[ardilla]

Another review, BTW: 
http://hotdigitalnews.com/the-edge-of-the-art-of-headphone-amplifier-design/

 

[project86]

   
Where's your source on the mkII not having heatsinks?
 
Here is the Tone Audio Taurus internal pic:

 
Here is a 6moons internal pics of the Taurus mkI

Source: http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/auralic4/2.html
 
 
From what I gaher, the most visible difference is the metal cases/shielding, not the heatsink removal... Actually, the mkII (the Tone Audio pic) seems to have more heatsinks than the mkI (small ones on the left), unless 6moons unscrewed them, of course. 

 
Hmmm.... I was going by the pics Auralic released on their initial press release. Take a look:
 
 

 
 
See, no heat sinks. Maybe this was a pic intended to show more of the guts, so the heat sinks were removed. I have yet to open the case on mine to see for myself. Will do so when I get a chance.
 
Aside from that 6moons pic, the MKI always seems to have that yellow cover with the warning on it. No pic I've seen of the MKII has it, except for the Tone Audio pic. 
 
Confused yet? I am!
 

  Another review, BTW: 
http://hotdigitalnews.com/the-edge-of-the-art-of-headphone-amplifier-design/

 
Looks like a cop/paste from Steve Guttenberg's review from a few weeks back. Nice of them to omit his name and everything. Classy. 

 

[ardilla]

   
Hmmm.... I was going by the pics Auralic released on their initial press release. Take a look:
 
 

 
 
See, no heat sinks. Maybe this was a pic intended to show more of the guts, so the heat sinks were removed. I have yet to open the case on mine to see for myself. Will do so when I get a chance.
 
Aside from that 6moons pic, the MKI always seems to have that yellow cover with the warning on it. No pic I've seen of the MKII has it, except for the Tone Audio pic. 
 

 
The mkI pics from Auralic didn't show the heatsinks or the yellow cover - they remove them to show the internals. Heatsinks aren't really neither informative nor beautiful..
 
So I guess they both have heatsinks. When you get the mkII you can take internal pics, then I can do the same with my mkI

 

[ardilla]

   
Looks like a cop/paste from Steve Guttenberg's review from a few weeks back. Nice of them to omit his name and everything. Classy. 
 

  Another review, BTW: 
http://hotdigitalnews.com/the-edge-of-the-art-of-headphone-amplifier-design/

 

 
LOL - I thought the review from "hotdigitalnews" was really bad and overly entusiastic - haha. I don't trust Stev Guttenberg by a hair. He is always raving...
 
And I really think the mkII upgrade is just a standard mkII strategy-trick for getting attention. I'll see if I can get to compare them some day. 

 

[ardilla]

Anyone using Taurus for HE6, BTW?
 
I see Guttenberg raving about the Taurus (mkII) being better than the Hifiman EF6, and on the mkI, 6moons said "

 As a high-power headphone amp it drives HifiMan's toughest HE6 to perfection. "
 
I heard the HE6 on the Taurus, but just briefly a couple of times. 

 

[project86]

   
The mkI pics from Auralic didn't show the heatsinks or the yellow cover - they remove them to show the internals. Heatsinks aren't really neither informative nor beautiful..
 
So I guess they both have heatsinks. When you get the mkII you can take internal pics, then I can do the same with my mkI

 
Maybe you're right. I really want to open the case now, but it will be a while before I have the chance. Maybe a flashlight shined through the top vents will be enough to get an idea though.
 

   
LOL - I thought the review from "hotdigitalnews" was really bad and overly entusiastic - haha. I don't trust Stev Guttenberg by a hair. He is always raving...
 
And I really think the mkII upgrade is just a standard mkII strategy-trick for getting attention. I'll see if I can get to compare them some day. 

 
No comment on Steve...
 
The new version does have some meaningful changes though - not major, but worthwhile. Plus it's available in the USA, where the original was technically never meant for this region. Despite the universal voltage, it had trouble running on our voltage. The new model solves that which I'd call a pretty significant thing. 

 

[ardilla]

Ahh, so thays why it has been so rare in the US....

What was the problem with the Taurus on 110 V ?

 

[project86]

Ahh, so thays why it has been so rare in the US....

What was the problem with the Taurus on 110 V ?

 
Dunno exactly what caused it, but the unit would shut down sometimes, presumably due to voltage sags. But then I tried a PS Audio P 3 and an APC S15 which both have tight voltage regulation. I set voltage to 120V and it stayed rock solid, but the Taurus still shut down once in a while as if power flow was interrupted. Sometimes it would do a little "click" dance back and forth like it almost had enough juice but not quite. 
 
Auralic told me this was because the power supply was mainly built for 220V use, and never seriously tested at 110V because they didn't sell here. So they had not encountered that issue before. It could also be that my unit was particularly sensitive. Maybe some others in the USA didn't have that problem. 

 

[Norway]

AURALiC has really ramped up their marketing efforts lately. Rumors are they've hired a marketing guy in the US, and are sending out review samples left and right.
 
Furthermore, rumors has it that they tricked the prior North American distributor into giving them his list of retailers, only to cancel the distribution deal and go directly to the retailers in his network to double their margins. Not very nice, since the distributor had spent a lot of time and $$$ on promoting AURALiC in the region. If it's true, it's downright unethical, which makes one wonder what else the company is willing to do to stay ahead.
 
I have pretty solid sources on the rumor above, but I will not disclose it in public. AURALiC published on their facebook that their relationship with the distributor had ended during the same time, and (if memory serves me right) that all units sold in the region was still under warranty, but should be sent to China if need for maintenance should arise. That's a huge expense for the customer.
 
I do own TAURUS MKI and do like the sound of it though, but selling it into the North American region where there is 110V without proper quality control is again not very ethical. If they are a high end company, charging high end prices, they should have high end quality control.

 

[Larryonfire]

Nice informative thread so far, I also thought it was strange, that Taurus was so absent from the US market and here on head-fi. Hope the rumor is only a rumor and Auralic is not that cold in the way they do business. But back to the subject, would really be interesting to get an impression on MK1 vs MK2.

       

 

[Andrew_WOT]

  AURALiC has really ramped up their marketing efforts lately. Rumors are they've hired a marketing guy in the US, and are sending out review samples left and right.
 
Furthermore, rumors has it that they tricked the prior North American distributor into giving them his list of retailers, only to cancel the distribution deal and go directly to the retailers in his network to double their margins. Not very nice, since the distributor had spent a lot of time and $$$ on promoting AURALiC in the region. If it's true, it's downright unethical, which makes one wonder what else the company is willing to do to stay ahead.
 
I have pretty solid sources on the rumor above, but I will not disclose it in public. AURALiC published on their facebook that their relationship with the distributor had ended during the same time, and (if memory serves me right) that all units sold in the region was still under warranty, but should be sent to China if need for maintenance should arise. That's a huge expense for the customer.
 
I do own TAURUS MKI and do like the sound of it though, but selling it into the North American region where there is 110V without proper quality control is again not very ethical. If they are a high end company, charging high end prices, they should have high end quality control.

Wow, that surely crosses Vega out of my next purchase list.

 

[ardilla]

The hifi business is hardly as lucrative as one might think, and if Auralic had to cut a link in the chain maybe they had good reasons for doing so. There's always a dosin sides etc..

Anyways : Yes, I too think it is on time someone compared all three Auralic amps (mkI, mkII and PRE)

 

[Norway]

The hifi business is hardly as lucrative as one might think, and if Auralic had to cut a link in the chain maybe they had good reasons for doing so. There's always a dosin sides etc..

Anyways : Yes, I too think it is on time someone compared all three Auralic amps (mkI, mkII and PRE)

 
There is a question of how you go about cutting the link. If you give someone a regional distribution deal and the distributor is going to meets, talking to dealers etc to promote your product, you don't ask for the details of the dealer network and cancel all arrangements after 18 months, and then go to all the dealers directly (and charge higher prices to them than to the distributor to double your margins).
 
However, I do see your point. Maybe the distributor didn't do a good job promoting the brand (as there has been almost no talk about the products on North American sites prior to the end of the distribution arrangement, what do I know). However, you still don't ask for the list of dealers, saying you want to assure that all the dealers are of high quality, and then cut out the middle man that gave you the list, and charge those dealers more. You just end the deal and start building your own network in that region.
 
Also and again, selling something built for 220V in a 110V region without proper quality control is really poorly executed by a company that calls them selves high end and charge high end prices.
 
I do love the sound of my AURALiC though, I have to stress that. It's the rumor about their business ethics I'm worried about. I also have no financial interest in this case, I'm just an enthusiast as you are well aware, as we know each other well.
 
Talk to AURALiC and Duet audio, ardilla. They seem to be blasting out review samples all over the place, and you can probably borrow MKII and PRE if you do a writeup here on head-fi and the Norwegian equivalent.

 

[ardilla]

   
There is a question of how you go about cutting the link. If you give someone a regional distribution deal and the distributor is going to meets, talking to dealers etc to promote your product, you don't ask for the details of the dealer network and cancel all arrangements after 18 months, and then go to all the dealers directly (and charge higher prices to them than to the distributor to double your margins).
 
However, I do see your point. Maybe the distributor didn't do a good job promoting the brand (as there has been almost no talk about the products on North American sites prior to the end of the distribution arrangement, what do I know). However, you still don't ask for the list of dealers, saying you want to assure that all the dealers are of high quality, and then cut out the middle man that gave you the list, and charge those dealers more. You just end the deal and start building your own network in that region.
 
Also and again, selling something built for 220V in a 110V region without proper quality control is really poorly executed by a company that calls them selves high end and charge high end prices.
 
I do love the sound of my AURALiC though, I have to stress that. It's the rumor about their business ethics I'm worried about. I also have no financial interest in this case, I'm just an enthusiast as you are well aware, as we know each other well.
 
Talk to AURALiC and Duet audio, ardilla. They seem to be blasting out review samples all over the place, and you can probably borrow MKII and PRE if you do a writeup here on head-fi and the Norwegian equivalent.

 
1) Yes - indeed - one should behave, even in business. But maybe the distributor wasn't any good, maybe the rumors are making more of a story of it than it is. 
 
2) Yes, that might be a splendid idea

 

[Norway]

  2) Yes, that might be a splendid idea

 
So will you do it, hun? I'd say that MKI vs MKII would be the most interesting as those are geared towards head-fi, whereas the PRE has the head amp as an addon. (Yes, I know you are aware, but just reminding anyone who is reading).