Floorstanding loudspeakers — HECO Aurora 700

The Aurora 700 is a floorstanding loudspeaker made by HECO, a German hi-fi brand dating back to 1949. It uses three ways, bass reflex loading and a double bass layout. The Aurora line around it comprises the Aurora 300 bookshelf model, the Aurora 1000 tower, the Aurora Center 30 and the Aurora Sub 30A active subwoofer, so it can be built into a stereo pair or a multi-channel surround set. The front and top are painted in a semi-matte finish, and the silk matte lacquer in ebony black or ivory white is combined with modern wood decor.

Key specs that matter

Two 170 mm woofers and a 170 mm midrange driver, all with HECO kraft paper cones, work with a 28 mm silk compound dome tweeter. The crossover points are 290 Hz and 3,300 Hz. The rated frequency range runs from 25 Hz to 42,500 Hz, sensitivity is 92 dB at 2.83 V and 1 m, and the impedance is 4 to 8 ohm. Power handling is 200 W RMS and 300 W maximum, and amplifiers of 30 to 300 W are recommended. The cabinet measures 195 x 1100 x 325 mm (W x H x D), growing to 265 x 1158 x 343 mm with base and terminals. A single speaker weighs 19.9 kg.

Engineering and use context

Every cone driver in the cabinet uses light long-fibre cones with flat long-fibre dust caps, long-throw surrounds and voice coils optimised for low-distortion signal transfer. They are mounted in solid coated steel baskets fixed with high-grade trim rings held by six or eight screws. The tweeter has ferrofluid cooling, a powerful ferrite double magnet system and a newly shaped Fluktus acoustic flange. The crossover network has both its phase and amplitude response optimised. The housing is multi-braced, and two flow-optimised reflex tubes are screwed into place, one on each side. HECO describes the Fluktus tweeter family as newly developed, with a computer-optimised wave front design. Solid crossbeams at the base carry height-adjustable aluminium cone spikes, fitted with exchangeable tips in metal or rubber. Gold-plated, encapsulated screw terminals come in two pairs to support bi-wire and bi-amp connection, while the removable cloth cover is held by hidden magnets, so no clips show on the baffle when it is fitted.

Pairing

Because of the doubled terminals, the bass drivers and the midrange-tweeter section can each take their own amplifier channel.

Alternatives

The HECO Aurora 1000 is the other three-way reflex tower listed in the current Aurora range.