Auratone DIY

[btyreman]

I'm not sure there's really an "official auratone", bear in mind original Auratone company is long gone, it went bust long time ago.
Nowadays you have different companies using the Auratone name, you have a new company started by the grandson of the original Auratone owner and you also have the Behringer Auratones. There's also a third company that does the Avantone speakers.

All of them use different drivers, so all of them sound different from each other. All drivers used are different than any of the drivers used in original 5C's.

The same as with original Auratone 5C speakers, as Auratone used a lot of different drivers over the years the original 5C's will sound different from each other depending on the speaker used.

I was referring to the current USA based auratone company, they are apparently extremely close to the original ones sound wise, I'm just curious to know if anyone has compared a DIY version to them directly side by side ideally using the same amp.

 

[Whoops]

I was referring to the current auratone company, they are apparently extremely close to the original ones sound wise,

Like I previously said, any new "Auratone" named speaker uses different drivers than any of many different drivers used in the original 5C speakers.
So not only present speakers sound different than vintage speakers, also all vintage speakers sound different from each other depending on the driver used.

I'm just curious to know if anyone has compared a DIY version to them directly side by side ideally using the same amp.

Same thing, different speaker will give a slightly different sound.
But these types of small speakers are a " work Tool", you have to get used to them and make them work for you, they don't necessarly need to sound exactly the same as something else.
That's why over the years Auratone changed the drivers used in the 5C many times, giving a different sound, but never minded to change the model name or specified that a new driver was being used, for them was still a "Cube Speaker" independently of the driver used

 

[tommia]

If somebody is interested I have 2 auratones with broken drivers in exchange for dbx 900 units ( not the gates or 902) from Belgium.

 

[MicMaven]

and you also have the Behringer Auratones. There's also a third company that does the Avantone speakers.

Um ... Ahem ... not to be picky, but upon informaiton and belief, I understand Behinger sold a similar product under the style of "Behritone" and did not use the name "Auratone." I also believe Avantone is a separate company, and does not purport to sell Auratone speakersk ... although I consider it a confusingly similar product name intended to trade on the real company's reputation. Nevertheless, regardless of any confusingly similar monikers, I do not believe either line is represented as "Auratone," notwithstanding the obvious similarity between them.

At least that is my take ... your mileage may differ. JHR

 

[Whoops]

Um ... Ahem ... not to be picky, but upon informaiton and belief, I understand Behinger sold a similar product under the style of "Behritone" and did not use the name "Auratone."

Sorry, but you're completely wrong.
Behringer (Music Group or nowadays Music Tribe) sold and sells at the present speakers with the "Auratone" name, they even have the Auratone.eu website

https://www.auratone.eu/

 

[btyreman]

Sorry, but you're completely wrong.
Behringer (Music Group or nowadays Music Tribe) sold and sells at the present speakers with the "Auratone" name, they even have the Auratone.eu website

https://www.auratone.eu/
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yes but they apprently sound like crap, have heard this from multiple people.

 

[gullfo]

yes but they apprently sound like crap, have heard this from multiple people.

to some degree - they're supposed to, erm, sound less good than full range monitor grade speakers that said, my auratone sounds good in terms of overall quality but it does sound like a small speaker which is a mono sound source (which is its job - for me at least).

 

[MicMaven]

OK ... that is an interesting development, and it gets quite curious, because if you exercise the link you provided, it leads to a page with no products, and no place to buy them in my area (North America), and many other features of the web page are dysfunctional (at least in Firefox browser.) It becomes even more interesting when a search for C5A and Auratone lead nowhere on either the Behringer web site or the Music Tribe website. A visit to the Behringer site and find no C5. The Music Tribe web site no longer lists Auratone as a member brand.

So, I suppose the "Plot Sickens" ...

To explain my apparent mistake, I based my understanding on a patent /trade name infringement case where headlines read: "JUDGMENT in favor of Defendant Auratone LLC, and against Plaintiffs Music Tribe Commercial NV, Inc., Music Tribe Global Brands, LTD. Signed by Clerk of Court Debra K. Kempi on 7/23/2021."

From that bit of 2021 litigation, I leaped to the apparently invalid conclusion Defendant, Auratone LLC, was a separate entity from Plaintiff, Music Tribe Commercial NV, Inc., - because if Behringer or Music Tribe makes the Auratone speaker, it would make no sense to sue itself or its own subsidiary brand. Of course, it is entirely possible the Plaintiff either purchased or acquired a controlling interest in the Defendant after the Court issued its Judgment, but I have yet to confirm or deny this ... in part because I am preparing a presentation at a National Conference of folks interested in specialized cycles for disabled persons and it must wait for a free day to investigate with confidence.

Consequently, I suspect there may be more to it than admonishing me that, of course, Behringer makes Auratone, simply because the web site belongs to Behringer's parent group ... and I find it curious neither Auratone's nor Behringer actually lists or sells the C5A. At least that is my impression after visiting their respective web sites. (Certainly more info is needed, because being owned by a corporate parent group does not necessarily mean each sub group is the same - it IS entirely possible Music Tribe may operate Behringer separately from Auratone, and it is possible it may kill the Auratone product, entirely ... it is all very curious to me.)

In any case, I may not be "entirely wrong" as you say ... after all, you dropped any reference to my take on Avantone and my comment on confusingly similar products, in your rebuttal!

Of course this is all in good humor and I am not arguing ... although it may seem that way at first blush. My point is it is all very curious and possibly not as clear cut as saying Behringer makes Auratone C5a speakers - because being part of a single product group does not mean the same as they are the same company (at least not in all cases) and it appears the Tribe may have acquired the Auratone name (post 2021 litigation) and either does not, or will not, sell the C5A under any brand .... OR ... the web sites are a confusing mess ... still not as clear cut as you may suggest - so I think we need to know more before we can be sure about it.

This just my take ... your mileage may differ. James

 

[cyrano]

None of them have anything to do with the original. It's just some entity making a profit from selling overpriced speakers...

I don't remember who the first engineer was who used one as a mono speaker, but it was chosen because he had it laying around somewhere and wanted a mono source that somewhat resembled AM radio. From that point on it became a hyped legend.

 

[Nick Nack]

It's good to be reminded of the fact.

I just looked at the price. Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the wee donkey.

 

[k brown]

These sound amazingly good for an inexpensive, ready-made single driver 'full-range'. They originally came with one of those mini-stack stereo systems. 3" driver; bass reflex cab.

JVC SP-UX5000

I've collected five of them over the years from thrift stores for ridiculously little money.

Anyone know if JVC made/makes their own drivers?

There's no denying that nothing throws as tangibly real a stereo image like a pair of crossover-less single driver speakers. Despite their limited bandwidth, they can provide some very pleasurable listening - especially with simply-mic'd recordings of acoustic music.

 

[JohnRoberts]

KISS... the auratone has some merit for evaluating mixes on low/mid-fi speakers. A benefit of the single driver with no crossover, is NO CROSSOVER, but clearly limited for extreme highs and lows...

JR

 

[chilidawg]

Anyone know if JVC made/makes their own drivers?

 

[abbey road d enfer]

Having a "brand X" sticker on a speaker does not necessarily imply it is made in a plant that is owned by brand X.
Actually, most speaker manufacturers recommand their OEM customers to create a specific reference (even if it's a standard catalogue part), and will be happy to erase any reference to the true origin of the speaker. A long time ago I had a pair of AKAI speakers where the drivers were all standard Audax, with a dedicated sticker.

 

[chilidawg]

Having a "brand X" sticker on a speaker does not necessarily imply it is made in a plant that is owned by brand X.
Actually, most speaker manufacturers recommand their OEM customers to create a specific reference (even if it's a standard catalogue part), and will be happy to erase any reference to the true origin of the speaker.

True.

 

[DFischer]

Reviving an old thread... I just built a pair of these and I'm quite impressed with the results. I wasn't too worried about accurately reproducing any version of the Auratone, but rather making a decent pair of bandwidth-limited alternate monitors. It was nice to have some measurements and driver suggestions as a place to start. I used:

• GRS 4FR-8 4-1/2" drivers (Pioneer Type A11EC80-02F)
• 1/2" MDF, mitered ends, glued and pinned.
• Internal volume of 2.0L (5.5"x5.5"x4" internal dimensions)
• Stuffed 50% with poly-fill
• 1/4" radius rounded corners

I think they sound exceptional and I suspect they will be quite useful for mixing. It's a joy to listen to mid-period Beatles on them.

 

[k brown]

Reviving an old thread... I just built a pair of these and I'm quite impressed with the results. I wasn't too worried about accurately reproducing any version of the Auratone, but rather making a decent pair of bandwidth-limited alternate monitors. It was nice to have some measurements and driver suggestions as a place to start. I used:

• GRS 4FR-8 4-1/2" drivers (Pioneer Type A11EC80-02F)
• 1/2" MDF, mitered ends, glued and pinned.
• Internal volume of 2.0L (5.5"x5.5"x4" internal dimensions)
• Stuffed 50% with poly-fill
• 1/4" radius rounded corners

I think they sound exceptional and I suspect they will be quite useful for mixing. It's a joy to listen to mid-period Beatles on them.

Small fiull-rangers can be quite a revelation.

 

[kags]

I never found Auratones useful, except to hear what a mix might sound like on an old TV set or clock radio. I was sent a pair of these DMAX single-driver "mixcubes" for review a year ago and I really find them useful. They are slightly larger than Auratones/Reftones/Behrintones, and they use a single 5" aluminum driver in a sealed (8-inch cubed) wooden enclosure. The system comes with 2 speakers and a rackmount DSP/AMP unit that houses a class-D amp and some DSP that linearizes the frequency and phase response of the speakers. The board looks custom-made to me. These speakers sound very good at a very nearfield distance, like 1 meter or less. I could easily accomplish a lot of work on them, whereas the Auratones were only there for a listening check to represent the lowest-quality playback system (of the day).

These are much more full-range than Auratones. I was recently doing some room tuning at a famous mixer's studio and he had a single Aurtone on a stand centered behind his console (about 7 feet from the listening position). I asked him how much he used that speaker vs. his Augsperger mains or NS-10s and he said he did 80 or 90% of his mixing on the Auratone! He has mixed stacks of hit records—mostly rap and urban—so whatever he's doing is appreciated by the artist and the audience.

As mentioned earlier in this thread, single speaker cabinets (concentric drivers to a large extent) have a nice focused presentation, and while the Auratones always felt "squishy" to me, these DMAX monitors feel solid and natural. They weigh about twice as much as the other cubes, so they have a more rigid and dense cabinet and probably a larger magnet structure, along with a more rigid driver. I have no relation to the company, it's just a good product that I came across. Some of you may know more about the specific driver they use and the cabinet could be reverse-engineered, but they claim to have research-driven DSP filter design that makes the speakers behave this way.

Here's the weblink, if anyone is interested. http://dmaxaudio.com/en/sc5

 

[k brown]

I never found Auratones useful, except to hear what a mix might sound like on an old TV set or clock radio. I was sent a pair of these DMAX single-driver "mixcubes" for review a year ago and I really find them useful. They are slightly larger than Auratones/Reftones/Behrintones, and they use a single 5" aluminum driver in a sealed (8-inch cubed) wooden enclosure. The system comes with 2 speakers and a rackmount DSP/AMP unit that houses a class-D amp and some DSP that linearizes the frequency and phase response of the speakers. The board looks custom-made to me. These speakers sound very good at a very nearfield distance, like 1 meter or less. I could easily accomplish a lot of work on them, whereas the Auratones were only there for a listening check to represent the lowest-quality playback system (of the day).

These are much more full-range than Auratones. I was recently doing some room tuning at a famous mixer's studio and he had a single Aurtone on a stand centered behind his console (about 7 feet from the listening position). I asked him how much he used that speaker vs. his Augsperger mains or NS-10s and he said he did 80 or 90% of his mixing on the Auratone! He has mixed stacks of hit records—mostly rap and urban—so whatever he's doing is appreciated by the artist and the audience.

As mentioned earlier in this thread, single speaker cabinets (concentric drivers to a large extent) have a nice focused presentation, and while the Auratones always felt "squishy" to me, these DMAX monitors feel solid and natural. They weigh about twice as much as the other cubes, so they have a more rigid and dense cabinet and probably a larger magnet structure, along with a more rigid driver. I have no relation to the company, it's just a good product that I came across. Some of you may know more about the specific driver they use and the cabinet could be reverse-engineered, but they claim to have research-driven DSP filter design that makes the speakers behave this way.

Here's the weblink, if anyone is interested. http://dmaxaudio.com/en/sc5

Your first sentence describes exactly what they were used for (and also AM car radios).

 

[kags]

Your first sentence describes exactly what they were used for (and also AM car radios).

Yup, but today an iphone or laptop speaker is probably more appropriate to hear the "kids" hear. I wouldn't build a mix balance or make important mix decisions on either an iphone or an Auratone, but I can build a mix and make important decisions using the DMAX monitors.