KEF MUON, floor speakers

MUON is a truly remarkable feat of sound-engineering and cutting-edge design. Rarely does one find such a sublime marriage of form, function and manufacturing integrity in any field. Individually crafted and carefully measured in KEF's highly accurate anechoic chambers, each loudspeaker comes with a certificate showing its unique frequency response curve, signed by the skilled craftsman who made it in KEF's Maidstone workshop.

One of the reasons why MUON has such outstanding sound quality is its unusually wide bandwidth. It reproduces sounds that are so low and so high that the human ear does not register them in the normal way. We can feel very low bass and tests have shown that we sense very high frequencies, so this extra information increases the realism of the overall sound. The way that Ross Lovegrove has wrapped form around sound in MUON reveals that great design and superlative sound can coexist in one product.

Not only is MUON iconic in its styling, its design and manufacture would not have been possible without highly sophisticated CAD/CAM software and technology. Guided by engineering and aesthetics, MUON is as much an extraordinary piece of sculpture as it is the ultimate sound provider. It's an exquisite example of British engineering and design at its very best.

MUON's powerful bass drivers are one element that makes it so superior. But it is also the upper mid-range and treble where some of the key technology lies, the Uni-Q® drive unit array which delivers seamless imaging throughout the room. KEF also used Acoustic Compliance Enhancement (ACE) technology, this effectively doubles the available volume through adsorption of air molecules by activated carbon.

MUON has established a major benchmark in acoustic transparency. It has achieved this through several key innovations in form, function and materials. As KEF's senior engineer Dr. Andrew Watson puts it. 'we wanted to take our technology to the limit and then develop some more along the way'.

Ross Lovegrove's design for the MUON is more than just a beautiful form in polished aluminum. It provides the drivers with the perfect environment to deliver seamless, open sound. The curvaceous torso like form breaks up the visual mass of the cabinet while providing a smooth, unbroken surface that allows sound to radiate out and create a field of pure sound. The result is music with unprecedented three-dimensional presence.

MUON's 6mm thick aluminum shell provides a totally rigid structure that minimizes sound-distorting vibrations. Inside are strengthening braces and a coating of damping compound that makes the whole unit completely inert, even when the speaker is playing loud.

KEF's patented 'sit anywhere' Uni-Q driver places the tweeter in the acoustic center of the midrange cone. This allows both midrange and tweeter to act as a single, focused source of sound that is dispersed widely and evenly throughout the room. In MUON the smooth curved shape of Ross Lovegrove's beautiful cabinet design significantly enhances the benefits of Uni-Q by removing sharp edges that cause diffraction and blur the image. The result is truly extraordinary sound quality that can be experienced from anywhere in the listening environment with no obvious "sweet spot" effect. Find out more about Uni-Q.