Naim Muso or Sonos

[edition]

Hi,

Having and extension built and want a half decent film watching and socialising room.

What would people recommend I was thinking a Sonos soundbar connected to the tv and maybe a play 1 in the same room and play 5 in the other lounge. I then saw the naim and was wondering if that would be better for the new room? Is there anyway of linking naim to a play 5 in the other room?

Any advise would be much appreciated as I'm not very up on my technology!


Thanks!

[davek_964]

I can't answer your questions, but the Muso was mentioned in this thread a few weeks ago :

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

The OP wasn't that impressed with the demo, which is surprising given Naims reputation (although I've never been a big fan of Naim, but for other reasons).

[triple5]

Been toying up music/soundbar options myself in recent weeks, the Muso sounded very impressive to me albeit in a John Lewis environment.

I had a demo of the Bluesound pulse soundbar in Sevenoaks, also sounded very nice and probably more suited to soundbar duties than the Muso, although it is quite a bit larger.

[hyphen]

If its a new extension, why not get it wired up and use proper speakers rather than going wireless?

[VEX]

Sonos surround sound with a playbar, sub and play:1's as rears is an expensive opluton if you have to opertunity to install wires.

Also consider Yamaha MusicCast if you want to keep something like sonos music capability.

V.

Edited by VEX on Monday 21st November 13:52

[belleair302]

Naim Muso is amazing but is not a multi room system, unless you are buying a couple. For wireless don't discount Oppo or Bluesound.

[toon10]

belleair302 said:

Naim Muso is amazing but is not a multi room system, unless you are buying a couple. For wireless don't discount Oppo or Bluesound.

I'd echo this. Sonos is a good system with great features and the multi-room ability is very useful but I've always found the sound quality good but no great. The Muso sounds much better which is more important to me but isn't a multi-room system. If you want a better quality stand alone setup, I'd go with the Naim.

[Pulse]

I'm confused. Are you both saying that naim can't do multi-room? It can. Or is what you're saying that it would be prohibitively expensive to do so?

[belleair302]

Muso can be linked easily and does a great job, but at over a grand for just two QB's and way more for the Muso's you will be better off just looking for a pure multi room speaker system.

[Brads67]

There is no comparison in terms of sound quality. The Naim is incredible.

If you want multi room that won`t make your wallet sqeek however, Sonos is your best bet.


Buy the Muso, mines is outstanding and i run the telly through it via an optical link.

The Naim is best controlled through Spotify though, and not the free version.

[Pulse]

Gotcha, that makes more sense now. Yes, it's expensive. It depends what you're after. I have the Naim, and feel I can give a reasonable review...

The Naim kicks the Sonos out of the park, in my opinion, sound-wise. App-wise, it is nowhere near as good. I'd wager (though I am just about to try this) the Naim won't be as good at multi-room either.

For me, sound quality was paramount - that and I hate the cheap look and feel of the Sonos kit - but there's a lot to be said for the Sonos kit.

Worth noting that if you want ultra-flexibility (which I didn't, but have since found incredibly useful), the Naim is the one to go for. It has:

- aptX Bluetooth
- DLNA
- Air Play
- iRadio (limited choice of stations, but I listen to BBC in high-def)
- Optical
- 3.5mm
- Spotify Connect
- Tidal
- Ethernet port (if you want to go wired)
- USB

There's not much else on the market which competes if you want the range of things it does, with the internal kit it provides. I would note however that there's no way you'll ever use it at 100% volume, unless you've got a huge space to fill and/or are hugely anti-social. Mine never goes past half way, and usually is at 25% - so it may be a waste for your purposes.

[tonyg58]

The Naim app/system can do multiroom if you have more than one Muso (or any mix of Naim streaming products).

When you have something playing if you tap the picture bottom left of what's playing you'll open some new options.
At the bottom right there will be a small group of squares, tapping that will allow all players you add to play the same thing.

Also if you're not happy with Sonos sound quality and have an Apple device you can Truplay the Play 1,3 and 5 to improve the sound quality - works well if you have the unit in a corner or any other awkward place - it's in settings.

[CoolCurly]

Ive had a Mu-So since launch, and it still blows me away with the sound quality and looks.

The Sonos is probably better for sound in more rooms because of the ££ against the Naim, but the Naim will make your undercrackers wet with the depth of sound and clarity.

I use the Premium Spotify to play most of my songs/playlists and sometimes flick the internet radio on via the Naim App.

The new cube version might be a better option if you want more rooms but if ££ is no object fill each room with a Mu-So.

[RedTrident]

CoolCurly said:

Ive had a Mu-So since launch, and it still blows me away with the sound quality and looks.

This.