Neat acoustics

Neat Acoustics HQ - rural Teesdale, in the north of England. Behind these doors lurks a small but dedicated team - dedicated to producing the most musical loudspeakers in the world.

It's probably no coincidence that designers Bob Surgeoner and Derek Gilligan have both had long experience of live music.
Derek previously worked in the demanding sound reinforcement/PA world, where his highly-tuned hearing and sensitivity to phase anomalies made him invaluable. His musical tastes are diverse, ranging from Frank Sinatra to Metallica.

Bob, on the other hand, is an intuitive musician who is fluent on guitar, piano, double-bass, banjo and accordion. Over the past 35 years he has worked in many musical genres, both live and in the recording studio. He doesn't read music, but plays completely 'by ear', and is passionate about playing and listening to acoustic music in small, intimate venues.

Surgeoner and Gilligan are remarkably concordant and single-minded about their goals. This sheer dedication, as much as their musical backgrounds, is the reason behind NEAT's success.

Neat Acoustics has its own unique take on the art of loudspeaker design. It involves the process of listening to music, and allowing the music to govern the tuning and voicing of the loudspeaker - to the exclusion of almost all other criteria. In a world where most hifi equipment is designed by computer in order to conform to a set of widely accepted parameters, Neat's approach is either refreshing or foolhardy...

...depending on whether or not one loves music!

The development of a NEAT loudspeaker invariably involves hundreds of hours of listening tests. Here the designers can be found making small incremental changes to all elements of the design until it is 'just right'.  

The Neat range of loudspeakers has expanded steadily in the past ten years and now comprises nine models in total, from the entry-level CRITIQUE Pro bookshelf speaker, to the mighty ULTIMATUM MF9. Although all NEAT loudspeakers have their distinct individual characters, they all have one thing in common; they are designed with music - for music's sake.