A LEGEND IS REBORN… NEAT PETITE
/To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the original Neat Petite, the very first loudspeaker released by the Teesdale based manufacturer, Neat Acoustics have released a brand new version of this legendary bookshelf design.
Front view of Neat Petite 30th Anniversary Edition. No grilles are supplied with them as this will adversely AFFECT sound quality!
The Neat Petite always had a reputation of being one of the best loudspeakers of its kind. This new version is a complete redesign of this classic little gem. Whilst broadly retaining the outer dimensions of the original model, the Petite 30 is otherwise a ground-up redesign with a new 15cm bass-mid driver with a mineral loaded polypropylene cone and Neat’s stunning Air Motion Transformer tweeter.
In common with all Neat speakers, all the crossover components have been chosen with care, and each pair will have been hand-assembled by just one person from start to finish.
The new Petite 30 has been designed to bring all the virtues of the previous incarnations, with additional refinement and even greater musical coherence.
Connections on the rear are nice chunky bi-wire or bi-amp gold plated 4mm banana or spade terminals. also on the rear are not one, but two bass ports. The larger of the two ports has a foam bung inserted whilst the smaller port is left open. This is the optimal way to use them (as recommended by Neat themselves) and gets the signature sound close to the original model. It is of course possible to experiment by removing said bung which will not give more bass but will increase the presence of the bass! I tried both and preferred the former arrangement with the one bung in.
Nice chunky gold plated terminals can accept banana plugs, spades or bare cables. Can also be bi-wired or bi-amped!
The larger of the two ports with supplied foam bung inserted as recommended.
Now of course the most exciting bit about a new pair of loudspeakers is how they sound and the new Petite 30s do not disappoint. Even straight out of the box and with no running in period to help them out, they sound amazingly agile and musically cohesive with an uncanny ability to image way outside of the boxes. The Air Motion Transformer tweeter is a real treat for the ears never once sounding shrill or sharp. Top end detail was delivered sweetly and emotively up there with the very best that I have heard.
Close up of that stunning tweeter
The one thing that consistently springs to mind when listening to these new Neats is that of a Rogers LS35A with knobs on. Great imaging, not only left to right but also up and down and front to back. A really wonderful trick for a speaker to have up its sleeve. I played a variety of my favourite albums from the past year (perhaps more of which in my next blog) and just fell in love with these petite gems!
I have now played with these on a variety of systems at a wide range of prices and they consistently sound amazing. Possibly the only downside to them is the fact that there will only ever be a strictly limited edition of one hundred pairs! Available in gloss black or gloss white, each one sporting a plate on the rear with the signature of the designer Bob Surgeoner on it, just so you don’t forget who to thank for those gorgeous little boxes that give you all that top quality musical enjoyment!
Signature plate on the rear of each speaker….just so you don’t forget who to thank for all the fun!
Oh… I almost forgot to say, you also get a goodie bag! A book detailing the history of the Neat Petite since the very beginning, which I thought was a lovely touch. You’ll also get a USB stick containing examples of Bob’s own musical adventures, which date back to 1967 when he started playing. Rumour has it there will even be some Prog Rock on there!
So….book your demo quick or they will be gone and you will miss out!!
Thanks for reading.
Andy, Jon and Farid - Audio T Cheltenham Store.
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The Neat Petite 30’s are currently only available for demonstration at our Cheltenham store call them on 01242 583960 for a chat.
Neat Acoustics can be found at the following Audio-T stores
