[zach915m]

Yeah I guess it isn't "new" in a technical sense... but also there has been very little info about it - certainly not the big launch Cayin has done with their headphone amps and DAPs. Until Zach discovered it and started selling it, I had barely noticed it existed.

Cayin has what I feel is a very odd separation between their "personal audio" and "traditional hifi" categories. Like have you ever noticed they don't really market a lot of their gear, outside of the DAPs and the headphone stuff? At least they don't in the North American market. The iDAP-6/iDAC-6 were the exceptions, likely because they matched with the desktop-oriented iHA-6. But they have some really nice CD players and other stuff which seems nearly impossible to find (again, in my region at least).

The CS-100DAC is now available here through ZMF and I feel it is extremely competitive in the sub-$5k price range. And maybe beyond, for that matter.

I bought one on a whim because I was interested in it, and was shocked at how great a unit it is. I do think it just wasn't "proposed" to the headphone community as a viable DAC, but I have tested it against everything else we have and have had for demo, and it holds up SQ wise no problem, with the added benefit of having tubes in the chain or not, as well as a lot of filters that I still haven't wrapped my head around.

 

[project86]

I guess some companies might still separate their 2-channel gear vs personal audio gear, and maybe they don't think there would be much interchange between those two lines? I dunno, personally I've seen (exclusively) headphone users try just about every crazy DAC on the market, so I don't think there's an upper limit.

But I agree, I've got maybe 9 high-end DACs here in the $2k-10k range, and the CS-100DAC is one of my favorites so far.

 

[ThanatosVI]

Yeah I guess it isn't "new" in a technical sense... but also there has been very little info about it - certainly not the big launch Cayin has done with their headphone amps and DAPs. Until Zach discovered it and started selling it, I had barely noticed it existed.

Cayin has what I feel is a very odd separation between their "personal audio" and "traditional hifi" categories. Like have you ever noticed they don't really market a lot of their gear, outside of the DAPs and the headphone stuff? At least they don't in the North American market. The iDAP-6/iDAC-6 were the exceptions, likely because they matched with the desktop-oriented iHA-6. But they have some really nice CD players and other stuff which seems nearly impossible to find (again, in my region at least).

The CS-100DAC is now available here through ZMF and I feel it is extremely competitive in the sub-$5k price range. And maybe beyond, for that matter.

Personally I only follow headphone releases and up until very recently Cayin wasn't big in the headphone market. (Now they are among the most solid offerings imo)

Thr CS-100DAC haa been announced on the munich high end 2018 in a similar fashion as the headphone amps after that though

 

[project86]

Interesting. I think it may be different from region to region as there just hasn't been any push on the device in my neck of the woods. And the online dealers that have been selling Cayin gear for a while (like Musicteck, Audio46) still don't appear to have it.

In any case, having experienced it for myself I think it deserves way more exposure.

 

[Wes S]

I guess some companies might still separate their 2-channel gear vs personal audio gear, and maybe they don't think there would be much interchange between those two lines? I dunno, personally I've seen (exclusively) headphone users try just about every crazy DAC on the market, so I don't think there's an upper limit.

But I agree, I've got maybe 9 high-end DACs here in the $2k-10k range, and the CS-100DAC is one of my favorites so far.

Nice! Knowing you are a fan of the Sonnet Morpheus, how would you say this Cayin compares sound wise.

 

[tdx]

Hi all,
I recently bought a pair of PSVANE Acme 300Bs from someone to try out on my HA 300. I swapped my current tubes, turned on the amp, but then I get zero sound. I put back my previous tubes, and I get my sound back. I tried switching the Acmes left and right, still no sound.

The weird thing is the tubes are glowing, so they're not dead or anything, can't figure out why I'm not getting sound.

Before I write to the seller and complain, is there anything else I could try to make sure the tubes are actually working?

Thanks

 

[ARCXENOS]

Hi all,
I recently bought a pair of PSVANE Acme 300Bs from someone to try out on my HA 300. I swapped my current tubes, turned on the amp, but then I get zero sound. I put back my previous tubes, and I get my sound back. I tried switching the Acmes left and right, still no sound.

The weird thing is the tubes are glowing, so they're not dead or anything, can't figure out why I'm not getting sound.

Before I write to the seller and complain, is there anything else I could try to make sure the tubes are actually working?

Thanks

is your sources / phones /output switch accidentally changed? I think that is definitely not normal, I have heard of psvane acme tubes arriving DOA and triggering the fuse, but since it lights up, that don't seem to be the case

 

[tdx]

is your sources / phones /output switch accidentally changed? I think that is definitely not normal, I have heard of psvane acme tubes arriving DOA and triggering the fuse, but since it lights up, that don't seem to be the case

I checked all inputs and outputs and they're good. It's so weird, it's like the tube is fine but then produces no sound...

 

[steve468]

I checked all inputs and outputs and they're good. It's so weird, it's like the tube is fine but then produces no sound...

I had a pair of Acme 300b that were blowing the fuse. It was the fuse that was in the power section. Exactly like you describe, the tubes lit up but no sound. Though the sound didn't come back with the stock tubes, as the fuse was dead.

Luckily in my case it was simply a case of changing that fuse. Hopefully it's as easy for you.

 

[steve468]

I had a pair of Acme 300b that were blowing the fuse. It was the fuse that was in the power section. Exactly like you describe, the tubes lit up but no sound. Though the sound didn't come back with the stock tubes, as the fuse was dead.

Luckily in my case it was simply a case of changing that fuse. Hopefully it's as easy for you.

Forgot to add, one of the main symptoms that helped the diagnosis was the tubes would beat, and then never got to full temperature. They were cooler than normal. That helped my dealer narrow it down to that certain fuse.

 

[tdx]

Forgot to add, one of the main symptoms that helped the diagnosis was the tubes would beat, and then never got to full temperature. They were cooler than normal. That helped my dealer narrow it down to that certain fuse.

Thanks that would make sense, and yes what you're describing happens to me too, the tubes never get really hot. But on the other hand as you said the sound comes back when I swap tubes so it's really weird. Once you swapped the fuse did the Acme tubes then work?

 

[steve468]

Thanks that would make sense, and yes what you're describing happens to me too, the tubes never get really hot. But on the other hand as you said the sound comes back when I swap tubes so it's really weird. Once you swapped the fuse did the Acme tubes then work?

No, they never worked. I put them in several times after changing the fuse and they blew it each time. Good thing Cayin includes a couple fuses in the package!

I've (hopefully) attached the photo that was sent to show which fuse to change. It was super easy, just needed a screwdriver to get the bottom of the power unit off, and to wiggle the fuse holder out. Took me less than 5 minutes total. Maybe it's worth a shot?

 

[tdx]

Cool thanks so much! I'll try.

 

[steve468]

Cool thanks so much! I'll try.

Good luck! One last thing, it was the 160ma 250v volt fuse that I used. I can't remember what the other fuse in the package is, but I think it has higher values and may cause more problems if you put that one in by accident. I really hope the fix is easy for you.

 

[msq123]

Good luck! One last thing, it was the 160ma 250v volt fuse that I used. I can't remember what the other fuse in the package is, but I think it has higher values and may cause more problems if you put that one in by accident. I really hope the fix is easy for you.

Power supply fuse depend on your region -

~ 220V-240V : T1.6AL250V;
~ 100V-120V: T3.15AL250V