on. Can you find a nice open space for it?
In a space like that, both would work fine. If the unit will take the weight, a Muso would be much preferable to a Qb, which has two side firing speakers which would fire into the sides of your little cabinet.
In the NAIM app, disable the loudness setting and there are a couple of other useful positioning settings, which will help. If you’ve got a strong WiFi signal, a Muso would work a treat there. I use one, with good results.
Thanks for the responses.
Appreciated.
The top back area of the microwave space is open allowing air to pass through up to the ceiling. The opening is decent size ie full length and approx 12cm wide. But i get what your saying re sounding boomish.
I might take the risk with the muso, if it doesnt work it can go somewhere else and when i get a qb it can go on a bench top somewhere.
I have doubts about putting either unit so close to a gas hob and kettle where heat, steam and airbourne grease may affect it (assuming you actually do cook!!?) Especially the larger Muso which can’t be moved away from the hob.
I also think HH is correct that the unit might sound poor in such an enclosed space. They are usually best sited away from corners, out in the open and not up against the wall behind them. When using the kitchen it will be very close to your head - it will certainly wake you up when you are putting the kettle on in the morning.
That will help. Don’t be put off though. Whilst that enclosure is not optimal, a Muso will not sound ‘poor’ there, as suggested in the previous post. It will work just fine for a kitchen system.
There’s ‘poor’ and there’s ‘not as good as it could be’ of course. Even the Qb is not cheap, at £900. They can actually sound excellent, if well placed. Sitting on granite, with the close to wall setting on and loudness off, ours sounds very fine indeed. It’s a lot more than just a ‘kitchen speaker’.
The Qb2 has a great sound and I love it. Mine is on a windowsill and sits right at the front of the windowsill which is approximately 2 foot deep! (This house has solid walls). I have it on 4 isolation pads (vibrapods) as I do my Muso 2 in the opposite window, and it enhances its sound and clarity, for both units. When I have them both playing multiroom, they compliment each other well but the Qb2 is brilliant just on its own.
I agree. I use a Qb in the home gym and it works very well with Qobuz, generating more than acceptable sound at decent volume levels. They are very nice pieces of kit.
Another thing to consider is the size of your kitchen and the noise level and location of noisy items (Oven fan, hob fans etc). You might find that two speakers synced on opposite sides of the room give you a better sound than sound just coming from one location when you add in extrenuous noise from fans etc. This is not about stereo separation, just spreading the sound around to overcome noisy sources in the kitchen. If that is the case, then 2 Qbs would be better.
(We were cheap at our house and just went for 2 x Sonos one for the kitchen. They’re clearly not as good as the Qb, but couldn’t justify the price of two of those! However, for when we’re cooking in the kitchen I’m still glad we went for the “pair of speakers” option - as the sound is spread around the kitchen better).
We have two Sonos zones in the kitchen with their Connect Amps driving B&W ceiling speakers, absolutely fine for the kitchen and the Sonos app is wonderful never in 10 years of use have I had a problem. I realise that retro fitting ceiling speakers isn’t always possible, and can be expensive (the B&W speakers are £500/ pair) but the Sonos One is also a fine solution.
The Muso2 is excellent, you won’t be disappointed.
Mine is on a side unit in a similar sized kitchen as yours and easily fills the space with sound.
I also added isolation feet (IsoAcoustics Gaia) but that was more of an issue with the composite worktop. Your wood surfaces shouldn’t be a problem.
One thing that hasn’t been mentioned is the Naim app - very good interface and easy to use.
It’s not cheap but you get what you pay for!
