KEF Muo Bluetooth Speaker: Moveable Hello-Fi

KEF suggest giving the Muo a minimum of a 10-hour run-in interval, a lot in the identical manner you’ll break within the surrounds on a critical pair of Hello-Fi audio system. True to their phrase, and after an evening of operating in, the Muo began to sound much less like a Bluetooth speaker, and extra like a compact hi-fi part.

Throughout some bombastic classical, and my regular mixture of MF Doom, Waxahatchee, and Neil Younger utilizing Quobuz and Spotify from iOS units and a Home windows laptop computer, the Muo stays impressively composed. Definition between bass, mids, and highs provides your music the possibility to breathe, whereas the steadiness avoids the hyped low-end tuning that tends to dominate Bluetooth audio system.

Turned up loud, I heard no apparent distortion, and it remained a extra snug hear at quantity than cheaper rivals. That doesn’t imply I believe small audio system ought to ever be cranked as much as 11, however in case you do insist on partying with it, you received’t be left wincing.

Stereo pairing can be genuinely efficient. Two Muo audio system widen the stage, sharpen left-right placement, and make the entire thing really feel nearer to a small hi-fi setup than I anticipated. It additionally highlighted simply how essential the speaker’s run-in interval is to the audio high quality. I solely tried pairing my evaluation samples after a few week of solo speaker listening, and the distinction distinction between it and the boxfresh speaker was oddly stark.

Stereo pairing is a superb addition right here, however in case you are about to spend $500-plus on two portables primarily for residence listening, you need to ask your self whether or not a devoted two-speaker system would serve you higher.

Fierce Competitors

{Photograph}: Chris Haslam

You do not want to spend $250 to get wonderful moveable sound at the moment. The JBL Flip 7 is $100 cheaper and stays WIRED’s favorite total selection, and the Bose SoundLink assortment has some bargains today. Many various designs include large batteries, booming bass, party-starting quantity and intensive companion apps. However they will lack the identical finesse.