KEF MUON Floorstanding Speaker

A KEF Concept designed by Ross Lovegrove

The MUON project is ambitious to say the least. Visionary designer Ross Lovegrove was tasked with turning the finest acoustic engineering into the ultimate loudspeaker by combining form and function with manufacturing integrity. The MUON loudspeaker is fabricated from super-formed aluminium to create a shape that is devoid of sharp edges and extremely stiff. It combines Ross Lovegrove’s design aesthetics with KEF’s finest engineering. The process by which MUON was conceived meant that, in effect, Ross Lovegrove was sculpting the sound by ‘skinning’ the technology with purposeful form – the final shape was created through an evolutionary process that makes it perfectly suited to its purpose.

The Technology Behind MUON

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’.

Perfect musical form

Ross Lovegrove’s design for the MUON is more than just a beautiful form in polished aluminium. 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 whilst providing a smooth, unbroken surface that allows sound radiate out and create a field of pure sound. The result is music with unprecedented three-dimensional presence.

MUON’s 6mm thick aluminium 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.

Uni-Q driver array

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.