John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

I'd like to do a speaker project along the lines of the old Auratones. These were 5" cubes with a single driver used for checking mixes on small speakers akin to small radios.

Question is: Having never taken one apart, was there any sort of filter involved or was it really just a 5" speaker in a box?


Thanks
Kevin.

Personally I've never even heard an Auratone, let alone opened one up. However, I've opened up a lot of cheap boom boxes with full range speakers and, unless it's always built into the preamp stage, they typically don’t have any sort of filter.

Madisound sells Fostex that offers a wide selection of full range drivers. http://www.madisound.com/

Thomas

I've worked with auratones and they are just a straight speaker in a box.

cheers
JOhn

I'm in the exact same situation. I feel in love with the idea and concept of the auratone (not ever having heard one)

What really sparked my ideas was when I found this driver.
http://www.ejjordan.co.uk/jx92.html

I will hopefully get a hold on these driver shortly and tell if they are
any good in a studio situation. A friend of mine (hi Doug) helped me
out with the enclosure design. We will make it go down to 45hz. Concept
of the auratone and better specs than ns10.... who knows

And the good looks doesn't hurt
http://www.creativesound.ca/details.php?model=JX92S

Regards
Jan Holm

Keep an eye out for the Barefoot Sound Killatone DIY project to be posted within the next couple of weeks. It's an updated variation of the limited bandwith Auratone concept.

Thomas

yeah - the auratone had a limited bamdwidth which is why it was usd as a test for what your mixes would sound like on AM radio.

Killatone - now that sound like an interesting idea.:)

cheers
john

Barefoot says:

Keep an eye out for the Barefoot Sound Killatone DIY project

Is that Killatone or Kill-your-tone

I am currently using a pair of [crappy] computer speakers to test mixes on... The modern day "AM Sound".

Jan Holm says:

And the good looks doesn't hurt

That is a nice looking driver - Great frequency response. Any chance of finding something similar in the $50-$60 US range?

Kevin.

Kevin,

The driver for my design costs $37 - about $130 total for a completed pair. I should have the prototype built and tested after this weekend. Plans and plots soon to follow.

Jan,

Yeah, SPAM IN A SHOE definitely makes some of the best full range drivers. Though, I'm not sure if they make sense for studio monitors. They're rather expensive and their sound is a bit too unique to act as "cheap references". On the other hand, they're not really good enough to pass as full fledged studio monitors either - despite what SPAM IN A SHOE says. Still, it would be interesting to see how they do.

Thomas

Plans and plots soon to follow

Awesome!

barefoot wrote:Kevin,
Yeah, SPAM IN A SHOE definitely makes some of the best full range drivers. Though, I'm not sure if they make sense for studio monitors. They're rather expensive and their sound is a bit too unique to act as "cheap references". On the other hand, they're not really good enough to pass as full fledged studio monitors either - despite what SPAM IN A SHOE says. Still, it would be interesting to see how they do.
Thomas

I'm going for a 3 set speaker setup. Main will probably be a JBL4412
and then a cheap pc speaker thing. And then I'll try the SPAM IN A SHOE as a
replacement for, say ns10, which I really can't stand. I'll be making
the SPAM IN A SHOE this summer and It'll probably be half a year before I
know if it's a usefull monitor that transelates well.

Regards
Jan Holm

Keep us posted Jan!

The Auratone Cubes had a 4" driver.

I have a pair of Auratone QC66's. They were Auratones version of a Yamaha NS40. These have dual 5" low f drivers, a dome midrange and a soft dome tweeter.

Auratones were great for TV/mono monitoring back in the day. If you could get a mix to happen on those, then it was happening on the TV. I grew up at a time when NS-10's were just coming onto the scene and Auratones were still used. I like them. But, I am used to them and know what it takes, like on a NS-10, to make it work.

Peerless makes a comparable driver. Check out PartsExpress. They are pretty cheap.

http://www.avantelectronics.com/AVANTONE_mixcubes.htm

Doc

I purchased a pair of Auratones in 1985 and still have them. I now use them for my patio speakers. They still kick