FLEXIBILITY
Which are the most easy to set up, and versatile for your musical machinations?
It may look absurd, but the A9 is a living room centrepiece with bite
Whatever your multiroom aspirations, Bang & Olufsen’s range has you covered. However absurd the flying saucer of the A9 might be, it’s a living room centrepiece with bite. There are plenty of options in the middle, and the M3 in particular is perfect for tucking away. The standout BeoSound 1, a true 360º speaker, works anywhere in any room, and it’s imbued with a decent battery too. It’ll provide a realistic seven or so hours of music for that garden party, and you can take it in the bathroom if you dare. It’s a shame that B&O’s apps make multiroom a little tricky – you’ll need several to get everything hooked up with your network. All of the devices work harmoniously, but setting up a group isn’t the most intuitive task and there was a little desyncing over the course of our testing.
Equipping an entire home with Phantoms is a costly affair, and one which requires planning – they’re not rough-and-tumble units, they’re immensely heavy, and they demand respect. There’s a noticeable dead spot on the rear, which isn’t unusual (the driver fires forwards) but this means they’ll need a fixed home in just the right place. The app, Devialet Spark, provides regular seamless firmware updates to the units, and adequately manages audio from a range of sources. You’d hope so, too, given that it’s your primary method of speaker control. They’re Bluetooth and AirPlay compatible, but be warned: if you’re planning to go properly multiroom, you’ll also need to pick up Devialet’s Dialog hub (£249).
Naim’s app is probably best of the bunch, offering unfussy, uncomplicated access to the many sources that each Mu-so can manage, and the addition of physical controls and feedback through that gloriously silky illuminated volume dial is a real plus. It was also, in our tests, the most synchronised multiroom setup, though groups aren’t sticky so they need frequent redefinition. And while it’s not hard to find room for a Qb, you’ll need an entire sideboard to house the main Mu-so.