D’Von Audio Aurora Speakers Review

Every now and then, a speaker comes along that totally recalibrates my expectations of what to expect from a stand-mount speaker at a given price level. In steps D’Von Audio with the brand-new Aurora speaker. This all-British-made brand has clearly hit the mark, and it's on point with this gorgeous-looking stand mount, which starts at just £2,500. It was only in the last few months that I discovered this emerging brand, thanks to my social media presence in the UK, which has a fair number of followers across my various social media accounts.

I was contacted by D’Von Audio’s owner, Chris Priddle, who has designed the new Aurora and is currently developing other speakers. He asked if I would be interested in listening to one of his creations and in being one of the first in the country to review his new Aurora speakers. He sent me some images of the speakers, and we got chatting about his latest creation. We were back and forth in conversation about this exciting new project, and he was more than happy to indulge me with everything about D’Von Audio. The Aurora stand mount has been in development for the last two and a half years and has finally come to fruition, with the finished product now available. He told me that he spent many hours fine-tuning the sound into something he was happy with, and was remarkably frank, sharing the build process and production of the finished product, which was also refreshing to see and hear, coming from a speaker designer. This allowed me to see the entire build process.

Based in a beautiful part of the UK, D'Von Audio's name is a play on the words Devon, as it is where the products are designed and built. I love the fact that we have yet another very talented speaker designer and creative mind entering the HiFi world, based here in the UK, offering something that is significantly more financially accessible than many other high-end audio brands. Yes, there is a wide range of choices when it comes to speakers, but that also comes at a cost. Especially in today's market, where manufacturing and building speakers are costly businesses, having a speaker built entirely here in the UK is always very welcome in our current climate.

Build Quality and Features

As a completely new brand, I was really looking forward to getting my hands on the new Aurora speakers, as I have been lucky enough to see the complete build process that Chris had shared with me and how many hours went into producing the pair of Aurora speakers that was arriving here at The Speaker Shack. The Aurora speakers will be available in three finishes: satin black, satin white, and the pair I have for review, which features a birch-wood fronted baffle and a satin black finish —a look I loved when I first saw it in the pictures Chris sent over to me. When they arrived, and I finally saw them in person, the pictures really do only a little justice, as they look stunning in real life with such a beautiful finish. The speakers are silky smooth to the touch and highly polished, both in terms of build and quality. They are produced using the latest "Hidrofugo" moisture-resistant MDF, which is ideal for speaker cabinet builds, as it provides excellent rigidity and solid cabinets. Inside the speakers, they are heavily braced, and D'Von Audio uses a centre brace, specifically named a T brace, which again improves the speaker cabinets' rigidity. 

The main 6-inch driver features a Riohacell/carbon fibre sandwiched cone for optimised stiffness and dampening ratio, with a low-damping rubber surround to enhance the speaker's transient response. The tweeter uses a 26mm soft dome. Everything is built at D'Von Audio's factory in Devon, including the crossovers, which are all hand-built and wired internally with pure copper wiring. The cabinets are also spray-painted and finished in the factory, allowing them complete quality control over their production. The speaker cable terminals on the rear of each Aurora are rhodium-plated, and there is a single port on the rear. The Aurora speakers have a sensitivity rating of 87db and a nominal impedance of 4 ohms, so a good-quality amplifier is recommended. The frequency response is 36Hz to 22kHz. As I write this review, Chris has sent the confirmed measurements, which show them to be within the specified range, with a tolerance of ±3.5 dB. These figures appear to be pretty accurate based on what I've heard from them. The Aurora’s weigh in at a healthy 9.5 kg each and come boxed with foam port plugs and felt feet to be placed underneath each speaker for placement on stands.

For this review, I still have the brilliant Cyrus Audio 40 series Amp in my possession, so I will be using it to power the new D'Von Audio Aurora speakers. To connect them, I am using the Montaudio Chatham SH-1 speaker cables and a variety of other cables from different brands. For vinyl, I am using my Denon DP400 turntable, and for streaming, I am using my new Bluesound Nano Node streamer, which is directly connected to the Cyrus 40 Amp. For CD playback, I am using the Cyrus CD8SE player. Setting up was straightforward, as I am using my existing Atacama stands, with some slight toe-in to match my usual listening position and to sharpen up the sweet spot and imaging.

Sound Quality and Performance

My first album is one that I have listened to for many years on various systems, and it is from the brilliant Kraftwerk, whose album Tour De France was released way back in 2003. This legendary group has produced and, in many ways, shaped electronic music into what it is today. As influential to me as the group Yello has been, they are trailblazers in the realm of electronic music, with a sound so unique and identifiable that it stands out from the very first few notes played.

Track one Tour De France Etape 1 which leads on to three stages hence the names “Etape” is an iconic marathon of a track with the synthesised beats and bass notes produced by the Aurora speakers allowing for a wide and excellent image of the music in front of me with a punchy and hard hitting bass note produced, the synthesised voice of Tour De France is placed precisely centre stage. The top end from the tweeter allows for a very smooth but detailed sound and crossover between the bass driver and tweeter is seamless, I love the opening on Etape 3 where it has the synthesiser playing the notes which echo with induced reverb from left to right of the sound stage and produces an incredibly spatial sound in front of me which envelopes the listener in sounds which are all around my room, showing how well the Aurora speakers manage to project the sound from this brilliant track.

Track nine, "Elektro Kardiogramm," is another favourite from this album. I've been listening to it a lot lately, and following the "Tour de France" track, the spatial sound this track offers is simply sublime. From the very beginning, where it incorporates breathing into the main beat, the track features stunning bass. The Aurora speakers reproduce this bass perfectly, showcasing impressive cone movement. Despite their relatively small size, the sound produced has remarkable scale.

Track ten, La Forme, features a plethora of synthesised sounds that move around the soundstage with incredible speed, and the Aurora speakers excel at it, sounding very dynamic and producing the music with stunning clarity and resolution. The top end is exceptionally well-behaved, with a highly detailed and yet lively performance; the bass is tight and tuneful, featuring excellent transient shifts that are fast and accurate. This must be one of my favourite Kraftwerk albums, and the D'Von Audio Aurora speakers sound effortless in reproducing this music.

 

My next album builds nicely on my love for electronic music. It is IMO the best yet from this legendary artist and one half of the duo who gave us the wonderful sounds and music from Yello, it is of course Boris Blank and his 2024 album Resonance which was initially a project he started on for a meditation spa and retreat in Switzerland but turned into one of his best releases to date, the album is Resonance and I own this music in high resolution 24bit 48kHz.

Track One Vertigo Hero’s Part 1 is one of my favourites from this album, and I use it to demo a lot of different speakers that I have reviewed here at The Speaker Shack, and when I get to listen to other speakers and systems. It is a fast paced moving piece of music with some amazing sounds created by the genius Boris Blank and is one of those tracks which is best described as an immersive experience as you are presented with an almost holographic image of the music in front of you with sounds moving from left to right at incredible speed and the new Aurora speakers do not disappoint, allowing massive scale to the music and the sound that you hear, the pulsating bass energises my room with absolute ease and is both deep and controlled.

Track Two Resonance, as its title suggests, is a play with the sounds of this maestro of music, as the sounds resonate in my room, starting off slow and building up, yet almost therapeutic in nature as they are presented before me. The Piano notes have a crisp and well-rounded sound, while the bass notes are produced with excellent texture and precise imaging of the music, as sounds move around the soundstage from left to right, giving you that immersive feeling.

Track Four, Time Bridges, is another perfect example of this, with a storm that starts the opening of the track and thunder and rain falling all around you. In contrast, the synthesised sounds begin to emerge from the storm. The Aurora speakers produce music with genuine depth and scale, and the speakers themselves blend in, completely disappearing with your eyes closed. The bass envelops you as it pulsates from the speakers with a rich sound, enabling you to be fully immersed in the music.

My time with the new D’Von Audio Aurora speakers has proven to be an experience that I have thoroughly enjoyed, and as I mentioned in the opening of this review, a recalibration of my expectations from a speaker at this price point. They have exceeded my expectations and produced some excellent music that I thoroughly enjoyed listening to. Regardless of what I played, they created music with stunning musicality. Be sure to check out all my social media pages, as I have plenty of videos featuring the various music I have been listening to. The above is just a small part of my experience with this new stand mount.

Conclusions and Final Thoughts

The new D’Von Audio Aurora speakers will be available for purchase from the beginning of November, and I have been lucky enough to be one of the first people to get a listen with some in-depth listening sessions and to review them in my own system here at The Speaker Shack. They have exceeded my expectations and proved to be a formidable and powerful performer. I love a good two-way stand-mount speaker, and the new Aurora should definitely be on your list if you are looking for a high-end speaker that far exceeds its price point.

The Speaker Shack awards the new D’Von Audio Aurora speaker with a Highly Recommended award and stamp of approval.

Price at time of review: Black Satin/White Satin finish £2,500, and the Birch wood finish, like I have here for review, is £2,650

For sales enquiries, you can email D'Von Audio directly via sales@dvonaudio.com

Web - www.dvonaudio.com