[jamato8]

They should send a back support with the amp. lol This is the heaviest headphone amp I have every gotten. My wife just rolled her eyes.

I must say the quality of appearance is extremely good. Using the Expanse on 4.4 balanced right now. Very good but nothing is warmed up yet, nor, of course, burned in. And I have many NOS 6SN7 tubes to try out. Looks good. Music, play on!

 

[jamato8]

Have some tall Sylvania 6SN7W in the amp now. Very nice. Even though the amp is far from burned in, I can easily tell the difference. Wonderful voicing for male singers. Also even more open sounding,

As a side note, the amp is nice and quiet. And yes, you have to push the 300Bs into place. It is a big tube and you want there to be give in the base if it gets pushed on somehow during shipment or even when taking the amp out of the box. A good precaution.

 

[Alenotta]

Rolled in one of my quads of 60's Sylvania 22DE4's yesterday and I am loving what I am hearing. The Sylvania's are very well balanced top to bottom, with incredible bass slam, that is tighter than the G.E.'s and goes even deeper too. In fact, the bass with the Sylvania's is the strongest, tightest, most impactful bass I have heard with the amp so far, and has speed, impact and texture for days. Using my VC's the bass sounds extremely planar like (you can literally feel the vibrations and texture), and even more so than it did with the 60's G.E. 22DE4. The mids are very even and detailed and the highs are airy and extended with sparkle, but stay fatigue free at the same time. The Sylvania walk a fine line between speed with detail/transparency and easy going smoothness and stay fatigue free no matter how much I crank the volume. The vocals aren't as forward as the G.E.'s and are more in line with the rest of the instruments and the images are tight, huge and fulley fleshed out. The staging is also massive and the most holographic I have heard yet, with height and depth for days. Long story short, I am loving what I am hearing and this quad of Sylvania 22DE4's are staying in the amp for the foreseeable future. . . or at least until I get the itch to try a quad of Raytheons.

Back to musical bliss. . .

Man, I just got this amp and have been playing around with tube swap ideas. I feel like a touch more bass would be nice. I was looking at the GEs, but now I may need to search for these mythical sylvannias. Are the GEs much different than the RCAs that come as stock?

 

[Pashmeister]

Hi friends. I am contemplating on the HA-300 mk2. However I’m presented with an option to purchase a demo HA-300 mk1 at more than a 32% discount off retail price.

I understand the advantages of the mk2 over the mk1 for a larger population of cans, but may I ask for opinion on their difference in performance and sound if I was primarily driving Susvaras? Would it be largely the same performance for Susvara and I’d be wiser to save quite a chunk of cash on the less expensive mk1 unit?

 

[jamato8]

Using some 6SN7 JAN Tung-Sol round plate black glass. Very nice.

 

[JeffMann]

Using some 6SN7 JAN Tung-Sol round plate black glass. Very nice.

Can you provide details on the sound quality differences and the magnitude of those differences - compared to the stock Tungsol 6sn7 tubes?

Jeff.

 

[jamato8]

Can you provide details on the sound quality differences and the magnitude of those differences - compared to the stock Tungsol 6sn7 tubes?

Jeff.

It will take more time. And the amp isn't burned in yet but at this point the TS Black plate and the Sylvania 6SN7W are both a little more open sounding and the 6SN7W so far would be my favorite but I just put in the TS so need more time. They are NOS so the tube also needs to burn in some. Most tubes I have are NOS. I would also like to try the 5692, never my favorite but look forward to trying it in the MKII.

 

[Wes S]

It will take more time. And the amp isn't burned in yet but at this point the TS Black plate and the Sylvania 6SN7W are both a little more open sounding and the 6SN7W so far would be my favorite but I just put in the TS so need more time. They are NOS so the tube also needs to burn in some. Most tubes I have are NOS. I would also like to try the 5692, never my favorite but look forward to trying it in the MKII.

Nice to have another roller in the thread! This amp responds extremely well to rolling the 6SN7's.

 

[EagleKent]

Anyone Would like to help with what dac that goes well with the ha300b mk2 ? Looking to blind buy the cayin and would need a good dac to go with it anyone tried it with moon 680D? Is it a good match?

I am using Pontus II and no complaints but if I was to do it all again I would probably buy the Chord Qutest as when I A/B between them, they are 98% the same with Qutest sounding a touch more detail and mid-forward (to my ears), which are my preferences. The Pontus II R2R Dac does seem to have a touch more space between instruments though. Also to my ears, Qutest is very close to TT2 which makes it a bargain in my opinion. But if you have the cash, TT2 all the way!
Also want to add the Qutest renders piano notes very realistically/naturally compared to Pontus.

 

[Alenotta]

Anyone Would like to help with what dac that goes well with the ha300b mk2 ? Looking to blind buy the cayin and would need a good dac to go with it anyone tried it with moon 680D? Is it a good match?

I'm using the new Gustard R26 DAC. It is pretty great. I've heard it compared favorably to the Pontus and Venus, but I haven't heard them personally. I went with it because it seems like one of the only R2R DACs that has MQA currently. Pretty feature rich in general. Lots of detail and separation. I came from a SMSL m400 which I loved in that price range. The Gustard is a bit less warm than the AKM chipset, but it seems much more dynamic. It has an interesting quality of placing you in the middle of the mix. The HA300 sounds very holographic with it. I wish I had tried the other big DAC players as well to be able to offer comparisons.

 

[jamato8]

Can you provide details on the sound quality differences and the magnitude of those differences - compared to the stock Tungsol 6sn7 tubes?

Jeff.

The Tung-Sol are getting very holographic. Nice air, and at first the bass was a little bloated and heavy but that has tightened up with the TS after some burn in. Very good spatial information.

 

[Andykong]

After taking a long break, I finally return to my computer and lurk around quietly. Turns out I didn't miss my Facebook but I miss this forum.

I spent a few days checking out discussions and PMs. I read a lot of greetings and support, more than I deserved. Thank you all sincerely. I'll respond to all the PMs "briefly" if they are not outdated or resolved already. However, I can't cover the questions of discussion that were addressed to Cayin or me in various product threads during my absence, so please pardon my silence if you have @ me in this thread but I didn't get back to your question after I resume duty.

By the way, 2023 will be a fascinating year for Cayin, with lots of exciting ideas queueing up for their 30th Anniversary (but no, nothing related to HA-300 or HA-6A ), COVID makes it impossible to drop by and check out these new developments in person, but l am looking forward to them.

 

[Andykong]

Hi friends. I am contemplating on the HA-300 mk2. However I’m presented with an option to purchase a demo HA-300 mk1 at more than a 32% discount off retail price.

I understand the advantages of the mk2 over the mk1 for a larger population of cans, but may I ask for opinion on their difference in performance and sound if I was primarily driving Susvaras? Would it be largely the same performance for Susvara and I’d be wiser to save quite a chunk of cash on the less expensive mk1 unit?

Off the record (and definitely don't quote on this)!

If Susvara is all that matters to you, then go for the Mk 1, and used the money you saved to roll your 22DE4 and 6SN7, that would be fund and most likely performs better than getting the MK 2 in full retail.

Off the record (and definitely don't quote on this)!

 

[mfgillia]

This amp responds extremely well to rolling the 6SN7's.

It really does. I only started down this rabbit hole to get rid of some noise. Since then have rolled in Linlai Elites, Kenrad VT231, Psvane CV181-T MKII and RCA 5692.

I'm still somewhat surprised just how noticeably different and recognizable each pair sounds to my ears.

 

[tinariwen]

It really does. I only started down this rabbit hole to get rid of some noise. Since then have rolled in Linlai Elites, Kenrad VT231, Psvane CV181-T MKII and RCA 5692.

I'm still somewhat surprised just how noticeably different and recognizable each pair sounds to my ears.

Do you have a favourite out of those tubes? I’ve currently got the Psvanes in, and have looked at tube rolling but some of the NOS options are so bloody expensive these days.