Auralic Taurus mkii

Any pirate opinion on this amp compared to other ss offerings?

Say the rag or by?

 

I also would like to hear comparative comments about this amp. Listening to it at two local meets has left me impressed. Among overall good performance, imaging is great. In combination with the Vega, it can drive my HE-6 to satisfaction. Other features I like are balanced input/output. A major reservation I have is that it is not yet an ideal match with stock HD800 due to bright trebles. I am going to test it again when my HD800 gets mods.

 

Sounded tizzy and overall uninspiring with both my modded HE-6 and Ether, in meet condition.

 

How would u rank it compared to the bw, or rag? Seems it would pair nicely with a gummy from what you said

 

I said grain of salt,

 

Like I'm sure Tyll has good hearing, I agree with most of his views on things, I didn't mean to take shots at him, far from it. Probably shouldn't I've even mentioned him

I just think when you can't hear past 10khz u shouldn't be an audio reviewer.

Aka Steve guttenburg the Larry King of audio

Probably why he liked the el8, doesn't matter if there is no treble if you can't hear it anyway!

 

In Asians's eyes, Taurus mkii is one of best amp which drive HE6 really really good.

 

An update on this, I picked up a taurus mk2 for a killer price locally

I have to say, I'd describe this amp as an summit-fi 02, It is incredibly neutral with gobs of power, super clean bass. compartively with my ragnarok, the rag is has a smoother sound to it with a bit sparkle in the highs but less clean, tarsus is just flatter overall, not necesarilly a bad thing though. it's essentially the infamous "wire with gain"

they also did some funky stuff with the crosstalk maybe to make it less boring.

Also it performs differently in SE vs balanced which I find interesting. Balanced has higher voltage swing and SE has more current.

I think this is going to be replacing my rggy as my reference amp, rag will be moved along to speakers and my liquid glass will remain for them seductive gangbang sessions

 

Could you describe sound differences between the Taurus and LG with your favorite tubes? Thanks.

 

He could hear to 50k and he'd still be an idiot.

 

I'd say the glass in one word just more "fun" sounding. You can make it sounds relatively warm with stock tubes or make it more funky with some nos mullards or tungsol. The tube harmonic distortion is really nice with sennheisers/beyers.

 

How about imaging, soundstage, and dynamic range?

 

well tubes amps generally have a poor snr so dynamic range will be lower, the other two i dunno would have to listen more carefully to make that dicersion

 

Dear Judeus,

Some months ago I did a comparison test between the Taurus MK2, GS-X MK2, and Mjolnir (old version). Headphone is the HD800 (stock) and source is an Esoteric P-05/D-05 CDP/DAC stack.

With the HD800 I feel that the Taurus is overall best and Mjolnir overall worst. I feel that though the sound signature of the HD800 is not ideal with the Taurus because it sounds a bit thin and sterile although the Taurus is smoother than the very aggressive GS-X MK2.

Some time later I repeated the test with same setup but adding the Audio-GD Master 9 with higher bias and AMB Beta22 (DIY). These two amps are significantly better than anything in my previous comparison test. The Master 9 has a terrible appearance but the sound is real and the digital volume control is very practical to use. If you like neutral, smooth, detailed sound then this is a good choice.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Jeremiah

 

I agree the tarsus wouldn't be my first choice for an unmodded hd800. I much prefer my lg.

In regards to audio gd amps, I am not a fan the m9 sounded veiled to me when I heard it.

 

I just picked up a Taurus from hf and am really liking it. Definitely a Wow experience coming from a Lyr 2.

However, I'm getting what sounds like ground loop hum through both pre-outs, but its volume goes up and down with the volume knob, and it's only loud with no input attached. With a dac hooked up the hum is only audible with the volume turned way up. Seems like a ground issue but I thought ground loops didn't respond to volume changes. It's dead silent through both SE and balanced headphone output. Combo of different cables, power conditioners, and Hum-Xs couldn't fix it. Auralic suggested I try connecting the RCA inputs' grounds to check for a loop, which I'll try after work. I'm aware that the Taurus is known for being sensitive to EMI, but this seems like something else. Any other ideas? Since it's not audible at normal levels with everything hooked up I'm inclined to try and ignore it, but knowing something isn't right bothers me.

 

Had a similar problem with the Teton. In my case the chassis ground wasn't making proper contact and I would get a hum proportional to the volume. When I connected one of the chassis screws to an unused RCA ground it went away like magic.