Is the Aurieges too good for its own good?
 

I am on my second Aurieges. This one with phono, one box unit. I am simply stunned by how great this thing is. My last one was the "L" model. Not saying either one is "better", but I am really impressed with this unit. I did own a Masseto for a while also. I am just wondering if anyone has started with an Aurieges, "upgraded", and then went back to the Aurieges? It is such a well balanced piece at an affordable price... Not saying there are no benefits to moving up, but the value for money on this Aurieges is off the chart!
All this said, I will probably move to a Masseto again at some point. Audiophile nervosa... Argh

Agreed. It may be the bottom of the line but it's tops when it comes to musical value.
Of the higher end stuff, I'd say quite probably the VR.

The Aurieges sits right on the perfect "money spent vs happiness" intersection. As you go up the Shindo pre-amps the sound quality rises but not as steeply as the price does - depending on your income your move up the Shindo line can actually result in "negative happiness growth" which can be very unpleasant.

I have the Aurieges and Masseto and in some ways I like the Aurieges better. The Aurieges does not focus on any part of the music but rather presents it as a whole and as such is very easy and relaxing to listen to. The Masseto is a bit more revealing and darker, but it can lead you to focus on individual sounds within the music and encourages "critical listening" (critical listening will ultimately kill any enjoyment you get from music - it is ok some of the time but not all of the time).

The Masseto is a hot date with a beautiful woman, the Aureiges is a few beers with your best mate. The Masseto is the better pre-amp but in a funny way sometimes not as enjoyable.

I had the Aurieges line stage and moved up to the Monbrison due to its MM and MC capabilities.

The Monbrison is a world class preamp and I do love it so...but, there are times when I recall many blissful hours with the little Aurieges. If I had the disposable income I think I'd buy a used Aureiges just in case something were to go wrong with the Monbrison. To be without the Shindo sound even for a short time is not an attractive possibility.

Anyone in the market for a preamp near the price of the Aurieges would be crazy to ignore that gem. The Aurieges got me hooked on the Shindo sound and now there is no turning back....

TheMagus... Welcome! :wave:

Thanks so much, Masterlu.

Beautifully put.
You can spend more money, but that doesn't always guarantee greater musical satisfaction.

I also went from Auriges-L to Monbrison because I wanted the phono stage. But it was not because I could find any faults with the Auriges. Having said that, I am also extremely happy with the Monbrison and I don't see myself going back. Although, like you, I do wish I had kept my little Auriges just in case.

Alberto

I have the Aurieges MM and a Masseto. Both are fantastic, you could say the Masseto is better, but really it is just different. I could happily live with either, although I do enjoy the phono stage in the Masseto more.

The Aurieges is amazing, especially considering the price.

As I am currently moving from the Autieges (the two box version) to the Masseto (will the package never arrive?), my feelings are: a) The Auriegies is a very good pre-amp, with lots of tone and feeling, (b) When I had my session with Matt, I was stunned by the sound difference when we moved to the Monbrison - clarity, depth, etc. - everything else being equal (same Montille, speakers, everything), (c) I could not hear as big a difference from the Monbrison to the Masseto, it was much more subtle. I choose the Masseto over the Monbrison because it was a bit different with the transformers and I felt that it was a "better" long-term selection, but I could have been exceptionally happy with the Monbrison. Having said that, when Matt put the Aurieges back into play after the Monbrison, after just a couple of songs, I quickly asked him to take it out for the Monbrison. And that was that...I have had my Aurieges for a couple of years now, and it is very good, but IMHO and in my system (I'll be staying with the Montille to power the O/96s for a while), it is not in the same category as the others above it, technically...I have not heard the V-R or above yet...Jonathan K.

Personally, I was absolutely floored with the move from the Aurieges to the Monbrison. One caveat, though, I was running a SS amp at the time. The Monbrison tamed it quite well and the difference was night and day.

Everyone of these units are fantastic for their price. I loved my Aurieges but the monbrison is everything the aurieges was but brings it to a higher level and the same goes for the Masseto. I agree the aurieges presents the sound the same as the others but each level up the line brings detail, openness, and improved sound stage that the others were missing.

Depending on what you are trying to achieve depends on what you should buy. For me there would be no going back with the rest of my system. I am looking for all the openness and complexity that the Masseto offers and it is stunning. I can only imagine how much better it gets as you progress up the line.

Indeed. There are clear and distinct jumps in performance as you move up the line. Aurieges to Monbrison brings much more scale and even handed musical playback top to bottom. Musical tone and texture takes on a more palpable presence. The Monbrison to Masseto difference is more about finesse, nuance and a bump in resolution. You will also notice much more weight and 'foundation' with the Masseto.

All 3 allow you to enjoy a tremendous degree of great music, no doubt about it!

The key to maximizing the performance of these products is making sure the rest of the system is capable.

As a few of previous posts implied, some missed their Aurieges after moving to a higher end model. This is emotionally justifiable since it is giant killer of a preamp and we all have a special place in our heart for our first Shindo preamp! ;-) But if it is preferred sonically, it definitely highlights, to me, a potential bottleneck in the rest of the system when a model such as Monbrison, Masseto or Vosne-Romannée is placed in the setup.

Higher end models will demand a bit more care in setup to maximize their potential. Ie. Speakers that aren't squeezing the life out of the music, proper speaker setup, proper cabling, better equipment stands..better source components, so on and so forth.

-M

I think the thrust of the original post was that most first timers that start with an Aurieges are astounded that such a little thing can produce such amazing music. While going up the Shindo line may produce better sound (and furnish you with a wonderful phono stage), you may still find yourself looking back at the Aurieges and marveling at what it does in the name of music, at THAT price.

Upgrading any component in your system should be considered carefully.
Doing so can sometimes cause more heartache than joy.

Matt:thumbsup:

Exactly, well said.

Hello. This is my first post here. I recently found this web site and have enjoyed all the discussions and banter. I will be meeting with Matt Rotunda of Pitch Perfect this Sat. and will likely buy an Aurieges-L. I'm quite excited as I expect a significant improvement in the sound of my system which consists of Harbeth Compact 7's, Quicksilver Silver Mono 88's, Nuforce P8 preamp and Micromega Mydac. I listen to Classical and opera mostly.

avta
Welcome!

Thank you SS77

Yes welcome and I promise you that you will have a great time visiting Matt! He has a wonderful setup and a plethora of gear and tunes. All in all it makes for a great experience.

Barr

avta, welcome aboard! :wave:

Yes, I'm looking forward to the visit very much and thanks for all the welcomes.

Hey AVTA,

Welcome, and enjoy your time with Matt. My only advice is to enjoy the session and don't obsess too much (I can do that for you! ;-)
Best, Jdk

Hi AVTA,

Welcome. I echo what the others have said about Matt. He is terrific, patient and one of the nicest people on the planet. No doubt you will depart filled with joy, awe and a desire for moving up the Shindo ladder asap. Looking forward to your report. Doug

Met with Matt and enjoyed ourselves ( my wife came along ). His showroom is more like a livingroom which not only enhances the sounds but makes the experience very pleasurable. As many of you know Matt is a very personable expert. Not an easy combination to find. We listened to some vinyl, cd's and music files. I ordered an Aurieges-L as I had planned to do. Now I'll have to be patient.

Hey "Bplexico, JDK, AVTA, Macnbone" - thanks so much for the kind words! I appreciate it guys.


-M

Looks like I will be answering my own question since I have a Monbrison arriving this Tuesday. I got a great buy on a recent model. So if my Aurieges is not "too good for its own good" I guess I will be listing it next week. Looking forward to a battle of these lil Titans!

I could be mistaken, but didn't you once own a Masseto?

-M

Yes, I did. I really don't know why, but I just didn't bond with it. Maybe a mismatch somewhere, who knows? My system is now more Shindo friendly, so I will likely try it again. Interestingly, the guy who bought my Masseto was coming from a Monbrison, and told me he preferred his Monbrison. Maybe I had some issue in my Masseto? At any rate, I have wanted to try a Monbrison in my system ever since.
All that said, I really like my Aurieges. It just clicks the right buttons for me.

The Aurieges-L arrived yesterday and in good shape as far as I can tell. I have it running with my W4S amp as it's been quite warm and my Quicksilver Mono 88's give off a lot of heat. Even with that the sound is quite smooth. I'll do more listening tomorrow. ( Harbeth Compact 7's, Micromega Mydac, Squeezebox Touch, Audience ic's )

I received my Monbrison, and did decide to sell my Aurieges. The Mon is better. But the Aurieges of course is still an excellent preamp by any standard.
Just wondering, is the Monbrison too good for it's own good?

Just kidding with that question...

Depends on the tubes.

I kid!! I kid!!

Is there any difference between the two box Aurieges or the single chassis?

I've been considering adding an Aurieges to my system for a while now just from all the wonderful things I've read about it. I've never auditioned this preamp, although I have listened to the Masseto and Vosne Romanee, both under less than optimal conditions and I did not find anything extraordinary about them. Before we get out the pitch forks and torches for blaspheming Shindo gear, read on.

The Masseto was paired with the Cortese and DeVore O/96 with Shindo 301 TT, the only problem was I did not enjoy the music that was being played (Ry Cooder). This was on a recent trip to NYC where I was in the neighborhood of In Living Stereo and I dropped by without an appointment, so the store owner allowed me to sit in the demo room and listen to this combo while he was helping another customer. I dared not touch the Shindo 301 for fear of breaking it, but I saw a Jimi Hendrix album that I wanted to throw on there oh so badly. Still, I was impressed with the O/96 sound but not overly impressed as I was expecting. And as I mentioned, I think this was the music as there wasn't much dynamic swing or different instruments. It was more of an intimate session with Mr. Cooder, which I did not care for. I would like to spend more time with the O/96, as I think that may be my next speaker.

I should also state I have very limited experience with vinyl and have almost no interest going down that path. I'm young and like to listen to music on a whim, so my listening is 100% digital. The few times I've heard vinyl (all with Shindo 301) I was impressed with it's smoothness, but being of the new generation I could not get past the snap and crackling sound that seems to be present. Maybe that's just those particular records.

The Vosne Romanee I listened to was paired with the Montille EL84 and again with a Shindo 301 TT, but this time to Harbeth SHL5. The Montille and the Harbeth SHL5 definitely do not get along, at least not in comparison to the little Leben CS300XS which I was also demoing. This was a demo with a local dealer who I did have time to setup an appointment with, so we spent hours going back and forth between the two combos. The Shindo combo was lifeless in comparison to the Leben with these speakers, even the dealer agreed. More power, perhaps? It is odd because the Montille and Leben have the same 15wpc output.

So far, my experiences with Shindo have been in less than optimal listening conditions but I have to believe from all that I read that there is some magic to be heard from all this highly acclaimed gear.

My own setup consists of a Devore Nines and a Leben CS600 which I've had the pleasure of listening extensively over the last year. I've upgraded the stock 6CS7 tubes to NOS Japanese as per recommended by Yoshi (designer) and I've upgraded the power tubes to NOS EL34 DD getters, boy what an upgrade! The bass firmed up, more definition, and definitely more realistic tone to guitar strings and resonance, piano, and anything that hits in the lower frequencies.

I'm very happy with my setup but I'm very curious as to the Shindo sound, and I wonder if adding an Aurieges-L as a preamp to the Leben CS600 would be a good move. I wonder if anyone has experience with this combination they could share. Regardless, thanks for reading my post. If I ever do try the Aurieges with the Leben I'll post my impressions.

CFz- Thanks for sharing your experiences. I think Leben actually may have a switch, where you can chose 8ohm, 4ohm.... So, the Leben may be better suited to tougher impedance loads. It appears from what I have read and learned, that the Shindo amps are better suited to higher impedance speakers. The Leben/Harbeth pairing specifically is said to to be one that works nicely. The system you heard at ILS is one I have heard as well.
The mellower music can be very intimate as you describe, but too bad you didn't get to listen to the Hendrix. I find my system with the 96's and CC el 34's, can be convincing with rock. I use an EMT tsd-15 through an A23 standard SUT. My guess is you may have felt different had you listened to the Hendrix. If that still didn't do it for you, there would have been some things to try. You may have really liked the EMT through an appropriate SUT. Another thing that comes to mind would have been to try the Haut Brion or CC 80's.
The Steve's certainly know their know their stuff. I have also heard some very respectable digital from their system. On a lighter and simpler note, check out a table. The stuff like Hendrix and Led Zep is made to be heard on vinyl. If you are a spontaneous listener, you still have to turn on your equipment. So if you ony have 45 minutes, spin a record...!

I don't think you will be able to know with certainty how adding an Aurieges will effect you system without trying it. I know that sounds trite but system specifics are critical in my view. I recently added an Aurieges-L preamp to my system which consists of Harbeth Compact 7 speakers, Quicksilver Mono 88 tube amps, Anedio DAC1 and Squeezebox Touch. Like you I don't do vinyl for the same reasons. I noticed a signficant improvement in sound quality which I described in an earlier post as " more meat on the bones. " The sound is more realistic with improved spacial characteristics and richness. Others will likely chime in but do try to borrow one if you can.
Guy

Good advice fjn. I would one day like to try vinyl but at the moment the investment seems to be to much for me. A turntable, step up transformer, phono preamp, cables, etc. I'm hoping the Shindo preamp will analog-up the sound a bit. Hopefully I can find a Aurieges-L on the used market to maximize my investment, otherwise I'll look at upgrading my DAC. Good point with the impedance matching, I forgot the Leben amps have this feature and that's a good explanation for the Leben's prowess with the Harbeths.

Thanks Guy, glad to hear it helped your system out. I've been considering reaching out to my dealer to see if I can borrow one before taking the plunge. My hope is that he'll have or can sell me a used one, because I have no intention of buying new equipment and I'd hate to waste his time if he has nothing used to sell me. In addition to loving music, I love to save and new audio equipment is a horrible value for me at the moment. A used Aurieges sounds like it would be a good upgrade for the money.

Just curious but what does an Aurieges (w/MM) and the Monbrison retail for?

Would one or the other be more suited to go between a DAC and the MC452 SS amp that I currently have?