I may have missed it (there is no information yet on Neat’s website or anywhere else) but Richer Sounds are now stocking the speaker below for £1500 a pair no matter the finish:
A cursory glance suggests they are similar to the Petite Classics but with the inverted SXT tweeter rather than the AMT. Has anyone else heard of these? Will it be the start of a new entry level range or just one model?
Ironically, I set foot in a Richer Sounds yesterday (Chelsea) for the first time in years as we were getting new speaker cable for my brother - they didn’t have these on stock.
Yes - I’m aware that Richer Sounds are a large retail presence in the UK market but it does seem slightly odd to do all the development for only one retailer. They are substantially cheaper (£1500) the then the equivalent finished Petite (£2400) according to the RS website. If it is indeed an RS special, if I were a Neat dealer I could well be asking why the model was not available for me to retail.
A while ago now, James. They demanded too much from my XS kit. More easily driven Allaes followed but put a bit too much energy into my 15m2 room. I took the advice of Bob Surgeoner at Neat who once suggested to me ‘Motives for Naim 5 series gear, Petites and beyond for the Classic series stuff’, and bought Motive SX3s. Absoulety fantastic in this room.
At one time, a dealer in my country had an xs3 amp connected to a Motive xs3 and a Neat Ministra, I liked the XS3 better, but the Ministra bass convinced me to buy them, everything changed with the purchase of the Neat momentum JS, they charmed me and I definitely don’t need anything else!
My guess is that RS committed themselves to purchase a number that made it worthwhile for the speaker manufacturer to produce the model exclusively for them, at least for a while perhaps. Perhaps Neat contracted dealers are not doing as well as the brand wants? Nice little speaker.
I had heard that too - a while ago Moorgate Acoustics (who are based around Sheffield) said that Timberworx (also in Sheffield, owned by Spendor and cabinet makers for many manufacturers) were no longer supplying the Mambo 2 cabinets to Ophidian.
I went into my local Richer for some QED 79 strand and plugs for my Dad’s system about a year ago. They had a selection of Neat Acoustics speakers from the Petites upwards. So I’m taking the Motifs as a bit of a more affordable offering in their Neat range.
