[Andykong]

I don't know the metrics but it was Andy Kong himself who said changing the 6SN7 made a bigger difference than with the 300B. It may be of course that Cayin think the choice of stock 300B is a bit higher standard than the stock 6SN7? Also you should bear in mind the difference you obtain may not be one you prefer in your system.....

The 6SN7 is on the upstream of 300B, any changes introduced by rolling the 6SN7 will be "amplified" in subsequent amplification circuit, hence produce a bigger different on sound signature. The 300B output tube will have a bigger effect on how your headphone will be driven, so it will have bigger effect on harmonic, soundstage, dynamic etc.

 

[Andykong]

Yes, plenty loud, at least for me. When using XLR coming from the DAVE (ie, 6 volts), I have the dial at the 2 o'clock to get the headphone to my normal listening volume of 70 dBA SPL RMS.

I'm been strongly preferring the HA300 over my Pass Labs speaker amp for the Phi TC these days. And also over the DAVE headphone-out (which I've never been crazy about as a headphone amp). I think neutral headphones like the Phi/TC or Utopia really benefit from the tonal richness and space that the HA300 can bring.

I will say, though, that choice of tubes plays a big role for getting the best synergy with the Phi TC. And more generally, I'm finding tube choice (for both the 6SN7s and 300Bs) to make a bigger difference with the HA300 than any of the previous 4 or 5 tubes amps I've had in the past..

Interested to know what are the tube amps you have used previously? In general, Single-end Direct-Heated Triode amplifiers are more sensitive to tube rolling.

 

[llamaluv]

Interested to know what are the tube amps you have used previously? In general, Single-end Direct-Heated Triode amplifiers are more sensitive to tube rolling.

Woo WA7/WA7TP, ampsandsound Kenzie Encore Deluxe, Studio Six, and most recently, the Woo WA33.

Only with the WA33 did I notice tube swapping to have an important effect on the resulting sound (but even then, only with the rectifier, at least in my experience). Or maybe I was just caring more about it and paying greater attention as I was laddering up in price, lol.

I'm in agreement that the 6SN7 in the HA-300 plays a very important role. There's a surprising amount of variation to be had based on the choice of 6SN7s. Of what I've tried so far, my favorite is still a pair of Tung Sol GTBs (costing 'only' around $100 for the pair), followed closely by a pair of 1940's Sylvania 6SN7 (ie, pre-GT#), and below that, the Shuguang CV181-z, an RCA pair circa 1950s, and probably in last, the PSVane CV181-Tii Premium Grade.

 

[jambaj0e]

Woo WA7/WA7TP, ampsandsound Kenzie Encore Deluxe, Studio Six, and most recently, the Woo WA33.

Only with the WA33 did I notice tube swapping to have an important effect on the resulting sound (but even then, only with the rectifier, at least in my experience). Or maybe I was just caring more about it and paying greater attention as I was laddering up in price, lol.

I'm in agreement that the 6SN7 in the HA-300 plays a very important role. There's a surprising amount of variation to be had based on the choice of 6SN7s. Of what I've tried so far, my favorite is still a pair of Tung Sol GTBs (costing 'only' around $100 for the pair), followed closely by a pair of 1940's Sylvania 6SN7 (ie, pre-GT#), and below that, the Shuguang CV181-z, an RCA pair circa 1950s, and probably in last, the PSVane CV181-Tii Premium Grade.

OH hah, the Psvane CV181-T II is the one I just ordered. Well, I hope it'll sound better than the still good stock Shuguangs. I have the 1952 Sylvania 3-hole Bad Boys, but I thought it dampened the treble too much. Would love to try the 6F8G Tungsol Black Glass Round Plate, though!

 

[llamaluv]

OH hah, the Psvane CV181-T II is the one I just ordered. Well, I hope it'll sound better than the still good stock Shuguangs. I have the 1952 Sylvania 3-hole Bad Boys, but I thought it dampened the treble too much. Would love to try the 6F8G Tungsol Black Glass Round Plate, though!

I liked them a lot when I used them in a Freya preamp feeding my solid state speaker amp into the RAAL SR1a. But in the HA-300 into my Phi TC's, they're overly warm and un-spacious. It leaves me a little puzzled, so I'll be interested to find out how you like them. Hopefully you'll like them better...

 

[jambaj0e]

I liked them a lot when I used them in a Freya preamp feeding my solid state speaker amp into the RAAL SR1a. But in the HA-300 into my Phi TC's, they're overly warm and un-spacious. It leaves me a little puzzled, so I'll be interested to find out how you like them. Hopefully you'll like them better...

Mmm, that's what I'd be worried about, losing the soundstage and large sound I'm enjoying right now on the HA-300. I actually felt the space closing in a bit with the Bad Boys and my already-somewhat-dark LCD-3 Fazor.

 

[GU1DO]

Not dark at all and only very slightly on the warm side of neutral. It does not have that warm sloppy tube sound. It is neutral at the top and through the mids only in the bass is there that slight warmth. That’s why I think it is such a perfect amp for the HD800S for me anyway.

Thank you

Woo WA7/WA7TP, ampsandsound Kenzie Encore Deluxe, Studio Six, and most recently, the Woo WA33

Only with the WA33 did I notice tube swapping to have an important effect on the resulting sound (but even then, only with the rectifier, at least in my experience). Or maybe I was just caring more about it and paying greater attention as I was laddering up in price, lol.

I'm in agreement that the 6SN7 in the HA-300 plays a very important role. There's a surprising amount of variation to be had based on the choice of 6SN7s. Of what I've tried so far, my favorite is still a pair of Tung Sol GTBs (costing 'only' around $100 for the pair), followed closely by a pair of 1940's Sylvania 6SN7 (ie, pre-GT#), and below that, the Shuguang CV181-z, an RCA pair circa 1950s, and probably in last, the PSVane CV181-Tii Premium Grade.

"Woo WA7/WA7TP, ampsandsound Kenzie Encore Deluxe, Studio Six, and most recently, the Woo WA33"
No wonder , all these amps use Alps Pot (except WA7/WA7TP not sure) which has strong character that compete withe the amp signature , i dismissed a lot of amps just because it use this potentiometer , thankfully Cayin dont use this pot with HA6A and the HA300

 

[llamaluv]

No wonder , all these amps use Alps Pot (except WA7/WA7TP not sure) which has strong character that compete withe the amp signature , i dismissed a lot of amps just because it use this potentiometer , thankfully Cayin dont use this pot with HA6A and the HA300

That's interesting, I've never had to opportunity to compare different volume pots in an amp before, so I've never considered how big of a factor the choice of pot could be.

Out of curiosity, are there any pots that you especially prefer?

 

[llamaluv]

There've been no reports of anyone swapping out the stock RCA NOS rectifiers.

Is there any good reason for someone (me in this case!) not to give it a try, just as a test? A cursory Google search suggests it shouldn't be too difficult to source a quad of Sylvanias for cheap...

 

[GU1DO]

That's interesting, I've never had to opportunity to compare different volume pots in an amp before, so I've never considered how big of a factor the choice of pot could be.

Out of curiosity, are there any pots that you especially prefer?

Audio-GD volume control is the best to my ears , very transparent though its amps need quality clean power otherwise it will sound mid-fi

 

[jambaj0e]

New tubes alert! So I got the Psvane CV181-T Mark II to replace the stock Shuguang WE6SN7, which I do really, really like, but I want even more. My system is as follows:

Custom Windows 10 PC to iFi Nano iUSB3.0 (usb conditioner) to Chord Qutest DAC to Cayin HA-300 amp to Audeze LCD-3 Fazor.

So after about 3 hours, here's what I notice about the CV181 vs Shuguang.

The Shuguang has really nice soundstage and excellent separation, with a lot of energy and musicality. At times, though the mid-treble vocal can get somewhat grainy. I also tend to use EQ to add some body and bottom end to the bass, which although they're nicely responsive and tight, they can be slightly lean with certain instruments like bass guitar. There's impact across the range, and transients are nice and fast. For stock tubes, these are excellent, and actually, when I tried my pair of 1952 Sylvania 3-hole Bad Boys, I switched back to the Shuguangs since the Bad Boys dampened the treble a bit too much in order to get a little more bass, which wasn't much.



Moving to the Psvane CV181-T mkII, wow, right away, these sounded beautiful! Just a tad darker, sweeter, and warmer than the Shuguang, but no less musical and energetic.If anything, there's a sense of "roundness" to the notes, a little more "tubey" than the fairly neutral Shuguang, and definitely more body and slam in the mid-bass and bass. I didn't have to EQ anymore. The treble is slightly smoothen out, but not dampened, meaning I still get nice crisp cymbals and anything high that hits, but vocals and wind/string instruments have a smoother, sweeter high melody.

This is especially great for jazz and classical/soundtrack, but works well for pop, rock, EDM, and yes, rap. The only fault so far that I found is if the mid to mid-treble is densely layered, it can get a little too dense. Also, the mid-vocal can be a little too forward if it's recorded forward. It almost takes over too much at times, but, luckily this doesn't happen too often. I'm hoping these two things will settle down as I continue to burn in these tubes.



Packaging-wise, if you get the Matched Pair Premium Grade from Amazon, you'll get it in a nice case. I ordered it on Monday March 9, it was shipped from Hong Kong, and it arrived today on March 16. Surprising, considering the craziness we're all dealing with the Coronavirus.






Only thing I'm a bit disappointed is that the left tube has some uneven application of the grey coating at its bottom, and some of the gold coating is also rubbed off



Here is how it looks compared to the stock tube



And installed in my HA-300





Music listened on Amazon Music HD (via Jriver in order to bypass Windows 10's upscaling) mostly in UltraHD (24-bit 48Khz to 192Khz) and some in HD (16-bit 44.Khz)

• Selena Gomez - Lose You to Love Me (Amazing test for low, powerful piano, great vocals, low distinct bass pluck, etc)
• Friday Night Plans - Plastic Love (that dark electronic groove)
• Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah (that vocal and guitar!)
• Heize feat. Dean - And July
• Heize feat. Dean - Shut Up and Groove (Has this fast, rhythmic bass groove and just great vocals)
• Common - Resurrection
• Polo & Pan - Bakara (An audiophile dream with amazing percussive rhythm and so much to listen and pick out. One of my favorites)
• Fleetwood Mac - Dreams
• Fleetwood Mac - The Chain
• Monty Alexander - Sweet Georgia Brown (really tests the speed, dynamic, separation, and transient of a system. Fast and complex!)
• The Yuri Honing Trio - Walking on the Moon
• Whitney Houston - I Have Nothing
• Mariah Carey - Fourth of July
• Arne Domnerus - Limehouse Blues (live)
• Damien Rice - My Favorite Faded Fantasy
• Taylor Swift - Delicate
• Ariana Grande - Thank You Next
• Ariana Grande - Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored
• Missy Elliot - Work It
• Lizzo - Good as Hell
• Queen - Under Pressure (remastered)
• Ben Webster - Ben's Blues
• M83 - Outro
• Santana feat Michelle Branch - The Game of Love
• Rebecca Pidgeon - Spanish Harlem
• Sara K - If I Could Sing Your Blues
• The Fred Hersh Trio - Played Twice
• Johnny Frigo - I Love Paris
• Paquito D'Rivera - Havana Cafe
• Bela Banfalvi & Antoino Vivaldi - The Four Seasons "Summer" III. Presto
• Jung Jaiel (Parasite Soundtrack) - The Belt of Faith (that amazing montage from the film!)
• Heize - But, I am Your Buddy
• Lisa Batiashvili - Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D Major 1. Allegro moderato

Oh, within a few days, I'm also going to receive a matched pair of Psvane ACME 300b, which is reported to perform almost as well as vintage Western Electric 300bs! If anything, that should further extend the lovely sound from the Psvane CV181-T mark II.

 

[dadracer2]

New tubes alert! So I got the Psvane CV181-T Mark II to replace the stock Shuguang WE6SN7, which I do really, really like, but I want even more. My system is as follows:

Custom Windows 10 PC to iFi Nano iUSB3.0 (usb conditioner) to Chord Qutest DAC to Cayin HA-300 amp to Audeze LCD-3 Fazor.

So after about 3 hours, here's what I notice about the CV181 vs Shuguang.

The Shuguang has really nice soundstage and excellent separation, with a lot of energy and musicality. At times, though the mid-treble vocal can get somewhat grainy. I also tend to use EQ to add some body and bottom end to the bass, which although they're nicely responsive and tight, they can be slightly lean with certain instruments like bass guitar. There's impact across the range, and transients are nice and fast. For stock tubes, these are excellent, and actually, when I tried my pair of 1952 Sylvania 3-hole Bad Boys, I switched back to the Shuguangs since the Bad Boys dampened the treble a bit too much in order to get a little more bass, which wasn't much.



Moving to the Psvane CV181-T mkII, wow, right away, these sounded beautiful! Just a tad darker, sweeter, and warmer than the Shuguang, but no less musical and energetic.If anything, there's a sense of "roundness" to the notes, a little more "tubey" than the fairly neutral Shuguang, and definitely more body and slam in the mid-bass and bass. I didn't have to EQ anymore. The treble is slightly smoothen out, but not dampened, meaning I still get nice crisp cymbals and anything high that hits, but vocals and wind/string instruments have a smoother, sweeter high melody.

This is especially great for jazz and classical/soundtrack, but works well for pop, rock, EDM, and yes, rap. The only fault so far that I found is if the mid to mid-treble is densely layered, it can get a little too dense. Also, the mid-vocal can be a little too forward if it's recorded forward. It almost takes over too much at times, but, luckily this doesn't happen too often. I'm hoping these two things will settle down as I continue to burn in these tubes.



Packaging-wise, if you get the Matched Pair Premium Grade from Amazon, you'll get it in a nice case. I ordered it on Monday March 9, it was shipped from Hong Kong, and it arrived today on March 16. Surprising, considering the craziness we're all dealing with the Coronavirus.






Only thing I'm a bit disappointed is that the left tube has some uneven application of the grey coating at its bottom, and some of the gold coating is also rubbed off



Here is how it looks compared to the stock tube



And installed in my HA-300





Music listened on Amazon Music HD (via Jriver in order to bypass Windows 10's upscaling) mostly in UltraHD (24-bit 48Khz to 192Khz) and some in HD (16-bit 44.Khz)

• Selena Gomez - Lose You to Love Me (Amazing test for low, powerful piano, great vocals, low distinct bass pluck, etc)
• Friday Night Plans - Plastic Love (that dark electronic groove)
• Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah (that vocal and guitar!)
• Heize feat. Dean - And July
• Heize feat. Dean - Shut Up and Groove (Has this fast, rhythmic bass groove and just great vocals)
• Common - Resurrection
• Polo & Pan - Bakara (An audiophile dream with amazing percussive rhythm and so much to listen and pick out. One of my favorites)
• Fleetwood Mac - Dreams
• Fleetwood Mac - The Chain
• Monty Alexander - Sweet Georgia Brown (really tests the speed, dynamic, separation, and transient of a system. Fast and complex!)
• The Yuri Honing Trio - Walking on the Moon
• Whitney Houston - I Have Nothing
• Mariah Carey - Fourth of July
• Arne Domnerus - Limehouse Blues (live)
• Damien Rice - My Favorite Faded Fantasy
• Taylor Swift - Delicate
• Ariana Grande - Thank You Next
• Ariana Grande - Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored
• Missy Elliot - Work It
• Lizzo - Good as Hell
• Queen - Under Pressure (remastered)
• Ben Webster - Ben's Blues
• M83 - Outro
• Santana feat Michelle Branch - The Game of Love
• Rebecca Pidgeon - Spanish Harlem
• Sara K - If I Could Sing Your Blues
• The Fred Hersh Trio - Played Twice
• Johnny Frigo - I Love Paris
• Paquito D'Rivera - Havana Cafe
• Bela Banfalvi & Antoino Vivaldi - The Four Seasons "Summer" III. Presto
• Jung Jaiel (Parasite Soundtrack) - The Belt of Faith (that amazing montage from the film!)
• Heize - But, I am Your Buddy
• Lisa Batiashvili - Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D Major 1. Allegro moderato

Oh, within a few days, I'm also going to receive a matched pair of Psvane ACME 300b, which is reported to perform almost as well as vintage Western Electric 300bs! If anything, that should further extend the lovely sound from the Psvane CV181-T mark II.

Nice write up. Please let us know how the sound changes/improves over the next few days as the new CV181 valves settle in. Good luck with the Acme 300b.

 

[jambaj0e]

Nice write up. Please let us know how the sound changes/improves over the next few days as the new CV181 valves settle in. Good luck with the Acme 300b.

Yes, will do. I'll put up another post once I got a good day in with the ACME 300b, too

 

[Jarle]

New tubes alert! So I got the Psvane CV181-T Mark II to replace the stock Shuguang WE6SN7, which I do really, really like, but I want even more. My system is as follows:

Custom Windows 10 PC to iFi Nano iUSB3.0 (usb conditioner) to Chord Qutest DAC to Cayin HA-300 amp to Audeze LCD-3 Fazor.

So after about 3 hours, here's what I notice about the CV181 vs Shuguang.

The Shuguang has really nice soundstage and excellent separation, with a lot of energy and musicality. At times, though the mid-treble vocal can get somewhat grainy. I also tend to use EQ to add some body and bottom end to the bass, which although they're nicely responsive and tight, they can be slightly lean with certain instruments like bass guitar. There's impact across the range, and transients are nice and fast. For stock tubes, these are excellent, and actually, when I tried my pair of 1952 Sylvania 3-hole Bad Boys, I switched back to the Shuguangs since the Bad Boys dampened the treble a bit too much in order to get a little more bass, which wasn't much.



Moving to the Psvane CV181-T mkII, wow, right away, these sounded beautiful! Just a tad darker, sweeter, and warmer than the Shuguang, but no less musical and energetic.If anything, there's a sense of "roundness" to the notes, a little more "tubey" than the fairly neutral Shuguang, and definitely more body and slam in the mid-bass and bass. I didn't have to EQ anymore. The treble is slightly smoothen out, but not dampened, meaning I still get nice crisp cymbals and anything high that hits, but vocals and wind/string instruments have a smoother, sweeter high melody.

This is especially great for jazz and classical/soundtrack, but works well for pop, rock, EDM, and yes, rap. The only fault so far that I found is if the mid to mid-treble is densely layered, it can get a little too dense. Also, the mid-vocal can be a little too forward if it's recorded forward. It almost takes over too much at times, but, luckily this doesn't happen too often. I'm hoping these two things will settle down as I continue to burn in these tubes.



Packaging-wise, if you get the Matched Pair Premium Grade from Amazon, you'll get it in a nice case. I ordered it on Monday March 9, it was shipped from Hong Kong, and it arrived today on March 16. Surprising, considering the craziness we're all dealing with the Coronavirus.






Only thing I'm a bit disappointed is that the left tube has some uneven application of the grey coating at its bottom, and some of the gold coating is also rubbed off



Here is how it looks compared to the stock tube



And installed in my HA-300





Music listened on Amazon Music HD (via Jriver in order to bypass Windows 10's upscaling) mostly in UltraHD (24-bit 48Khz to 192Khz) and some in HD (16-bit 44.Khz)

• Selena Gomez - Lose You to Love Me (Amazing test for low, powerful piano, great vocals, low distinct bass pluck, etc)
• Friday Night Plans - Plastic Love (that dark electronic groove)
• Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah (that vocal and guitar!)
• Heize feat. Dean - And July
• Heize feat. Dean - Shut Up and Groove (Has this fast, rhythmic bass groove and just great vocals)
• Common - Resurrection
• Polo & Pan - Bakara (An audiophile dream with amazing percussive rhythm and so much to listen and pick out. One of my favorites)
• Fleetwood Mac - Dreams
• Fleetwood Mac - The Chain
• Monty Alexander - Sweet Georgia Brown (really tests the speed, dynamic, separation, and transient of a system. Fast and complex!)
• The Yuri Honing Trio - Walking on the Moon
• Whitney Houston - I Have Nothing
• Mariah Carey - Fourth of July
• Arne Domnerus - Limehouse Blues (live)
• Damien Rice - My Favorite Faded Fantasy
• Taylor Swift - Delicate
• Ariana Grande - Thank You Next
• Ariana Grande - Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored
• Missy Elliot - Work It
• Lizzo - Good as Hell
• Queen - Under Pressure (remastered)
• Ben Webster - Ben's Blues
• M83 - Outro
• Santana feat Michelle Branch - The Game of Love
• Rebecca Pidgeon - Spanish Harlem
• Sara K - If I Could Sing Your Blues
• The Fred Hersh Trio - Played Twice
• Johnny Frigo - I Love Paris
• Paquito D'Rivera - Havana Cafe
• Bela Banfalvi & Antoino Vivaldi - The Four Seasons "Summer" III. Presto
• Jung Jaiel (Parasite Soundtrack) - The Belt of Faith (that amazing montage from the film!)
• Heize - But, I am Your Buddy
• Lisa Batiashvili - Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D Major 1. Allegro moderato

Oh, within a few days, I'm also going to receive a matched pair of Psvane ACME 300b, which is reported to perform almost as well as vintage Western Electric 300bs! If anything, that should further extend the lovely sound from the Psvane CV181-T mark II.

Tanks for sharing. Looking forward to part 2.

 

[Lucky87]

Hey guys I was wondering if anyone can comment on the HA-300 vs the Feliks Euforia I am looking to move up to the next level? Also where you purchased yours in the US? Thanks