Very worthwhile upgrades to Mu-so 2

I am a very cynical retired electronic Engineer, however, I have done a couple of tweaks to my Mu-so and boy do they make a difference.

  1. Add vibrapads (see other posts) they certainly tighten the bass and improve the clarity of male voices.
  2. Improve the provided mains cable (Effectively fuse wire!). I have fitted an Audio Quest Mains Cable (NRG-Z2) which cost £147 in UK. I can’t tell you how this has Improved the sound quality. The Dynamic range and (Speed) has significantly increased and also the soundstage Is now wider and more separated.

I consider the above updates to be very good value for money. I still can’t understand why these tweets seem to work (especially no 2)

Simon

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I added audio serenity rubber feet to my QB2, nice improvement for little money. Richard Dane did comment that raising the unit up would be tuning the bass response as well as any vibration issues.

I have the original muso and tried foculpods under it. They totally flattened the sound. The biggest improvement I got was getting the distance from the wall just right.

It really was very critical and I could hear clear differences moving it just a couple of cm. I also have a better mains lead, made from 4mm yy flex with an mk plug, and also changed the wall socket for an mk logic unswitched type. Both these upgrades made a noticeable positive difference.

It just goes to show that every piece of naim kit rewards you sonically for patience and attention to detail when setting up.

The muso now sounds so much better than I ever expected it to.

Intriguing. I often wonder what upper limits of SQ I can achieve with my Muso-2. Many years ago I used Vibrapods under some separates I owned at the time. I remember liking the SQ improvements but I did not like the rings they left on the wooden shelves. There was a chemical reaction that did not treat the wood surface too kindly. That is the one thing holding me back on the Vibrapod. Thanks for the power cord lead. I may just give that a try. I can always return it if I do not like the result.

Can you post a picture of the Muso on the Vibropods?

Do you think it detracts from the sleek look?

My Mu-so2 is mounted on Black Glass (see photos) so the Vibrapods are not so obvious, they are not recommended on wood surfaces as they are prone to stain.

I am having problems uploading the photos. Please bare with me.

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How about trimming some cork coasters to fit under the vibrapods

Cork would be an option under the Vibrapods. I am also considering another product called IsoBlocks which are sold here in the US by Hudson HiFi out of NYC. The IsoBlocks are made of silicone.

Thanks for the picture Simon.
My Muso sits on a white shelf in the kitchen. It’s quite high up ( around chest level), so the pods would be quite noticeable.
I’m thinking that the slight sonic improvement Is not worth the loss of visual appeal.

Or just a thin impervious film under each, e.g. a small piece of, say, polyethylene cut from a plastic bag or similar - that wouldn’t alter the mechanical behaviour or height.

Hello Praggers,

I have been thinking long and hard about your comments, so I have done some searching and have come up with the following alternatives. I have tried an alternative isolator (Oehibach Shock Absorber) only 8mm high in black which does the job, no better than the Vibrapods, however, they are much less obtrusive (see photo below). Please note that the use of these pads and much better mains cable are not “Slight Improvements” but more significant than the upgrade from the Mu-so 1 to the Mu-so 2.

I hope this helps,

Kind regards,

Simon Clifford-Smith

Many thanks Simon for the photo and advice.
I will definitely look into those pads. I live in Australia so finding them may prove difficult, however the rest of my family live in the UK so they could send them over for me.

The colour of your grille looks great. We chose red to match the Kitchen.

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Hi Praggers,

The red Mu-so looks good in your kitchen. If it helps, I bought my shock absorbers from Futureshop in the UK and they will ship to Australia.

All the best, Simon

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Based on feedback here I tried the vibro pads with good results, will have a think about the power cable.

Thanks
Gary

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I have 3 cheapo rubber pucks under my Muso 1 and they made a worthwhile difference. The shelf the Muso is sitting on is far from ideal and it seemed a bit of a no-brainer some isolation would benefit - it did. It helped reduce boomy bass (from shelf vibration I suppose) which had the effect of clearing up the mids. Its still a Muso 1 though, which I (regretfully) bought without audition…

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I can understand how isolation pads under the Muso-2 might make a difference in the SQ especially depending on the room location and surface the Muso-2 is placed upon. But a power cable; can someone explain how that might make a difference?

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