AURA IS ESSENTIALLY TODAY WHAT WE CALL B&W. ITS A VERY SIMPLE DESIGN MOSFET AMP WITH MINIMAL OF COMPONENTS IN PATH. JUST GOOGLE ANY OF THE COMPONENTS ABOVE AND YOU WILL SEE THEY ARE ALL AUDIOPHILE PARTS. THIS AMP IS OLD BUT IN TODAYS MARKET NEW COULD BE SOLD FOR DOUBLE WHAT I'M SELLING HERE EASILY. DONT EXPECT TO PAY £500 FOR A NEW AMP AND GET QUALITY LIKE THIS. SHAME ON YOU CAMBRIDGE AUDIO. DONT EXPECT TO BUY THIS AMP FROM ANY OTHER SELLER EITHER AND EXPECT RELIABILITY. I HAVE RESOLDERED EVERY COMPONENT WITH QUALITY SOLDER. CHECKED ALL PARTS FOR CONSISTENCY. CLEAN ALL SWITCHES AND VOLUME POT WAS ALSO CLEANED CHEMICALLY. I DID REPLACE 2 NON AUDIO PATH CAPS JUST TO MAINTAIN RELIABILITY AS THIS AMP IS PROBABLY 20 YEARS OLD! MY AMPS NEVER BREAK DOWN TO DUE MY LEVEL OF ATTENTION. I CAN'T SAY THE SAME FOR OTHER SELLERS! I HAVE ALSO THEREFORE RETAINED ORIGINALITY AND COOLED IT FURTHER WITH FRESH THERMAL PASTE
THIS AMP IS ESSENTIALLY AN AURA EVO 2 AMPLIFIER INSIDE AN AURA SE-X CASE. CONFUSED? DONT BE. IT MEANS ITS ONE OF THE HIGHER GRADE AURA AMPS AS IT USES THE EVO 2 BOARD BUT HAS SLIGHTLY LESS POWER THAN THE EVO 2 MODEL! INFACT IN TERMS OF QUALITY OF PARTS SPECIFICALLY THE OPAMP THIS BEATS ITS OLDER BROTHER BY A FAIR MARGIN!! ITS OLDER BROTHER THE EVO 2 (EVOLUTION II) USES A DIFFERENT OPAMP THE NE5534 WHICH IN AUDIOPHILE TERMS FOR LACK OF BETTER WORD IS "CRAP"! TO BE HONEST AT 50% VOLUME MY HOUSE WAS SHAKING. MY LISTENING AREA IS 6X6M AND I RUN EPOS M12.2 SPEAKERS. SO IT PRETTY POWERFUL ITS RATED AT 45 WATTS @ 8 OHMS AND I COULD ONLY TURN IT UP HALF WAY! MY EPOS ARE RATED AT 125 WATTS MAX.
THE EVO (EVOLUTION II) MODEL IS NOT BI-WIREABLE DESPITE THE EXTRA SPEAKER OUTPUT TERMINALS. THEY ARE JUST CONNECTED TOGETHER INTERNALLY! THE IS NO GAIN IN PEFORMANCE BY USING BI-WIRE :) THIS IS LITERALLY THE BEST VERSION OF THE AURA AMPS!
HOW DOES IT SOUND? I HAVE SOLD MANY MANY AMPS FOR £500+ UPGRADED AND I AM ASHAMED TO ADMIT THAT THIS AMP BEATS MOST OF THEM QUITE EASILY! I RECENTLY SOLD AN AUDIOPHILE GRADE AMP FROM A WELL KNOWN MANUFACTURER THAT IS VERY HIGHLY RESPECTED FOR £550 THAT WAS ALSO MOSFET. IT DID NOT HAVE THE DETAIL THE AURA DOES! THE SOUND IS VERY PLEASANT - TREBLE IS DETAILED YET CLEAR AND NOT GRAINY OR HARSH AT ALL JUST SMOOTH - THE MID IS VERY WARM AND DETAILED AND MICRO DETAILS ARE VERY REVEALED AND GREAT SENSE OF AIR AND SEPARATION BETWEEN INSTRUMENTS - BASS IS TIGHT CONTROLLED REALLY LOW AND VERY HIGHLY MUSICAL AND NOT MUDDY OR BOOMY BUT AT SAME TIME NOT FORCED OR UNBALANCED. THE WHOLE SPECTRUM IS VERY WELL BALANCED EVEN THOUGH MY EPOS SPEAKERS ARE TREBLE FORWARD. AURA LATER BECAME B&W AND THAT SAYS A LOT. THE SOUND CAN BE DESCRIBED SIMILAR TO CLASS A OR TUBE AMPS AS ITS WARM. VERY SIMILAR TO ARCAM AMPS. THIS HAS NO BALANCE OR TREBLE AND BASS CONTROLLS JUST AN INPUT SELECTOR AND VOLUME CONTROL FOR NOISE FREE AND SUPER CLEAR SOUND. I RAN MY DACMAGIC PLUS THROUGH THIS AND WAS JUST LOVING THE QUALITY. GENUINELY EXCELLENT SOUND! A CLASSIC AUDIOPHILE RARE BREED CHAMP AMP THAT HAS BEEN SERVICED TO RUN FOR ANOTHER 20 YEARS!?