[ziggy72]

Jambaj0e, how did the headphone output of the cayin sound compared with the Hugo tt2 / m scaler with the abyss headphones?
I own the abyss headphones with Auralic Aries G1, Vega G1 and Taurus mkii headphone amplifier and was looking for a higher powered amplifier to drive the abyss. I've been thinking of the chord combo and there is a used cayin ha300b available in the UK where I live also.
Your opinion would be appreciated.
PS I also owned both the Audeze LCD 3 fazor and LCD 4 and sold them to buy the Abyss which I much prefer.

 

[rockna]

hello, I just bought this amp, and so I join you on this forum to share with you

 

[jambaj0e]

hello, I just bought this amp, and so I join you on this forum to share with you

Which headphone do you like most on it and do you prefer the sound from single-ended or balanced out?

 

[rockna]

this amp was built for focal, all the journalists noticed that it sounded extremely good with utopia, i don't have utopia, but i have its cousin stelia, and i see the same thing, stelia is a marvel with the cayin.
the kenerton also sounds great with an extremely colorful and warm sound that lends itself well to jazz and blues.
when my klipsh headphones are not good at all, they were better on my old mcintosh transistor amp.

how to say about about single or balanced , my DAC is linked to the cayin with XLR ( real cable ) , only the stelia use the XLR , it's very good , , i've tryed to use an adaptator on the stelia to use the 6.35 output , i did not really noticed a difference , there maybe some fews , but nothing important to my ears.

the difference is not on the output , if you want to upgrade the sound i highlly recommend you something like this
if you live in the countryside it will have little effect, but if you live in the city it will protect your current from parasitic waves, thanks to this box of 250 € I have actually seen a difference in the quality of the sound, it goes without saying that you will also have to change the power cords of the cayin and your dac for armored models




I have a quick question, cayin made an effort by putting the correct tubes but I would like to go further by changing them, but I don't see where the BIAS setting is, is it automatic?

 

[Andykong]

this amp was built for focal, all the journalists noticed that it sounded extremely good with utopia, i don't have utopia, but i have its cousin stelia, and i see the same thing, stelia is a marvel with the cayin.
the kenerton also sounds great with an extremely colorful and warm sound that lends itself well to jazz and blues.
when my klipsh headphones are not good at all, they were better on my old mcintosh transistor amp.

how to say about about single or balanced , my DAC is linked to the cayin with XLR ( real cable ) , only the stelia use the XLR , it's very good , , i've tryed to use an adaptator on the stelia to use the 6.35 output , i did not really noticed a difference , there maybe some fews , but nothing important to my ears.

the difference is not on the output , if you want to upgrade the sound i highlly recommend you something like this
if you live in the countryside it will have little effect, but if you live in the city it will protect your current from parasitic waves, thanks to this box of 250 € I have actually seen a difference in the quality of the sound, it goes without saying that you will also have to change the power cords of the cayin and your dac for armored models




I have a quick question, cayin made an effort by putting the correct tubes but I would like to go further by changing them, but I don't see where the BIAS setting is, is it automatic?

The HA-300 is auto-biased.

 

[rockna]

thanks Andy ....

 

[Sampajanna]

Wonder if anyone could explain this: A friend loaned me a pair of 300B from EML. They work fine in his Woo audio. They are the normal one. Anyway, both times I rolled them in my Cayin, they blue the fuse... Tubes are perfectly fine back in other 300B amps. Very strange. Any ideas why this would be?

 

[jambaj0e]

this amp was built for focal, all the journalists noticed that it sounded extremely good with utopia, i don't have utopia, but i have its cousin stelia, and i see the same thing, stelia is a marvel with the cayin.
the kenerton also sounds great with an extremely colorful and warm sound that lends itself well to jazz and blues.
when my klipsh headphones are not good at all, they were better on my old mcintosh transistor amp.

how to say about about single or balanced , my DAC is linked to the cayin with XLR ( real cable ) , only the stelia use the XLR , it's very good , , i've tryed to use an adaptator on the stelia to use the 6.35 output , i did not really noticed a difference , there maybe some fews , but nothing important to my ears.

the difference is not on the output , if you want to upgrade the sound i highlly recommend you something like this
if you live in the countryside it will have little effect, but if you live in the city it will protect your current from parasitic waves, thanks to this box of 250 € I have actually seen a difference in the quality of the sound, it goes without saying that you will also have to change the power cords of the cayin and your dac for armored models




I have a quick question, cayin made an effort by putting the correct tubes but I would like to go further by changing them, but I don't see where the BIAS setting is, is it automatic?

Yeah, I have the PS Audio Power Plant 3 to power my Cayin HA-300 and Chord HUGO TT2 amp, which I also run XLR to the HA-300. I think the HA-300 does benefit greatly w/ tube upgrades, and it is autobias, if I'm not wrong.

Jambaj0e, how did the headphone output of the cayin sound compared with the Hugo tt2 / m scaler with the abyss headphones?
I own the abyss headphones with Auralic Aries G1, Vega G1 and Taurus mkii headphone amplifier and was looking for a higher powered amplifier to drive the abyss. I've been thinking of the chord combo and there is a used cayin ha300b available in the UK where I live also.
Your opinion would be appreciated.
PS I also owned both the Audeze LCD 3 fazor and LCD 4 and sold them to buy the Abyss which I much prefer.

Oh, the Hugo TT2 + M-Scaler + Cayin HA-300 + Western Electric 300b + Abyss TC combo is just amazing! Everything scaled well, and when it was just the TT2 + Cayin HA300, the Audeze LCD-3 and Abyss weren't too far apart, but once you add everything else, the TC has so much more headroom and a higher ceiling in terms of performance!

 

[Treva]

I am extremely pleased to discover my HA-300 sounds magical when placed in my living lounge room HiFi system and connected to some sensitive 96 dB 4 ohm Tekton Encore floortstander speakers. Those eight watts are plenty watts for my apartment living. Question: if I start to use the HA-300 mostly for loudspeaker listening, will I wear it our more than if I used it mostly for easy-to-drive Sony Z1R headphone listening? Thanks, Trevor.

 

[llamaluv]

Wonder if anyone could explain this: A friend loaned me a pair of 300B from EML. They work fine in his Woo audio. They are the normal one. Anyway, both times I rolled them in my Cayin, they blue the fuse... Tubes are perfectly fine back in other 300B amps. Very strange. Any ideas why this would be?

For what it's worth, I was running EML 300Bs (also the normal ones, bought new in late 2019) for about six months without any issues.

 

[Sampajanna]

Thanks. Man oh man, it is strange because the stock tubes work just fine, so the amp is working just not with those tubes. Makes me scared to get other ones. And I have to say Cayin isn't much help either... Unbelievably, EML was far more helpful and it wasn't even their product. They were kind and even looked at the amp manual and offered suggestions to try. This is one of many times I have regretted buying Cayin....

 

[vkenz]

Thanks. Man oh man, it is strange because the stock tubes work just fine, so the amp is working just not with those tubes. Makes me scared to get other ones. And I have to say Cayin isn't much help either... Unbelievably, EML was far more helpful and it wasn't even their product. They were kind and even looked at the amp manual and offered suggestions to try. This is one of many times I have regretted buying Cayin....

Save yourself the trouble and buy the V281. It is more tubey sounding that most tube amps with the right power cable.

 

[Sampajanna]

What brand is the V281?
I "upgraded" to the Cayin because it sounds great with Focal and I hv Utopias amongst other cans. And that great synergy remains, but I have been disappointed with Cayin. The list is long: Their "official" dealers here dont have shops; they are just kids with online websites; their customer service is cold and off-putting/dismissive and they aren't keen to help you in any way. You may get the "ask your dealer" routine, and then the dealer says "ask Cayin..." I have encountered way more issues than any amp of this price should have, including defective stock tubes (never replaced!), EML tubes that dont work, etc... With hindsight, I wouldn't have bought this amp. I have expensive amps for my speaker rig and they had an issue and the manufacturer was all over it--super kind and helpful, replaced the issue and even gave me a gift to say sorry, which is above and beyond... What you are paying for with more expensive products should be kind and courteous, helpful customer service and careful QC to avoid problems as well. Just my two cents.

 

[vkenz]

What brand is the V281?
I "upgraded" to the Cayin because it sounds great with Focal and I hv Utopias amongst other cans. And that great synergy remains, but I have been disappointed with Cayin. The list is long: Their "official" dealers here dont have shops; they are just kids with online websites; their customer service is cold and off-putting/dismissive and they aren't keen to help you in any way. You may get the "ask your dealer" routine, and then the dealer says "ask Cayin..." I have encountered way more issues than any amp of this price should have, including defective stock tubes (never replaced!), EML tubes that dont work, etc... With hindsight, I wouldn't have bought this amp. I have expensive amps for my speaker rig and they had an issue and the manufacturer was all over it--super kind and helpful, replaced the issue and even gave me a gift to say sorry, which is above and beyond... What you are paying for with more expensive products should be kind and courteous, helpful customer service and careful QC to avoid problems as well. Just my two cents.

Go to the Violectric V281 thread. I also have the Cayin HA300, Burson Soloist 3XP and V590, but I just don't use it as much as my V281. With the V281 you can do power cable rolling with it to make it more euphonic or less.

 

[Andykong]

I am extremely pleased to discover my HA-300 sounds magical when placed in my living lounge room HiFi system and connected to some sensitive 96 dB 4 ohm Tekton Encore floortstander speakers. Those eight watts are plenty watts for my apartment living. Question: if I start to use the HA-300 mostly for loudspeaker listening, will I wear it our more than if I used it mostly for easy-to-drive Sony Z1R headphone listening? Thanks, Trevor.

It won't. In fact, the amplifier will work "harder" with some of the headphone application.

The following table compare the Vrms output level of different HA-300 output options. The speaker output, balanced and singled-end low impedance headphone output are all rated at or below 8V, which is below 20% of the max output. So the amplifier is operating at fairly low loading only, it won't affect the product life or tube life. In the contrary of common expectation, the amplifier will work harder when using headphone output at high impedance setting.