Christiaan Punter runs the online audio magazine Hifi Advice and has a great international following among audiophiles for his in-depth reviews. He enjoyed testing the MU2 extensively in December and wrote a very detailed report of his findings. Christiaan concludes:
“Like the MU1, the MU2 sounds neutral yet natural, fast and articulate yet fluid, and accurate without sounding tonally lean. Strikingly, it presents as warm without actually sounding warm. No matter what you play, there is never any harshness, edginess, or even remotely stereotypical digital about it. It’s got fluidity, grace, and charm, and its pacing is spot on, always toe-tapping and neither hurried nor slow.
The MU2 invites long listening sessions and performs its task almost anonymously, leaving the music to do its thing. Whether used with an external preamp or connected directly to the power amp, the server has a tightly controlled and precise yet calm and composed delivery with a velvety and laidback quality in the midrange, making for an intricately detailed yet highly sophisticated performance.”
About the pre amp part Christiaan writes in more detail:
“I was happy to find that the volume control operates very transparently. There is no hardening of the treble, no added edge, and no loss of resolution. Just a higher volume and nothing else, just as one would reasonably expect, but which is not always accomplished.
(…) The preamp stage and volume control are, quite simply, unvoiced and utterly transparent. (…) if it is purity that you are after first and foremost, then there are real benefits to skipping an external preamp altogether. (…) With the MU2 connected directly to the power amp, there is simply no “tube-like” charm or richness, additional expansiveness, or beefed-up bass. You get what’s in the source, no more and no less.”
“The MU2 invites long listening sessions”
Christiaan Punter, Hifi Advice
