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Neat Acoustics is a UK speaker manufacturer that does not get much kudos and is worth checking out. They voice all their speaker design by ear. All their crossovers are point to point wired (because it sounds better), even on the entry level models. My only experience so far is with the entry level Motive range of monitors (an early Motive 3, and a latest model Motive SX3).

 

Neat speakers have what you would call a fun factor, or musicality, that is absent in many speakers in our hobby. Their sonic presentation is not exactly neutral, but it has propulsive prat and is very musical.

 

Now I want to be clear; when someone says a speaker (or amp) is musical, they often mean a thicker and smooth midrange that rolls off a bit of the harsh edge, making all sorts of lesser recordings sound listenable. That's NOT what Neat does or what's going on here. They have an 'open and clear' sound (their words but it’s quite descriptive) that sound fantastic with female vocals, acoustic guitars and your audiophile recordings. But when playing normal music, alt rock, or electronica, everything still sounds very good.

 

A lot of audiophile speakers will compress and start to sound fatiguing with normal music, but the Neat's hold it together. I found myself actually playing right through even my test tracks and enjoying them, which does not often happen. To sound good on audiophile stuff as well as lesser recordings is a ‘neat trick’ which shows the design philosophy these guys are going for. These Neat Motive’s do not have the resolution, bass or transparency I am used to with some other monitors (or the high price), but for some reason I am really digging the sound.

 

Maybe some of you who have the other Neat speaker models can chime in with their experiences.

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My NEAT SX3i speaker positioning confusion.

 

I bought my SX3i Momentums 18 months ago when the price was reduced. When I auditioned them I knew they were superb and I spent most of the time cable swapping, finding a suitable stand, isolating and repositioning them in my bright room until …BINGO! I found the sweet spot and I realised I didn’t know as much as I thought I did.

 

This was an absolutely necessary project because NEAT speakers were developed and fine tuned by musicians NOT just electronic engineers and I would call them musical rather that clinically accurate.

 

The first annoyance I found was that bass was excessive but these are my end game speakers and they deserve to be properly set up. As very few NEAT SX3i users seem to be around it was difficult to find expert help.

 

I was familiar with the uncoloured sound of my DIY Anthony Holton amplifier and the pristine signal from my StereoCoffee LDR passive preamp with ESLs and knew this wasn’t the source of excessive bass.

 

Despite varying opinions amongst audio enthusiasts, I have found that well designed and built cables and RCA socket qualities can have a profound effect on sound colouration when a pure signal is available and the system capable of high resolution. 

 

AUREALIS LITZ INTERCONNECTS:
My final solution was to install Aurealis Litz configuration interconnects and DIY Litz wire for internal StereoCoffee signal connections. ETI RCA sockets are used on the Holton and StereoCoffee.

Bass was still excessive but there were nice dynamics in the underlying music.

STANDS: Atacama SL500i stands with 70% sand filling and spike pads.
Suitable high quality stands with a large enough top plate are hard to find and I settled on some substantial  Atacama SL500i stands which have a large enough top plate to support the SX3i speakers and they are supplied with the Atacama isolation pads which work better than anything else I have come across after dozens of experiments including the use of BlueTack, which NEAT recommend.

 

SPIKE PADS: 30mm aluminium with self adhesive cushion pads
My floor is tiled and these stands transferred an enormous amount of bass energy through the floor. Standard steel spike pads helped control bass but the pads which completely tamed the bass were made from 30mm aluminium and they have self adhesive cushioned pads underneath. I used them without sticking them to the floor so they could be slid around for the final tweaks.

 

SPEAKER POSITIONING: A sideways movement of 20mm can have a big impact.
OK. Most expert opinion seems to recommend that the speaker to listening position should form an equilateral triangle.
What if it isn’t possible to change the listening distance?
The NEATS suffer badly from corner placement and I have settled on just over 1 metre from the side wall and 700mm from the cone to the back wall so the maximum speaker separation is only 2 metres.

 

TOE IN?
This is where I really came confused. I know these speakers can and do make beautiful music and I understood that they should be toed in about 15 to 20 degrees according to NEAT.
Some experts recommend positioning the speakers so the cabinet sides are just visible in a line from the centre of the speakers just past the ears to intersect behind the head.

 

NOT ALWAYS! 
After trying to follow these recommendations the magic was there but only in some seating positions so I started from scratch and positioned them facing forward (See diagram: Angle is approximately 20 degrees from centre line)

 

1621347515_ScreenShot2021-08-20at10_44_56am.png.43aa1c98ea16babf8b6c0d821f30d8ac.png

 

GUESS WHAT?
My seating position, which is longer than the speaker width, formed an angle to my ears of 15 to 20 degrees. From my listening position I can plainly see the speaker cabinet sides, which threw me.

 

285966098_IMG_20210820_111844223_HDR2.thumb.jpg.d422535514128cec2db68ab9733b89d3.jpg

 

FIXED!
Everything improved and the sound stage opened up, like the curtains had been opened. Moving the poof and table would help even further but there is a WAF to satisfy.

 

Now I have NEAT's superbly detailed authentic musical performances with a 3D stage wider than the speakers, enormous dynamics and solid detailed bass. Voice can be frighteningly real at times. The 3D stage continues everywhere in the room and has the same detail in other rooms.

 

If you already have a well set up NEAT speakers you probably know exactly what I am struggling to say. 

 

NOTE: The following non technical sketches attempt to show the effect of changing the gap.

 

Balanced.png.fc722f09261d2837f0d575813d886822.png

TooClose.png.8d956579958380d8f6150ff3fb9e2fe7.png

TooWide.png.92f35de3286fc6c77fe376933d04c313.png

 

Cheers, Rob

 

 

How about a few more owners share their setup experiences too.

Edited by robmid
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Just in case anyone is wondering why Rob was complaining about too much bass.... the Neat Momentum and Ultrimatum series have dual isobaric loading. This is where a second woofer is wired in series just behind the front woofer, internally. Its very rare in a monitor speaker, but it gives you huge bass extension like a floorstander.

 

Rob I too found best positioning for the Motive was not toed in as much as other monitor speakers I have had, but positioned so I could see a fair bit of the inside of the sidewall, just like you have them in your picture above. 

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  • 1 year later...

I have been loving these SX3's all this time. I had planned to check out the Neat Ultimatum XLS standmount speakers but they are a bit too much coin to drop right now.

 

So I just ordered a pair of the all new Neat Petite Classic which is getting rave reviews right now. What will it sound like? Who knows, but an Adelaide audiophile has few auditioning options. 

 

https://www.avforums.com/reviews/neat-petite-classic-standmount-speaker-review.20094/

 

 

 

 

 

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18 hours ago, agisthos said:

I have been loving these SX3's all this time. I had planned to check out the Neat Ultimatum XLS standmount speakers but they are a bit too much coin to drop right now.

 

So I just ordered a pair of the all new Neat Petite Classic which is getting rave reviews right now. What will it sound like? Who knows, but an Adelaide audiophile has few auditioning options. 

 

https://www.avforums.com/reviews/neat-petite-classic-standmount-speaker-review.20094/

 

 

 

 

 

 

I reckon I'm lucky that I have a Neat dealer nearby considering the population of the Sunshine Coast is only about 300,000. So I might be able to have an audition if he gets some stock.

 

Wow, Neats are getting expensive now.

 

Most audio enthusiasts go blank when I mention Neat.

 

The Petite Classics should be quite impressive, I expect.

 

It will be interesting to see your review.

 

Cheers, Rob

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@robmid I came across them, The Hifi Shop or AudioFix. It seems they are the only other Neat dealer (online dealer anyway) in Australia other than Audio Genesis, a shame, but handy for Sunshine Coast people!

 

I only knew about Neat from reading all the British Hi-Fi mags we used to get.

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  • 4 months later...
  • 8 months later...


  • 3 weeks later...
On 06/12/2022 at 7:42 AM, agisthos said:

I have been loving these SX3's all this time. I had planned to check out the Neat Ultimatum XLS standmount speakers but they are a bit too much coin to drop right now.

 

So I just ordered a pair of the all new Neat Petite Classic which is getting rave reviews right now. What will it sound like? Who knows, but an Adelaide audiophile has few auditioning options. 

 

https://www.avforums.com/reviews/neat-petite-classic-standmount-speaker-review.20094/

 

 

 

 

 

Hi!!!!

The Neat Petite is the number 1 in my list too!!!This and Spendor Classic 4/5.

May i ask are they easy in placement?I need them for nearfield listening and i listen to music in low volumes.

Can you recommend a budget amp and when i say budget i mean max 1600 $.

Thank you!!!

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20 hours ago, harrisar1971 said:

Hi!!!!

The Neat Petite is the number 1 in my list too!!!This and Spendor Classic 4/5.

May i ask are they easy in placement?I need them for nearfield listening and i listen to music in low volumes.

Can you recommend a budget amp and when i say budget i mean max 1600 $.

Thank you!!!

 

I found them easier to position than the Neat Motive 3. Probably the AMT tweeter - its known for having wider dispersion than a dome tweeter.

The Petite also sounded good at low volumes, which is important for me as I listen to movies late at night with them.

But I have never used them nearfield so I do not know how they are in this respect.

 

I honestly do not know what $1500 integrated amp is a good buy these days.

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I'm powering my SX3i speakers with a Hypex NC122 and a high performance passive LDR attenuator in a largish 6 x 9 metre listening area with a tiled floor.

 

My Neats thrive on Class D because they provide such a pristine signal and 120watts provides heaps of power, the staging, detail and punchiness that Neats can provide.

I think you might be able to pick up a decent Hypex based integrated amp for around $1500.

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2 hours ago, robmid said:

I'm powering my SX3i speakers with a Hypex NC122 and a high performance passive LDR attenuator in a largish 6 x 9 metre listening area with a tiled floor.

 

My Neats thrive on Class D because they provide such a pristine signal and 120watts provides heaps of power, the staging, detail and punchiness that Neats can provide.

I think you might be able to pick up a decent Hypex based integrated amp for around $1500.

Thanks Rob!!!

I know Hypex are very good amps and made in Netherland.We have a very good store in EU called soundimports these guys are amazing i bought a pair of stands from them.Excellent quality and customer service.I end up in Ncore 252 model its a little more power of the model that you have and it cost in EU only 600 euro (980 australian $ ).The only thing is that i sow some guys called "Alpha Audio" (from Netherland) on youtube and they make a big audition in 14 bookshelf speakers in the range of 2000 euro (and little more) and they say that the Neat Pettite are not a good match with Hypex amp (they had the expensive model the Nilai).They say that best match for the Petite are class AB english amps!!I know many good economic ab amps "Rega Brio", "Musical Fidelity M2SI" "Arcam A5 (new amp)" that costs less than 1000 euro (1600 $). After that i was a little sceptical about class d amp especially with Petite.Of course SX3 is a different speaker and i trust when you say its a very good match because as we talk before you are a "veteran" if you'll allow me the expression.

P.S There is a price difference between Australian and Europe (except the difference in euro and dollar) as i see the hifi. In Australia is more expensive than Europe.

Edited by harrisar1971
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Hi Harris.
That is interesting. I haven't heard the Neat Petite but I do understand that the woofers are a little unusual in their construction materials.


Neat spend a many, many hours refining and testing their speakers to retain the unique Neat sound signature and they seem to favour Naim amplifiers.

 

When I first embraced Neat, I was using and Australian designed Holton DIY dual mono block class AB 170watt  amplifier and I was very happy with the performance.

 

I had intended to integrate my LDR attenuator into the Holton enclosure but I needed to move some components and rewire it. Then I remembered I had a Hypex NC122MP board and decided to experiment.

 

During previous experiments with a DIY ESL panel kit, three Hypex modules failed. Hypex had no explanation and replaced them under warranty.

 

The final result was, that I decided to use the remaining Hypex module, directly connected to my LDR attenuator (no interconnects), to drive my Neat SX3i speakers.

 

Although the Holton sounded impressive, the Hypex was better at defining hidden detail that was deep in the background of my music. Bass had more texture too.

 

Maybe the direct signal connection between my StereoCoffee LDR attenuator and the Hypex allowed this to happen.

 

Occasionally, I make AB comparisons between the Holton and Hypex to confirm my choice and the Hypex really does sound special.

 

The safest decision is probably to use a class AB amplifier. 

 

I forgot to mention that Neat have an active Facebook user group who can help your decision:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/310001446930321/

 

Cheers, Rob

 

 

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11 hours ago, robmid said:

Hi Harris.
That is interesting. I haven't heard the Neat Petite but I do understand that the woofers are a little unusual in their construction materials.


Neat spend a many, many hours refining and testing their speakers to retain the unique Neat sound signature and they seem to favour Naim amplifiers.

 

When I first embraced Neat, I was using and Australian designed Holton DIY dual mono block class AB 170watt  amplifier and I was very happy with the performance.

 

I had intended to integrate my LDR attenuator into the Holton enclosure but I needed to move some components and rewire it. Then I remembered I had a Hypex NC122MP board and decided to experiment.

 

During previous experiments with a DIY ESL panel kit, three Hypex modules failed. Hypex had no explanation and replaced them under warranty.

 

The final result was, that I decided to use the remaining Hypex module, directly connected to my LDR attenuator (no interconnects), to drive my Neat SX3i speakers.

 

Although the Holton sounded impressive, the Hypex was better at defining hidden detail that was deep in the background of my music. Bass had more texture too.

 

Maybe the direct signal connection between my StereoCoffee LDR attenuator and the Hypex allowed this to happen.

 

Occasionally, I make AB comparisons between the Holton and Hypex to confirm my choice and the Hypex really does sound special.

 

The safest decision is probably to use a class AB amplifier. 

 

I forgot to mention that Neat have an active Facebook user group who can help your decision:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/310001446930321/

 

Cheers, Rob

 

 

Thank you so much Rob!!!Have a wonderful day!!!

Cheers

Harris

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