Lifestyle All-in-one (AIO) Wi-Fi streaming speakers, anyone?

[sachinchavan 15865]

I’d like to know if anyone of you own (or have listened extensively to) any of the following:

1. Naim Mu-So 2nd gen
2. Sonus Faber Omnia
3. McIntosh RS 250

(All three are multI-driver stereo systems in sound-bar form factor).

I am considering these options and want to get first-hand impressions. Also, if you know where these can be demoed in Mumbai.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Naturelover]

Naim Muso, among other Naim products, is listed on hifimart website.
The Sonus and Mcintosh are listed on Mumbai based Ooberpad website as also Pune based avstore

 

[shuv]

If I'm not mistaken, @magma has the SF Omnia

 

[sachinchavan 15865]

If I'm not mistaken, @magma has the SF Omnia

Thanks @shuv. I’ve messaged Ali to get more info on Omnia. In general I don’t see any threads/posts on this product category. There are many on Bluetooth speakers, sound-bars as well as powered speakers, but audiophile AIO speakers don’t seem to have caught on yet.

Naim Muso, among other Naim products, is listed on hifimart website.
The Sonus and Mcintosh are listed on Mumbai based Ooberpad website as also Pune based avstore

Thanks Rajiv. I checked with Hifimart, they don’t demo the MuSo. I wonder if the other two keep demo pieces either. Shall check.

 

[shuv]

@sachinchavan 15865, you're welcome. This is another AIO I've seen (on the interweb only).

https://ifi-audio.com/products/aurora/

 

[sachinchavan 15865]

I expect this emerging product category to catch on well over the next few years. While BT speakers have been in existence for a good number of years and proved excellent choices for bedroom/study kind of applications, audiophiles would never consider these as their primary system for their sonic limitations. Wireless smart speakers have been picking up, but their sound too is only a marginal improvement on the BT speakers if at all. So we continue with the separates despite its challenges.

Most of us urban dwellers are space/constrained and cannot dedicate a listening room for a full-blown separates hi-fi stereo system. But we try cramping it into our living spaces, because our audiophile sensibility craves for the experience. This not just just takes up prime living space, but also introduces further demands due to placement, room interaction considerations. We try our best to hide the spiderweb of 8-10 (minimum) cables of all kinds snaking around, but in the end make some parts of our living room difficult to clean. Also these cables are so sensitive to interferences that it’s an ongoing job to keep them away from each other and the walls to maintain that golden sound that one has heard from the system. And on top of that the temptation to keep experimenting keeps the system in a permanent state of unstable equilibrium at best. A equilibrium that can be disturbed by something as little as one spike in the speaker stand getting loose! While AV hobbyists might enjoy it, some of us get tired eventually and want to just listen to the music.

But that’s where the challenge comes. The simpler solutions like in the first para above fall short of the sound quality we have gotten used to. However, that’s where I see these audiophile AIO speaker systems filling in. Not surprisingly, these come from respected companies entrenched into audiophile territory such as McIntosh, Naim, Sonus. They are working out innovative designs to bring as much as audiophile sound as possible in a small package in the form factor of either a single BS speaker or a large sound bar. Based on the YouTube videos available one can see that they are serious products that can hold their own in terms of fidelity, sonic separation, tonality, dynamics. The only sonic aspects where they are inherently limited are soundstage and imaging. There’s no way these speakers can vanish or create an immersive live experience of being surrounded by the orchestra.

But what they do is make life simpler. With just a power cable to connect and nothing more (unless you want to connect sources such as turn table, CDT or HDD) and limited space occupied, you and your family get back that end of the room which was heretofore largely out of bounds.

Also as streaming is fast substituting other music delivery formats, and coming close to the sound from a CD/SACD, and with wider choice of streaming platforms, the AIO speakers can put out satisfying sound for many, if not most audiophiles.

I believe therefore that over the next 3-5 years many of us would go for an audiophile AIO speaker as our second/third system and a few might end up making it their primary go-to music listening station.

 

[sachinchavan 15865]

@sachinchavan 15865, you're welcome. This is another AIO I've seen (on the interweb only).

https://ifi-audio.com/products/aurora/

Oh yes @shuv. I noticed it too - a whacky design as they’ve tried to accommodate many of the audiophile do’s and don’ts (look at that tripod stand or those sonic wall detectors). However, the sound is what I’d call tubey - understandably as they’ve added tube at the pre stage. I’ve experimented it in my system earlier and while it was initially attractive, eventually started feeling like a distortion. I felt the same listening to the YT samples from the IFI Aurora.

Another thing I fear with these AIO speakers is the wizardry they attempt. Like DSP which both the MuSo and Omnia claim to do, without an option to bypass. RS250 (as well as the smaller sibling RS150) sound seems more natural (less processed) in comparison. The Vifa Stockholm is another popular product in this category, but is ugly and has dry Scandinavian sound that doesn’t suit vocal heavy emotive music as much.

 

[arj]

.. Not surprisingly, these come from respected companies entrenched into audiophile territory such as McIntosh, Naim, Sonus. They are working out innovative designs to bring as much as audiophile sound as possible in a small package in the form factor of either a single BS speaker or a large sound bar. Based on the YouTube videos available one can see that they are serious products that can hold their own in terms of fidelity, sonic separation, tonality, dynamics. The only sonic aspects where they are inherently limited are soundstage and imaging. There’s no way these speakers can vanish or create an immersive live experience of being surrounded by the orchestra.

You could add the B&W Zepplin to the list as well there will be a lot more launched at premium and lower prices..eg Technics and the Old british brand of Ruark which made wonderful speakers also coming out with console type music players.

With the newer Digital based amps /DSP chips we can see a lot more of more affordable systems coming up very fast in the near future especially with the newer workforce in rental places and smaller space.

If you are looking long term, i think the best is yet to come in the future ( as in everything !) with the current systems getting outdated very soon . So its OK if you have a real need now and are looking at the next 5-10 years.

The problem I see with these new systems is , do not expect too long a life and if it goes kaput, you can only throw it away. A good all in one electronics with a separate speaker(s) might be more inconvenient but longer lasting.

 

[sachinchavan 15865]

If you are looking long term, i think the best is yet to come in the future ( as in everything !) with the current systems getting outdated very soon . So its OK if you have a real need now and are looking at the next 5-10 years

5-10 years is as close to ‘permanent solution’ that one can imagine in this VUCA world. It’s difficult to predict the lives we’d be living ten years from now.

You could add the B&W Zepplin to the list as well there will be a lot more launched at premium and lower prices..eg Technics and the Old british brand of Ruark which made wonderful speakers also coming out with console type music players.

Have heard the Zeppelin years ago. Am sure they’d have evolved further. Shall widen the list with suggestions like Ruark (interesting to see a company entering from the radio space) that I get here.

The problem I see with these new systems is , do not expect too long a life and if it goes kaput, you can only throw it away. A good all in one electronics with a separate speaker(s) might be more inconvenient but longer lasting.

Agree. Hence brand and pedigree plays an important role. You’d trust a Naim or McIntosh to design and build for reliability. My Bose Soundlink II is over 10 years and still going strong.

In fact, obsolescence is a bigger risk than reliability. Unlike with components you don’t have the option to just upgrade the electronics (esp DAC or streamer). But on the other hand is the peace of mind on account of zero urges to experiment/tamper/upgrade from day one.

 

[jigarpatel]

Focal Experience Center in Pune for Naim and Focal.

 

[chander]

Dear @sachinchavan 15865 - I was in the same boat, a while back for a secondary AIO good sounding box for the bedroom, as the idea of "bulky"/"difficult to operate"/"cluttered" systems wasn't catching on like a wildfire. So the separates went for sale, and a search for AIO boxes continued. My partner wanted a "simple-audiophile" system. Thus started a hunt for aesthetic yet "good sounding"; small, simple, portable & as a cherry on cake battery based AIO.

Well after auditioning a few, the decision was left on me, as nothing fit everything. So I was given 2 choices - something that looks great & sound good & doesn't have to be portable; & something that is portable and just makes sound.

I did audition the NAIM MuSO, BeoSound beolit & Level, devialet, B&W zeppelin & wedge & sonus faber lumina. Now coming to a very short impression list -
1 - Naim MuSo (with changeable front grills), Sonus Faber lumina & beosound Level - look the best in that order - to me.
2 - Naim MuSo, Sonus Faber Lumina, Wedge & level - sound best in that order. Based on my sound preference that is. With Lumina being the most pleasing/enjoyable sound, but MuSO had a beauty about voices that I personally preferred.
3 - MuSo (best in this category) & level are the easiest to live with in terms of features & apps & usability in that order.

***obviously all opinions are subjective based on my preference.

Thanks!

 

[sachinchavan 15865]

Dear @sachinchavan 15865 - I was in the same boat, a while back for a secondary AIO good sounding box for the bedroom, as the idea of "bulky"/"difficult to operate"/"cluttered" systems wasn't catching on like a wildfire. So the separates went for sale, and a search for AIO boxes continued. My partner wanted a "simple-audiophile" system. Thus started a hunt for aesthetic yet "good sounding"; small, simple, portable & as a cherry on cake battery based AIO.

Well after auditioning a few, the decision was left on me, as nothing fit everything. So I was given 2 choices - something that looks great & sound good & doesn't have to be portable; & something that is portable and just makes sound.

I did audition the NAIM MuSO, BeoSound beolit & Level, devialet, B&W zeppelin & wedge & sonus faber lumina. Now coming to a very short impression list -
1 - Naim MuSo (with changeable front grills), Sonus Faber lumina & beosound Level - look the best in that order - to me.
2 - Naim MuSo, Sonus Faber Lumina, Wedge & level - sound best in that order. Based on my sound preference that is. With Lumina being the most pleasing/enjoyable sound, but MuSO had a beauty about voices that I personally preferred.
3 - MuSo (best in this category) & level are the easiest to live with in terms of features & apps & usability in that order.

***obviously all opinions are subjective based on my preference.

Thanks!

Dear Chander, thanks for sharing in your impressions in such a helpful manner. I knew about your search from your thread and that you finalised on Genelec actives. Given the wide range of potential candidates you’ve auditioned, I am going to disturb you soon for a telephonic chat.

Focal Experience Center in Pune for Naim and Focal.

Thanks Jigar. I shall check with them on audition possibilities in Pune and (preferably) Mumbai.


Update on the Research:

By the way, I’ve been casting a wider net and another AIO speaker that has caught my fancy is the JBL L75ms. And not just the vintage aesthetic (which I am a sucker for), but also the less processed, easy sound it is said to make. One thing I am wary of in these speakers is the over-processed sound that could bring an illusion of control at the cost of naturalness. I feel Naim MuSo especially so. The L75ms has a bit of DSP going with the central speaker (to improve the imaging), and I haven’t read of any with the McIntosh RS speakers yet. McIntosh RS 250 also scores on connectivity options over the rest. The Ruark R5 was an interesting choice with radio and CD drive built in. as well as decent sound (the only with class AB amp), but seems to fall short on usability and software reliability.

 

[chander]

I am going to disturb you soon for a telephonic chat.

Hi Sachin, anytime you like, I will drop you a PM with my number. Also just to clarify - these were 2 different setups, G3s came for my office which was a long overdue overhaul. The AIO search was for the bedroom/whatever else setup.

 

[shuv]

JBL L75ms Integrated Music System

The JBL L75ms Music System caters to the enthusiast who seeks an easier way to listen to their music collection without sacrificing acoustic performance. As a modern re-imagining of the traditional Hi-Fi system, the L75ms finds its design inspiration from the JBL Classic Series with which it...

theaudio.co

@sachinchavan 15865