Remembering Dave Whittaker

By Michael Jones

August 2006

Dave Whittaker and the Aura turntable (click for larger image)

Dave's large listening room, with his Wharfedale Airedale and Beveridge electrostatic loudspeakers (click for larger image)

Dave was constantly experimenting. Shown is a tonearm built from balsa wood (click for larger image)

New Zealand’s audio world was dismayed to hear of the death of Dave Whittaker on July 10, 2006.

Dave Whittaker is perhaps best known as the designer and manufacturer of the Aura turntable. The Aura turntable was being distributed in the USA by TARA Labs around 1990 when Dick Olsher reviewed it for Stereophile magazine, with the Aura receiving a Class A rating in Stereophile’s Recommended Components.

Dave began making the turntable in New Zealand but lived in Queensland for a few years in the late 1980s and early 1990s, manufacturing the turntable there, before returning to Auckland in the early 90s. Dave had continuously developed the turntable over the years and even recently he was exploring improvements. He was still fulfilling orders for the Aura, mostly from overseas.

Over the years Dave became a well known expert in renovating and repairing electrostatic loudspeakers, particularly Acoustats and Quads, and repairing Magneplanar speakers.

He was particularly fond of classical, baroque and church music, Choral, madrigals and the like, predominantly LP, but also CD. His large, 9mx6m listening room was tailored especially for this large scale music, including in-wall bass sub woofers.

Dave said that he and his wife Trudy have had no disagreements over audio since their marriage, for the reason that how Dave goes about arranging his music listening and equipment has never been discussed and so there has never been an argument!

Dave was a friendly, engaging and welcoming man, as many visitors to his and Trudy’s home can attest. This writer spent several enjoyable hours discussing older hi-fi equipment with Dave some three weeks ago.

Dave is survived by his wife Trudy, seven children and a number of grandchildren.

[Thanks to Owen Young for his assistance with this article]

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