[LCMusicLover]

Hi guys! I'm finally going to be in the Ha-300 family ... My next upgrade is probably going to be the Rosson Rad-0...

Wow, I’m jealous — I’d love to hear myRAD-0 from one of these. It has such a ‘clean’ precise sound that I think a little tube magic will really make them sing.

 

[LCMusicLover]

Wow, I’m jealous — I’d love to hear myRAD-0 from one of these. It has such a ‘clean’ precise sound that I think a little tube magic will really make them sing.

Amusing ... just after this post I was reading the Hiby R8 thread and they mentioned the ‘tonality’ feature of the R6 Pro which I just bought. The feature has a ‘tube amp’ setting, so I immediately grabbed my RAD-0 to try it. Again, expectation bias confirmed. First track which came up was Sade’s ‘No Ordinary Love’, and the ‘tube amp’ setting made her voice seem even more ‘liquid’.

I get that there’s no way this feature gets anywhere near the effect an actual tube amp would have on the sound, but it does give a sense of where a tube amp could take RAD-0.

I must resist!

 

[CayinSupport]

Dear customers,

According to the government's latest notice, due to the Coronavirus outbreak in the nation, the Chinese New Year holiday has been extended for a week, to Sunday, February 9th. All team members will be back in the office on February 10th.

However, you can still contact us on our Facebook page if you have any enquiry about our products or customer service.

We wish everyone a healthy and happy 2020.

Cayin's Chinese New Year Holiday Announcement

The Chinese New Year is around the corner, all teams in Cayin will be having their yearly holiday starting from this Sunday.

Holiday period: 19/01/2020 to 02/02/2020

Everything will be back to normal operation on February 3rd.

During this period, you can still contact us by DM on Facebook or tag @CayinSupport in your post.

All members of Cayin wish everyone an amazing Year of the Rat.

 

[CayinSupport]

Dear customers,

According to the government's latest notice, due to the Coronavirus outbreak in the nation, the Chinese New Year holiday has been extended for a week, to Sunday, February 9th. All team members will be back in the office on February 10th.

However, you can still contact us on our Facebook page if you have any enquiry about our products or customer service.

We wish everyone a healthy and happy 2020.

Cayin's Chinese New Year Holiday Announcement

The Chinese New Year is around the corner, all teams in Cayin will be having their yearly holiday starting from this Sunday.

Holiday period: 19/01/2020 to 02/02/2020

Everything will be back to normal operation on February 3rd.

During this period, you can still contact us by DM on Facebook or tag @CayinSupport in your post.

All members of Cayin wish everyone an amazing Year of the Rat.

 

[jambaj0e]

so I just got the Cayin HA-300 amp for my LCD-3 + Chord Qutest combo, and I have to say.... it's quieter and has less impact than my Thx AAA 789 + SChiit Lyr 3, and there's not a lot of the bass slam/impact/extension. I'm kinda disappointed, actually. It's kinda like, it's not substantially more special than what I already have. I feel like I'm missing some full-bodyness in the mid-bass and bass.

First track I put on is Selena Gomez's "Lose You to Love Me," and I don't think I'm getting all the complex timbre in the piano nor the powerful low end sound of the double bass plucks. I remember hearing this track on the Woo Audio WA5-LE + LCD-4, as well as the Primaluna EVO 200+ my LCD-3, and I found them to be more engaging.

I don't know maybe I just have to listen to this a bit more, see if I can get used to it or keep my old system and find another alternative.

 

[jmills8]

so I just got the Cayin HA-300 amp for my LCD-3 + Chord Qutest combo, and I have to say.... it's quieter and has less impact than my Thx AAA 789 + SChiit Lyr 3, and there's not a lot of the bass slam/impact/extension. I'm kinda disappointed, actually. It's kinda like, it's not substantially more special than what I already have. I feel like I'm missing some full-bodyness in the mid-bass and bass.

First track I put on is Selena Gomez's "Lose You to Love Me," and I don't think I'm getting all the complex timbre in the piano nor the powerful low end sound of the double bass plucks. I remember hearing this track on the Woo Audio WA5-LE + LCD-4, as well as the Primaluna EVO 200+ my LCD-3, and I found them to be more engaging.

I don't know maybe I just have to listen to this a bit more, see if I can get used to it or keep my old system and find another alternative.

You bought this ?

and it gives no impact and no bass ?

 

[jambaj0e]

You bought this ?


and it gives no impact and no bass ?

Well, it's starting to warm up and the bass extension is starting to come in more. I still have to use the EQ on the bass that I've had before for the Ly3+THX 789, but it's coming in more than before. The previous owner bought it early Dec, so maybe it is still kind of new. By the way, I don't have the 300b tubes like the ones in the photo. I have these. Are these the newer ones or older ones?



Also, on my LCD-3, I have more volume and impact coming out of the SE vs the 4-pin XLR. Is that common?

 

[GuyForkes]

so I just got the Cayin HA-300 amp for my LCD-3 + Chord Qutest combo, and I have to say.... it's quieter and has less impact than my Thx AAA 789 + SChiit Lyr 3, and there's not a lot of the bass slam/impact/extension. I'm kinda disappointed, actually. It's kinda like, it's not substantially more special than what I already have. I feel like I'm missing some full-bodyness in the mid-bass and bass.

First track I put on is Selena Gomez's "Lose You to Love Me," and I don't think I'm getting all the complex timbre in the piano nor the powerful low end sound of the double bass plucks. I remember hearing this track on the Woo Audio WA5-LE + LCD-4, as well as the Primaluna EVO 200+ my LCD-3, and I found them to be more engaging.

I don't know maybe I just have to listen to this a bit more, see if I can get used to it or keep my old system and find another alternative.

Traditionally, tube amps do not slam as hard in the bass vs solid state amps. Where a tube amp excels is in the treble where it is airier and more refined. Tube amps also do better on timbre, image separation and sound stage. I had the HA-300 for over a year and it's still my favourite amp to date.

My suggestion would be to:
- Let the amp warm up for at least 20 mins before listening
- Ensure that the impedance setting is correct and matches your headphone
- When possible, replace the tubes, start with the 6sn7s. Make sure they test strong, bad tubes severely impact sound quality, especially bass slam. Combo of Ken Rads (6sn7) & EML XLS (300b) was the best I tried in the area of bass slam.

Hope this helps.

 

[jambaj0e]

So, after several hours, the bass is starting to settle in and become fuller. The resolution and clarity, I think, is also probably why I think it sounds "leaner" at first, but I realize that I'm hearing more detail and instrument separation than before.

It is not as warm as I'd think for a tube amp, but I have heard the Qutest is a bit more reference and leaner on bass than certain DACs, and the LCD-3 is also a bit leaner on bass, too.

UPDATE: WHOA!
After several days of listening and overnight pink noise sessions, this HA300 has blossomed beautifully. The bass has opened up a lot and has stronger weight and impact while staying concise. The soundstage has widened and everything just sounds richer.

I think the only thing that still kind of gets me a bit is the mid-treble can sometimes get a bit too forward and accentuated, but it's something I took care with a little EQ.

Overall, a fantastic headphone integrated amp, and I'm sure I'll start to get into tube-rolling soon.

Anyone have 2x Sylvania VT-231/6SN7GT 3-river Bad Boys they want to sell, lol? Which other ones should I look for my driver tubes? What about for the 300b?

 

[jambaj0e]

By the way, what line level voltage are you guys outputting from your DAC to the HA300? I'm still trying to decide whether to use 3V or 2V from my Qutest.

 

[jambaj0e]

Also, anyone tried rolling the Mullard ECC32 or Sylvania VT231 3-rivet bad boys? I have the 6SN7 version of the latter, but I know I'd have to buy a matched pair.

Do you guys recommend rolling these tubes first or the 300b?

 

[CayinSupport]

Dear customers,

Due to the Coronavirus outbreak in the country, we will restore limited service tomorrow on February 10th. Until the next notice, you still can contact us on our Facebook page for inquiry of our products and customer service.

Best regards,

Cayin

 

[llamaluv]

Have any current or former owners compared XLR vs RCA inputs? If I'm to interpret @Andykong's post from a while back correctly, it sounds like RCA ought to be the optimal input, all other things being equal.

I started comparing the XLR and RCA inputs this evening and was surprised to discover that I highly preferred XLR, but I'm guessing my findings are more about the quality of my respective interconnect cables rather than that of the amp's inputs. My XLR interconnects are Danacable Diamond Reference 1-meter, and my RCA interconnects are Danacable Diamond mk1 (non-Reference) 0.5-meter. The result using XLR was considerably punchier, deeper bass (always a welcome thing with a tube amp) and more extended treble and air, and generally slightly better all the way around. This was with the Abyss Phi TC.

Both connections were active simultaneously, going from the DAC to the HA300. It was easy and quick to volume-match by adjusting digital volume on the DAVE by +/- 6dB. Worth noting too is that the DAVE's preferred output is supposed to be RCA (though I doubt the DAVE's XLR loses much if at all to RCA in practice).

Anyway, if I could be half-way confident that the better results I'm getting via XLR is due to the interconnects and not the amp input, I may have to spring for another set of Diamond Ref's but with RCA terminations this time (since my current XLR pair are normally in use with my solid state amp), so was curious to know if anyone had anything thoughts...

 

[jambaj0e]

I'm happy to say that after I got my HA300's tubes burned in a bit with 3 overnights of pink-noise, it is now sounding incredible and beautiful! I am just loving this amp now!!!

I know it's pretty early, but man, do I have an itch to tube roll now, lol!

 

[jambaj0e]

Anyone tried the Psvane Acme 300b on their HA300 yet? I think that'll be my upgrade 300b tubes once I settled on a good pair of 6SN7 (most likely Sylvania VT-231/6SN7GT 3-hole Bad Boy or Tung Sol Black Glass Round Plate)