That's a lot of speculation for something you've not heard.At this level (TOTL) it's usually something at the expense of something. According to all the advice I've read, with the Mentor you can expect a wider soundstage (dual-mono design) at the expense of the 3D holography that the Aune has. The Mentor may be more resolving, but individual sounds may have less power. This airy presentation in the Mentor could mean leaner bass. Mentor is probably even more neutral than Aune.
Anyway, my understanding is in order to get the best of out of the Mentor, you'd need a pair. That makes the asking price $2,600 where the Aune S17 comes in at $700.Is there really a comparison between the mentor and s17?
There is hype now around Mentor and I have seen some who say that it is really high end,
I wonder how the s17 compares to it.
But that's just price and speaks nothing of which sounds better. I will say for $2,600 bucks, I'd expect better than what a $700 dollar amp offers. But like everything else, there's also synergy (equipment matching).