Honestly, I didn’t think I would do this, but I guess I am now. I bought another SVS Micro3000 subwoofer so I can dual wield subwoofer. Now I can start the fun again with another subwoofer crawl on figuring out where to put this 2nd subwoofer at. I’m sure the reward is going to really nice once I finally experience on having 2 subwoofer on my system vs just 1 this past year.
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A new challenger enters! Warmed it up for an hour and I’m already liking it.
Unfortunately, I am once again DACless! The Pavane I got a week ago had some weird distortion. The seller was amazing in trying to help me figure out what was going on but after a number of days of messing around with it, he agreed that he take it back and send it to Metrum to resolve.
I’m feeding the Mentor with my trusty R4 and it sounds great. The Mentor is pretty similar in conception to my favourite Kinki THR-1, as I understand it. Both high power, high voltage, fairly simple, Class-A, discrete designs. Their aim is for musical neutrality, or as I say, naturalness (at their price point, £1299). I this see the Mentor as a sidegrade. However, I decided to pull the trigger because the output impedance on the Kinki is high, I think it’s something like 50 or 70 Ohms on the 4 XLR. Mr primary headphone, Moondrop Cosmo, has an impedance of 14 Ohms if memory serves, not ideal for the Kinki. Also, the Kinki doesn’t have gain control and so I can’t use IEMs with it. The Mentor has low output impedance and gain control; no pre amp functionality, but I don’t need that any way.
Now, I have to go back to the drawing board and pick a DAC! There’s a few that are in the cross hairs. An Amber 5, OG Yggy (unsure of output board), a Pontus 12th, TT2, SF Processor 3 and a Wavelight. I’m going with the Wavelight as, from reading a lot on here, it seems to be well balanced. I’m not sure it’s the best for my chain or preferences but I want to try it nonetheless.
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The Mentor is still on my list of amps I’d like to try! I’ve been keeping up with the thread over at Head-Fi, and I read Ichos’ reviews, where he compares it to the V550 tonally. It seems they are very close. Based on the recommendations for the V550, I’d say the Yggy A2 is pretty popular. Multiple users here have had that chain(V550+A2) and like it so far. I’ve also heard that the A2 + Mentor pairing has good synergy.
Regarding the Wavelight, make sure to check the firmware version. The newest FW for the newer 2.xx boards is not as warm and full as the first FW. I believe the old motherboards used FW 1.33 or 1.38 before they shifted to a more neutral tuning.
The same applies to the Pontus II. It seems the original FW is warmer and richer, though not as resolving. They seem to have nailed the Pontus II with the 12th Anniversary FW, which is resolving yet still rich enough compared to the stock Pontus II 12th.
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Agree on this! It’s the reason I decided to keep it instead of selling it. Overkill for my TV watching but just knew if I ever needed a DAC for a system, it would be a good one to keep.
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I must admit, spending 50 % less and going for an Yggy over the Rockna is quite a draw. Same with the Pontus 12th.
My logic is that spending double will more likely “end the game”. I figure with my aversion for warmth/density and “in your face” presentations, the Wavelight is a good choice on balance.
It’s interesting, I’ve already noticed the Mentor set the stage a few rows back from the Kinki THR-1. The Kinki is already a sound stage monster, and it’s not out performed by the Flux in this regard, it’s just with Mentor setting the stage a few rows back, it should pair better with those DACs that would otherwise be too “in my face”. I wish I still had the Cyan 2 to test with the Mentor. But I’ll settle for a Wavelight.
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As a Valencia amp owner, I guess not owning a Mod House Tungsten DS didn’t feel right, so I went ahead and bought one 
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I drove to the neighboring state to pick it up just so I can enjoy it this weekend. The previous owner and I had some Starbucks and he told me not to worry about driving it and to enjoy the headphone. I ask him what amp he uses to drive it… he said a Cayin 170HA amp and his Mass Kobo 465. I did not have a comment after he said that.
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Easy for him to say lol
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Well I can finally confirm a full Allnic chain for headphones is also nice!!
Have had this for a few months now and am very satisfied with the synergy 
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Traded my VMV P2 for a legit IE900. Pretty good. Great imaging. Good staging for an IEM. I like the tuning, too. It’s been a fun listen today. Haven’t tried it on a DAP yet but the Mentor drove it well.
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Ie900 is awesome 
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