The Funky is a belt-drive turntable from Auris Audio of Serbia, delivered with the maker's own T809 tonearm already fitted but without a cartridge, which the buyer chooses separately. Auris offered the plinth in several finishes, among them Alaskan White Oak, Zebrano and Rustic Walnut, and in Australia the deck was priced at AUD 1,000. The model no longer appears in the current Auris online catalogue, where turntables such as the Blues S, Classica S and MYSTiK are listed.
Key specs that matter
Speeds of 33.3 and 45 rpm are selected with a manual switch, and Auris quotes a speed variance of 0.012 percent at both. The 299 mm platter is aluminium and turns on a main bearing that pairs a ceramic ball with a bronze cylinder. The T809 has an effective length of 229 mm, a mounting distance of 211 mm, 18 mm of overhang and an effective mass of 11 g, and it accepts tracking forces from 5 to 40 mN. Its arm tube is made of carbon fibre with a 1 mm wall, and the arm on its own weighs 250 g. The complete turntable measures 445 x 360 x 120 mm and weighs 4.5 kg.
Engineering and use context
Drive comes from a DC motor that is fixed in the chassis on rubber spacers, so its own vibration is not passed to the plinth, and Auris states that it keeps a constant rotation speed. The deck stands on feet made of a special rubber compound that isolate it from the furniture, and their height can be adjusted to bring the plinth level. An aluminium platter was chosen for its dense, stable mass, which helps keep rotation steady once the belt has brought it up to speed. The T809 is designed to damp vibration along the arm and is used on other Auris turntables as well, including the Blues and the RnR, and the maker also sells it as a separate part. Its tilt angle is given as 24 degrees.
Pairing
The T809 specification lists cartridges in the 6 to 11 g range, and its wide tracking force window leaves room for cartridges that track light as well as those that need a heavier setting. No phono stage is listed among the Funky features, which means the deck is wired to a separate phono preamplifier or to an amplifier equipped with its own phono input. Auris offers the Phonio Light and Phonio phono preamplifiers, both of which accept MM and MC cartridges and can be combined with the deck for a system from one maker.
Alternatives
The Auris Audio Blues S is another belt-drive turntable of the brand that comes with the same T809 tonearm.