Starting bidding at $5,000 (reserve not met!)

www.trademe.co.nz/electronics-photography/home-audio/turntables/listing-1867028408.htm?rsqid=5d5514a080e248809e12c4be1d19c521

Impressive price!

Some unusual details:
- unusual combo of chrome motor housing & gold flyweights & satin chromed(?) arm pillars.
- motor pod appears to have square push button (usually a toggle switch on later Auras).
- platter top appears to be silver/natural aluminium, with a traditional style rubber mat.
- SME arm has AT headshell.

DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com

didn't know they were built in aus

looks like a plinius preamp and really manky goldring cf record brush

Yes, the Whittakers lived in Brisbane for a couple of years from around 1990.

He continued making the Aura over there & that was when he sold the Aura though the Melbourne dealer (Mike Kontor, Leading Edge Audio).

DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com

A bit of a wishful price maybe...

Would need a better arm to justify that price IMO. The AT headshell dates it back to the days when they were thought to be a significant upgrade on the standard SME item.

Dec 10, 2018 8:56:06 GMT 12 Owen Y said:

Impressive price!

Some unusual details:
- unusual combo of chrome motor housing & gold flyweights & satin chromed(?) arm pillars.
- motor pod appears to have square push button (usually a toggle switch on later Auras).
- platter top appears to be silver/natural aluminium, with a traditional style rubber mat.
- SME arm has AT headshell.

But that's not even the reserve price, so who knows what he wants for it.

Arm pillar has an unusual collar too.
Only one round belt.

I wonder how the speed change works with the one square push button.

Dec 10, 2018 12:41:58 GMT 12 michaelw said:

didn't know they were built in aus

looks like a plinius preamp and really manky goldring cf record brush

Maybe the brush has been etched to expose the bare metal for better grounding!

Dec 10, 2018 16:37:38 GMT 12 cartridgeguyonline said:

Would need a better arm to justify that price IMO. The AT headshell dates it back to the days when they were thought to be a significant upgrade on the standard SME item.

Any headshell is better than the flimsy SME originals. They're light, flex and half my carts won't fit in them.


TODAY is the date I think the AT headshell is better than the SME!

There is one now-successful audio designer who once proclaimed that a pre-Improved 3009 with SME flimsy headshell, was THE only way to get best performance from a Denon DL-103

DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com

The seller will ship it in a wooden "grate"

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Dec 10, 2018 17:15:31 GMT 12 Owen Y said:

There is one now-successful audio designer who once proclaimed that a pre-Improved 3009 with SME flimsy headshell, was THE only way to get best performance from a Denon DL-103

Suspend the cart with a barely attached headshell/arm is one way to go.

Dec 10, 2018 17:37:30 GMT 12 garym said:

The seller will ship it in a wooden "grate"

English may not be his/her/their first language. 

Or a simple typo. I have no idea. 

Also appears(?) to have the circular clear acrylic skirt around the flyweights, that the early Auras had.

So, we'd have to say that the birth date of this Aura would be c.1990-93.

DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com

bid question - do australian ones sound better than nz ones ?

The Australian ones probably sound harsher, more brash, and possibly a bit more intolerant of darker colors...