I’ve decided to further thin the herd of amps I’ve accumulated. I just bought a much more expensive solid-state amp, the Cen.Grand 9i-806 “Little Silver Fox”, so I’ve decided to let the Cayin go.

There are a few things to disclaim about the amp. First of all, it’s not in perfect cosmetic shape. Nothing major, but I’ve tried to show all the little scratches and scuffs in the pictures.

The amp also has some noise issues when using the RCA input in combination with a balanced headphone jack. The noise floor is loudest in low current/low gain, but there is also a noticeable background noise using low current/high gain and high current/high gain. I’ve only tested the 4-pin XLR jack since I don’t have any headphone cables with dual 3-pin XLR connectors. Weirdly enough, high current/low gain (my preferred setting) has no noise issue.

Noise is pretty minimal when using either of the higher impedance 6.3mm headphone jacks in combination with the RCA input, with the 120 ohm jack being a bit quieter than the 10 ohm jack.

When using the XLR input, I don’t have any noise issues using the 4-pin XLR jack or either 6.3mm jack, at least with my two headphones. I think the noise is only present when the amp has to convert a single-ended input to a balanced output. My guess is that this conversion is creating the noise.

With my Meze Elite, I prefer high current/low gain out of the 4-pin XLR jack. With my Auteur, I like to use the same high current/low gain setting but use one of the high impedance single-ended 6.3mm jacks. I stick to the XLR input.

As long as you plan to feed the amp with XLR interconnects or use the RCA input in combination with one of the 6.3mm headphone jacks, this is a great option for a versatile solid-state amp that can work well with many different high or low impedance headphones. Zach from ZMF sells and recommends it with all his headphones if you don’t want to get into tube amps.

I’d like net $300 $275 if possible. I’m only comfortable shipping in the US at present. Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks for looking,
CK