Focal Mu-So Hekla Soundbar Review: Dolby Atmos With 1 Speaker | WIRED
$3,600 at Audio Advice
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Rating:8/10
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WIRED
Best stand-alone speaker for Dolby Atmos movies and music. Easy to set up and use with the Focal app. Impressive number of audio drivers with solid up-firing capability.
TIRED
Not ideal for games. You can only add a sub, not side or rear speakers. A bit heavy and has sharp edges. Doesn’t fit that great on a TV stand.
If space is limited, a soundbar is an excellent way to replicate surround sound—and possibly rattle a few china cups in the kitchen as well. For $3,600, Focal (pronounced foe-kal) has given all of the S-brands (Sonos, Samsung, and Sony) some serious competition in the Mu-So Hekla.
The Mu-so Hekla is a 34-pound beast with 15 drivers for surround sound and 660 watts of power. There’s even a chance this model could replace a wired speaker setup using an AV receiver. In fact, Mu-so Hekla is more than a soundbar for movies: it’s an audiophile speaker in the same league as the Cambridge Audio Evo One (which is not designed for movies and doesn’t support Dolby Atmos). Minor issues and a high price make the Mu-so Hekla a bit less compelling overall, but it’s still a top pick as a stand-alone surround-sound speaker.
Setup and Install
Photograph: John Brandon
One thing I didn’t like right away about the Mu-so Hekla (other than the goofy name, which combines British slang for “audiophile” and the name of a volcano in Iceland) is that the edges are too sharp. Lifting it, I couldn’t get a good grip on the huge metal heat sink on the back. Not a major issue, since the product is made to take up residence on a TV stand or shelf and stay put. My other minor gripe is that, at 11.5 inches deep, it didn’t fit on a normal TV stand from front to back. I had to prop up a Sony Bravia 5 television on some blocks to accommodate the Mu-so Hekla.
On the back of the soundbar, there’s one HDMI port for an eARC connection to a television. I ran a Belkin 8K HDMI 2.1 Ultra cable to the TV, and it was up and running in five minutes. There’s also an optical-in, an Ethernet port for wired streaming, and RCA jacks to connect a subwoofer. After testing the Mu-so Hekla for several days using HDMI and the Focal app, I decided to skip the other ports. I don’t own any audio gear that uses an optical connection, and my Wi-Fi runs at a stable 600 Mbps, plus the speaker doesn't really need a sub.
Photograph: John Brandon
There’s no remote, but that’s a perk. I used the Bravia remote to control the volume while watching movies and playing games. For hi-res audio, I used the Tidal app on my phone or the Focal app, which is easy to use. You can’t connect the Mu-so Hekla to any other speakers other than a sub since it’s an all-in-one soundbar. Sony, Samsung, LG, and many other brands make soundbars that connect to side and rear speakers and a subwoofer. I didn’t mind—I liked the straightforward setup with just one speaker for music, games, and movies.
Music Playback Is Thunderous and Distinct
It’s easy to see why the Mu-so Hekla can handle deep guttural bass, warm guitars, and even the mesmerizing operatic vocals of an artist like Rosalía. There are three woofers, two tweeters, two midrange drivers, and eight additional drivers (for 15 total). The speaker supports Dolby Atmos Music, which is a big plus. The Mu-so Hekla supports Tidal for hi-res audio, but only if you use Tidal Connect and play music through the Focal app. I also played around with the EQ settings and room calibration, which both helped improve music playback.
I’m a major music fan, so one of my goals was to compare the Mu-so Hekla to several recent soundbars. I also measured it against the Cambridge Audio Evo One, which is more for music playback. I played an obscure song by a band called Ex-Vöid, “So Neurotic,” because there’s a wall of guitars that turns most speakers to mush. The Sonos Arc Ultra sounded excellent, but the song is more distinct on the Mu-so Hekla. On “Want Want” by the artist Maggie Rogers, I felt the room shake a little when the guitars, drums, and bass finally filled the room. It’s worth noting that the Cambridge Audio Evo One does a better job of rattling the foundations of your house, though.
Photograph: John Brandon
I played an entire album by the artist Torres, and the bass and drums had an otherworldly tone, as though the bandmates were playing right in front of me. One interesting finding: I played the song “Aurora, IL” by Cassandra Jenkins on a Sony Bravia Theater System 6 soundbar, and the intro sounds like two electric guitars. On the Mu-so Hekla, you can hear that one of the guitars is actually an acoustic (and here’s the proof). Fleetwood Mac is one of the few artists with a Dolby Atmos version of a famous album (Rumours); playing those songs on the Mu-so Hekla felt like being at their concert. You can hear vocals stage left and drums in the back of the room. Whi