KEF MUON by Ross Lovegrove

KEF, renowned British manufacturer of audiophile-quality speakers, has unveiled MUON, a distinctively new loudspeaker that features audio innovation and a cutting-edge, ultra-modern design. The speakers are the direct result of the marriage between KEF’s engineering team and visionary designer Ross Lovegrove, one of the leading industrial designers of our time. These loudspeakers, standing nearly 7 feet tall, were recently unveiled during the famed Milan design fair, arguably the most prestigious design gathering in the world.

The central aim of the MUON project was to create the ultimate in sound technology and design innovation. These ultra-exclusive speakers will be limited in production to just 100 pairs and will be sold in only 10 cities worldwide, including New York and Los Angeles.

Rarely has such a sublime union of form, function and manufacturing integrity been realized in the commercial world. “We wanted to push our technology to new limits,” said Dr. Andrew Watson, KEF’s Senior Acoustic Engineer. The result is an unparalleled loudspeaker that will bring unbelievable sound quality to serious audiophiles as well as music lovers. MUON is an exquisite example of British engineering and design at its very best.”

The MUON loudspeaker is made from super-formed aluminum, which uses a similar molding process to vacuum forming. Malleable sheets of heated aluminum were used to achieve otherwise impossible shapes. The eventual form of the loudspeaker was the result of a careful convergence between Ross Lovegrove’s design aesthetics and the physics of sound. The process by which it was conceived meant that, in effect, Ross Lovegrove was sculpting the sound by ‘skinning’ the technology with purposeful form.

MUON’s four-way speaker system mounted into the front of the structure with its powerful bass drivers is one of the elements that make it so superior. But it is also the upper mid-range and treble where some of MUON’s key technology lies in the form of the Uni-Q® drive unit array, remarkable in its construction and delivering a seamless sonic picture throughout the listening environment.

KEF has also used its Acoustic Compliance Enhancement (ACE) technology, which enables them to effectively double the available volume through adsorption of air molecules by activated carbon, or ‘magic dust’. The two additional bass drivers mounted on the back of MUON help to produce a remarkably clean and open sound by dealing with room effects. Finally, the 6mm thick, heavily damped aluminum shell provides a totally rigid structure that minimizes any sound-distorting vibrations.

As a truly contemporary art form appropriate for 21st century living, MUON is unequivocally at the apex of speaker design and technology. Simply stated, MUON is the best you can get.

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