Neat acoustics iota speakers. Are they tiny killers or just tiny?

[Soniclife]

I heard those speakers at the Toronto Audio Fest show: they were my "worst speaker experience at the show."

I've had the same experience with every Neat I've ever heard, just awful. I used to know people that raved about them, they were wrong.

FWIW I've not heard these specific models.

 

[simbloke]

I was considering their speakers a few years ago. As had been said, they get many rave reviews. Life intervened and still haven't bought any new speakers - but in that time I also discovered ASR. Bullet dodged me thinks.

 

[Ilkless]

I've had the same experience with every Neat I've ever heard, just awful. I used to know people that raved about them, they were wrong.

FWIW I've not heard these specific models.

I second that. I was seriously shopping for a Motive 2, because I liked the raked back look, and at that point I was still very much enamoured by the British cottage industry provenance. I was fully primed to be positively biased towards it. And it still sounded hideous to me. Tizzy and lumpy all at once. I've heard one of their flagships and it was similar to PMC with the lumpy bass.

 

[Matsuo Mayu]

Hi, did you audition the Neat?
am going to buy Neat Alpha,
as a tiny and funny furniture,
thinking it is a perfect one.

 

[Charliecj]

Hi, did you audition the Neat?
am going to buy Neat Alpha,
as a tiny and funny furniture,
thinking it is a perfect one.

I did purchase the IOTAS. They are quite tiny and fit the bill as the best under 9 inch speaker I could find! They are smooth, never harsh and have a much fuller sound than should be possible at such a size. But are pricey! The Alphas should be just as nice but with much more low end. They get crazy good reviews. There is a Neat Acoustic speaker owners page on Facebook you can check out also. Good luck

 

[Lawrence of Suburbia]

I just acquired a set of Iotas, and ... I can hear how they may not appeal to the tough crowd here. Low sensitivity (84 dB? Anyway, you better have a fairly muscular amp), weird off-axis sound at times (planar tweeters?), NO bass below 60 hz., apparent emphasis/de-emphasis of certain frequencies to achieve a 'euphonic' result, and they are clearly not meant for anything other than small room or desktop usage*.

But I have to say -- despite not even being broken-in yet, these are really fun speakers; last night I played album after album, until the wee hours. Haven't done that in ages.

To paraphrase Charlie the Tuna -- "I don't want speakers with good sound; I want speakers that sound good!"

(Wish there was a scientific way to measure 'fun' in hifi gear!)


*I live in a tiny studio space.

 

[kemmler3D]

The Absolute Sound, What Hifi, Novo Audio and others rave about their musicality and soundstage.

These are some of the less reliable outlets for objective evaluations of gear.

Looking at the Stereophile review of the Iota Alpha, for $2400 you can expect a lot better. There are speakers at 1/3 the price that outperform.

Don't go for hype, decide what you want from a speaker, find ones that actually deliver it, and go demo them if you can. In all likelihood these ain't it.

 

[Sillysilly]

I had the same issue, moved to small flat and needed a small speaker. Wasn’t too bothered about vfm. I really like them, especially for background music or listening to while working or on elctronic/dance. Moving away to a much larger room they still somehow hold their own alongside a sub.

Would I choose them to listen to high quality recordings, late night, at high volume with 2-5x the budget, na. They now sit as spares that occasionally get plugged in for curious visitors.

Worth a listen despite how they may measure IMO. Then again, I’m in London and only had to walk round the corner to demo.

 

[Penelinfi]

You could always build the Seas L12re "kit" design or similar design.
The seas L12re original is very compact. Slot port may be a little issue to make as well as a little noisy at higher volume.

Dali menuet if you have cash.

"The Bantams" kit

Mark Audio small full range driver?

 

[Verig]

Hi, did you audition the Neat?
am going to buy Neat Alpha,
as a tiny and funny furniture,
thinking it is a perfect one.

They need stands. Even the dealer I visited thought they are simply too short for good imaging. Next model up (hah) is better in this regard.

 

[Matsuo Mayu]

They need stands. Even the dealer I visited thought they are simply too short for good imaging. Next model up (hah) is better in this regard.

Thx for your comment.
Virtually same thoughts about it when I did find a chance listening them.
I gave it up during that audition.
The bigger brother Xplorer is way too much better...
Bass : *
Imaging : ***
Density: *
If 5* is max score...

 

[DSJR]

Just saw this thread and remembered I have actually heard these... Subjective comments/drivel to some here, follows -

The bass and mids were warm toned and 'musical' (no, I'm NOT going to describe that, you either get it or you don't!) - and then there's this tinselly noise perched on top of it... I felt there's a huge disparity between the softer/warmer perceived mid-bass to midband (not at all unpleasant) with that thing passing for a tweeter doing the highs and to me, never the twain can meet. I also suspect that dispersion mismatching may also play a part. Some may find the tweeter sound 'detailed' which I suspect is one reason why it was chosen.

I do also believe going back nearly forty years or so, that Neat and later offshoot? Kudos speakers weren't necessarily measured, but were/are 'voiced' by ear (don't hold me 100% to it as Kudos make some humongously priced boxes now)

 

[Lawrence of Suburbia]

I've had my Iotas for a few weeks now ... finally started to sound 'broken in' (recce is for 150-200 hours!!). Their bass illusion trick is amazing; I'm sure a frequency graph would show nothing below 80 hz or something, but what they have is so punchy one doesn't really notice. I also suspect a 5-6 dB peak around 3k (vocals really 'pop'). But the timing of the speaker, with that taut 4" driver and EMIT-style tweeter, is so good -- so fast -- I just can't stop listening!

Fun speakers -- for a tiny studio flat (like mine).

 

[Selkirks]

Long term satisfaction with the Neat Motive 1 and Momentum SX3i was very low, fun for the first day or two but that's about it. Maybe the Iota would offer a different result. In-home demo if possible before buying. Doubtful they are killers. The little Mark & Daniel speakers kick ass for the size.

 

[Lawrence of Suburbia]

I've passed the 200-hour recommended break-in time on my Iotas now -- and they're sounding great! Almost certainly the best (albeit limited-bandwidth) speakers I've ever owned. Almost everything I play through through them reveals new gems of information; and in the last week or so the 4" woofers have seemingly extended a foot closer to the floor, bass-wise. No longer do I think these need a sub, in my room anyways.

I'm definitely a convert to the ribbon-style tweeter as well, which effortlessly reveals all the information in its frequency range in perfect balance. Well, in a musical sense, anyway -- I've had a suspicion that one reason the Iotas are such fun are a couple of judicious peaks in the response artfully engineered by Bob Surgeoner in the crossover (I wish I could have Amir put these to the Klippel test to confirm; but I bet that in ASR terms, the Iota is probably a 'headless panther' LOL).

A delicious micromonitor ... for the right sort of music lover.

 

[EJ3]

Thank you for reporting on your brief experience with them. In my search for the worlds best tiny bookshelf speaker, I think these might be it. I’m hoping the one US dealer has a return policy just in case?

Wife controls living room dynamics. But I do have a second room that I control with another stereo.

My wife wants me to buy another house & sell this one so that I can have a stereo room that won't bother her.
She's a big part of the reason that we have what we do but, apparently (because she deems that I need this room, the onus is for me to spend the extra $'s to make it happen).

 

[coonmanx]

Punchy not equal to real bass. I don't get why people would spend a grand on any speaker with a 4" woofer. Parts Express probably has something better for a whole lot less money.

CLEARANCE Dayton Audio MK402X 4" 2-Way Bookshelf Speaker Pair

Dayton Audio MK402X 4" 2-Way Bookshelf Speaker PairDayton Audio MK402X Bookshelf SpeakersThe MK Series of home speakers from Dayton Audio are the best way to add rich sound with elegance and sophistication. Built to last, the MK series makes it easy to listen to for hours and hours with it non...

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CLEARANCE Dayton Audio B452-AIR 4-1/2" 2-Way Bookshelf Speaker Pair with AMT Tweeter

Dayton Audio B452-AIR 4-1/2" 2-Way Bookshelf Speaker Pair with AMT TweeterWhat is an AMT?AMT is short for Air Motion Transformer, which stands tall as a unique style of transducer in the world of speaker drivers. The AMT found in the speakers from Dayton Audio utilizes a folded Kapton ribbon...

www.parts-express.com

Lots of choices at Parts Express and they all cost less...

 

[Lawrence of Suburbia]

Punchy not equal to real bass. I don't get why people would spend a grand on any speaker with a 4" woofer. Parts Express probably has something better for a whole lot less money.

CLEARANCE Dayton Audio MK402X 4" 2-Way Bookshelf Speaker Pair

Dayton Audio MK402X 4" 2-Way Bookshelf Speaker PairDayton Audio MK402X Bookshelf SpeakersThe MK Series of home speakers from Dayton Audio are the best way to add rich sound with elegance and sophistication. Built to last, the MK series makes it easy to listen to for hours and hours with it non...

www.parts-express.com

CLEARANCE Dayton Audio B452-AIR 4-1/2" 2-Way Bookshelf Speaker Pair with AMT Tweeter

Dayton Audio B452-AIR 4-1/2" 2-Way Bookshelf Speaker Pair with AMT TweeterWhat is an AMT?AMT is short for Air Motion Transformer, which stands tall as a unique style of transducer in the world of speaker drivers. The AMT found in the speakers from Dayton Audio utilizes a folded Kapton ribbon...

www.parts-express.com

Lots of choices at Parts Express and they all cost less...

They cost practically nothing! Which is a plus. Just wish they had binding posts instead of those dated bare-wire 'clips' (I'm a banana-plugs guy), otherwise I'd be tempted to try the B452 AIR's; anything with a ribbon tweeter is worth a listen in my book (the Neats have made me a convert -- really something special!).

With all respect though, I doubt they'd be on the same level with the Iotas. The design, fit & finish and sound of these is something special (in my opinion; I cheerfully admit I may be an outlier in how I hear things).

 

[sk3383]

I've got a pair of these dinky Neat Iotas in my home office. These speakers defy logic! Amongst the most fun, realistic and naturally voiced speakers I've ever heard. 9/10.

 

[Lawrence of Suburbia]

I've got a pair of these dinky Neat Iotas in my home office. These speakers defy logic! Amongst the most fun, realistic and naturally voiced speakers I've ever heard. 9/10.

+1,000

I've had my Iotas for more than a year now. Occasionally I'll swap in one of the other pairs of speakers I own, and go "Yeah,  this speaker has better [insert technical virtue(s) here]". But within a week or two, I'm getting itchy -- not feeling it with the Elac, or Mission, or Linn, or Monitor Audio or whatever -- put the dinky Iotas in and get my foot tapping again, and a big grin on my face. These loudspeakers are just fun!

Edit: I just had the good fortune to find a new pair of (discontinued) Motive SX3's online for about a 50% discount, which I should have in a week or so. Can't wait!

Neat just have a way of revealing the joy potential in music listening. Bob Surgeoner has a real gift.