[Andykong]

Spoiler

I agree!! I originally almost purchased the HA-6A some months ago, but ultimately decided to get the A&S Bigger Ben. My decision was partly due to those oddball rectifiers. I just don't want to deal with them and no one is making them currently. There may be plenty of them NOS somewhere, but they were a PITA to find at the time.

Also, the HA-6A was impossible to get in the US at the time so I had to resort to dealing with those shady characters on Ali. I backed out of one of those transactions and thought I would never get them to cancel it and return my money. They really need to work on the dealer network in the US and many other countries I'm sure.

Spoiler

I am now considering options for a 300B amp, and I could get a great discount from ZMF, but I just don't like being stuck with those rectifiers. If there is a good reason for those, they should really clue us in. They seem to get just about everything else right considering their prices.

The covid has increased the sales of our speaker home audio product line significantly, we didn't expect that, and a lot of items in our product line were sold out and our production line was in 100% capacity in the past 12+ months. Unfortunately, several products cannot be refilled promptly because of production scheduling and supply-chain delays, and HA-6A was one of them. There was roughly 8 months period that Cayin didn't have any HA-6A in stock, so the situation is not only affecting the US market. HA-300MK2 was also delayed 6 months for a similar reason. That was a happy problem but was also a very tough time for everyone in Cayin. We finally decided to bite the bullet and extend our manufacturing plant by adding a new building block ASAP.

So this is Cayin as-is, a 4-story building that covers our 95% operation from R&D, production, logistics, and sales. We have a small remote office in Zhuhai city center covering corporation communication and marketing.

We have completed the project planning and tendering process of the new Cayin block. We shall move the R&D facilities to the new building and carate a new production line that is good for more demanding and delegated products. Hopefully, the new facilities will be completed by 2023, our 30th anniversary. Hopefully, our operation efficiency will be enhanced when the new facility is ready and we shall be able to serve our customers better in the long run.

 

[Pashmeister]

The covid has increased the sales of our speaker home audio product line significantly, we didn't expect that, and a lot of items in our product line were sold out and our production line was in 100% capacity in the past 12+ months. Unfortunately, several products cannot be refilled promptly because of production scheduling and supply-chain delays, and HA-6A was one of them. There was roughly 8 months period that Cayin didn't have any HA-6A in stock, so the situation is not only affecting the US market. HA-300MK2 was also delayed 6 months for a similar reason. That was a happy problem but was also a very tough time for everyone in Cayin. We finally decided to bite the bullet and extend our manufacturing plant by adding a new building block ASAP.

So this is Cayin as-is, a 4-story building that covers our 95% operation from R&D, production, logistics, and sales. We have a small remote office in Zhuhai city center covering corporation communication and marketing.




We have completed the project planning and tendering process of the new Cayin block. We shall move the R&D facilities to the new building and carate a new production line that is good for more demanding and delegated products. Hopefully, the new facilities will be completed by 2023, our 30th anniversary. Hopefully, our operation efficiency will be enhanced when the new facility is ready and we shall be able to serve our customers better in the long run.

Impressive!

 

[Andykong]

Mid-Autumn Festival is held on the full moon of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. In Chinese Culture, roundness symbolizes completeness and togetherness, therefore, the Mid-Autumn Festival is a time for friends and family to come together and appreciate the union and completeness of our life. This might be a small wish that we take for granted in the past, but COVID has taught us to treasure every moment of gathering and reunion, and we wish all our users and friend a Happy Mid-Autumn Festival.

I want to share a personal plan with all my partners and friends in HeadFi forum. I'll take a long break later this month, and this will probably last till the end of 2022. I'll stay out of the radar completely and will resurface when I feel confident that I am fit to handle my job again. @Cayin will take over my role for Cayin audio and I'll hand over my ongoing activities and responsibilities to them gradually next week. So if you need to PM me on a Cayin-related issue, please include or address your problem to @Cayin. I really enjoy my time with the HeadFi forum and am looking forward to meeting with you again after my long vacation.

 

[Renexx]

@Andykong do we need matched pair of tubes for this amp ?

Does the amp have an auto bias for unmatched tubes ?

 

[Cayin]

@Andykong do we need matched pair of tubes for this amp ?

Does the amp have an auto bias for unmatched tubes ?

Thanks for asking. Regarding HA-3A it is Auto Biased. As for tube replacement you can choose to exchange one piece or one mathed pair. With the Auto Bias Circuit even you exchange one piece it can be biased correctly and have it perform very well in the amplifier.

 

[Pashmeister]

Thanks for asking. Regarding HA-3A it is Auto Biased. As for tube replacement you can choose to exchange one piece or one mathed pair. With the Auto Bias Circuit even you exchange one piece it can be biased correctly and have it perform very well in the amplifier.

Oh that’s interesting. I don’t have a lot of experience with tubes, I just assumed and thought it safer to always replace with matching pairs.

Does it mean it doesn’t matter if I mix two different brands like one Mullard and one Brimar 12au7 tubes? Sounds like endless permutations and fun lol.

 

[wizzman121]

@Andykong I just ordered the HA-3A from ZMF. This will be my first tube amp! I am wondering if there is any performance difference between the RCA and XLR inputs when connecting to my DAC given that the 3A is not a truly balanced amp. I am really excited to hear my Auteurs through this amp!

@Cayin can you comment on my question above?

 

[Renexx]

Oh that’s interesting. I don’t have a lot of experience with tubes, I just assumed and thought it safer to always replace with matching pairs.

Does it mean it doesn’t matter if I mix two different brands like one Mullard and one Brimar 12au7 tubes? Sounds like endless permutations and fun lol.

That means if you buy single tubes of the same brand, the amplifier will balance them so they have same volume output. You don't need a perfectly matched pair.

You can use different manufacturers tubes but that doesn't make sense. You want to have the same sound signature on both ears. Each 12au7 and 6v6 is amplifing one channel. Left and right.

 

[Pashmeister]

That means if you buy single tubes of the same brand, the amplifier will balance them so they have same volume output. You don't need a perfectly matched pair.

You can use different manufacturers tubes but that doesn't make sense. You want to have the same sound signature on both ears. Each 12au7 and 6v6 is amplifing one channel. Left and right.

LOL okay that makes sense

 

[doze off]

My unit is on the way, looking forward to using it on my Elite.

 

[Pashmeister]

This is an awesome amp. Good job, Cayin. I have a few pairs of Brimars, Mullards, RCA clear tops / black plates, etc waiting to be rolled but I am enjoying the stock tubes for now. The amp sounds so clean, detailed, with the tube magic implemented tastefully and with finesse. I got it hooked up to a DAC and a turntable and even watched the latest episode of LOTR Rings of Power through them

I did try it with the Susvara out of curiosity but the amp couldn’t control the bass. It was like a tiny guy wrestling with a firehose. These need to stick to all other cans that require less power lol. Oh but the sound with ZMFs and Meze though, . No concessions.

This amp makes me want to upgrade my only closed back from Radiance to Verite Closed tbh.

 

[Renexx]

The amp sounds so clean, detailed, with the tube magic implemented tastefully and with finesse

That's exactly my impression. Tube rolling doesn't really change much so far. It's super subtle while still letting shine through the tubes somehow I can't even explain.
Maybe it's the stock 12au7 that hide the flavor of my NOS 6v6.
Will report back when I grabbed some NOS 12au7.

I will keep this amp and sell my cayin iHA-6. Solid state doesn't have any magic anymore for me. Once you go tubes you can't go back.

My Feliks Euphoria AE is a perfect counter part with more tube flavor , amazing decay , holographic staging that really let's the wood decay of my ZMF headphones shine exceptionally.

 

[HeavyCn]

I got my HA-3A set up this morning and I was running the ultimate headphone test quality bass shaker I noticed the lowest tone (20hz) sounded weird, like a fluttering sound. I played this 20hz tone test on Youtube () and it had that fluttering sound again. I switched to my SMSL SP400 and my Feliks Audio Espressivo MKII and I tried both tests again and there was no fluttering sound. I was just able to feel the tone. Has anybody run into this issue with their HA-3A?

 

[Pashmeister]

That's exactly my impression. Tube rolling doesn't really change much so far. It's super subtle while still letting shine through the tubes somehow I can't even explain.
Maybe it's the stock 12au7 that hide the flavor of my NOS 6v6.
Will report back when I grabbed some NOS 12au7.

I will keep this amp and sell my cayin iHA-6. Solid state doesn't have any magic anymore for me. Once you go tubes you can't go back.

My Feliks Euphoria AE is a perfect counter part with more tube flavor , amazing decay , holographic staging that really let's the wood decay of my ZMF headphones really shine exceptionally.

My best guess is that rolling some NOs 12au7 tubes would be more apparent. I have the Cayin SC-6LS tube preamp that I hook into a solid state. It also uses 12au7s and I enjoy getting different flavors from the different nos 12au7 tubes.

 

[Deleeh]

I got my HA-3A set up this morning and I was running the ultimate headphone test quality bass shaker I noticed the lowest tone (20hz) sounded weird, like a fluttering sound. I played this 20hz tone test on Youtube () and it had that fluttering sound again. I switched to my SMSL SP400 and my Feliks Audio Espressivo MKII and I tried both tests again and there was no fluttering sound. I was just able to feel the tone. Has anybody run into this issue with their HA-3A?

Hello,
First burn in the Cayin amplifier with the tubes and repeat the test.
This will probably be due to the bass fluttering because nothing has been recorded yet.
All the electrolytes in the capacitors have not yet received a run through with the inner foil.
And the tubes always need a certain amount of time to open completely.

Give the amplifier at least 100 hours play-in time.
That makes a lot of difference and can sometimes be a real rollercoaster ride.

If it doesn't get better after that, I would change the tubes before you complain about it.
There are sometimes defective tubes, even if they are new.
Especially with today's transport, packages are handled very roughly.
Something can lead to a defect.