Sonorus ATR10 MKII

Description

Twelve years after the introduction of the original ATR10, Sonorus Audio has redesigned the deck from the ground up. The mkII keeps the proven Studer motors and heads  but pairs it with a brand-new electronics platform engineered for current high-end audio standards.

Four NOS Philips ECC88 tubes, rated for more than 10,000 hours, work in tandem with a newly developed amplifier control system. The result combines the dynamic bass impact normally associated with solid-state with the mid-range clarity, transparency, and sense of realism characteristic of vacuum-tube electronics.

• 4 × Philips ECC88 NOS tubes (10,000-hour service life)
• DC Coupled Stabilised Loop Gain Technology
• Tube set-point automatically adjusted for stability
• Designed for minimum electronic coloration

Every ATR10 MkII ships with a genuine new-old-stock Studer head — the actual factory part, not a reproduction. Studer’s head technology was, until the company shut down, the reference standard for analog tape playback at 15 ips. NOS supplies are limited and finite.

The deck’s audio chain continually measures head wear and automatically compensates for it, holding playback performance close to factory specification as the heads age. Independent measurement of decks built to this circuit design has shown them remaining within 95% of their original specification a decade after manufacture — an unusual outcome for a consumer-grade analog deck and a deliberate engineering goal of the mkII redesign.

Rather than using mechanical tension arms or strain gauges along the tape path, the ATR10 MkII regulates tension by measuring reel rotation speed and adjusting motor torque in real time. The reference target during development was the Studer A810. The result is consistent tape-to-head contact from beginning to end of a reel and a simpler, more reliable mechanical layout.

Library Wind, Motor-Assisted Braking & Self-Centering Spindles

Library winding stores tapes under controlled tension for long-term shelf life. Motor-assisted braking reduces fast-forward and rewind stop times to about 2 seconds for fast braking on a full 10.5″ reel. The built-in self-centering NAB spindles eliminate the need for separate hub adapters. An optical leader tape stop, combined with compatible SHI tapes, halts the deck at the start of the music programme after rewinding.

Modifications