Last year, British high-end audio house Naim launched the gorgeous Mu-so wireless music system. Now the same engineers responsible for its design have developed the Mu-so Qb, an equally good-looking compact wireless system. Despite its bookshelf speaker proportions, the Qb is reported capable of throwing out 300 W from its five speaker drivers.
Sat within a cabinet fashioned from glass-reinforced polymer are two microfiber dome tweeters in a left/right angled configuration for optimum dispersion and two similarly angled mid drivers, each driven by Class-D 50 W amps. The fifth driver in the setup is a custom woofer driven by a 100 W amp and two pistonic radiators that combine to take care of the low end.
Naim is promising a top notch listening experience with "no distortion, increased speaker accuracy and an expansive sound that makes hairs stand on end." The Qb features the same 32-bit digital signal processor brain that's used in the original Mu-so music system, but fine-tuned for a smaller cabinet. Two EQ settings help the system deliver the best sound for near wall or mid-room placement, while bass and treble get a boost at low volume for a fuller listening experience.
Connectivity comes in the shape of Bluetooth with support for the aptX codec, UPnP for access to a user's stored music on computer or NAS, Ethernet or Wi-Fi network connection, AirPlay for Apple mobile devices, USB for playing music stored on a thumbdrive, and analog and digital inputs to enable the Qb to be connected to living room hi-fi systems, TVs or games consoles. The system can access thousands of online radio stations via a wireless home network, and comes with Spotify Connect and Tidal lossless streaming already cooked in.
Playback control is via a touch-enabled user interface to the top that's surrounded by a solid aluminum ring, or more under the hood tweaking is offered through an iOS and Android control app. The system can be synced with other Qbs, the original Mu-so or other Naim wireless devices for same song playback in up to five rooms.
The 210 x 218 x 212 mm (8.28 x 8.58 x 8.35 in), 5.6 kg (12 lb) Mu-so Qb is due for release in March for a suggested retail price of £595 (about US$860). It will come with a black speaker grille as standard, but a selection of grilles in other colors will be available.
An introduction to the Qb can be seen in the video below.
Product page: Naim Mu-so Qb