TNT Audio review for Aurora MK3 Turntable
There are many glowing reviews on turntables. What makes this one stand out, is that the reviewer states that he could not part with it and purchased it. Yes it is that good – client and dealer feedback assures us that you could easily invest over 6 times the value of an Aurora turntable and still not come close to the performance available here.
A few extracts are as follows:
“The Aurora Mk III deck took less than 10 minutes to perform initial set-up….
I placed Alison Krause and Union Station: Paper Airplane on the platter and turned the power to 33 1/3. My first thought: this thing is quiet. Music began to emerge from a silent background as if from a master tape. The soundstage was three dimensional, as if Alison Krause was on stage in the middle of my living room. The Mk III created a proverbial window into the recorded performance. Some decks I have heard produce an exaggerated sound stage with the performers sounding like they’re 20 feet tall. The sound I heard from the Aurora Mk III was more like real instruments playing in three dimensions.
I was truly amazed at the performance I was getting out of the deck, and it was loaded with the Ortofon 2M Blue, a $225 MM cartridge. The Blue is very nice and a great bargain but its not the last word in definition or transparency. The Mk III deck and Silver arm absolutely squeezed the last drop of performance from the diminutive 2M Blue and the sound was impressive.
The results I heard from the Benz/Aurora Mk III combo rivals the sound I heard at T.H.E. Show coming from the best systems.
With the resurgence of vinyl many are looking for their first high end deck. The Aurora Mk III offers far more than entry level sound at a near entry level price. It works well with a variety of cartridges, even inexpensive ones, extracting every last bit of performance possible. I once heard someone say, “If I owned a $3000 cartridge I would be afraid to play a record.” The good news is the Aurora does not require a $3000 cartridge to sound great. Coupled with the OL Silver MK IIIA tone arm and a budget cartridge I could be happy to live with it long term. It offers true high end sound at a reasonable price and has the ability to transport the recorded performance into your listening. I cannot part with it, so I purchased the review sample”
TNT Audio Magazine
Read the full review here: http://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/ol_aurora_e.html