[Ragnar-BY]

Technically, nothing is finalised until we have performed a trail production.

It would be nice to have direct input for bypassing volume pot in new gen amp. I assume that Cayin has a specific price range to fit in. And that price range would not allow to have good relay switching volume control with a lot of steps. On the other hand, tube amp is often not the only amp in house, so there is a good chance that it’s owner would have preamp already.

 

[No Disc]

We are indeed working on a revision of HA-300. We have completed the R&D process recently and is planning for production. Normally this will take 2-3 months as we need to develop the supply chain and safety certification etc.. If everything go smooth, we should be able to deliver the new generation of HA-300 by end of year. We hope the epidemic will become stable in next few months. If not, we might suffer serious logistic and supplier delays and put everything on hold. That's why we are skeptical to announce the new HA-300 officially.

This revised unit will have a new model designation or will it remain the HA-300?

 

[Andykong]

This revised unit will have a new model designation or will it remain the HA-300?

Most probably will be renamed as HA-300MK2, like what we did to HA-1A and iDAC-6

 

[No Disc]

Hey, you are MK6+ and MK8se users? I owned MK6+ previously and had written a very long review for MK6+ vs MK8se before I join Cayin, they are marvelous headphone amplifiers.

Wander where you are located? Little Dot has limited circulation outside China,

I tends to agree with you that HA-300 works well with highly resolving headphones. In my experience, HA-300 works well with almost every dynamic headphone I throw to it. I have tried, Utopia, Clear, HD800, T1, K812/K872,, and ZMF Auteur already and none has disappointed me so far. The result with Planar is mixed. Susvara, Thror (Kennerton), Empyrean and D8000 sounds very good but Abyss, HEK, Ether Flow are not as outstanding. I haven't try Audeze yet and I am looking forwards to that,

Hey, I would not mind reading that very long review. I am in mainland China and also in the market for some headphone amps, I am waiting for the HA-300MK2 but would not mind getting something sooner to tide me over until then. If you have the review link handy, please share it. I'm using Senn HD600 and Kinera Bladr IEM.

​

 

[rmsanger]

A few questions for the HA-300 owners.

1) does it come with a remote for volume control?
2) How is the speaker output performance paired with something like a Tekton uruz (98dB 2.83V@1m sensitivity · 8 Ohm) or Zu Dirty Weekends Mk 2 (97 dB-SPL 1W, 1m - 12 ohm) ?
2b) I've tried something like the primaluna dialogue hp where it was great as a speaker amp but the hp amp was poor or somewhat of an afterthought. Obviously the HA-300 is primarily a HP amp but when paired with efficient speakers have the results been positive or does it feel the like the speaker output was an afterthought?

3) @Andykong previous comments on this thread was the HA-300 was just an average pairing with the 1266 Phi TC. With the mk 2 coming is there anything in the works that might improve the pairing or are we primarily limited with the 300b tube limitations in pairing with them?

 

[vkenz]

Most probably will be renamed as HA-300MK2, like what we did to HA-1A and iDAC-6

How many available color options?

 

[HiGHFLYiN9]

...and my right 300b tube is out.

I switched the two 300bs tube and the one that didn't light up stayed off.

I switched out both 300b tube with another set of 300b tubes, and while they light up, I'm still not getting any sound or even any VU meter.

I'm having the same issue. I dropped the unit off at repair shop and they can't seem to figure out what the problem is. Was there ever any closure with this finding out what the specific issue is? Thanks.

 

[Sampajanna]

Probably fuse. The one inside= high voltage. that is what happened to me. These amps have serious issues. It seems like one of three people who has one has had repair issues. I would not upgrade, nor recommend Cayin to anyone. My HA 300 sounds great but I hv had more issues with it than any piece of kit I have owned. Not great service either….

 

[Andykong]

Hey, I would not mind reading that very long review. I am in mainland China and also in the market for some headphone amps, I am waiting for the HA-300MK2 but would not mind getting something sooner to tide me over until then. If you have the review link handy, please share it. I'm using Senn HD600 and Kinera Bladr IEM.

​

The post dated all the way back to 2015, and it was written in Chinese, so you need to Google Translate the content which I am not optimistic because it was written in Cantonese for HK audiophiles.

 

[Andykong]

I'm having the same issue. I dropped the unit off at repair shop and they can't seem to figure out what the problem is. Was there ever any closure with this finding out what the specific issue is? Thanks.

If you have changed your 300B power tubes in between, mostly like its the high voltage fuse inside the Power Supply unit. I have send a PM to you for more detail.

 

[Andykong]

A few questions for the HA-300 owners.

1) does it come with a remote for volume control?
2) How is the speaker output performance paired with something like a Tekton uruz (98dB 2.83V@1m sensitivity · 8 Ohm) or Zu Dirty Weekends Mk 2 (97 dB-SPL 1W, 1m - 12 ohm) ?
2b) I've tried something like the primaluna dialogue hp where it was great as a speaker amp but the hp amp was poor or somewhat of an afterthought. Obviously the HA-300 is primarily a HP amp but when paired with efficient speakers have the results been positive or does it feel the like the speaker output was an afterthought?

3) @Andykong previous comments on this thread was the HA-300 was just an average pairing with the 1266 Phi TC. With the mk 2 coming is there anything in the works that might improve the pairing or are we primarily limited with the 300b tube limitations in pairing with them?

HA-300 does not come with remote control.

Base on my personal experience, the speaker output of HA-300 can handle the Tekton and Zu speakers in your list. It won't be very authoritative, which is quite normal when you go for 300B SETA in speaker setting. 8W Class A should be quite sufficient with 97/98 dB sensitivity speakers.

In my brief experience with Susvara and Abyss 1266 Phi TC, I think the Susvara is more demanding/power hungry between the two, both from specification and experience with several Cayin headphone amplifiers. However I prefer Susvara over 1266 when HA-300 is in used. I think this comes down to the sound signature instead of purely power and handling problem. The 300B is a very sweat sounding tube, it offers very rich harmonic with holographic presence, and midrange is always the outstanding part of the 300B amplifier. Susvara takes advantage of the 300B characteristics nicely but when I go with 1266, on top of the regular high quality playback, I expect authoritative with rumbling base, airy and out of chart soundstage and very engaging presentation.

The HA-300 is still a very capable amplifier for Abyss 1266, as you can read a lot of favourable impression of this paring in this thread. When I look at it from the perspective of best synergy headphones for HA-300, I won't put Abyss 1266 on the top of the list; but if you look at this as a Abyss 1266 owner looking for high quality amplifier at $4000 budget, the HA-300 would be a good choice. So the answer is more complicated than a black on white Yes/No answer.

 

[No Disc]

The post dated all the way back to 2015, and it was written in Chinese, so you need to Google Translate the content which I am not optimistic because it was written in Cantonese for HK audiophiles.

Lucky for me my wife speaks Cantonese. Thank you.

 

[llamaluv]

In my brief experience with Susvara and Abyss 1266 Phi TC, I think the Susvara is more demanding/power hungry between the two, both from specification and experience with several Cayin headphone amplifiers. However I prefer Susvara over 1266 when HA-300 is in used. I think this comes down to the sound signature instead of purely power and handling problem. The 300B is a very sweat sounding tube, it offers very rich harmonic with holographic presence, and midrange is always the outstanding part of the 300B amplifier. Susvara takes advantage of the 300B characteristics nicely but when I go with 1266, on top of the regular high quality playback, I expect authoritative with rumbling base, airy and out of chart soundstage and very engaging presentation.

The HA-300 is still a very capable amplifier for Abyss 1266, as you can read a lot of favourable impression of this paring in this thread. When I look at it from the perspective of best synergy headphones for HA-300, I won't put Abyss 1266 on the top of the list; but if you look at this as a Abyss 1266 owner looking for high quality amplifier at $4000 budget, the HA-300 would be a good choice. So the answer is more complicated than a black on white Yes/No answer.

I agree with your characterization of the Susvara with the HA-300. It was a very brief listen with the Susvara with the HA-300 at a CanJam that convinced me to get this amp.

And I like the TC even more than the Susvara with the HA-300, actually. For me, the TC retains its big and dynamic sound with the HA-300, but also gains a smoother / less coarse midrange presentation, which in my opinion the TC sorely needs. And nice and full-bodied as well, which is also something the TC can lack in the midrange on setups that are too "neutral". I've listened to the TC and the Susvara on the HA-300 on and off for about 2+ years now.

Additionally, I've not heard a dynamic headphone I didn't like on the HA-300. I've listened to the Stellia, Denon D9200, Utopia, and ZMF Auteur, all at some length.

The last thing I'd say as part of a summary of my time with this amp is that it's universally well-received by audiophile pals when they come and visit to listen to what I've got.

 

[Benny-x]

It would be nice to have direct input for bypassing volume pot in new gen amp. I assume that Cayin has a specific price range to fit in. And that price range would not allow to have good relay switching volume control with a lot of steps. On the other hand, tube amp is often not the only amp in house, so there is a good chance that it’s owner would have preamp already.

This is exactly the situation I'm in. I have a nice preamp and use it with the HA-300 along with several other amps, but it'd be even better of there was an onboard "volume pot bypass" and then ve really been wishing that lately.

I suppose I'll be keeping my fingers randomly crossed since they're not looking for feature requests and R&D is already done.

 

[Andykong]

It would be nice to have direct input for bypassing volume pot in new gen amp. I assume that Cayin has a specific price range to fit in. And that price range would not allow to have good relay switching volume control with a lot of steps. On the other hand, tube amp is often not the only amp in house, so there is a good chance that it’s owner would have preamp already.

This is exactly the situation I'm in. I have a nice preamp and use it with the HA-300 along with several other amps, but it'd be even better of there was an onboard "volume pot bypass" and then ve really been wishing that lately.

I suppose I'll be keeping my fingers randomly crossed since they're not looking for feature requests and R&D is already done.

As I mentioned previously, we have completed R&D already and is proceeding to production planning, trial run and supply chain. Pure power amplifier mode will not be featured in the HA-300 MK2.

If we have to implement a pure power amplifier mode, we don't just bypass the volume control, the situation is a lot more complicated than only bypassing the volume knob. We need to bypass the first gain stage as well because the pre-amp output and line-level out of DAC are very different in voltage level. The sound signature of the HA-300 will be significantly changed if we bypassed the 6SN7, and likewise if we implement similar feature to the MK2.