Which power amp to drive Auratone's???

N

needledrop

New member
Can anybody give me some advice on which/specs power amp I should purchase to drive a pair of Auratone 5C speakers I have. I'll be using them as a C mix for mixdown. The amp will be used exclusively to drive these monitors.
 
I haven't seen auratones in 20 years. Like fordvan just said, anything will do.

They were primarily a reference to approximate tv speakers and clock radios. Neither of which still sound like they did in the 70's. I suppose they would still be useful.
 
Farview said:
I haven't seen auratones in 20 years. Like fordvan just said, anything will do.

They were primarily a reference to approximate tv speakers and clock radios. Neither of which still sound like they did in the 70's. I suppose they would still be useful.
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One of the studio's I work at sometimes still has a pair available. They really can tell you something about your mix. Too much kick drum? Auratone's will let you know! :D

I sort of wish I had a pair at home sometimes, especially for audio I am mixing for video's.
 
a hand crank amp out of your great-grandmother's attic would maybe be too much power...I think you need to stick to something a bit milder or you might get a less than perfect frequency response from those auratone beauties. =D

any old amp will work... I mean, ns10s are top of the range monitors compared to auratones... I heard a studio guy refer to them as horrortones.
 
Ford Van said:
One of the studio's I work at sometimes still has a pair available. They really can tell you something about your mix. Too much kick drum? Auratone's will let you know! :D

I sort of wish I had a pair at home sometimes, especially for audio I am mixing for video's.
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I can't imagine it would cost too much to get a pair second hand. If you want them, I'm sure you could easily obtain them...could be wrong.. but something tells me.
 
you could make some speakers out of an old cigar box and some tissue paper and it would be a great reproduction of auratones. har har
 
yeah, its the old crap check on some crap speaker thing I guess, in theory?

I saw George Martin pic's with the Auratones and he even took them to the big AIR studio also, very strange?, but I guess its just the "crap check speaker' thing.

And if someone has grown to "know" them like NS10's thats the only thing I can think of why we'd buy them today?
Never heard them...but everyones heard of them!

I suppose with that theory, a cheap 14watt amp would get the system closer to being a second guess/opinion monitor setup as they used to use when Auratones were big time...?

I don't have any socks on and am slouching in my chair, if that makes any sense. In other words, pay no mind....

I'd like to hear the Beatles stuff in Auratones, just for fun....I guess they used Auratones all the way thru, and the big wall speakers..??.
I'll call Paul up and ask him., he's probably sitting around doing nothing, bitching about his divorce to Ringo.
 
COOLCAT said:
yeah, its the old crap check on some crap speaker thing I guess, in theory?
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The link that John gave for the Avantones has a bit of history about the Auratone monitors on site.

The main points that seem to be the appeal of these things are that they're a reality check (or crap check, if you like) for bass challenged systems like clock radios and TVs. Also, there's only one driver and no crossover. Not having a crossover means way more detail in the mids. Apparently they're also good at revealing phase problems.

http://www.avantelectronics.com/story_of_the_avantone_mixcub.htm

I had no idea about these things until now, so I'm glad for this thread. I want a pair! It seems like these things are even worse than NS-10's - another bad sounding industry standard.


sl
 
yeah my alarm clock is like that, I listen to the tunes playing thru this 2" speaker and think about the millions of details went into the recording.
alot of mids and highs.

whats the phase problem?

I don't know, this concept of checking things out on the average joe unit makes sense...but the average joe-consumer hifi isn't the auratone type anymore, and its not even the NS10....its more like the surround sound with sub, and of course the automobile system.

it worked for so many pro's I ain't arguing, just don't really get the concept.

I thought Auratones simulated the old car stereos and home systems....then NS10's simulated the next generation of Home Hifi....which was 2-way stereo.

and if George MArtin, for example, used these for 10yrs and kept using them because he had learned the responses so well it makes sense.

but nowadays seems I'd "start out" with something like an Adam or DynAudio....and have a sub to check for the "woofing bass"...

thanks for catching that, my "crap check" was only meant for comparing the Huge SOffit studio mains to the home hifi consumer BestBuy setup.

maybe add a sub to the Auratones?:D
 
snow lizard said:
Apparently they're also good at revealing phase problems. sl
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That had nothing to do with the Auratones. It was because a lot of studios would mono-check by adding both channels together and sending them through one auratone. (not two) It was the clock radio/TV reference. Now that TV's and a lot of clock radios are stereo (and have better speakers), the reference doesn't mean anything.
 
Phase issues will show up in mono. It'd be a hollow sound like all of a sudden a bunch of frequencies disappeared. I think it's a worthwhile thing to check for, whether you're mixing or tracking with more than one mic. (eg. overheads)

I can see the appeal of having a sub for a quick check here and there. It might not be necessary in a well decked out control room with far field speakers or soffit mounted stuff. A home theater system is probably going to sound good, or even flattering but not necessarily revealing.

I guess the basic appeal of the Auratones or NS-10's (or any monitor that you know and trust for that matter) isn't "good sound" per se, but having a system that's going to reveal the details of your mix to you once you learn the sound. I gather the "Horrortones" were never intended as a primary monitor system, but that they can be very revealing.

Jay, I only brought the phase issue up because I was paraphrasing what the guy that makes these speakers said about them. It's in here:

http://www.avantelectronics.com/story_of_the_avantone_mixcub.htm



sl
 
this reminds me - i have a pair of 6'5" pioneer car speakers sitting in my closer collecting dust...i've been thinking about using 1 of them to build a subkick mic, but they're a 2-way design with the tweeter mounted on top of the woofer, so i figured they'd probably suck in that application

i guess instead i'll build a couple small speaker boxes, and find a cheap-ass amp to power them, and make my own auratones :D
 
I've got some old broken pc speakers and some blown surrounds in the garage?
They sound horrorific?

I'm missing something here.... so Auratone mixes will help mix your music thats going to be played on Mono car and home radio and music playing systems?

Why not just buy an Ipod and check your mixes on an Ipod?

I don't get it?....but I would like to buy some Auratones to hear the Beatles Mono mixes thru them to simulate how they heard them, just for fun. Kind of like Time Travel with Technology.
 
I'm missing something here.... so Auratone mixes will help mix your music thats going to be played on Mono car and home radio and music playing systems?

Why not just buy an Ipod and check your mixes on an Ipod?
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i wouldn't ever mix through them...they're meant to be more of a reference piece. when you're nearing that point of being satisfied with a mix, switch over to the crappy little monitors to see how things hold up through less-than-stellar playback systems. it's the same deal as checking your mix in your car, or on your home stereo, but without having to actually spend the time to render your mix, burn it to a CD, and take it over to whatever shitty system you like to use as a reference.

and yea, if i had an ipod, i would probably just use that...but i have a feeling that building some little boxes and getting a shit-cheap amp would be a lot cheaper than the ipod.
 
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