Sound quality: Thiel Audio's Aurora Tour had fair sound quality overall. Bass has good impact but is somewhat prominent, boomy and the deepest bass is lacking. Midrange is fairly even but muffled and a bit grainy. Treble is subdued and upper treble is muted. Does a so-so job of recovering room ambience and is congested. Provides a decent volume level in a medium sized room. No significant difference between Airplay, Play-Fi, Bluetooth and Aux wired sound quality.
Ease of use: We found the Thiel Audio Aurora Tour ease of use to be good overall. Volume controls are non-prominent, low- contrast (+/-) buttons on side of unit. Mute is a dedicated control on physical remote, clearly marked , it has a clear indication when it is engaged but is not prominent and mutes line in. Switching sources: Requires app to be installed, app controls only wifi content streaming. Switching between Bluetooth and Aux inputs requires the press of the source button on unit where there are clear indicators of the selected inputs using high contrast labeling. Wifi: Setup requires an app downloaded to a device or device connection, easy and intuitive - need instructions (may be included in app), involves inputting Wi-Fi network password. WPS: WPS setup (only applicable for those with WPS routers): three steps - push button on back of unit, push WPS button on router, wait for connection. Connects within 30 seconds to 1 min. Airplay Setup: Requires the press of the setup button on unit, then selection of Play-Fi wireless on source device and following Airplay setup instructions on Apple device. DLNA: DLNA is not mentioned and key steps are omitted and does not explain how to connect in DLNA systems. Bluetooth pairing requires a press of a unmarked button either selecting Bluetooth source on first time power up or pressing the setup button to get into pairing mode - which is also used for other wireless setup routines then the selection of unit from Bluetooth selection list on source device; unit provides an obvious indication that the unit is in pairing mode as well as when pairing has actually occurred. The app occasionally glitched, stopped responding or lost connection to speaker.
