[nighthink]

Listening to Mentor now for 5 nights, it is so addictive I fear my marriage part of life might start to suffer.
I'm considering getting some upgraded headphone cables as the stock just look lame now. And maybe complete the chain with a DDC. But I have absolutely no clue which cables would make sense and maybe that's good.
First, the current spending shall be compensated with some quality listening to make it worth the cost .

 

[psy472]

Listening to Mentor now for 5 nights, it is so addictive I fear my marriage part of life might start to suffer.
I'm considering getting some upgraded headphone cables as the stock just look lame now. And maybe complete the chain with a DDC. But I have absolutely no clue which cables would make sense and maybe that's good.
First, the current spending shall be compensated with some quality listening to make it worth the cost .

If you like as cheap as possible, durable, and long uhh headphone cables, then I’d recommend the audiophileninja cables. It’s 104 usd for 15 feet. Sounds just as good or just very slightly less than my 550 usd Zmf grand palladium cables.

 

[nighthink]

If you like as cheap as possible, durable, and long uhh headphone cables, then I’d recommend the audiophileninja cables. It’s 104 usd for 15 feet. Sounds just as good or just very slightly less than my 550 usd Zmf grand palladium cables.

I read a lot of good stuff about audiophileninja, I just feel like it should be also visual upgrade and not sure if they would suffice here. Have Arctic, Forza and Lavri cables on short list of brands. Probably will pick something from cooper cables as that seems to me better match, although for example Ichos reviewed Mentor with Lavri, so can’t be bad as well.

I guess it will be in the end more visual reasoning as any sound preference as there is no way how to find out which would sound better, if any at all.

 

[Slackaveli]

Listening to Mentor now for 5 nights, it is so addictive I fear my marriage part of life might start to suffer.
I'm considering getting some upgraded headphone cables as the stock just look lame now. And maybe complete the chain with a DDC. But I have absolutely no clue which cables would make sense and maybe that's good.
First, the current spending shall be compensated with some quality listening to make it worth the cost .

My rec is (always) Norne Cables, they have great ones even @ $250.

If you want cheaper but fantastic sounding, i recommend the pure silver chifi specials from Ebay seller Audiograded. Fantastic sounding for A mere $70, and they look lovely too. Still running those on my 109 Pro.

If going pure silver but thicker awg I'd rec the Lavricables.

Glad you are enjoying your Mentor! I'm at , what, Day 16 now and I've listened to her at least 6 hours a day all throughout.

 

[nighthink]

My rec is (always) Norne Cables, they have great ones even @ $250.

Actually, I checked your Norme Vykari but quickly realized I don't fit into price brackets of those . Also, it probably makes sense to pick something from EU, why paying additional taxes for no added value..

6 per day? That's cool. My kids would not allow me during the day and in the night I need also some sleep, so I can be functional the next day. My burn in will take up to 2 months I guess .

Edit: audiograded actually looks quite interesting, will need to check that further. Thanks.

 

[Slackaveli]

Actually, I checked your Norme Vykari but quickly realized I don't fit into price brackets of those . Also, it probably makes sense to pick something from EU, why paying additional taxes for no added value..

6 per day? That's cool. My kids would not allow me during the day and in the night I need also some sleep, so I can be functional the next day. My burn in will take up to 2 months I guess .

Edit: audiograded actually looks quite interesting, will need to check that further. Thanks.

If you message Trevor @ Norne he can do a custom cable. Tell him your budget and he'll give you a couple or 3 choices. Mine is custom and it's really a Vykari Jr bc it has a bit less silver than vykari. He did that to match my budget, which was <$500.
His Drausk cable is a chunky 18awg and it's $259. That's a cable that anybody would be happy with except for the snobbiest folks (lol, must be me).

That pure silver audiograded cable sounds frikkin awesome. It's quality, especially for the $70~

for burn in there's nothing wrong with leaving it playing at low volume all the time for a few days.

 

[nighthink]

for burn in there's nothing wrong with leaving it playing at low volume all the time for a few days.

Of course, only this time thought I'll join the full ride just to see if I recognize something over time.

Need to check the Norme as well now , they indeed look cool too, Thanks!

 

[Slackaveli]

Of course, only this time thought I'll join the full ride just to see if I recognize something over time.

I did the same. The ride is fun for me too.

 

[CRNA2B]

I read a lot of good stuff about audiophileninja, I just feel like it should be also visual upgrade and not sure if they would suffice here. Have Arctic, Forza and Lavri cables on short list of brands. Probably will pick something from cooper cables as that seems to me better match, although for example Ichos reviewed Mentor with Lavri, so can’t be bad as well.

I guess it will be in the end more visual reasoning as any sound preference as there is no way how to find out which would sound better, if any at all.

My Arctic cables (Core and Define) work beautifully with my Flux Mentor.

 

[nighthink]

Is anyone able to define how "wide stage" the Mentor can go? I'm going through some songs that are supposed to have a very wide soundstage and while it is definitely wider than usual (normal crapy songs not particularly good mixed in any way), I still can't perceive it "wide enough".. It's like maybe in the circle of 15cm or so around my head if that makes any sense. For example, Thriller is an example of a song with quite a wide soundstage and it really is better when compared to other songs, but I don't hear it like "being in a concert hall" or similar statements I was reading when comparing that wide soundstage to something. So I'm just trying to put that into real-world perspective.

Having hekse + mentor + pontus ii with the latest firmware (that again wideness the soundstage), that should be some killer "wide soundstage" combination and I would still expect something more. So either I do something wrong or my ears are just not up to that skill.

 

[quawn0418]

Is anyone able to define how "wide stage" the Mentor can go? I'm going through some songs that are supposed to have a very wide soundstage and while it is definitely wider than usual (normal crapy songs not particularly good mixed in any way), I still can't perceive it "wide enough".. It's like maybe in the circle of 15cm or so around my head if that makes any sense. For example, Thriller is an example of a song with quite a wide soundstage and it really is better when compared to other songs, but I don't hear it like "being in a concert hall" or similar statements I was reading when comparing that wide soundstage to something. So I'm just trying to put that into real-world perspective.

Having hekse + mentor + pontus ii with the latest firmware (that again wideness the soundstage), that should be some killer "wide soundstage" combination and I would still expect something more. So either I do something wrong or my ears are just not up to that skill.

Well have you heard your HEKSE sound wider on anything else you’ve had on your desk? The mentor is certainly described as one of the widest SS amps, maybe you were just expecting wider when wider (atleast SS wise) might not exist lol

 

[nighthink]

Well have you heard your HEKSE sound wider on anything else you’ve had on your desk? The mentor is certainly described as one of the widest SS amps, maybe you were just expecting wider when wider (atleast SS wise) might not exist lol

I didn't . It's my first serious whole-chain headphone setup. And maybe that's it and this is what others call the concert hall. Coming from speakers my understanding of SS maybe needs to be recalibrated to headphones. I only tried to cross-check if I'm not eventually jumping somewhere on the neck.

 

[Slackaveli]

I get a bit more width but i noticed definitely more depth.

 

[psy472]

Is anyone able to define how "wide stage" the Mentor can go? I'm going through some songs that are supposed to have a very wide soundstage and while it is definitely wider than usual (normal crapy songs not particularly good mixed in any way), I still can't perceive it "wide enough".. It's like maybe in the circle of 15cm or so around my head if that makes any sense. For example, Thriller is an example of a song with quite a wide soundstage and it really is better when compared to other songs, but I don't hear it like "being in a concert hall" or similar statements I was reading when comparing that wide soundstage to something. So I'm just trying to put that into real-world perspective.

Having hekse + mentor + pontus ii with the latest firmware (that again wideness the soundstage), that should be some killer "wide soundstage" combination and I would still expect something more. So either I do something wrong or my ears are just not up to that skill.

You may need to EQ a bit to get the soundstage you want. I love EQing on the Mentor because it’s already a very quiet background so you barely get distortions or background noise when you EQ, unlike other amps.

 

[quawn0418]

You may need to EQ a bit to get the soundstage you want. I love EQing on the Mentor because it’s already a very quiet background so you barely get distortions or background noise when you EQ, unlike other amps.

Right, i usually equate stage with super high frequencies, if an amp is quiet enough with great top end quality, it’ll more than likely be wide in signature, tubes are another story lol