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AURALiC owners unite!
May 4, 2013 at 8:19 AM Post #31 of 2,392
Quote:
larryonfire said:
Well if this is not overly positive, I would love to see you get excited about something 
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. I´m using the 1000 euro Harmony Design XLR ELMA headamp.  The amp is very neutral, with XLR input not XLR out and it gives a clear detailed sound because of the 24 step ELMA volume control. I never turn it louder than 1 o´clock. So the amp is pretty good, but suspect that I would gain even more from using the 4 Watt Taurus. I was just curious to know what in your mind made the He-500/ Taurus combo so criminally fabolous.      
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The EAR 90? http://www.harmonydesign.se/index.php?sid=62&katID=9&prodID=11
 
Couldn't finr the specs. It's not all about the Wattage, but HE500 sure appreciate som extra juice.
 
Jun 28, 2013 at 5:53 AM Post #33 of 2,392
Great resshin, nice move. I have tried to find out about what is upgraded in mk. II, but can´t find anything about it, only some official statement that also fit the original Taurus.
 
As I remember it Auralic has stated that Taurus was a better headamp than pre amp and something about when you switch between the two functions something has to be unpluged. It was because of that they made the Taurus pre which has strong pre-amp and lesser headamp. So I´m very curious about if they fixed the two thinks on mk. II or if you get bigger internal changes that makes it sound different (even better) than mk I?.   
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Jun 29, 2013 at 3:04 PM Post #38 of 2,392
Can you describe some of these 'qualities' a bit more? I am very interested ...
Quote:
 I also own Woo Audio WA6-SE and Woo Audio WA2, and while those are absolutely awesome tube amps, the TAURUS has qualities they don't!
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Jun 29, 2013 at 3:55 PM Post #39 of 2,392
^ I have the WA2, WA22 and the Taurus, and they are indeed different. But neither of them is better at everything, that's why I've kept them all. But Taurus is a great all rounder. Sometimes I miss the up-frontedness of WA22 or the smoothness of the WA2. If you want to go SS, tha Taurus is a great piece :wink:
 
Jul 1, 2013 at 7:23 AM Post #40 of 2,392
I wrote to Auralic to hear what is new in the Taurus mk. II, here is what they said :
 
"MKII is a small improved version compared to the original one, the function, specification almost keep the same but we did optimized the sound for Audeze LCD2 and LCD3 headphones.
 

For the pre-amp function, it is always like a 'free gift' in both TAURUS and TAURUS MKII. If you want to use it primarily as pre amplifier, I would suggest you to order TAURUS PRE."
 
So we got a little more info, but optimized for Audeze, does that mean Taurus mk. II is less smooth and less warm ?? Who knows 
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Jul 2, 2013 at 3:45 AM Post #43 of 2,392
He he, good joke ardilla.
 
Got a little more detailed answer from Auralic :
 
" The most biggest difference is the MKII sounds more organic and dynamic....... it is slightly less warm compared to TAURUS...... we also pay a lot of attention to match his headphones (HiFiMan) when developing new headphone amp, TAURUS is also a good matching one with HE6".
 
So wasn´t the Taurus very dynamic in the first place ?  Well I guess there is room for more 
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. It was also assuring to know that it will still be good with (my) HiFiMan He-500. My concern is that it has lost too much warmth, as my current Harmony Design amp is very neutral and I want to upgrade to a more tube-like / warm amp. But with less warmth and more organic sound it could even out, but doesn´t organic mean more analog like sound ?. Lots of unanswered questions, so I will sit back and wait till the first impressions on Taurus mk. II arrive 
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Jul 2, 2013 at 6:21 AM Post #44 of 2,392
Quote:
larryonfire said:
He he, good joke ardilla.
 
Got a little more detailed answer from Auralic :
 
" The most biggest difference is the MKII sounds more organic and dynamic....... it is slightly less warm compared to TAURUS...... we also pay a lot of attention to match his headphones (HiFiMan) when developing new headphone amp, TAURUS is also a good matching one with HE6".
 
So wasn´t the Taurus very dynamic in the first place ?  Well I guess there is room for more 
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. It was also assuring to know that it will still be good with (my) HiFiMan He-500. My concern is that it has lost too much warmth, as my current Harmony Design amp is very neutral and I want to upgrade to a more tube-like / warm amp. But with less warmth and more organic sound it could even out, but doesn´t organic mean more analog like sound ?. Lots of unanswered questions, so I will sit back and wait till the first impressions on Taurus mk. II arrive 
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I'd actually like the Taurus to be WARMER, not less warm... My guess is they made it a bit brighter for the LCD's (Mjolnir might be slightly better IMO for the LCD-3 due to its brightness), and maybe adjusted the power in balanced mode so that it delivers more at lower impedances (now, the balanced output power peak at 120 ohm in order to drive the AKG1000, at lower impedances it is reduced by power limitation - I usually keep it at STD mode, not balanced..)  
 
Fo the HE500 - the Taurus mkI is stunning - I cannot imagine any adjustment to make it better :D
 
Jul 2, 2013 at 1:07 PM Post #45 of 2,392
So ardilla, you just listen to HE-500 in STD mode, have you tried balanced or know of any who has ? Maybe  I shall go for a Taurus mk. I instead of MK. II. If mk I is so good with He-500, the new tuning in mk.II could be a bad thing 
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 . The problem is also that there are not so many Taurus around, so we´ll maybe never hear from a guy who has tested both mk. I and II. Ardilla please take one for the team 
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