Neat Acoustics Ministra Bass is surprisingly well extended.

Featuring the same ribbon tweeter and bass / mid-range drive units as the Ekstra , the Ministra is an extremely compact iso-baric model. 

The idea is to keep the air pressure behind the front driver consistent, fooling it into behaving as though it is working in a larger enclosure, with all the benefits in bass extension and dynamics that implies.

Standing out from the crowd thanks to its ribbon tweeter, the Ministra also has isobaric bass loading  not that you’d know either of these things from looking at it. Along with the AE and Spendor, this is one of the smallest speakers in the pack, and marries a 50mm true-ribbon tweeter to two 134mm treated paper cone mid/bass drivers  the second sat behind the fi rst in the rugged cabinet that sports a tiny reflex port around the back. You might think this odd in an isobaric arrangement, but its designer sees it less of a port and more of a “controlled leak”. The enclosure is 18mm-thick MDF with real wood veneer or paint finishes; natural internal bracing comes from the mounting of the isobaric bass unit inside. The front baffle is attached to the cabinet by a polyethylene membrane said to reduce coloration.

 Sound quality This group is full of nice surprises.  It’s quite different sounding to all the other speakers here, yet largely in a highly positive way. If you were to boil it down to bare essentials, this stand-mount is both tonally sweet and silky, and fast and punchy. That’s actually quite a unique combination, because typically it’s usually one or the other, not both There’s nothing better than a banging slice of classic reggae to test a speaker’s mettle in the bass department and Days Chasing Days proves an ear opener. 

Whereas the ATC wrestles heroically with the bass guitar work, the smaller Neat can’t quite keep things as tight but still serves up a mighty thump that totally belies the size of the cabinet. It is softer, a little less extended, but injects a warm shot of oomph into things again its ‘fast but fulsome’ character coming to the fore.

ENCLOSURE TYPE: Two-way Iso-baric/regulated reflex.

Drive units:

BASS/MIDRANGE: 2 x 134mm treated paper cone type.

HIGH FREQUENCY UNIT: 50mm true-ribbon type.

DIMENSIONS (h/w/d): 30x17x29cm

WEIGHT: 8kg each. (SHIPPING WEIGHT 20kg: pair)

SENSITIVITY (2.83v/1m): 86 dB/1 watt

RECOMMENDED AMPLIFIER POWER: 25 to 100 watts

IMPEDANCE: 4 Ohms.