[jambaj0e]

This is why even though I have my Tekton Lore Reference, I still listen 95% on my LCD-3 from my HA-300. No compromises due to my room arrangements =D

 

[wazzupi]

This is why even though I have my Tekton Lore Reference, I still listen 95% on my LCD-3 from my HA-300. No compromises due to my room arrangements =D

What's wrong with your room ? You mentioned you wish it got louder ? Is it because it's too low or very loud volume requires you to push the amp to 90% or above ?

What do you think of the lore ? It's more efficient only a few hundred bucks difference

 

[llamaluv]

Hi, speaking of speaker taps, a question for @Andykong and anyone else who may have experience with this. I can already anticipate what kind of response this question could elicit, but let me ask it anyway:

What if any differences in sound quality might one expect by connecting headphones to the speaker taps (by using a speaker adapter cable) instead of the conventional 1/4" or XLR headphone outputs?

Also, is it okay to connect headphones using the speaker taps in the first place? There are no issues with doing so with solid state amps, but I know it can be a different question with it comes to tube amps...

 

[jambaj0e]

What's wrong with your room ? You mentioned you wish it got louder ? Is it because it's too low or very loud volume requires you to push the amp to 90% or above ?

What do you think of the lore ? It's more efficient only a few hundred bucks difference

Actually, I noticed it mostly when I'm streaming Netflix and only certain films. I think it's more of that. With music, I don't have to push as far, especially now that I'm going from the HUGO TT2 to the HA-300 via XLR cables. I've never push 90%, even on those other situations, I've only gone 75%.

I do like the Lore Reference, but because of my setup arrangement, the speaker "hasn't disappeared" even though it sounds really good. That's why I don't want to put too much in-depth review on it because my setup is not optimized as much for really proper speaker listening

 

[Dave01236]

New user of the cayin ha300 amp here. I have seen people in the forums worried that it might not be the appropriate amp for them because of the supposed humming the amp has. I've had this amp for maybe a month now, and tried different tubes in it. So far, it has been DEAD silent for me, even at 100% volume. And I'm pretty sure this amp is dead silent for many others as well. Anyway, I can understand why people are concerned. If you're gonna spend over $4,000 on a headphone amp, it has to be perfect. And to me, it really is the perfect amp. I have used many tube amplifiers in the past, and also many tubes. I've used 6DJ8, 5998, 274B, ECC35, 6SN7, 6F8G. So far, the cayin ha300 with the 300B and 6SN7 tubes is the best setup I've ever had. You really can't go wrong with a 300B amp. The 300B tubes compared to many great rectifiers I've heard in the past, really have a magical sound. It helps reveal things in music that couldn't be revealed properly before. I really noticed that. They are really sweet sounding tubes. The 300B sound is tough to beat. The stock 300B tubes that come with the amp are pretty good already, although I didn't have the time to use them much. I bought a pair of takatsuki 300B tubes, and I truly believe they are the best 300B tubes out there with the western electric's and perhaps the psvane's. I really recommend tube rolling with this amp, it really does improve the sound even further! As for the 6sn7's, once again the stock tubes are good for starters. I have used the tung sol 6f8g's with adapters and the 1578 Melz (russian tubes) in the cayin ha300. The tung sol's are great sounding tubes really, but their midrange doesn't quite compare to the midrange of the Melz. Many consider the Melz as the holy grail of 6SN7. And I completely understand why. The midrange of those tubes is legendary. It truly is. My pair was made in the 80's, and I have a pair from '63 coming my way. Apparently the '63 tubes are better than the '80. So I can't wait to give those tubes a good listen! Previously, before I decided to buy a cayin ha300, I had the woo audio WA22. Amazing amp, really. But once again I had to buy something even better than what I already had. I've done that only what, 5 or 6 times so far (sigh). The cayin ha300, compared to the wa22, has more slam. The snare drum hits harder. There's a bigger soundstage, more precise imaging. Also, in some tracks I felt like the cymbal was literally next to me. So the highs are better for sure. There's also more clarity in my songs now. The cayin ha300 isn't cheap, but if you have a $1000 - $2000 amp and you want to upgrade to something even better, I absolutely recommend the cayin ha300!!

 

[wazzupi]

Actually, I noticed it mostly when I'm streaming Netflix and only certain films. I think it's more of that. With music, I don't have to push as far, especially now that I'm going from the HUGO TT2 to the HA-300 via XLR cables. I've never push 90%, even on those other situations, I've only gone 75%.

I do like the Lore Reference, but because of my setup arrangement, the speaker "hasn't disappeared" even though it sounds really good. That's why I don't want to put too much in-depth review on it because my setup is not optimized as much for really proper speaker listening

Do you have the beryllium tweeters ?

 

[wazzupi]

New user of the cayin ha300 amp here. I have seen people in the forums worried that it might not be the appropriate amp for them because of the supposed humming the amp has. I've had this amp for maybe a month now, and tried different tubes in it. So far, it has been DEAD silent for me, even at 100% volume. And I'm pretty sure this amp is dead silent for many others as well. Anyway, I can understand why people are concerned. If you're gonna spend over $4,000 on a headphone amp, it has to be perfect. And to me, it really is the perfect amp. I have used many tube amplifiers in the past, and also many tubes. I've used 6DJ8, 5998, 274B, ECC35, 6SN7, 6F8G. So far, the cayin ha300 with the 300B and 6SN7 tubes is the best setup I've ever had. You really can't go wrong with a 300B amp. The 300B tubes compared to many great rectifiers I've heard in the past, really have a magical sound. It helps reveal things in music that couldn't be revealed properly before. I really noticed that. They are really sweet sounding tubes. The 300B sound is tough to beat. The stock 300B tubes that come with the amp are pretty good already, although I didn't have the time to use them much. I bought a pair of takatsuki 300B tubes, and I truly believe they are the best 300B tubes out there with the western electric's and perhaps the psvane's. I really recommend tube rolling with this amp, it really does improve the sound even further! As for the 6sn7's, once again the stock tubes are good for starters. I have used the tung sol 6f8g's with adapters and the 1578 Melz (russian tubes) in the cayin ha300. The tung sol's are great sounding tubes really, but their midrange doesn't quite compare to the midrange of the Melz. Many consider the Melz as the holy grail of 6SN7. And I completely understand why. The midrange of those tubes is legendary. It truly is. My pair was made in the 80's, and I have a pair from '63 coming my way. Apparently the '63 tubes are better than the '80. So I can't wait to give those tubes a good listen! Previously, before I decided to buy a cayin ha300, I had the woo audio WA22. Amazing amp, really. But once again I had to buy something even better than what I already had. I've done that only what, 5 or 6 times so far (sigh). The cayin ha300, compared to the wa22, has more slam. The snare drum hits harder. There's a bigger soundstage, more precise imaging. Also, in some tracks I felt like the cymbal was literally next to me. So the highs are better for sure. There's also more clarity in my songs now. The cayin ha300 isn't cheap, but if you have a $1000 - $2000 amp and you want to upgrade to something even better, I absolutely recommend the cayin ha300!!

I'm interested in getting a pair of melz got any recommendations where to find them

 

[Dave01236]

I'm interested in getting a pair of melz got any recommendations where to find them

I think there are some pairs on ebay but you have to be careful. Some try to sell them as Melz but they aren't. There are many ways to know whether they are real or not, like the ''1578'' displayed on the tubes. Also, the real Melz have 5 holes in the plates.

 

[dandu3]

New user of the cayin ha300 amp here. I have seen people in the forums worried that it might not be the appropriate amp for them because of the supposed humming the amp has. I've had this amp for maybe a month now, and tried different tubes in it. So far, it has been DEAD silent for me, even at 100% volume. And I'm pretty sure this amp is dead silent for many others as well. Anyway, I can understand why people are concerned. If you're gonna spend over $4,000 on a headphone amp, it has to be perfect. And to me, it really is the perfect amp. I have used many tube amplifiers in the past, and also many tubes. I've used 6DJ8, 5998, 274B, ECC35, 6SN7, 6F8G. So far, the cayin ha300 with the 300B and 6SN7 tubes is the best setup I've ever had. You really can't go wrong with a 300B amp. The 300B tubes compared to many great rectifiers I've heard in the past, really have a magical sound. It helps reveal things in music that couldn't be revealed properly before. I really noticed that. They are really sweet sounding tubes. The 300B sound is tough to beat. The stock 300B tubes that come with the amp are pretty good already, although I didn't have the time to use them much. I bought a pair of takatsuki 300B tubes, and I truly believe they are the best 300B tubes out there with the western electric's and perhaps the psvane's. I really recommend tube rolling with this amp, it really does improve the sound even further! As for the 6sn7's, once again the stock tubes are good for starters. I have used the tung sol 6f8g's with adapters and the 1578 Melz (russian tubes) in the cayin ha300. The tung sol's are great sounding tubes really, but their midrange doesn't quite compare to the midrange of the Melz. Many consider the Melz as the holy grail of 6SN7. And I completely understand why. The midrange of those tubes is legendary. It truly is. My pair was made in the 80's, and I have a pair from '63 coming my way. Apparently the '63 tubes are better than the '80. So I can't wait to give those tubes a good listen! Previously, before I decided to buy a cayin ha300, I had the woo audio WA22. Amazing amp, really. But once again I had to buy something even better than what I already had. I've done that only what, 5 or 6 times so far (sigh). The cayin ha300, compared to the wa22, has more slam. The snare drum hits harder. There's a bigger soundstage, more precise imaging. Also, in some tracks I felt like the cymbal was literally next to me. So the highs are better for sure. There's also more clarity in my songs now. The cayin ha300 isn't cheap, but if you have a $1000 - $2000 amp and you want to upgrade to something even better, I absolutely recommend the cayin ha300!!

holy crap dude use some paragraphs i'm 2 lines in and I'm already out of ****ing breath

 

[jambaj0e]

Do you have the beryllium tweeters ?

I don't. I actually got a free upgrade to the ScanSpeak tweeters that's usually used on the flagship speakers (Moab, Ulbreth), since they ran out of the normal SEAS tweeter and can't get anymore due to COVID-19.

 

[dadracer2]

Hi, speaking of speaker taps, a question for @Andykong and anyone else who may have experience with this. I can already anticipate what kind of response this question could elicit, but let me ask it anyway:

What if any differences in sound quality might one expect by connecting headphones to the speaker taps (by using a speaker adapter cable) instead of the conventional 1/4" or XLR headphone outputs?

Also, is it okay to connect headphones using the speaker taps in the first place? There are no issues with doing so with solid state amps, but I know it can be a different question with it comes to tube amps...

I'm pretty sure you can, but I'm not sure why you would want to do that unless you are thinking of using electrostats and so are connecting an adapter box to the speaker posts. Otherwise if you are using dynamics or planars you will miss out on the balanced connection and variable impedance matching by not using the 4 pin XLR.

I'm not claiming absolute expertise on this but other than for the e'stat option I don't see a benefit.

 

[wazzupi]

You guys have undersold this amp it took my focal elegia to a whole different level I didn't think they could reach. Now I'm scared to connect my final audio d8000pro xD

 

[llamaluv]

I'm not claiming absolute expertise on this but other than for the e'stat option I don't see a benefit.

There are anecdotal reports of a number of amps which have both headphone-outputs and speaker taps that actually sound better out of the speaker taps when using hard-to-drive headphones.

Though I'd be in agreement that since this is a headphone-first amplifer, it ought to sound best out of its headphone outputs. However, that's just an a priori assumption. It would be nice to be able to verify this through direct experience.

Would like to get confirmation first that there's no issues with doing so first, however...

 

[llamaluv]

You guys have undersold this amp it took my focal elegia to a whole different level I didn't think they could reach. Now I'm scared to connect my final audio d8000pro xD

Nice! Please do elaborate, when you get the chance...

 

[wazzupi]

Nice! Please do elaborate, when you get the chance...

Well I'll describe my Elegia improvements, way wider soundstage imaging and dynamics big or small are insanely better. vocals take a few steps back but sibilance is gone completely and vocals show off their emotion and grit while being cleaner, revealing more detail and clarity across the spectrum.bass is dynamic and punchy this amp is dead silent and creates a rock concert atmosphere when called upon.