Sound
Contents
We soon had a nice connection with the Neat Ministra and our appreciation only increased the next weeks. The sound is great, particularly refined with a wonderful bass that is not only full but also, if correctly set up, really controlled. We haven’t heard it this well in this price range yet. The soundstage is wide, fairly deep and the sweet spot spacious. Imaging is decent but it’s mainly the ‘musical’, mature, relaxed sound that charms
A lot of genres go well and our test list flies by without any problems. Testtrack “Wonder Woman” by Kacey Musgraves confirms the beautiful bass but also the slightly spicy tweeter. Remarkable is that they also sound very good at low volume. Last but not least, the Ministra is also a speaker to relax with, one that doesn’t play intrusive or hectic. We don’t always see this feature on other monitors. With a little tweaking you get the tweeter just right and then you get the insightful aspect of the ribbon to enjoy
Competition
The Neat Acoustics Ministra has a hefty price tag and is a bit in between two price ranges. The biggest competitor in the same class is the Bowers 705s2. Slightly cheaper there are a lot of candidates. Think of the Jm Reynaud Bliss Jubilee, Monitor Audio Gold 100, Elac Vela BS40 or Dali Rubicon 2. To really do better we have to look at the much more expensive Dynaudio Special Forty. (We have a lot of reviews on the Dutch website)
The Ministra has its own philosophy and sound and makes a difference by its great, mature sound and its necessary placement close to the wall. In addition, you are really drawn into the music, a property that you only find with the best speakers. You do get used to the enthusiastic tweeter after a while and it only interferes with overly sharp recordings. Usually it goes fine with some adjustment. Who has an equalizer (Roon) can always tune a little bit to get it right. Jazz music and electronic music go very well on this speaker because there really is some weight in the sub bass.