Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2018 20:18:55 GMT
Another great loudspeaker manufacturer! Bob is absolutely great to deal with. Gave me some speaker grills, free of charge!!
I have a little soft spot for their Petite III. Was never too keen on the mark 1 model.
I've yet to hear more of their creations.
S.
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Jun 22, 2018 20:23:14 GMT
I like Neat too. Bob is a great bloke and a genuine music obsessive. His shop in Darlington was the best shop I’ve ever been in. He loved the gear and it was just so much fun visiting. Seeing the Petite grow from prototype to overnight sensation was great too. I always found you needed to be a bit of a distance back from the Petite 1 to hear it at its best. It could sure kick ass at volume too.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2018 20:27:05 GMT
I've been tempted to buy their Iota's, but are ridiculously expensive for what hey are. Might pick up a used pair someday.
S.
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Jun 22, 2018 20:37:14 GMT
I fancied. A pair a while back. Then they bought the floor standing version out and I kinda switched to wanting to try those.
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Post by dsjr on Jun 22, 2018 23:18:35 GMT
If you like a detached ott tweeter setting then fine, but not for me on the few I've heard over the years. I suspect the designers prefer the softer tones and dynamics of vinyl.. They do a baby black thing with ribbon tweeter - the bass is slightly fat toned and the tweeter bitesssssssss. No blending at all, the characters are so different and for me it gets in the way of the music.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2018 23:21:02 GMT
As always! Each to their own.
S.
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Post by dsjr on Jun 23, 2018 15:41:16 GMT
Try and find a local pub or venue with a mostly unamplified jazz trio or similar. It'll change your perceptions of audio gear forever, especially as to how bass is reproduced (kick drums without studio messing) and also cymbal-work - some really good drummers can play tunes with a couple of cymbals depending on how they're struck or brushed.
Changed my life forever when I heard this (Three Bells pub just outside Ruthin I remember and former Linn-Naim favourites were found severely lacking in comparison. One reason why I gravitated to ATC, as they got the tone of brass, acoustic piano and drum-kits more right than most at the time. My crap here now don't come close, but I have to accept it for various reasons.
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Jun 23, 2018 16:01:15 GMT
A few scattered points relating to Neat/live music and also ribbon tweeters:
Bob was actually a professional musician and session artist. I think he had/still has? His own studio, so he should know what real instruments sound like. Whether he captures enough of a that flavour for himself or others is another matter.
I’ve heard live music before many times. There are a few tiny places that play live Jazz, up close and personal, where I come from. At one time I might’ve cared about getting close to this but It would mean reproducing accurate SPLs and levels of bass. I just don’t want that these days. If I had a huge house with dedicated listening room, I might change my mind. I think I’d still like to listen at more “domestic” levels more often though.
Ribbon tweeters offer greater clarity to me, but there’s a price to pay in terms of both frequency and dispersion integration. They don’t often fare too well if you give them some extra volume and ask them to handle the sort of frequencies needed to overlap with a conventional bass unit. This was the issue with Petite 2s which used the same tweeter as Glastonbury’s. The Glastonbury’s used a Jordan bass unit which crossed over between 6-8khz. That worked seamlessly but the Petites needed the tweeter to reach lower and it compromised them. I’d guess the Iota may have similar limitations but I’d keep an open mind until I heard them.
Apogee Centaurs worked well in my room, integrating a cone bass with a much larger ribbon for mid and tweeter. The drawback was the beaming treble which meant you needed to be in the sweet spot for them to work. Off axis was far from great, but they were something special if you sat dead centre and used good source and amps.
Every speaker is a compromise AFAIC. Some design compromises are handled better than others, but there’s also the issue of personal taste. I have no hard and fast rules but I definitely seem to place conventional, front-firing box speakers near the bottom of my list. It doesn’t mean I’m right or wrong. Just that they have usually given me the least meaningful experiences when compared to ribbons, electrostatics, omnis, semis and anything else I’ve heard.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2018 17:37:15 GMT
Of course, yes! Bob is a musician. The man is not STUUUPID!
S.
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Post by dsjr on Jun 23, 2018 19:26:56 GMT
My Sh#t stereo's do one thing the big ATC's couldn't do - low level space and depth - but then the larger active ATC's were designed for proper volume levels in a broadcast or studio environment. it just happened the 50A's and 100A's were more domestically acceptable and the pre SL but post amp changes in early 93 50A's looked and sounded like BC1's on steroids - absolutely wonderful on more delicate chamber and orchestral music but able to punch when asked to - the 100A's just punched - these were the hooligan models The SL mods turned them back into monitors I remember, with a brighter upper midrange and less musical at home. Ribbons have distortion issues too I gather, but some have got them to work (Adam is one pro company). There are some expensive ring radiators that may be better in all areas, but I'm not too well up on the latest Top End confections to say with any authority.
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Bigman80
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AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
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Post by Bigman80 on Jun 23, 2018 20:07:37 GMT
I remember running two systems a number of times due to wanting the Big “live” sound with high SPLs in ones room but also craving the more intimate listening from a more “tuned” system. I ended up listening for longer to the smaller systems.
My tastes are definitely changing and I’m not sure most Neats would really appeal to me these days. The last few pairs have been a bit much for me. They haven’t changed and I have some amazing memories of them. I just seem to have found my “sweet spot” with omnis and semi omnis.
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