[Ultrainferno]

I doubt I'll go for his next reference rig he told me about though. $$$$$

 

[project86]

  I doubt I'll go for his next reference rig he told me about though. $$$$$

 
 
The V284 concept he's had floating around in his head for a while?

 

[Fegefeuer]

   
 
The V284 concept he's had floating around in his head for a while?

 
yes  

 

[CoLdAsSauLt]

Hi all.

I just ploughed through this whole thread, - thank you all for your contributions - and it very much helped me narrowing down my choices to the following two headamps:
- Auralic Taurus mkii
- Violectric V281
It's a very tough choice :s I don't have a possibility to listen to both at this moment, so I'm down to your advice really. Main HP = HD800, but an LCD-3 might be added to that as I was so stupid to give it a listen and can't stop wanting it now to complement the Senn.

Project86, forgive me my impatience, but any new or established impressions regarding how both amps stack up to each other would really help me. You can always send a pm if you're not confident enough yet to spill the beans out loud in this thread. Thank you!!

Stijn

 

[Viper2005]

I ordered my silver V281 from Arthur (Violectric USA) and its on its way to me

 

[Armaegis]

   
 
The V284 concept he's had floating around in his head for a while?

 
And what -pray tell- is this?

 

[project86]

Hi all.

I just ploughed through this whole thread, - thank you all for your contributions - and it very much helped me narrowing down my choices to the following two headamps:
- Auralic Taurus mkii
- Violectric V281
It's a very tough choice :s I don't have a possibility to listen to both at this moment, so I'm down to your advice really. Main HP = HD800, but an LCD-3 might be added to that as I was so stupid to give it a listen and can't stop wanting it now to complement the Senn.

Project86, forgive me my impatience, but any new or established impressions regarding how both amps stack up to each other would really help me. You can always send a pm if you're not confident enough yet to spill the beans out loud in this thread. Thank you!!

Stijn

 
 
I'll preface this by saying they are both EXCELLENT amps. Nothing either of them does slightly better is enough to invalidate the other as an excellent choice, and honestly I don't think you can go wrong either way. I hate it when reviewers and forum folks rave about some product, only to negate those impressions in the near future by finding something better..... and then do the same thing over and over each time. A good amp is a good amp even years later when something supersedes it.
 
That said, I think the V281 is my favorite amp at the moment. There are a few small things which seal the deal for me:
 
*The inky black background combined with plentiful volume control for sensitive headphones/CIEMs. Taurus is nearly as quiet but has a lot of gain, making it difficult to use with my CIEMs as the range from quiet to LOUD is rather small.
 
*The spacious presentation. It's slightly bigger than Taurus.
 
*The wonderfully analog sounding top end. It's a little smoother than the Auralic amp, not rolled off in the least but very controlled, very clean and well done. 
 
*The remote control. I use it as a preamp in my speaker rig, and it works quite well. Auralic gives specific warnings not to keep everything all connected at once, which I've never quite understood from a design perspective. V281 is happy to have every plug in use at all times and switch back and forth with the remote (which Taurus mkII doesn't have).
 
Now, there are times when the Taurus may still remain champion for me. Specifically when I want to bring out more details and high frequency shimmer. I love the V281 treble presentation but with some DACs, headphones, and music, the Taurus is a better match. Again, it's still a brilliant amp and I'd be happy to live with it if V281 was not an option. So you make the call.
 
 

I ordered my silver V281 from Arthur (Violectric USA) and its on its way to me

 
 
Congrats! Let us know what you think. 

 

[shultzee]

I ordered my silver V281 from Arthur (Violectric USA) and its on its way to me

Just ordered a black one from Arthur as well.  Lo and behold it was the same Arthur I got my x -sabre from.    Good guy to deal with.

 

[CoLdAsSauLt]

   
 
I'll preface this by saying they are both EXCELLENT amps. Nothing either of them does slightly better is enough to invalidate the other as an excellent choice, and honestly I don't think you can go wrong either way. I hate it when reviewers and forum folks rave about some product, only to negate those impressions in the near future by finding something better..... and then do the same thing over and over each time. A good amp is a good amp even years later when something supersedes it.
 
That said, I think the V281 is my favorite amp at the moment. There are a few small things which seal the deal for me:
 
*The inky black background combined with plentiful volume control for sensitive headphones/CIEMs. Taurus is nearly as quiet but has a lot of gain, making it difficult to use with my CIEMs as the range from quiet to LOUD is rather small.
 
*The spacious presentation. It's slightly bigger than Taurus.
 
*The wonderfully analog sounding top end. It's a little smoother than the Auralic amp, not rolled off in the least but very controlled, very clean and well done. 
 
*The remote control. I use it as a preamp in my speaker rig, and it works quite well. Auralic gives specific warnings not to keep everything all connected at once, which I've never quite understood from a design perspective. V281 is happy to have every plug in use at all times and switch back and forth with the remote (which Taurus mkII doesn't have).
 
Now, there are times when the Taurus may still remain champion for me. Specifically when I want to bring out more details and high frequency shimmer. I love the V281 treble presentation but with some DACs, headphones, and music, the Taurus is a better match. Again, it's still a brilliant amp and I'd be happy to live with it if V281 was not an option. So you make the call.

 
Thanks Project86 for the quick and clear answer! Much appreciated

 

[TMY168]

Hello all,

Wow! It took me a while to go through all the posts in this thread! Thanks for all the contributors.
I have a quick question... I haven't seen any comparison with Bryston BHA-1. How does V281 cpmpare with BHA-1?

Now I'm seriously consider the V281. You guys were talking about the Violectric "House Sound"... What's that like?

I'm currently using BHA-1 with HE-560 and Nordost Heimdall 2 headphone cable in a balanced mode from my sources (Lindemann Music Book 25 with RCA and Ayre DX5 DSD with Mac Book Pro & Amarra Symphony 3.0 with XLR.) I also own AKG-K702 65th Anniversary with Stephan AudioArt Endorphine, driven by Burson Soloist.

Any comment would greatly appreciated

Warm regards,
Tommy
Bangkok, Thailand.

 

[project86]

I have only limited experience with the Bryston amp. I thought it was pretty good, but not amazing. Worth the price for sure but not up there with my favorite amps. But perhaps someone else can go in to specifics.

 

[Frank I]

The Violectric house sound  is a warmer sound more of like what you would hear with a tube amplifier.The black background and the fact that it also balanced  ranks up there with some of the best solid state amps in general. There are more expensive amps and favorite of mine is The Cavalli Liquid Gold which at 4200.00 is pricer. The Cavalli excels with low impedance planars while the V281 is good with any headphone and does really well with the  Hd800.  The advantage of the V281 for many it will work well with any headphone out there. The V281 is outstanding with detail as well as extension in the treble and also in bass extension. I could easily live with this amplifier as a solid state reference amp.

 

[xaval]

  I don't remember if it was mentioned anywhere, but is there any planned update to the V800 dac?

I think I read somewhere about 2 DACs: one lighter but somewhat updated v800 and a "bigger" than v800 model. Is this correct?
 
Am I also correct assuming that both v220 and v281 are more geared to customers who just need an amp to rule all dynamics? From what I've read, and understood, the lower v200, v100 and v181 would provide almost the same performance if you're running with "simpler" dynamics like Senns, Beyers, AKGs... I'm writing this as I don't see any Hifimans (well, maybe 560...), Audezes, K1000 or Abyss type of cans on my head and that those 3 amps would do the trick just fine. 
 
I also must say that I find the DAC boards appealing as a concept despite the fact that the performance appears to be not quite on par with the amps.

 

[TMY168]

Thank you very much project86 & Frank I for the info. I think I'll go ahead with V281 with Silver faceplate & black feet.

 

[Nomax]

THE V281 is beside my PHONITOR 2 the best sounding AMP in THIS PRICE CATEGORY

NOMAX