KEF Muo Bluetooth Speaker: Portable Hi-Fi
KEF recommends giving the Muo a break-in period of at least 10 hours, the same way you would give the sound from a pair of serious Hi-Fi speakers. True to its word, and after a night of break-in, the Muo began to sound less like a Bluetooth speaker and more like a compact hi-fi component.
Through bombastic classics and my usual mix of MF Doom, Waxahatchee and Neil Young using Quobuz and Spotify from iOS devices and a Windows laptop, the Muo remains impressively composed. Definition between bass, mids and highs gives your music the chance to breathe, while the balance avoids the trendy low-end tuning that tends to dominate Bluetooth speakers.
Turned up loud, I didn’t hear any obvious distortion and listening remained more comfortable at volume than its cheaper competitors. That’s not to say I think small speakers should ever be cranked up to 11, but if you insist on partying with them, you won’t wince.
The stereo pairing is also really effective. Two Muo speakers widen the stage, accentuate the left-right placement and make the whole thing closer to a small hi-fi setup than I expected. This also highlighted the importance of the speaker break-in period for audio quality. I only tried pairing my test samples after about a week of solo listening, and the difference between it and the boxfresh speaker was oddly striking.
Stereo pairing is a great addition here, but if you’re about to spend more than $500 on two laptops primarily for home listening, you should consider whether a dedicated two-speaker system would serve you better.
Fierce competition
Photography: Chris Haslam
You don’t need to spend $250 to get great portable sound today. The JBL Flip 7 is $100 cheaper and remains WIRED’s favorite overall pick, and the Bose SoundLink collection has some great deals these days. Many alternative models come with big batteries, powerful bass, party startup volume, and plenty of add-on apps. But they may lack the same finesse.
