It’s been a while since we last heard from venerable audio brand Naim, who’s most recent products were the wll-regarded Mu-so wireless speakers. The Mu-so has returned though it’s come with a name change.
The newest speaker is not the Naim Mu-so but the Focal Mu-so Hekla, but the goal remains the same, to produce a high-fidelity performance from a one-box system.
Hekla is a reference to the name of a volcano in Iceland, so expect an eruption of sound from the Mu-so Hekla when it goes on sale in early 2026 for £3000 / $3600 / €3300. If you’re in South Korea and China, you’ll be able to get your hands on the speaker this year.
But what are you getting for your money? Here’s what you need to know about the Naim Focal Mu-so Hekla.
15 speakers for Dolby Atmos sound
Is it a speaker? Is it a soundbar? Is it an all-in-one system? The new Mu-so Hekla seems to be all of the above, making for a versatile system that can do movies, music and probably whatever else takes your fancy.
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With 15 speakers tucked inside its enclosure and 660W of Class D amplification at its disposal, it follows in the vein of the Cambridge Audio Evo One, Ruark R410 and the Sonus Faber Omnia; although the main difference between those all-in-one systems and the Hekla is that Focal/Naim’s latest invention can pump out immersive Dolby Atmos sound.
Image Credit (Focal)
Focal says it’s a “complete 7.1.2 channel system”, featuring a combination of woofers (for the lows), tweeters (for the highs) and full-range speakers (for everything); the .2 appellation also indicates it has upfiring speakers to create the height channels needed for Atmos.
With a wide 30Hz – 20kHz frequency range and the ADAPT technology that calibrates the audio presentation to fit the space the speaker is in, this certainly has more home cinema chops than most all-in-one systems we’ve come across.
It’ll stream all your favourite tunes
Given the Mu-so started out as a wireless speaker, it hasn’t abandoned its roots for the glamour of home cinema. Music streaming services such as Tidal, Qobuz and QQ Music (a Chinese streaming service) are supported out of the box; and there’s Qobuz Connect, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, AirPlay, Google Cast and Bluetooth for streaming directly from a mobile device.
UPnP support means you can stream audio on your home network, and high-res audio is on the menu with audio resolutions supported up to 32-bit/384kHz as well as DSD128.
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Stylish looks
Image Credit (Focal)
Aesthetically, the Mu-so speakers were known for the rotary dial encircled by a ring of light, the control wheel was a very nice way of controlling the speaker.
It is a bigger speaker, the 100cm width is closer to a soundbar than it is the Mu-so 2. With a brushed and sand blasted black aluminium finish, it looks to stand out from the competition, though based on the images we’ve seen, we slightly prefer the look of the Mu-so 2.
Not enough bass? Connect a subwoofer
The Mu-so Hekla comes with an array of connections from HDMI eARC for a TV, optical Toslink if you want to connect a CD player, Blu-ray player or games console to the Hekla itself. But for home cinema fans, the potential of adding a subwoofer is perhaps the most intriguing aspect.
With an RCA output, you can plug in a subwoofer if you crave a bigger bass performance. Focal has quite a few subwoofers of its own but an RCA output opens the field up to any wired subwoofer that you may have.
Image Credit (Focal)
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