Mastering the TARDIS effect

Nick Tate is surprised and delighted by Neat’s innovative new Majistra standmounter, and thinks will you be too

- Nick Tate

DETAILS

PRODUCT Neat Acoustics Majistra

ORIGIN UK/China

TYPE 2-way standmount loudspeaker

WEIGHT 11kg

DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 220 x 380 x 290mm

FEATURES

1x 60mm true ribbon tweeter

2x 170mm mid/bass drivers

Quoted sensitivity: 88dB/1W/1m (4ohm)

DISTRIBUTOR Neat Acoustics

WEBSITE neatacoustics.com

Neat Acoustics’ Majistra will set you back a lot for a compact standmount – but there’s much inside that’s interesting. For starters, it’s one of very few isobaric speakers you can buy – using a novel approach to getting more bass out of a cabinet than its internal volume would suggest. Then there’s the true ribbon tweeter, which is still largely the preserve of the high end, and virtually unique when used together with the isobaric driver complement.

The Majistra is basically a Ministra (HFC 465) on steroids. It is perfectly sized for most UK listening rooms, whereas the more compact Ministra might be too small. Bob Surgeoner – the company’s designer and managing director – says there’s been an 80 percent increase in internal volume, which is a big deal considering the latter had just 10 litres of air to push around inside. In every other respect, it’s identical – aside from the mid/bass drivers being 170mm in diameter, 30mm or so larger than the entry-level design. The same type of treated paper cone drive unit is used, both in the one mounted to the front baffle, and the one inside. Above this sits a 50mm true ribbon tweeter that handles everything above 3.5kHz.