Analog Gear News

Since we’re on a bit of a phono preamp kick this week, it’s time to check in on what Danish brand Aavik has in store under that particular gear umbrella, so to speak. Aavik, as many of you likely already know, is part of Audio Group Denmark, which is also home to other top brands like Ansuz, Axxess, and Børresen.

Aavik — which is Danish for “small bay” — is known for their flagship R-880 phono preamp, and they tell us that they’ve drawn inspiration specifically from that model to launch their new Aavik R-X88 series of phono preamps, which comprises three different models: the Aavik R-188, Aavik R-288, and Aavik R-588 (shown below).

This trio of Aavik phono preamps has been designed for both moving coil (MC) and DS Audio optical cartridges. Each model is assembled in Aalborg, Denmark, and all of them are said to follow the company’s design tenet of, quote, “combining functional engineering with a clean, Scandinavian aesthetic.”

Aavik further points out that one of the key goals for the R-X88 series is noise reduction. These phono preamps employ a combination of active Tesla coils, square Tesla coils, and analog dither circuitry intended to suppress interference and keep the noise floor low. Anti-aerial resonance coils are also in use to reduce susceptibility to airborne noise.

To that end, the noise-cancelling levels increase throughout the three models. The R-188 sports 36 active Tesla coils, 72 active square Tesla coils, and 3 dither circuits; the R-288 has 72 active Tesla coils, 144 active square Tesla coils, and 6 dither circuits; and the R-588 offers 108 active Tesla coils, 216 active square Tesla coils, and 9 dither circuits.

All three models feature a discrete RIAA section that deploys parallel ultra-low-noise bipolar transistors. For MC carts, the input stage is fully floating and unconnected to ground, supporting load adjustment between 50ohms and 10kohms.

The Aavik R-X88 series phono preamps use resonant-mode power supplies, with custom DC/DC converters designed to generate clean sine-wave voltages. While the R-188 and R-288 models share a common platform, the R-588 instead adopts Aavik’s discrete operational amps and independent voltage rails, and is said to be engineered for greater resolution and dynamic capability within the range.

Each model includes one floating RCA input for MC carts, with gain selectable between 58dB and 64dB. Optical cartridges are supported through a dedicated RCA input with 26dB of gain. A single RCA output pair is provided across the range, with distortion said to be below 0.05% at 1kHz.

Other specs for the R-X88 series include a signal-to-noise ratio of 94dB at 1kHz, frequency response for MC operation as +0.1/–0.4dB at 58dB gain and +0.1/–1.1dB (or 0.1/–1.7dB, in the case of the R-588) at 64dB gain from 20Hz to 20kHz. Optical input response is given as +0.1/–0.3dB across the band for all models.

All three phono preamps operate from 100–240V AC, with standby consumption under 1W. The R-188 and R-288 operate at under 15W, while the R-588 runs below 40W.

Dimensions are uniform for all three models — i.e., they all come in at 440 x116 x 430mm (w/h/d) — and each model weighs 21kg.

Finally, the SRPs are as follows (in Euros): the Aavik R-188 is €15,000, the Aavik R-288 is €20,000, and the Aavik R-588 is €25,000.

For more about Aavik, go here.
To find an authorized Aavik dealer, go here.