Aura Amp

[Alex_UK]

Back in the day, when B & W brought out the Aura range, I lusted after them, purely on their looks, though I think they sounded ok too.

Time has moved on, and they do come up for sale ocassionally - and my mucking around could mean the need for a cheap amp for my study system - has anyone had any experience of Aura amps - are they any good?

[Spectral Morn]

Back in the day, when B & W brought out the Aura range, I lusted after them, purely on their looks, though I think they sounded ok too.

Time has moved on, and they do come up for sale ocassionally - and my mucking around could mean the need for a cheap amp for my study system - has anyone had any experience of Aura amps - are they any good?

In the day when I worked in my first hi-fi shop we had these in stock. To be honest I didn't like them and I seem to remember some reliability issues, but I can't be more exact than that. Build quality looked good until you picked them up and could see warps in the case I don't remember seeing many of them sit flat on a shelf.

Regards D S D L

[DSJR]

'Ere we go...

I rather liked them, sold many of the 40, 50 and 80, together with the CD players and tuners and we (Studio 99) didn't have any reliability or QC issues at the time. The point is now, that these amps are twenty years old and hindsight tells me that a good nick A&R A60 would be a *much* better bet for much the same money, the Aura's possibly sounding a bit dirty and "grainy" I suspect by today's standards..

Hope this helps...

[hifi_dave]

I was never a great fan of Aura. We sold a few but they didn't set the World alight. I don't recall any reliability issues

[Alex_UK]

I'm thinking maybe I should've asked this question before I one won a VA-50 for fifty quid on Fleabay this afternoon! :doh: :lol:

The point is, though, that's exactly the point - fifty quid, and I'll get most of it back at the drop of a hat if I don't like it - nostalgia - is maybe a dangerous thing - exactly the reason I have boxed Etch-a-Sketches, Matchbox models, mint sets of Top Trumps, lots of CDs/LPs - I couldn't afford them "back then" - and now, at fifty pounds, it would be silly not too, wouldn't it? - I remember looking at them in shops, reading about them in magazines, and thinking "one day" - which just happens to be today! Not so much an ambition fulfilled but an itch duly scratched!!!

As to the AR60 - they seem to go for more, and the other issue (for a very modest office system) is that I will then have to start getting DIN to phono convertors, and it all starts adding up and getting messy, plus the AR60 is no looker, and I'm shallow! ;) But never say never, I quite fancy dabbling a bit with 3rd/4th/5th systems! :cool:

[DSJR]

It's a good little amp, if not a sonic stunner (I don't think it's bad at all). Some designs just seem to work so easily, but others need a little bit of work, that's all, and most of us weren't really "into" budget gear as we were the expensive stuff, that's all...

Just don't EVER buy a Linn Intek, Pretek, Powertek or the now knackered Lk1/280 with Nexus speakers:D

[hifi_dave]

Alex,
You really can't go wrong at £50 and if you don't like it you can always put it back on E-Bay.

[The Grand Wazoo]

You may think the Aura's prettier that an A60, but you'll never have to worry about greasy fingerprints on the wooden wonder!

[Alex_UK]

You may think the Aura's prettier that an A60, but you'll never have to worry about greasy fingerprints on the wooden wonder!

That's true Chris, but I do have a morbid fear of tone controls, which luckily the Aura doesn't have! It is likely going to be used for a single source, so only the volume control will be touched anyway. (:doh: What the heck am I saying - I've got a 13 month old daughter! :doh:) A60, you say? ;)

[Alex_UK]

Alex,
You really can't go wrong at £50 and if you don't like it you can always put it back on E-Bay.

I think it would have gone for more, but the seller didn't mention the cosmetic condition in the listing, and when I emailed about it, she didn't publish the question for others to see - so only I was aware that it has no marks or scratches at all (hopefully!) - anyone else seeing "working order" in the description would probably assume it was cack... (we'll see! ;))

[jandl100]

Interesting. I would like to go against the generally somewhat negative views of Aura amps presented here.

A year or so back I had an Aura CA200 pre-amp and PA200 Power amp. Nicely put together except for the mirror chrome fascias which seemed to be fairly randomly attached! - a bit 'clunky' and on the power amp the hole in the fascia didn't quite match up with the button behind it! :doh: :) OK, though, you just needed to 'nudge' the fascia a bit to press the button. :lol:

I thought the sound was pretty good - the pre had a bit of a vague veil over it, but was still very musically rewarding

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/AuraCA200pre.jpg

and the remote control handset was a work of art! ...

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/Auraremote.jpg

The power amp was the stand-out, I think - I heard no grain, but a solid and powerful sound quite like, but not quite as transparent as, the bigger NVA amps (I had the A80 monos which I rate very highly). A little 'closed in' sounding - more openness is available elsewhere - but very listenable.

Based on my experience I'd give the Aura kit a fairly strong thumbs-up, especially at the prices they go for. :)

[Alex_UK]

Thanks Jerry, I'll update the thread once it arrives with my view on the amp, but as HiFi Dave says, it can go straight back on ebay (and with better pictures, and a decent description I might just make a profit) - on the other hand, it might be perfectly capable and a bargain for what I want it for. Or, maybe I'll just keep it a while, sell it and try something else... Perhaps it will make a box-swapper of me! ;)

[REM]

We all know (don't we?) that hardly any wimmin buy hi-fi, well, is it just me that's noticed there seem to be a fair few of selling the old stuff on eBay, any one else spotted this?:confused:

[Themis]

How about a small Nuforce ? ;) (Icon http://www.nuforce.com/hp/index.php)

[Macca]

I auditioned one of these years ago against the Cambridge P70 and ended up buying the P70 even though it was £30 more - the Aura sounded just a bit to smoothed over for my taste but there was nowt wrong with it.

A&R Cambridge A60 I really rated and would have one of them over the two above any day of the week!

[Spectral Morn]

We all know (don't we?) that hardly any wimmin buy hi-fi, well, is it just me that's noticed there seem to be a fair few of selling the old stuff on eBay, any one else spotted this?:confused:


I reckon its blokes pretending to be ladies;), could be wrong of course.

You will get the odd E-Bay seller who sells for others who are female, but they don't know a lot about what they are selling...when you ask.


Regards D S D L

[DSJR]

Alex, what's wrong with properly designed tone controls? Just 'cos Naim didn't put knobs on the front panel doesn't mean they don't have them. In Naim's case they're called bandwidth limiting filters and although well sorted now, the older products introduced tons of phase distortion due to these necessary (for the power amps) filters.

Get an A60 while you still can at an affordable price. Do it up according to Rob Holt's thread on PF and set up carefully and then enjoy a timeless classic.

[Alex_UK]

We all know (don't we?) that hardly any wimmin buy hi-fi, well, is it just me that's noticed there seem to be a fair few of selling the old stuff on eBay, any one else spotted this?:confused:

Assuming you've been doing a bit of detective work on ebay? (the Aura I bought was from a lady called Val) I believe she does house clearances, and is not a hifi dealer especially - the clue coming from the description for these rather lovely looking Quad II's she also has for sale... A bit overkill for the system in the study, though, hence why I bought the Aura!