ULTIMATUM XLS Loudspeaker

The Ultimatum XLS is a stand mounting loudspeaker of compact proportions, delivering the bass
weight, scale and dynamics of a significantly sized floorstander. The mid/bass drivers in the XLS are
mounted isobarically which when aligned correctly, as in the XLS, gives deep clean bass delivery.
Combining this authority with the superb sounding Sonomex domed XL high-frequency unit is the art
of the Ultimatum.

The XLS cabinet is constructed from slowgrowing birch plywood, chosen as it is

consistent and has the best resonance
behaviour. The front baffle is from precision
routed controlled density fibreboard
coupled to the front of the cabinet by
means of a polyethylene membrane. This
makes an extremely inert platform for the
mid/bass and high frequency drivers.
The main Mid/Bass driver is a special
version of the Neat 168mm driver with an
aluminium phase plug to aid dispersion and
reduce dynamic compression.

Despite its modest proportions, the XLS

delivers a complete full-range performance
which eclipses many much larger designs.

A sealed sub-volume contains the main HF drive unit a modified

SEAS XL SONOMEX domed XL unit with additional damping and
support.
A separate sub-volume contains two EMIT type super tweeter
drive units. Those used in the Ultimatum series extend to 40kHz
fire upwards and operate quietly. Their output, though inaudible
to the human ear, affects the content within the audible frequency
range and lends an open, airy quality to the presentation.
The crossover is a minimalist four-element type (plus damping &
attenuating resistors) employing precise-tolerance, low-loss aircored inductors and high tolerance polypropylene film & foil
capacitors. The speaker exploits predominantly first-order
crossover slopes and mechanical roll-offs for a natural, uninhibited
performance.

The Ultimatum is a labour of love and the end result

Specifications

of painstaking development and refinement. Such

HF Unit 26mm SONOMEX Domed XL

Super HF Units 2* EMIT 25mm planar/ribbon
Bass / Midrange Driver 2* 168mm NEAT
Bass/Mid Unit with Aluminium Phase Plug
Dimensions (hwd): 37x22x38cm.
Enclosure type: Multi-chamber, multi-driver
array, incorporating isobaric internal cavity, plus
upward firing super-tweeters.
Sensitivity: 88dB/1 watt.
Recommended amplifier power: 25 200w.
Impedance: 6 average. Minimum 4 .
Weight: 15Kg. Shipping weight: 35Kg. per pair.

quality doesn't come cheap, but Neat's Ultimatum

deserves recognition as amongst the very best there
is, irrespective of price.

Standard finishes: figured birch, black ash, natural ash, oak, cherry, walnut, rosenut.
Premium high-gloss finishes: piano black, piano white, velvet cloud, red velvet cloud

Neat Acoustics Ltd.

29B Harmire Enterprise Park Barnard Castle, Co. Durham, DL12 8XT, UK
Tel: +44 1833 631021 Fax: +44 1833 630022 www.neat.co.uk

ULTIMATUM XL6 Loudspeaker

The ULTIMATUM XL6 is a multi-chamber, multi-facet loudspeaker system incorporating six drive units per
enclosure. The visible drive units are mounted on sub-baffles, attached to the main enclosure via a polyethylene
membrane.

The ULTIMATUM XL6 loudspeaker is floorstanding design which adheres to all the
principles that have marked out the ULTIMATUM project and given it such enduring
success. The ultra-rigid birch-plywood enclosure, innovative baffle-decoupling
technology, 'isobaric' bass loading and use of twin EMIT ribbon-type super-tweeters
are employed here to deliver the ULTIMATUM promise of a lifetime of musical
enjoyment.
The enclosure comprises five discrete internal cavities each optimised for purpose. The Bass and Mid/Bass
volumes are large to suit the tuning while the HF cabinet is small to increase rigidity and to stop back pressure from
the Mid Bass driver adversely affecting the rear chamber of the tweeter. The two EMIT supertweeters are similarly
isolated.

ULTIMATUM XL6
The main structure is damped 18mm Birch Plywood, whilst the drive unit baffles are constructed from a 45mm
thick 'sandwich' of Birch Plywood, Polyethylene and MDF. This provides a rigid non-resonant platform, which is
ideal for optimal performance of the drive units.
The two hidden isobarically loaded Neat 168mm main drivers are flux optimised for purpose and use dustcaps for
rigidity.
The main Mid/Bass driver is a special version of the Neat 168mm driver with an aluminium phase plug to aid
dispersion and reduce dynamic compression. Its enclosure is loaded by a low Q reflex tuning.
A sealed sub-cavity contains the main HF drive unit. A separate sub-cavity contains two EMIT type super-tweeter
drive units.
Two bass-only drive units are located at the bottom of the cabinet, in isobaric configuration, with one unit on the
bottom panel facing downward. Acting as a passive subwoofer, these units are linked together and both receive the
same signal, in phase. There is a sealed cavity in between the two units, and the main enclosure is reflex-tuned.
The HF Unit is a modified SEAS XL SONOMEX domed XL unit with additional damping and support.
The crossover is a minimalist 4 element type (plus damping & attenuating resistors) employing precise-tolerance,
low-loss air-cored inductors and newly-developed polypropylene film & foil capacitors. The speaker exploits
predominantly first-order crossover slopes and mechanical roll-offs for a natural, uninhibited performance.
Specifications
HF Unit 26mm SONOMEX Domed XL
Super HF Units 2* EMIT 25mm planar/ribbon
Bass / Midrange Driver 168mm NEAT Bass/Mid Unit with Aluminium Phase Plug
Bass Units 2* 168mm NEAT Bass Units
Dimensions (hwd): 100x22x37cm.
Enclosure type: Multi-chamber, multi-driver array, incorporating isobaric internal cavity, plus upward firing supertweeters.
Sensitivity: 87db/1 watt.
Recommended amplifier power: 25 200 watts.
Impedance: 8 ohms average. Minimum 5 ohms.
Weight: 34Kg. each. Shipping weight: 85Kg. pair.
Standard finishes: figured birch, black ash, oak, cherry, walnut and rosenut.
Premium high-gloss finishes: piano black, piano white, velvet cloud, red velvet cloud

Neat Acoustics Ltd.

29B Harmire Enterprise Park Barnard Castle, Co. Durham, DL12 8XT, UK
Tel: +44 1833 631021 Fax: +44 1833 630022 www.neat.co.uk

ULTIMATUM XL10 Loudspeaker

The ULTIMATUM series of high-performance loudspeakers was launched in 1999. The XL10 is the
result of a complete revision of the flagship MF9 model, building upon that models strengths in
order to deliver a world-class full range performance.
The ULTIMATUM XL10 loudspeaker adheres to all the
principles that have ensured the ULTIMATUM series such
enduring success.
The ultra-rigid birch-plywood enclosure, unique bafflecoupling technology, 'isobaric' bass loading and twin EMIT
ribbon-type super-tweeters are just some of the elements of
the design that delivers the ULTIMATUM promise of a lifetime
of musical enjoyment.
The enclosure comprises eight discrete internal cavities each
optimised for purpose and each different. The bass volumes
and mid/bass volumes are larger to suit the tuning while the
main HF cavity is small to increase rigidity and to stop back
pressure from the mid/bass driver adversely affecting the
rear chamber of the tweeter. The two EMIT super tweeters
are similarly isolated.
The main structure is damped 18mm Birch Plywood sourced
from Scandinavian slow-growing forests as this ensures the
densest, most consistent material. The drive unit baffles are
constructed from a 45mm thick 'sandwich' of Birch Plywood,
Polyethylene and MDF. This provides a rigid non-resonant
platform, which is ideal for optimal performance of the drive
units.

The Ultimatum is a labour of love and the end

result of painstaking development and
refinement. Such quality doesn't come cheap, but
Neat's Ultimatum deserves recognition as
amongst the very best there is, irrespective of
price.



There are two separate isobaric loaded sub-bass sections,
each with its own enclosure volume and tuning. These use
the latest version of Neats 168mm drive unit, which has
been developed and refined over a twenty-year period.
The two sub-bass sections are critically tuned independently
to maximize room location flexibility.
The main mid/bass drivers are special versions of this unit,
with an aluminium phase plug to aid dispersion and reduce
dynamic compression. Again the volumes are of different
sizes to reduce any possible resonant character.
A sealed sub-cavity contains the main HF drive unit. This is a
modified SEAS XL SONOMEX domed XL unit with additional
damping and support.
A separate sub-cavity at the top of the enclosure contains
two EMIT type super-tweeter drive units.
The crossover is a minimalist 5-element type (plus damping
& attenuating resistors) employing precise-tolerance, lowloss air-cored inductors and newly developed polypropylene
film & foil capacitors. The speaker exploits predominantly
first-order crossover slopes and mechanical roll-offs for a
natural, uninhibited performance.
Specifications
HF Unit: 26mm SONOMEX Domed XL
Super HF Units: 2* EMIT 25mm planar/ribbon

Bass / Midrange Units: 2* 168mm NEAT Bass/Mid Unit with

Aluminium Phase Plug
Bass Units: 4* 168mm NEAT Bass Units
Dimensions (hwd): 150x22x37cm.
Footprint (wd): 35x51cm
Enclosure type: Multi-chamber, multi-driver array, incorporating
isobaric internal cavity, plus upward firing super-tweeters.
Sensitivity: 89db/1 watt.
Recommended amplifier power: 25 300 watts.
Impedance: 8 ohms average. Minimum 5 ohms.

Weight: 60Kg.
Shipping weight: 140Kg. per pair.

Standard finishes: figured birch, black ash, natural ash, oak, cherry, walnut, rosenut.
Premium high-gloss finishes: piano black, piano white, velvet cloud, red velvet cloud

Neat Acoustics Ltd.
29B Harmire Enterprise Park Barnard Castle, Co. Durham, DL12 8XT, UK
Tel: +44 1833 631021 Fax: +44 1833 630022 www.neat.co.uk

ULTIMATUM XLi Loudspeaker

The ULTIMATUM XLi is a big-sounding design housed in
an elegant room friendly enclosure.

The ULTIMATUM XLi loudspeaker is floorstanding design which adheres to all the principles that have
marked out the ULTIMATUM project and given it such enduring success. The ultra-rigid birchplywood enclosure, innovative baffle-decoupling technology, 'isobaric' bass loading and use of twin
EMIT ribbon-type super-tweeters are employed here to deliver the ULTIMATUM promise of a lifetime
of musical enjoyment.
The enclosure comprises six discrete internal cavities each optimised for purpose. The mid/bass
volume is optimised to suit the tuning of the iso-baric loaded main drive units while the HF cavity is
small to increase rigidity and to stop back pressure from the Mid Bass driver adversely affecting the
rear chamber of the tweeter. The two supertweeters are similarly isolated.

ULTIMATUM XLi
The main structure is damped 18mm Birch Plywood, whilst the

drive unit baffles are constructed

from a 45mm thick 'sandwich' of Birch Plywood, Polyethylene and MDF. This provides a rigid nonresonant platform, which is ideal for optimal performance of the drive units.
The mid/bass driver is a special version of the Neat 168mm driver with an aluminium phase plug to
aid dispersion and reduce dynamic compression. Its enclosure is loaded by a low Q reflex tuning.
A separate sub-cavity contains two EMIT type super-tweeter drive units.
The HF Unit is a modified SEAS XL SONOMEX domed XL unit with additional damping and support.
The crossover is a minimalist 4 element type (plus damping & attenuating resistors) employing
precise-tolerance, low-loss air-cored inductors and newly-developed polypropylene film & foil
capacitors. The speaker exploits predominantly first-order crossover slopes and mechanical roll-offs
for a natural, uninhibited performance. The crossover network is housed in its own separate cavity,
thus isolating it from the magnetic fields created by the drive units.

Specifications
HF Unit 26mm SONOMEX Domed XL
Super HF Units 2* EMIT 25mm planar/ribbon
Bass / Midrange 2* Neat driver 168mm NEAT Bass/Mid Unit with Aluminium Phase Plug
Dimensions (hwd): 100x22x37cm.
Enclosure type: Multi-chamber, multi-driver array, incorporating isobaric internal cavity, plus
upward firing super-tweeters.
Sensitivity: 88db/1 watt.
Recommended amplifier power: 25 200 watts.
Impedance: 6 ohms average. Minimum 4 ohms.
Weight: 33Kg. each. Shipping weight: 82Kg. pair.

Standard finishes: figured birch, black ash, oak, cherry, walnut and rosenut.
Premium high-gloss finishes: piano black, piano white, velvet cloud, red velvet cloud

Neat Acoustics Ltd.

29B Harmire Enterprise Park Barnard Castle, Co. Durham, DL12 8XT, UK
Tel: +44 1833 631021 Fax: +44 1833 630022 www.neat.co.uk