At first glance, it can neither be recognized where the components of Aavik's new electronics line are located in the company's own hierarchy, nor exactly what type of device it is. The R-580 is a phono stage and is equipped with everything that Aavik or Ansuz respectively have to offer in terms of „Noise Cancelling Technology“.

When I reviewed the Ansuz PowerSwitch D-TC Supreme I already came to know that developer Michael Børresen most of the time relies on the same basic circuitry for his electronic components. The main difference between devices of different price and quality levels is the number of assemblies he grants them to immunize them against external influences such as contaminated mains power or RF noise. In the case of the phono stage, these include the Ansuz Active Tesla Coils, the Ansuz Square Tesla Coils and the Ansuz Dither Circuitry. For all components of the 180 series, the 280 series and the 580 series, the enclosures made of NBCM - a natural-based composite material - are added to minimize mechanical resonances, whereas that of the 580 series phono stage is the only one to feature in addition a titanium inlay for vibration control as well as a copper inner case. Auralic has already shown with its G2.1 series that shielding copper housings can have a very positive effect on sound.

On the outward appearance, Aavik relies on neat understatement: The front is adorned with a large dot matrix display with red LEDs, while two push buttons allow direct access to the standby and muting function. Together with a third button, one can also navigate in the menu and select the input impedance, the brightness of the display and the duration of its activity, as well as display the current firmware version. Even if you call a huge music room your own and the listening position happens to be far away from the audio system, you shouldn't have the slightest problem in reading the information on the large display. The load impedance for the cartridge can be set to 50, 75, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800 or 900 ohms, or 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 10 kilohms. The simple facade nevertheless hides a great variety. However, the values also quickly make it clear that the R-580 was designed exclusively for the use with moving coil cartridges: The standard value for MM (moving magnet) cartridges, 47 kiloohms, is not offered. In addition, the Aavik operates with a fixed gain of 65 decibels, and that is clearly too much when paired to the more powerful output voltages of moving magnet systems.