[Nick76]

Great to know and thanks for those impressions. Looks like the mentor is using op-amps as well. Usually lends to speed and such - not the ideal amp for me but looks like a banger. I'm going to stick to MJ3 with a Ac Infinity silent cooling fan on top - I like a more mellow presentation with detail shining through.

Me as well. Have the rackmount AC infinity exhaust fan right above mine. Keeps it cool and doesn't make a peep. Works perfectly.

 

[psy472]

Me as well. Have the rackmount AC infinity exhaust fan right above mine. Keeps it cool and doesn't make a peep. Works perfectly.

I saw your review a few hundred posts ago when I was planning to buy the MJ3. I am also planning to get a cooler as well. Mainly because I don’t want the internals to break down like others are showing.

 

[Slackaveli]

Understood, but Schiit stresses the class-a design of the MJ3 because most amps today that claim class-a aren’t true class-a. It’s a fancy term that gets thrown around these days. Also, 11w true class-a will generate tons of heat and require a cooling mechanism which i don’t see on the mentor. What flux is claiming to have done is rather impossible. No sinks, no fans, and only luke warm to the touch, i highly doubt it.

it is 100% class A but im not going to try to convince you.
also dude just said it uses op-amps... which it doesnt.

This is the MJ3 thread so I'll dip on that one.

 

[quawn0418]

I can see your concern. I’m not a science person so I wouldn’t know the specifics. I only care about the sound quality I get out of the amp. Schiit’s amps are special and they nailed it with the MJ3. MJ3 sounds like an amazing and expensive tube amp.

Whatever type the Flux Mentor is, it’s great too. I don’t get this type of sound quality and sound stage unless it’s from 10K USD amps. And I got both of those for dirt cheap.

Yea i think schiit stresses the class-a design because it is just that, no short-cuts. Furthermore, i think they stress it because these days who can honestly tell the difference lol i trust my ears and my ears only. I envy you for owning both amps lol the mentor seems like an amp that sounds really impressive, like "hey look what i can do" lol which is why im eager to hear one for myself, but for everyday listening i cant imagine me enjoying an amp more than the MJ3, unless it costed absurd amounts of money ofcorse.

 

[quawn0418]

deleted*

 

[tincanear]

If they did realize something was up with the old capacitors, and changed them in subsequent runs, I sure hope they replaced mine when it was just in for service for the gain switch. Will be a pain and another $40 dollars to ship it back to CA from NJ if the old caps fail.

@Nick76 @keenerz try contacting them via email and ask for a (pre-paid) return tag so that you can just drop it off at UPS or Fedex. take a pic of the tag before sending so you can track the return progress.

@quawn0418 black vs blue case color might indicate a different cap manufacturer or series from same mfr.

regarding "Class A" there is this from Jason Stoddard
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sch...bable-start-up.701900/page-7224#post-17354025

also additional chapters on Balanced, Discrete, Feedback
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sch...bable-start-up.701900/page-7786#post-17518152

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sch...bable-start-up.701900/page-7997#post-17603364

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sch...bable-start-up.701900/page-9040#post-17911208

 

[psy472]

Yea i think schiit stresses the class-a design because it is just that, no short-cuts. Furthermore, i think they stress it because these days who can honestly tell the difference lol i trust my ears and my ears only. I envy you for owning both amps lol the mentor seems like an amp that sounds really impressive, like "hey look what i can do" lol which is why im eager to hear one for myself, but for everyday listening i cant imagine me enjoying an amp more than the MJ3, unless it costed absurd amounts of money ofcorse.

If it wasn’t because I have a Susvara I wouldn’t have gotten the Flux either. Susvara is good on MJ3 but I wasn’t get all of the abilities out of it. Susvara is said to be one of the most resolving and large soundstage cans out there. For it to sound just as good as the HEK on MJ3 means it was under performing.

 

[Voxata]

I saw your review a few hundred posts ago when I was planning to buy the MJ3. I am also planning to get a cooler as well. Mainly because I don’t want the internals to break down like others are showing.

The issue doesn't appear to be heat related, moreso a design or defective part upstream problem.

 

[Nick76]

@Nick76 contact them via email and ask for a (pre-paid) return tag so that you can just drop it off at UPS or Fedex. take a pic of the tag before sending so you can track the return progress.

@quawn0418 black vs blue case color might indicate a different cap manufacturer or series from same mfr.

Schiit doesn't pay for shipping to them for warranty repairs. Shipping cost is on the individual. They do however pay for the return shipping back. It stinks when it's a bigger heavy box like a MJ3 or Yggy, especially when you live entirely across the country, but gotta pay to play I guess.

 

[Voxata]

Me as well. Have the rackmount AC infinity exhaust fan right above mine. Keeps it cool and doesn't make a peep. Works perfectly.

Nice what rack is that? I should really look into something... I've got a bit of room so long as the rack isn't too deep and I can set my PC on top.

 

[keenerz]

@keenerz try contacting them via email and ask for a (pre-paid) return tag so that you can just drop it off at UPS or Fedex. take a pic of the tag before sending so you can track the return progress.

Already started to contact them, so whenever i hear something. unfortunately like nick said they usually cover one way so we’ll see if they throw me a bone, just fairly just annoyed i have to send it back twice for repairs in under 6 months of ownership, but hopefully they’ll take care of me.

 

[betula]

What you can do for cooling is, put a 12V, 120mm computer fan running at 5V using a USB adaptor over the heatsinks, then cover the vents over the capacitors. That will suck air through the sides, then through all the electronics before going through the heatsinks.

Do you do this? Is it necessary? I mean it is normal for class-A to get hot. Many folks panic if their amps get around 45°C/115°F, but in fact even 65°C/150°F is completely normal.

 

[kopczas]

I don’t know much about capacitors but i can see that my MJ3 has a 10uf and and 47uf instead of two 47uf’s in those same spots, no clue what that means but my MJ3 is of the latest batch

Again, has unit with those capacitors stopped working?

Starting capacitor histeria by users who admit, have no idea about capacitors, is irresponsible.

Every manufacturer may change (or tweak) equipment design not delivering data about this to users and potential buyers. IF Schiit changed 47uf to 10uf it may be due to performance tweak, or it actually does not change anything but the size of higher ripple 47uf would be to big, so they used even higher ripple 10uf cap.

Or QC standard is low.

 

[Voxata]

Again, has unit with those capacitors stopped working?

Starting capacitor histeria by users who admit, have no idea about capacitors, is irresponsible.

Every manufacturer may change (or tweak) equipment design not delivering data about this to users and potential buyers. IF Schiit changed 47uf to 10uf it may be due to performance tweak, or it actually does not change anything but the size of higher ripple 47uf would be to big, so they used even higher ripple 10uf cap.

Or QC standard is low.

I hope you are not suggesting to ignore the problem until an (and this is the key wording) actually impacted amp may or may not start showing signs of failure. I've got a lot of tech experience under my belt and I wouldn't recommend this advice to anyone. It is however important to emphasize that people shouldn't worry if they have an earlier model with the four 47ufs if everything looks normal. Still, checking every couple months or whatever is an obvious recommendation for anyone with this revision. You can easily see them right through the lid with a little light. Schiit changed this section of the amplifier for a reason, you could see why some may speculate it was due to this problem.

 

[quawn0418]

Again, has unit with those capacitors stopped working?

Starting capacitor histeria by users who admit, have no idea about capacitors, is irresponsible.

Every manufacturer may change (or tweak) equipment design not delivering data about this to users and potential buyers. IF Schiit changed 47uf to 10uf it may be due to performance tweak, or it actually does not change anything but the size of higher ripple 47uf would be to big, so they used even higher ripple 10uf cap.

Or QC standard is low.

Dude it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that something looks out of the norm. Your practically telling them to ignore their leaking capacitors lol now again, i don’t know about them and how they work, but i know for a fact they aren’t supposed to leak, or are they Mr. Capacitor?