Loudspeakers

I tried the Iota Xplorers with a variety of amplifiers from my usual reference Naims to the slimline Micromega M-150 and the heavyweight Mark Levinson N^o534 power amp. On each occasion it was noticeable that, while the speakers always worked well, they were also highly revealing of the character of the electronics driving them – oh, and they relished a good dollop of clean power!

So while the Iota Xplorers certainly sound both wide-open and sweet, they can also deliver plenty of low-end thunder when driven well, and have a tight, clear bass, not to mention being able to turn on the snarl when the music requires it. Play Avicii's Wake Me Up [PRMD/Universal 00602537477319] and they can pound out the bass-lines with precision and speed while still keeping the vocals and instrumentation clear in the clean mix.

The same is true with the fascinating jazz/dub/electro fusion of Nils Petter Molvaer and Sly & Robbie on their recent Nordub set [Okeh G010003651866L; 96kHz/24-bit]. This album has a limited dynamic range, but the combination of a slinky rhythm section, the silky trumpet and all kinds of electronica could be designed to keep a pair of speakers on its toes. That's just how the Iota Xplorers play it, with a deep, immersive soundstage, gutsy bass and those tripping rhythms crisply rendered – all to remarkable effect.

Hilarious Fun
They're just as impressive with some good old vintage rock as they are with clean, plaintive singer/songwriter stuff, and I had a blast picking my way through the 3CD Deep Purple Platinum Collection [EMI 7243 578591 2 7] in all its slightly grimy glory – the 1997 remaster of 'Highway Star' with the Mark Levinson power amp driving the speakers was nothing short of hilarious fun.

Regaining my composure with the wonderfully atmospheric Billy Bragg/Joe Henry Shine A Light album [Cooking Vinyl COOKCD623, 96kHz/24-bit] showed just how well the Iota Xplorers can convey the atmosphere of a recording, thanks to their clarity and imaging. This set is subtitled 'Field Recordings From The Great American Railroad', and that's just what it is: tracks themed around riding the rails, recorded on location on platforms, in waiting rooms, etc, during a train trip from Chicago to Los Angeles. It's simply dripping with ambience, all of which is very much on display via these Neat speakers.

Train whistles howl in the distance, voices babble behind the two performers, and every detail is there in the soundstage. In fact only one track is recorded indoors: 'Waiting For A Train' was captured in Room 414 of the Gunter Hotel in San Antonio, where Robert Johnson had his first recording session. Unlike the more obvious 'location' tracks here it sounds warm, close-up and intimate, but with an obvious room acoustic via the Iota Xplorers.

If you want even more atmosphere, you need look no further than a recent release on the Fresh! label. Teach Me Thy Statutes, by the PaTRAM Institute Male Voice Choir [FR-727; 192kHz/24-bit] sees the Russian Orthodox religious music recorded in a suitably lush and reverberant church acoustic, the voices filling the space with a rich, rounded sound that shows well the ability of the speakers to float an image in front of the listener, while creating a broad, deep but focused soundstage.

A Fine Choice
For a range that started with a £700 speaker not much bigger than a housebrick, the pitching of the Iota Xplorer at £3495 looks pretty ambitious, not to mention bringing the unusual looking design closer to more conventional looking rivals, including the EISA Award-winning £4000 Q Acoustics Concept 500 [HFN Jul '17]. Yet the really impressive thing is that this loudspeaker needs no allowances to be made for its still-compact dimensions, which could just make it a fine choice in these times of high property prices and tight living spaces.

Hi-Fi News Verdict
They may be unusual-looking, but the Xplorers are no novelty speaker: instead, they're a continuation of both the Iota line and thinking found elsewhere in the Neat Acoustics range. And very successful they are too, with both plenty of welly and control in the bass and an almost magical ability to cast a soundstage image well outside their compact boxes, doing so with focus and sympathy for the timbres of instruments.