The Auratone 5C reference speaker was objectively poor and inconsistent across samples

Evidence

Around 1960 an inexpensive 4.5-inch (114 mm) transducer, widely used at the time in TVs and table radios, was put in a small box and promoted as a reference loudspeaker, for use by recording engineers to assess whether their mixes would “translate” into the “real world”. Figure 3.12 shows its performance. Not surprisingly it was not very good, and not consistent—the three samples differed significantly. The Auratone 5C was widely used. This made sense 60+ years ago. Since then, though, much has changed in the audio industry, including the “real world”. — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 347

Categorization

• CANDY: A cheap TV-radio speaker became the industry-standard ‘real world’ reference for checking mixes — fun audio-history trivia.
• SHARE: Nerdy audio-gear history that a recording-studio engineer or gear collector would enjoy.