Product Specifications

BLUE AURA
BLACKLINE PG-1
£259
OUTSTANDING - amongst
the best.
VALUE - keenly priced.
VERDICT
Good budget turntable, well
suited to Blue Aura’s neat
little system.
FOR
- bluetooth
- phono stage
- analogue sound
AGAINST
- cartridge weight range
- some speed variation
Blue Aura
[phone]
www.blueaura.co.uk
£
www.hi-fiworld.co.uk JANUARY 2020 HI-FI WORLD
VINYL SECTION
easily worth five Globes, especially
at the very low price – superb value.
They are a tad bright but clear and
detailed – and with fast bass. Far
better than they had any right to be
at the price I felt.
SOUND QUALITY
I used the PG-1 with our Creek
Evolution 100A amplifier connected
to Martin Logan ESL-X hybrid
electrostatic loudspeakers to assess
its sound directly and – of course
– through the VA40 amplifier also
connected to the Martin Logans, then
the ps40s.
Connected directly via the
internal phono stage to the Creek I
had to turn volume up but the PG-
1 was clear, smooth and accurate.
Running through a selection of our
high quality review LPs I heard a
sound that was well balanced and
revealing. There was plenty of detail
at high frequencies that made vocals
stand out, the trumpet solo on
Fanfare for the Common Man from
‘Two Countries One Heart’, for
example, coming over with great
presence and good pitch stability;
there was no obvious wavering.
Similarly, with I Look To You on the
flip side, Cheryl Porter’s vocals stood
out with all the vivacious push LP can
provide – a lovely performance.
Swapping over from the Creek
Evolution 100A to Blue Aura
VA40 there was slightly more
dimensionality, courtesy of the valves.
Although there was less absolute
power – 10 Watts against the Creek’s
100 Watts – the VA40 still went very
loud, driving our Martin Logan ESL-X
hybrid electrostatic loudspeakers with
ease. It was a fine sound, communi-
cating the smoothness of analogue
and also its dynamic liveliness.
Via Bluetooth the sound became
slightly softer and blander – almost
a shame as the PG-1 deserves
the convenience of a Bluetooth
connection that is higher in fidelity.
But you can’t have everything at this
price.
Feeding Blue Aura’s VA40
amplifier and ps40 loudspeakers
direct (phono leads) the PG-1 was
lovely. Hugh Masekela’s ‘Uptownship’
raced along, sounding vivacious – his
trumpet rich in tone. Here, the
carbon fibre cantilever of the AT-3600
showed its peculiar sonic strengths,
pulling out the rich tapestry of sound
from this wonderfully
recorded LP, teasing out
the timbral delineation
that analogue
can achieve. The
sense of speed
and pace came
largely from the small
ps40 loudspeakers that
well complement the rest
of this system. You don’t get
deep bass here, but you do get
speedy punch. Think lively, dynamic
and clear.
CONCLUSION
Blue Aura’s PG-1 turntable is a neat
little package with fine sound from
the Audio Technica AT-3600 budget
MM cartridge fitted. The Bluetooth
link is a convenience that allows
the turntable to be sited anywhere,
but quality is below that of direct
connection. The PG-1 works well
within Blue Aura’s fine little system
and also on its own, offering superb
sound and value. It’s definitely worth
hearing this little set up – one that
takes up little space, sounds lovely
and costs – well – I’ll say it again:
peanuts!
From a 3150Hz test tone (DIN 45-452
test disc) the PG-1 wandered from
3134Hz to 3142Hz, in random fashion
over a 24hr period. That puts nominal
speed at 3138Hz, a small -0.4% slow
– not subjectively obvious in terms of
pitch accuracy.
The speed wander did however
result in a mediocre 0.2% Wow value,
fairly typical of a budget belt drive
turntable. Our speed variation analysis
also shows a flutter peak at right
(15.9Hz) responsible for a poor 0.1%
Flutter reading (0.04% typical). All
the same, total Wow & Flutter, DIN
weighted, was 0.13% – respectable for
budget belt drive turntable.
The internal phono stage has a very
low gain of x60 and overloaded above
10mV in / 600mV out, where distortion
measured 1%. Although this is poor, in
practice it will only affect music peaks
and pass largely unnoticed. Equalisation
was accurate, making frequency
response effectively flat from 10Hz to
20kHz, there being no warp filter.
Frequency response of the AT-3600
cartridge, measured with pink noise, was
relatively flat via the Line output (-1dB
at 10kHz), but with treble roll down via
Bluetooth (-3dB at 10kHz, as shown),
giving a milder sound.
The PG-1 measured as expected for
a budget belt drive, having no serious
weaknesses. Considering price versus
complexity, it was very good.
NK
Speed error -0.4%
Wow 0.2%
Flutter 0.1%
Wow & Flutter (DIN wtd) 0.13%
MEASURED PERFORMANCE
SPEED VARIATION
FREQUENCY RESPONSE BT
An EM84 valve shows music
level in a light blue fluorescent
display that's entertaining
– especially in the dark.
Tracking force is applied by a
calibrated counterweight and
bias by a weight on a thread
over a shaped wire support.
HI-FI WORLD
HI-FI WORLD