[nighthink]

I believe the Mentor wasn’t built for speakers. Don’t they require a certain level of amperage to run?

True it's not meant to be preamp.. Anyway, I was in talks with Flux Labs and they saw no issue with operating it this way, assuming the Mentor is in low gain mode. They were helpful in this regard and gave me a lot of further insights.

I don't see any issue with operating Mentor in this mode with my setup. I might eventually try some Rothwell attenuations on power amp input to reduce the gain by 10db. It might help also with my regular preamp to get more working area with the volume knob.

 

[psy472]

True it's not meant to be preamp.. Anyway, I was in talks with Flux Labs and they saw no issue with operating it this way, assuming the Mentor is in low gain mode. They were helpful in this regard and gave me a lot of further insights.

I don't see any issue with operating Mentor in this mode with my setup. I might eventually try some Rothwell attenuations on power amp input to reduce the gain by 10db. It might help also with my regular preamp to get more working area with the volume knob.

Was there a specific reason for keeping it low gain? Is it because the power output of the Mentor is too high?

 

[nighthink]

Was there a specific reason for keeping it low gain? Is it because the power output of the Mentor is too high?

I sent to Flux specifications of my preamp and amp and they responded back with: "The Mentor is itself an amplifier with the same gain (in low gain mode) as your preamplifier", So that's why. I can't say if this is the case with every preamp, probably not, but I'm no expert here. I just know I have a match.

 

[Feischmaker]

Hi, any info from the fluxlab team when the mentor is going to be available for order again?

 

[Erick Muller]

Yes, I am.

You should had posted this image instead.

 

[Erick Muller]

This.. I had similar thoughts ever since I confirmed with Flux Labs I can use Mentor as preamp to my power amplifier with 6.3mm jack -> RCA. Using XLR output would be the same in this case as the sound from both is the same and Mentor isn't balanced.

Today I finally received some quality interconnect cable for this purpose from Ricable (they even created it for me with 6.3mm jack instead of 3.5mm and it looks absolutely great) and I could finally put it under some initial test.



And the result? I don't know.. they must be very close with my Usher P307-A as I'm unable to clearly say which I like more. The P307-A is no slouch, however, even if it is an old guy now. But it is as neutral as one can be and that is a compliment for Mentor I'd say, that it can keep up with P307A. Well maybe at the end P307A is a bit better, but it requires more listening to confirm.

One thing I don't like though is that with Mentor I have a slightly stronger hum from my speakers. It's no drama but it is audible. And I don't understand why, as I assumed Mentor would be dead silent as it is with my HE1000SE. Even the interconnect cable is now quite good. Everything is connected into Puritan PSM156 power conditioner, which helped with the overall hum from my speakers and P307A is now almost completely silent. But not the Mentor.. strange, strange.

I know maybe that ground loop thing (which I refuse to chase).. but why is it not there with Usher P307A but only with Mentor, and why is it not audible in headphones? probably it will be due to something between Mentor and power amplifier.

There's probably a mismatched between the HP output impedance from the mentor into the inputs of your pre-amp more likely than not and that's what you're probably hearing, that's why it's not recommended to do that in the first place.

 

[nighthink]

There's probably a mismatched between the HP output impedance from the mentor into the inputs of your pre-amp more likely than not and that's what you're probably hearing, that's why it's not recommended to do that in the first place.

yea.. just experimenting

 

[psy472]

Hi, any info from the fluxlab team when the mentor is going to be available for order again?

Best you just email them to ask.

 

[nighthink]

Just received the Iris 12th to pair with Pontus II and Mentor and straight out of the box it's another improvement jump.. No idea why I hesitated so long with Iris. One would wonder where this all ends...

 

[skhan007]

Not sure if this has been answered, but I didn't see it in the thread: Does anyone list power (watts) at different headphone impedances?

We know 11.5 watts @ 32 Ohms and 1.6 W @ 300 Ohms.
How about watts @ 50, 100, 150 Ohms?

Perhaps there's a basic math formula to estimate?