Проигрыватели виниловых дисков — Argon Audio Aurora

The Aurora is the first direct-drive turntable from the Danish brand Argon Audio, engineered for home listening rather than DJ use. It is offered in black matte lacquer and walnut veneer, with list prices of EUR 1,299, GBP 1,099 and USD 1,499.

Key specs that matter

A brushless direct-drive motor with an 8-pole coil structure spins the platter at 33, 45 or 78 rpm. Quartz-controlled regulation holds speed within a 0.2 percent tolerance, wow and flutter is 0.10 percent or less, while noise sits 65 dB below the signal. The aluminium platter is rubber-damped and weighs 1.4 kg. The arm is a static-balanced S-shape in aluminium, 233 mm long and 20 g in effective mass, taking cartridges of 6 to 10 g. The factory-fitted cartridge is an Ortofon Concorde Music Blue moving magnet, tracked at a recommended 1.8 g. Its nude elliptical diamond sits on a cantilever of aluminium, it uses a quad-coil generator with split pole pins, and attaches through a bayonet connector. The deck measures 45 cm wide, 36.6 cm deep and 15.3 cm high, and weighs 10.4 kg.

Engineering and use context

According to Argon, the motor layout reduces the jolts caused by cogging, and the inertia of the heavy platter helps it turn smoothly. The plinth is made from MDF 55 mm thick, the thickest base the company has used on a turntable so far, and it rests on shock-absorbing feet with height adjustment. Vertical tracking angle can be set at the base of the arm, and a thin slot beneath the tube, the ATS system, damps internal resonance. The headshell detaches so the cartridge can be upgraded or swapped. Speed selection has its own control, the motor switches off automatically after the last track of a side, and the unit drops into standby after 20 minutes of inactivity to save energy. The power supply is built in, so no external adapter is needed. A power cable, an RCA cable, a dust cover and a rubber slip mat come in the box.

Pairing

A switchable MM RIAA phono preamplifier is built in, so the Aurora can connect straight to line-level sockets on amplifiers, active speakers or other systems without a phono input. Switching it off sends the unamplified cartridge output on to a separate phono preamplifier. The 78 rpm setting suits shellac records when a matching stylus is fitted.

Alternatives

Argon Audio also offers the TT-3 PLUS, a belt-drive turntable that ships with an Ortofon 2M Red cartridge and an arm made from carbon fibre.