Anyone using the above? Looking for small speaker set up for small, listening area
Iotas on the end of a UQ1 here, no complaints, but I didn’t try them with anything else. The setup runs our TV sound, in a 5x4m ish living room, and they’re not placed optimally, but I’m happy enough.
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Right now, no. But I’m going to pick up a pair of Iotas tomorrow to run with my UQ1 in my office. Replacing a pair of Q Acoustic 2020is (too old, too flat) and a pair of KEF LS50 Metas (too big, too forward for a small space.)
Will let you know.
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In the interests of full transparency, and specifically in my application, they’re a bit bass light for AV duties.
The very heavy caveats are:
- They’re a long way from any wall reinforcement
- The room could probably take some serious speakers, the Iotas are tiny
When used for AV, I do use the loudness setting, and that works great.
When used for music I switch loudness off, and they seem fine then, in some ways a bit more agile than the Neat Motive SX3s I have in the main system.
I have a REW and a measuring mic, I ought to see what their in room response is sometime.
Please don’t let this put you off, they perform very well, and I’m asking a lot of them.
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I heard Iotas years ago with my UnitiQute2 at home and returned the demo pair. (Ultimately purchased some Dynaudio standmounts that are still pretty small but obviously bigger than the Iotas.)
That said, even if you like 'em, the Nova is capable of driving much more speaker. Unless you’re significantly size-constrained, I’d personally want “more” speaker than the Iota.
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My girlfriend has a Nova and Kelidhs in her living room. We added a switch and extra A5 to give music in the kitchen.
What small speakers to get? After extensive listening of Nova plus iota or iota Alphas or Spendor A1 and another stand-mount speaker that I have forgotten. For detail plus proper bass plus boogie & pace plus air plus control - the iota Alphas won. They work really well with the Nova.
There are s/h and ex-dem examples on eBay. Just don’t put them on a shag pile.
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I have wall-mounted Iotas on the end of an Atom in the very small bedroom I use as an office. The setup was bought without audition, a present to myself during Covid lockdown. Whilst not the last word in refinement, I find they convey the musical essence very well and are great fun to listen to, even in a far from ideal setting.
Does the system offer window-shaking bass? No, but that would create problems in such a small room. Does it challenge the main Linn/ATC system in the lounge? Of course not, but it’s a fifth of the price.
Iota Alphas or even Explorers would seem a more natural pairing with a Nova, but they put out a lot of bass energy and could easily overload a small listening area. Provided you’re prepared to accept their obvious limitations, the standard Iotas could give a lot of enjoyment.
Roger
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Have used Neat Iotas with a UQ2 for 10 years in my shed/ ho,e office - quite a small space and the sound was very satisfying.
Replaced the UQ2 a few months back for the Uniti Atom and find they Iotas are just as happy with the change and give an even more rewarding sound. If my space was larger I would have looked at something bigger but it would have a challenge getting anything bigger into the room corners. Having said that I would definitely check them out in a slightly bigger space before switching.
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Will be superb.
Better late than never…I finally picked up the Iota’s yesterday. A 6 hour train trip, which is a story for another day…But got up early this morning and hooked them up, so here it goes:
Tldr: small speaker sounds awesome in big room.
Firstly, they’re not where they’re suppose to be. Bought for the small space in my office mentioned above, I’ve got them replacing my LS50s in the large room basement. Was too lazy to move gear around. Hooked up to my UQ1, I’m listening to a FLAC 16 bit 44 rip of McCartney.
My notes are based on one listen of one album. YMMV.
I figured that this room is way too large and the Iota’s would get lost in the space.
Nope. They sound absolutely fantastic. Great imaging, super rhythmic (toe tapping from the outset) and really nice decay on the notes. McCartney is a pretty stripped down record and easy to pick things out. Macca’s maracas on Hot As Sun / Glasses stand out as crisp and shaky like they’re supposed to, and the bells/triangle on Junk pop like I’ve not heard before. The opening piano notes on Maybe I’m Amazed fade away nicely while the whole vocal presentation sits in front of the instruments and comes across as clear.
Overall, I’m super impressed by the quality of the presentation and the sheer volume coming out of this small box in a big room. I always liked the lo-fi presentation of this record and these speakers don’t disappoint. I cranked it up to eleven on Every Night (one of my favourites) and it brought a smile to my face.
So now I’m more concerned that these things will go to waste once relocated to the office!! More to come…
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IIRC the proprietor of Neat Acoustics is very proud of the Iotas. I’m sure there’s an article online where he states that, anyway, another happy UQ1.5* and Neat Iota user here.
*UQ1 with updated streaming board
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Yes I believe Bob Surgeoner has said that the Neat design he is most proud of is, indeed, the Iota. Given the constraints imposed by the size, it’s quite remarkable what he achieved in that little box.
Roger
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After 10 years of lusting for a pair of them, I can see why… 
I have a pair of iota’s in the kitchen driven by my atom. They’re certainly not optimally sited, but along with the atom they sound wonderful and have the ability to draw you into the music… and of course they provide a large amount of my music on a daily basis. Please forgive the unwashed pots and general mess as I’ve just popped in to take the photo…
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Long time coming this post…going to be a short one though. Moved the Iotas up to my office from the basement and spent a few hours with them. In a word: disappointing.
Might be because of the low listening volume, might be because of the off-axis listening position. Might be both.
So not a conclusive review - needs some more time and tweaking. They just didn’t have a full expressive sound. They sounded like a very small speaker - which is odd when they sounded like a big speaker in a big room.
To be continued…
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Sold our bungalow and big hi-fi last year and moved into a one-bedroomed flat in an over-55s block at Christmas. Getting old. What can you do about it?
Anyway, bought a Uniti Atom and a pair of Iotas last week. Listened to Cambridge Evo 150 with Kef LS50s first, but it was chalk and cheese. The Naim/Iotas had a sense of ‘air’ and ‘bounce’ that I loved.
And the HDMI ARC works with the telly!
Had ‘em a week now and still happy.
Jim.
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I have a pair in my office system and frankly they have to b driven too loud for me for them to sound “ correct”. In a demo at my dealer they sounded great but were in a larger room played louder, at lower volumes they really don’t do it for me.
Chris - that is super helpful, thanks. I listened last night for a few hours in the office - went full Steely Dan on them. Sounded a bit better, but definitely opened up at higher volumes. Sadly this could be their thing and the reason for high praise. A small speaker that sounds like a large speaker (at high volumes)
I’m almost to the point of ordering another pair of reasonably priced Q Acoustics or some Dynaudios to see the difference
Ok, so now I’ve been living with these daily for almost two weeks. In short, they really are fantastic speakers in the right application. I’m really enjoying having them in my small office, but I’ll probably replace them with something else.
On a UQ1/2 they only come alive north of 40-45 on the volume scale. Great when no one’s home or I’m not working up here. Otherwise they are just ok…YMMV obviously. I’m not sure what I’m going to do next, but auditioning a small pair of Dynaudios, maybe a B&W 6 series, or a SF Lumina 1/2 could be the next move.
To be continued…
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Thanks for the update, yes they are fantastic in the right situation, I’d be very interested in what you end up with, I really do need to audition something else for my office Superuniti.