REPRODUCED FROM HI-FICHOICE
The bas response also im pres es.The opening beats ofYelo’sDesire have aheftthatisquite asurprise from a cabinetthissvelte and the low-end isreached via a verylinearresponse ratherthan feeling tacked on.The integration between the driversisexceptionaly good and they com bine to give a tonalpresentation thatis refined without feeling sm oothed over or softened. There are speakersthatcan m anage to extracta litle more fine detail, but few are as consistently even-handed asthis. That’snotthe bestbit,though.W hatshinesthrough every aspect of the perform ance is an unburstable senseoffun.‘Fun’isnotam easurableconstruct,butI’d be verysurprised ifyou didn’tputon a piece ofm usic you were innatelyfam ilarwith and cracka sm ile aftera few m inutes. The Neat m akes use of the excelent integration between the drivers, negligible cabinet colouration and seriouslyim pres ive transientspeed to take prety m uch any tim e signature you can envisage and deliveritwith the precision ofan atom icclock.An extrem elyspirited run through BlocParty’sSilentAlarm Live is a near-perfect com bination of that technical abilty to create space and depth and a m ore prim al abiltyto getyou wanting to sing along. Conclusion W hat this m eans is that the Petite Clas ic perfectly capturesthespiritoftheoriginalwithoutcom prom ising the technical atributes we should expect from a standm ountatthispricepointin2022.Itisabeautifuly executed balancing actthatshould slotinto avarietyofsystem sand delightineveryoneof them .Neat’stakeonnostalgiam ightbealitlediferent to som e othercom panies,butitisabsolutelyperfectly judged.
Ful circle
Neatgoesbackto whereitalbegan with itsreworked Petite. Ed Seley decidesifthisisalsham eles nostalgia
M ining your back catalogue is al the rage atthe m om entand NeatAcoustics is the latest to get in on the act.The Petite was the first Neat speaker; originaly a dealer exclusive, but after being dem o’d at a show the response was so good Neatsetup as a speaker com pany.The Petite continued to evolve before production ended in 2016. The Petite Clas ic is a return to the originaland som ething diferent again. The cabinet is the sam e size as the original, which m akes it feel shalow compared with more modern standm ounts.Itisreardualported,with oneventing thetweeterwithafoam filter while a second with no filter aids the m id/bas driver. Around the back is a single setofsm albutsturdyterm inals. W here thingsdeviate significantlyfrom the originalisthe tweeter.Thisisan Air M otion transform er, ofering an upper frequency response of 22kHz. The 150m m polym er m id/bas driver is in keeping withtheoriginalPetiteaswelas being related to m ore recent designs. Having handed overfrom the tweeterat 3.8kHz,Neat’s aim is for the Petite to haveusableoutput(withrolof)downto 30Hz.
Neat quotes sensitivity of 87dB/W with a nom inalim pedance between 4 and 6ohm . There are alm ost certainly speakers thatare easierto drive atthe price,butnone ofthe am ps I try show any signs of struggling.The cabinets also seem to be unfus ed about positioning. Neatofersachoiceofblackorwhite sheen finishes.The overal levels of build and finish are very good, although som e people m ay lam ent the absence ofagrile. Sound quality Those ambitious bas extension claim s are not the first thing that m ost people notice when listening to the Petite Clas ic.The com pany’s experience with ribbons and air m otion transform ersisputto good use here, meaning Marina Diam andis’haunting perform ance in SoftTo Be Strong isthe centre ofa stereo image that extends wel beyond the cabinets’ placem ent. This is not sim ply perceivable as width, there is appreciable height too.
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