[iceanddice]

Will be getting this very soon! I'm upgrading from HA-1A mk2 which was my first tube amp that got me hooked on tubes, but sadly I had to sell to make room for this big boi.

I got mine this week and boy does this make my HD800S sing. Any peakiness I had with it disappeared, gave the mids a bit more body to them and the cans just felt even more spacious and resolving than they already are. Got a Utopia with lazuli on its way to me as well!

 

[Level5]

I got mine this week and boy does this make my HD800S sing. Any peakiness I had with it disappeared, gave the mids a bit more body to them and the cans just felt even more spacious and resolving than they already are. Got a Utopia with lazuli on its way to me as well!

The stocks tubes seems to be really good from what I read/heard, but I'd want to order some different ones to roll after I get acclimated with them for a bit. Any suggestions?

 

[Level5]

I got mine this week and boy does this make my HD800S sing. Any peakiness I had with it disappeared, gave the mids a bit more body to them and the cans just felt even more spacious and resolving than they already are. Got a Utopia with lazuli on its way to me as well!

I'll have to borrow an hd800 again just to test it on this amp. I already have a Utopia which will benefit greatly due to its narrow soundstage and paired with this, should be a real treat!

 

[iceanddice]

The stocks tubes seems to be really good from what I read/heard, but I'd want to order some different ones to roll after I get acclimated with them for a bit. Any suggestions?

I haven’t experimented either, as they are a week old. Getting a pair of Gold Lion 300B’s soon. I’ll try em out and let you know any notable changes. For preamp tubes, as far as 6sn7’s go, the stock are pretty good already being Shuguang WE6sn7’s.

 

[T Bone]

Will be getting this very soon! I'm upgrading from HA-1A mk2

That's one heck of a big jump. Going from an EL84 based tube amp to a 300B tube amp is a Ford Mustang to Ferrari leap!
Congratulations on your decision. Please do share your impressions when you take delivery.

 

[iceanddice]

That's one heck of a big jump. Going from an EL84 based tube amp to a 300B tube amp is a Ford Mustang to Ferrari leap!
Congratulations on your decision. Please do share your impressions when you take delivery.

I on the other hand went from the iHA-6 to the HA-300... what car was I driving then?

 

[T Bone]

I on the other hand went from the iHA-6 to the HA-300... what car was I driving then?

Hmmm - how about a Turbocharged Subura WRX!

I currently own a tube amp and tube pre-amp in my 2-channel system. I've had tube gear in my Head-Fi rig before.
....but I've never listened to a 300B system and have always wanted too. The HA-300 looks like a great amplifier and I can't wait to start hearing listening impressions from owners.

 

[Level5]

That's one heck of a big jump. Going from an EL84 based tube amp to a 300B tube amp is a Ford Mustang to Ferrari leap!
Congratulations on your decision. Please do share your impressions when you take delivery.

Indeed it is! I've outgrown the HA-1A mk2 upon upgrading to Utopia and the only logical move forward is the HA-300. While there are plenty of great choices out there, nothing really interest me enough other than the HA-300.

I have a Holo Spring as well and its going to be really interesting how that will add/affect its holographic characteristics that I love about it. With the HA-1A mk2, it brought it a bit forward while the IHA-6 seems to retains its holographic airy nature but at the sacrifice of tube goodness.

I'll update back when I receive it in a week or two!

 

[musicman59]

i you don't want to pay big bucks for a pair of 300B I would go with EML 300B Mesh tubes but if money is not a problem then the Takatsuki 300B.
For drivers I like the Tungsol Black Glass/Round Plates 6SN7 or the 6F8G (but you need an adapter for these). Also the Sylvania Brown Base/Chrome top 6SN7WGT are nice.
The guys from Cayin recommended not to mess with the rectifier tubes. They are rare and the stock are very good.

 

[Andykong]

Would like to explain the amplification concept of HA-300 before we go into other detail discussion.

Cayin adopts a pragmatic Class A single-ended amplification with balanced output approach when we design HA-300. We accept RCA and XLR inputs, but we convert the balanced signal to single end with a pair of input transformers before we feed the signal into the amplification circuit.



The tube circuit is developed around the 300B DHT (Direct-Heated Triode) tube, aka the Dream tube of audiophile and tube enthusiasts, and we use 6SN7 as the first stage of our push-pull circuit. We believe single-end approach will bring out the charm of the tubes and it is more effective and feasible in high-end tube amplifier as we have minimized the tube matching requirements.



The output from 300B will then feed into a pair of output transformers for single-ended or balanced output. We design and produce these transformers in-housed, this is how we achieve optimized output for different settings. HA-300 provides three sets of impedance matched headphone outputs and one set of speaker output. Since these output options are extracted from our output transformer directly, that explains why HA-300 is one of the most transparent tube headphone amplifier in the market.

 

[Andykong]

The stocks tubes seems to be really good from what I read/heard, but I'd want to order some different ones to roll after I get acclimated with them for a bit. Any suggestions?

I'll suggest you start with 6SN7 , this is the first stage of the single end tube amplification, any change in tonal balance or sound signature will further "enlarged" in second stage, so I always recommend customers to start with the smaller Stage 1 tube.

One final reminder, stick with the stock tubes for a while, wait till all the components (and transformers) has settled down, this will allow you to audition the tube accurately,

 

[Andykong]

I got mine this week and boy does this make my HD800S sing. Any peakiness I had with it disappeared, gave the mids a bit more body to them and the cans just felt even more spacious and resolving than they already are. Got a Utopia with lazuli on its way to me as well!

Utopia with Dana Lazuli Reference is the reference headphone setup I used at CanJam NYC and AXPONA, this works with HA-300 extremely well, a very good choice indeed.

 

[Andykong]

That's one heck of a big jump. Going from an EL84 based tube amp to a 300B tube amp is a Ford Mustang to Ferrari leap!
Congratulations on your decision. Please do share your impressions when you take delivery.

Well, I think the Transformers also contributed to the big jump

 

[Maxx134]

Utopia with Dana Lazuli Reference is the reference headphone setup I used at CanJam NYC and AXPONA, this works with HA-300 extremely well, a very good choice indeed.

May I ask what is your source dac used?
I forgot to take notice.

 

[Andykong]

Hmmm - how about a Turbocharged Subura WRX!

I currently own a tube amp and tube pre-amp in my 2-channel system. I've had tube gear in my Head-Fi rig before.
....but I've never listened to a 300B system and have always wanted too. The HA-300 looks like a great amplifier and I can't wait to start hearing listening impressions from owners.

Direct Heated Triode is magical, if you were to upgrade your speaker amp, consider tube amp with 845 tubes if your speaker is not too difficult.

Likewise for headphone amplifier, check out 300B or 2A3 based headphone amplifier first, they are gorgeous if executed correctly.