That's right. But Loki Max or Lokius can be connected right after DAC and then from Loki into Mentor via XLR and into my preamp/amp combo via RCA and then just turn the switch between XLR and RCA on Loki. Suddenly the Pontus would feed both systems from balanced XLR at the same time (right now I...

There is even Loki Max and that thing looks very serious, wondering what that would do if placing between DAC and Mentor. But it costs more than MJ3 alone :scream:.. well maybe it's better to start with some el cheapo software eq thing to get an idea if that is something worth investing into...

Is it such pain? I imagined it shall be much more comfortable than fiddling with software eq and dragging all the sliders here and there and even worse on touch screen trying to move it with fingers. Having 6 knobs at hand reach distance I thought this could be fairly straight process. But...

I would be in for a lokious, frankly. Not so much for another tube amp, although I can see how it could be beneficial. Too much of extra costs for not so warranted usage, but that's just me. Thanks for confirmation on lokius though, I might give it a try at some point.

Heh I like that :). But where is the 4k OLED please? :) I hope single Mentor can do more than just led and cover also this stage. That is also what I choose as my TV upgrade just few months ago. 4K is enough for me, but it had to be Oled. I can confirm Mentor with HE1000SE is great, but to not...

Also wondering if for example Lokius could further alter the presentation of Mentor to your liking and potentially make it sound closer to MJ3 (if you would want to). Going from "higher resolution" to lower, it theoretically could be possible, but don't have any experience with equalising so...

Appreciate such comparision, it has value even for me already settled for Mentor. Then I can understand more what would be at home if MJ3 would be sooner available. On this engaging note, in my case this goes in phases. First one was like "holly crap what the hell is this" (I never experienced...

Indeed.. I'm considering one of the matrix SPDIF3 or Element S. The reason is I'd want it mainly for Apple Music hi-res playback. If I understand it right, both of them can do this if connecting iPhone/iPad into Matrix and then outputing to external DAC (Pontus II). You wrote Element S has...

Thanks. That looks like version for Pontus ii-12th, but not for original pontus ii

Is there really a new firmware? I'm under impression the v1.4 is still the latest one (for Pontus II at least).

Ultimately they are all three class A headamps with the same price tag, that's why they are so much compared. Even the approaches are not thaat much different - aka dual mono :). At least that's why I ended up oscilating between them. But one can't really make a mistake with any of them, that's...

Oh cool that my hearing isn't totally off. Then I can still claim to my neighbours when we meet on the street to walk the kids I'm an audiophile (without too much of insecurity).

Wondering if you had chance to compare SE and XLR output of Mentor and what was the difference you noticed? I did that as I assumed XLR will be better (as it is always reported so with basically every amp), but I didn't notice anything that would make me think SE is worse than XLR. In both cases...

What’s your source to feed the dac here? Thanks.

The volume follows logaritmic curve (first half slowly goes up but later on smaller steps mean higher gain) so I would expect from there you will only need slight adjustments. Just out of curiosity - on low gain the 1266 does not go loud enough at all?

Great comparision. I think the whole chain has a lot to say about the end result. Lately I found out how much you can compensate on different aspects in different parts of the chain. Mentor's strength I believe is it can adapt and translate those changes into the end result quite well. Apart...

This might be even my case, maybe it has just different impact for me. The bass I instantly heard tighter and deeper at the same time. It was like until now my speakers were all the time working well under their real potential and now they finally revealed. Now I’m more used to this new...

sure :). For me the addition of PSM156 did a lot to the sound. Can't describe it perfectly but it's just more of everything (energy, bass, separation, details), and lack of nothing really. Especially the bass difference in my room is just like a slamp into face, you just know it happened. I...

I can only tell that I connected into PSM156 Dac, preamp, power amp, headamp and once I will have it also dedicated streamer (or DDC). If I would play music from the computer, I would connect the computer as well. It has 6 sockets which are supposed to be completely isolated, so if all of them...

Yea still the same buttons where only a half works with Mentor :), interesting take on the remote. The old one was more worthy of the rest, big and heavy. But agree, not necessary. That knob is really great. I rearranged my room just to have it handy even from the couch.

True, however I suspect this remote is programmable somehow. It contains some buttons you can't use with Mentor so it is generic in a way.. Besides that, every time you grab it, it feels like you have something very special in hand :) hard to describe. If somebody has the new "plastic" remote...

That is really unfortunate situation, can't explain this and certainly does not fit into my type of experience. I ordered "refurbished" version, just because in Europe there was no new available and I didn't want to go through the hassle of import from China. I ordered in the middle of 01/2024...

Of course, didn't mean that Mentor is for everybody better. After all I mentioned several times I consider them quite equal, but with different signature. It was more about that feeling when you don't chase for anything anymore. Still remember how much energy it took to finally pick and decide...

For those still undecided this shootout is good! For Mentor owners it’s already a solved problem :). It’s relaxing to be on the other side for a change.

Yes, however then the quality is lower. It's not full resolution hi-res like if I would stream it from iPhone directly into DAC over USB cable. This is what is possible with Holo Red or Eversolo A6/A8, but seems like it's not possible with Rive (or any other such streamer as far as I know)...