Who is the winner?
The winner takes it all, 60 years and still valid
„Onkel“(Uncle) Sigis domain: The „Tonküche“ (Sound Kitchen) at Gauting
That’s clearly: the prime father and the classic Auratone, in my ears they one step ahead. Resolution, dimensionality and the most coherent soundscape are convincing according to the other two competitors. The Auratones are iconic and that’s for sure. I never worked and mixed with them and now I know why they are a real enrichment in a monitoring speaker unit. The “Made in USA” and they were produced under quality assurance in a small factory. They look hand crafted and with their simplicity real classy.
The second best but with a certain distance are the Avantone Mix Cubes Active. They win over with a foundational “modern” sound and the performance of the amplifier. But in terms of, balanced sound and clearness they don’t reach the Auratone level. Vocals sound “shy” which led to misinterpretation. The very well manufactured and the concept from the external PSU is extremely smart. From the point of view, they are real eye-catcher.
The bronze medal goes to Behringer C50A. They are a great deal in terms of a cheap rate. You can work with them, but on the other hand you have to make clear lower sights by resolution and dimensionality. There was also a lack of the fun factor. They can reproduce vocals very well, otherwise they sound “flat” and on dimensional.
Spot on
Two brothers? Not at all.
Let’s say it very polite. Behringer is well known for taking inspirations from other manufactures. Though Avantone and Behringer look similar to each other, the difference in sound is obvious. Look alike doesn’t mean sound alike.
Although Avantone points on the website the inspiration from Auratone 5C, they have a very different sound and character. People who want to have an active Auratone should keep the hands off that Avantone. They sound different. And optical they look very modern, fresh and not old fashioned like the prime father Auratone.
Neither brothers: Auratone (left) and Avantone (upper left)
What’s to complain?
Nothing as far it concerned Avantone and Auratone. Behringer attracts negative attention by manufacturing and assembling failures. The cones from a C50A had a dent although he was in his original packaging. On another a rubber on the bottom wasn’t fixed well, so in the end the speaker stands crooked. I have to fix that, push that bottom rubber with great pressure round the tripod. Either the final quality assurance slept or there wasn’t any.
Crusched crimp on the Behritone