Has anyone tried the Telefunken Diamond Series 12au7 tubes and what did this tube sound like?
Cayin HA-3A, a Compact 6V6s Transformer-coupled Tube Amplifier
- Thread starter Andykong
- Start date
I have tried several versions of the British Brimar and Tungsram Factories and they all sound fairly similar throughout the centuries.
I would get a Philips, Mazda or RFT Ecc82 for a good match with the warmer Brimar tubes.
All these from Langrex are more neutral tubes to match Brimar 6v6:
https://www.langrex.co.uk/products/ecc82-philips-holland-nos-valve-tube-lc12/
Never saw this Inclined getter Philips variant before. Only for Japanese and Valvo tubes variants. Might be something else.
https://www.langrex.co.uk/products/ecc82-12au7-rft-germany-nos-valve-tube-t16a/
https://www.langrex.co.uk/products/ecc82-tungsram-nos-valve-tube-lc54/
https://www.langrex.co.uk/products/6189-12au7wa-jhs-sylvania-nos-valve-tube/
Exchanging the recitfier helps also, as the stock RCA 22de4 is the warmest variant.
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xiwrestledabear
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2016
- Posts
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Thanks for the links! I’ll plan to get a couple of these when I order my Brimar from Langrex. I ended up getting some 5814a Sylvania triple mica for a pretty decent price maybe an hour before I saw your post. Oh well, more tubes the merrier I guess!
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How does the L/M/H impedance change the sound? So far I hear a slightly higher noise floor and slightly higher volume when going from L->H on ZMF closed cans. What are you all using? Thanks.
For the HEKSE the low impedance has no authority in the vocals and the medium settings resolves that issue. Going to high impedance makes the delivery of the music more aggressive and gives the vocals even more authority. Going up impedances will produce more bass but at high impedance the bass is too strong and loses its texture and I do not enjoy the overly aggressive delivery so medium is perfect for me with the HEKSE.
The LCD 4 needs as much juice as possible so its always on high impedance.
I just put in my set after not giving them a fair shot when I bought them a long time ago. They have really impressed me so far after some listening and becoming my new favourite ECC82 tube.
They are the most technically proficient out of all the tubes I have tried. The detail and stereo imaging is just astonishing plus the soundstage is open and airy. They lean more neutral but the vocals are still excellent. The bass is not as strong as the Sylvanias but more detailed/textured and they need to be burned in as they have only have a couple hours playtime since new. The instrumental timbre seems more lifelike with this tube also especially with acoustic guitars.
Update: I have paired them now with the Brimar "Black Beauty" 6V6 tubes and its now an endgame setup!!! The brimar adds the warmth and bass that the Telefunken tubes needed with the trade off some soundstage.
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Your experience lines up with what I have read in general with the Telefunken but good to know it works well with the Cayin.
TubaDuba
New Head-Fier
I haven't tried this combo until I read your post, and I agree it sounds great!
Although I use Telefunken ecc83 (by mistake) I bought them actually for my main tube amp
o well it works I guess but don't try this at home
NJoyzAudio
100+ Head-Fier
Wanted to post and thank all who contribute to this forum. A brand New HA-3A on order and on its way to me. My wallet is crying because I’ve decided to jump in with both feet! (See below why)
I went to Can Jam So Cal this year expecting to settle on new IEM’s and maybe a new DAP also, walked away from Can Jam with the thought to buy either ZMF or Meze Over the ears, and now a desktop amp…with NOS tubes.
Have to say of all the forums I watch on Head-fi, people here are probably the most friendly and helpful, and notice many here are also on the Meze Elite forum also! I'm in good company.
Based on what I’ve read, the sage advice through all 97 pages I’ve made the right choice
Been HEAVILY focused the past few years with IEM’s, cables for IEM’s and portable DAP’s, and previous to that home audio gear. Been enjoying Audio for over 45 years (lets not talk about the ridiculous cost of running 2 mono Class A amps to home speakers... and the chain involved there) , but I’m a Noob to both over the ear headphones, and desktop tube amps, so please forgive me if I ask beginner questions or make uninformed remarks in this forum. Still learning.
Just wanted to say “THANK YOU” to all here
But wanted to extend some special THANK YOU’s to:
Renexx for his advice/tube info on these pages, especially his quadrant chart for the 12AU7 tubes (His post here (1) Cayin HA-3A, a Compact 6V6s Transformer-coupled Tube Amplifier | Page 31 | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org)
Betula
Always calm and to the point advice both here and on the Meze Elite forum, that I totally agree with!
ThantosIV
Also for information you have left here and on the Meze Elite forum. Its helped
And many more of you posting to this forum....THANKS
And most of all to Andy Kong
Always thoughtful and to the point posts and information. Thank You for giving a crap and caring about all us who are just looking to find that “sound” signature we are all chasing that makes us happy, and offering help and advice to help us get there.
Why is it I end up reading your posts, and now own so many Cayin products?
I use to be entrenched into the Lotoo house sound, now I’ve moved over to enjoying the Cayin house sound and philosophy, and you have been a big part of this.
All started with the C9 and its flexibility to add to the portable Lotoo gear I had. That led to a N8ii with its Nutube tube mode/Class A timbre and still enjoying it to this day (missed the C9 while traveling in the air). Been able to resist a N30LE…So far. (That is what I went to Can Jam So Cal to listen to and while waiting auditioned the HA-6A with a Meze Elite plugged into it….)
I do own and plan to use my N7 with its 1Bit all to DSD output to feed this amp for now, until I can get a desktop DAC I like. (saw your comments earlier in this forum)
Now as to why my wallet is crying......
My problem is when I start something, I jump in all the way.
I wait until I can afford it and then its head first into it.
Had a really GREAT quarter at work, and came into some extra funds (I'm hoping how I write it does NOT sound like I have endless funds, I do not...far from it)
On top of purchasing the HA-3A, discussed with “mentors” I trust who have been running tube amps at home for years my thoughts after reading all the advice on these pages, and THIS is really why my wallet is crying, I’ve acquired specific tubes from each of those 4 quadrants in Renexx's posted chart (not going for the expensive NOS tubes yet, as want to figure out where on that chart is my happy place figure out some combos and see if the more budget tubes meet my needs...I've already stumbled on the discussions around the Telefunken 5080-0406/G73R/12AU7 - yeah not ready to be plopping down over $700 on one type of tubes yet ), also upon reading from several of you who have posted how much more dynamic and powerful they are, picked up a matched pair of Amprex Holland E80CC tubes to try feeding (and again from the advice read here) what are supposed to be NOS Mazda 6V6G’s (they say only “6V6 Haltron Made in England” and look suspiciously like Brimar tubes so hoping they are indeed Mazdas, had my friend test them and they do test out as NOS and match) and some NOS late 40’s/ early 50’s matched vintage C509/6V6G RAF issue power tubes. Also reading what some have posted, have also sourced 25AX4GT rectifier tubes from Sylvania, GE, Raytheon and Tungsol to go along with the stock RCA tube.
So once the amp arrives, it’s a lot of burn in and then systematic tube rolling to find what I like that will drive not only IEMs/CIEM’s I own, but my Meze Liric and Meze Elite Over the ears. I think my over the ears which while OK and do work with the portable gear, and are even better connected to the C9, will really sing once connected to a HA-3A amp.
Looking forward to tube rolling and enjoying and again THANK YOU to all on this forum.
NJoyzAudio
100+ Head-Fier
Been a while since I first posted in this forum on Nov 4th.
I want to thank everyone on this forum as the comments, hints and questions helped me to form my own opinions and led me to some great results.
With all of your help, I jumped into using a Desktop Tube Headphone amp with both feet.
Its been burn in first, then initial listening, scouring the internet and other forums here to get information as to tubes I'd like to try, then finding these tubes, and its been tube rolling for the past few weeks
Also before I start wanted to just say ALL below is IMO, and that YMMV as my experience for the past few years has been with IEM's and DAPs, and only recently moved into over the ear headphones and now desktop HW. I've leaned on suppliers and OEMs who I've used with the IEM/DAP culture so apologies if what I bring into these discussions might be counter to what is the norm in the desktop world. I mean no offense to those established norms.
Thanks again to many of you here for posting your thoughts on combinations of tubes for the HA-3A and your favorites. Thought I would share my own findings in case it helps someone else looking for information.
My initial thoughts during burn in with the stock tubes was the sound wasn't what I expected, as it was veiled, not layered as I thought a tube amp should be. If your new to the HA-3A hang in there as it can be all that you thought it should.
Initially I found the HA-3A not as engaging as the Cayin C9 portable desktop amp I already owned. The combo of C9 and any montior was just so engaging. With the Meze Elite I had purchased, listening to it. For the first time in a long time I stopped analyzing what I was hearing and just stopped and enjoyed listening to the music with the Elite/C9 combination. This is what I was expecting moving up to a true desktop tube headphone amp.
But once I rolled in my first set of NOS tubes I heard changes and as I knew the amp might be the most afforable part of the tube amp experience. I was correct. Its the NOS tubes that can get pricy (glad I don't own a 300B based amp as those tubes are just mind boggling in costs). I think I've found a good balance, and as I continue to listen I may eventually thin out the inventory of tubes I have acquired to date (and will probably continue to acquire more for now) but so far I have a selection of tubes I'm going through and findings more good ones, those tubes are just getting really hard to source.
Here are the tubes I've acquired and have been rolling to date.
6V6G power tubes
Top row L to R = Fivre 6V6G brown base/CV509, Haltron Branded (listed as Mazda but think they are Brimar 6V6G), RAF CV509 "Black Glass" 6V6G
bottom row = Bendix 5992, Mazda 6V6G. I had a pair of older RCA's ST type tubes, but they just died before I could really give them a good listen and from the get go were noisy, the perils of buying from other sources like ebay vs dealing with established tube sellers. I'll probably stick with established sellers as all the tubes above a very quiet and work well.
As you might have noticed I am a sucker for the older ST Shaped tubes
I also have sourced and purchased the following 12AU7 tubes
Top Row = Amperex Bugle Boy (Heerlen Holland Factory), Amperex Red Globe (Heerlen Holland Factory)
Bottom Row = RCA cleartop, RCA Grey Plate, RCA Blackplate
Trying to decide if I want to invest into Mullard tubes, as I think It would be the CV4003 or similar which are not only hard to get, but EXPENSIVE right now.
And from various suggestions and damn hard to find now E80cc tubes
L to R = Mullard Holland made gold pins, Tungsram industrial red label Rhodium pins, Philips SQ Gold pins (none are pinched waist tubes, too rich for my wallet)
Once I settle on some combinations I like, will begin rolling the Rectifier tube to see if I hear any differences, as many have stated in this forum the rectifier will do.
I've been able to source the following 25AX4GT tubes, since my HA-3A is a later build after Cayin changed from the 25DE4 rectifier
All NOS:
Late 1950's Sylvania grey plate, Early 60's RCA grey plate, 1957 GE Blackplate (also have a 60's grey plate) 1960's Raytheon & Tungsol (where I was able to source these tubes, the company wrote the year of manufacture in the inside flap of the tube boxes)
If anyone is looking for 25AX4GT tubes, I have 2 extra Tungsol and 1 additional GE from the 60's I'll probably never use. Had to buy a mixed lot of 10 to get the tubes I was looking for. Might cut loose even more once I settle on combo's I like. PM if interested.
To date here are the combo's I've really enjoyed listening to
Mazda 6V6G ST, Amperex Bugle Boy 12AU7 (for now RCA 25AX4GT)
Slighlty warm, good deep bass and solid sub bas rumble, nice solid mids/vocals, sweet highs, not overly extended.
So far this is my favorite combo.
Next would be:
Mazda 6V6G ST, Philips E80cc (for now RCA 25AX4GT)
Warm, but great extension of both bass and highs, solids mids, but the soundstage and separation is the best. better than any of the 12AU7's I currently have.
From what I've read the sound and stage of the E80cc rivals the sound from the Holly Grail UBER expensive Telefunken GR73 tubes.
But with the E80ccs I tend to stop listening and start analyzing the sound. Also vs. the 12AU7's the E80cc can get a little fatiguing as they do extend the sound out so much, especially in the highs, but they are great tubes and one of the reasons I have not stepped up to additional 12AU7's at this time.
I've found I keep rotating these power tubes in every few days because of how they sound
The Bendix 5992's are phenomenal tubes. They seem to enhance ANY of the preamp tubes I rotate in. But they are by and far the MOST expensive tubes I own.
Also reliable sources for these are just hard to find.
With the 12AU7's that are warmer, they really help to extend the highs
With 12AU7's that are brighter, they help to enhance the bass
With ANY of the E80cc's they make them more musical, and maybe just brain burn in, less fatiguing.
Probably the most expensive power tubes in the 6V6 family out there, and VERY hard to find from reputable sources, that will offer any type of warranty, that I would prefer to source from vs EBAY or similar (if anyone has good sellers from these sources let me know).
The upside, they are entertaining as they glow blue when in use (I've confirmed with several out there this is normal for the 5992, and not that the tube is leaking or is failing)
Here is a picture of the 5992 working during the day
And at night with the room lights off.
The Fivre 6v6's tend to sound better to me with the RCA clear tops or grey plates. With the Black plates or the Amperex Bugle boys something was not quite right to me (all IMO). The Mullard E80cc's were good with this combo
The RAF Black glass sound much better with warmer pre amp tubes like the RCA black plates. they were OK with the Amperex Bugle Boys, and sound was really solid with the Philips E80cc's or the Tungsram Red Labels, within the E80cc trio I have.
Reading on this forum many have said the missing piece was changing out the Rectifier, and many point to Sylvania as being the best sounding, but others have said the earlier GE blackplates helped. Will be rolling rectifier tubes in the near future.
Holding off on any "this is my final setup" type of comments as I just rolled into the mix a Musician Pegaus R2R DAC, after seeking out and listening to DAC's from Denafrips, Solo, Brunson and RME.
To my ears (and IMO) the Pegaus was the better sounding DAC for the sound signature I am chasing. I also wanted the i2S connection as I'm feeding this using the digital i2S out from a Cayin N7 DAP (I have a large library of FLAC files, and when needed can stream from this DAP)
Been a great combo so far. but it brings yet another variable where the tube rolling I've done is slightly affected for the better with a wider and deeper soundstage and accurate placement on that stge.. This has caused me to go back through the combo's I've somewhat settled on, and it really works to clean up and improve on some of the ones I did not. I've connected the DAC to the amp via a pair of 6n silver Lavricables XLR interconnects, and a good friend is building me a different construction/wireconfig 6n silver XLR interconnects now. More to come later.
If interested my source material was various bit depth FLAC files, and high res streaming files
My music ranges from Jazz (Modern and Classic), 60 to late 80s rock, older R&B, some classical and many 3 and 4 part harmony vocals.
Headphones used were both Meze Elite and Liric over the ears going through either the 4.4mm or XLR connection, and my current daily driver IEM's, Plussound Allegro's (the ability to use IEM's was one of the reasons I chose the HA-3A over the HA-6A, and other entry level tube amps out there)
All of these monitors are now using Eletech cables. Inferno Copper and Pergatorio silver for the over the ear headphones and the Sonnet of Adam for the IEM's, but I do rotate in my other favorite Plussound PPH hybrid cable to round out my experience.
Having the HA-3A has also caused the DAP's I use to no longer sound on par and my day to day DAP got upgraded too, and had to dig deep into some "commissions" payment reserves that luckily I was not expecting/was a pleasant surprise, that funded these new acqusitions for me.
I wanted to share the excitement I've found with the Desktop headphone amplifier world. by NO means am I rolling in funds. I've got to be selective in what I purchase and maximize my spend, as well this has blown my budget until probably next CanJam in So CA (almost a year from now). Posted this info in case it helps anyone who might be in a similar situation, and watching their money but want to expand into this world from the portable world.
And as always all the above is definitely IMO, and YMMV but hoping my sharing might help someone else out there looking to start their own journey into tubes desktop amps.
Thanks for reading!
I want to thank everyone on this forum as the comments, hints and questions helped me to form my own opinions and led me to some great results.
With all of your help, I jumped into using a Desktop Tube Headphone amp with both feet.
Its been burn in first, then initial listening, scouring the internet and other forums here to get information as to tubes I'd like to try, then finding these tubes, and its been tube rolling for the past few weeks
Also before I start wanted to just say ALL below is IMO, and that YMMV as my experience for the past few years has been with IEM's and DAPs, and only recently moved into over the ear headphones and now desktop HW. I've leaned on suppliers and OEMs who I've used with the IEM/DAP culture so apologies if what I bring into these discussions might be counter to what is the norm in the desktop world. I mean no offense to those established norms.
Thanks again to many of you here for posting your thoughts on combinations of tubes for the HA-3A and your favorites. Thought I would share my own findings in case it helps someone else looking for information.
My initial thoughts during burn in with the stock tubes was the sound wasn't what I expected, as it was veiled, not layered as I thought a tube amp should be. If your new to the HA-3A hang in there as it can be all that you thought it should.
Initially I found the HA-3A not as engaging as the Cayin C9 portable desktop amp I already owned. The combo of C9 and any montior was just so engaging. With the Meze Elite I had purchased, listening to it. For the first time in a long time I stopped analyzing what I was hearing and just stopped and enjoyed listening to the music with the Elite/C9 combination. This is what I was expecting moving up to a true desktop tube headphone amp.
But once I rolled in my first set of NOS tubes I heard changes and as I knew the amp might be the most afforable part of the tube amp experience. I was correct. Its the NOS tubes that can get pricy (glad I don't own a 300B based amp as those tubes are just mind boggling in costs). I think I've found a good balance, and as I continue to listen I may eventually thin out the inventory of tubes I have acquired to date (and will probably continue to acquire more for now) but so far I have a selection of tubes I'm going through and findings more good ones, those tubes are just getting really hard to source.
Here are the tubes I've acquired and have been rolling to date.
6V6G power tubes
Top row L to R = Fivre 6V6G brown base/CV509, Haltron Branded (listed as Mazda but think they are Brimar 6V6G), RAF CV509 "Black Glass" 6V6G
bottom row = Bendix 5992, Mazda 6V6G. I had a pair of older RCA's ST type tubes, but they just died before I could really give them a good listen and from the get go were noisy, the perils of buying from other sources like ebay vs dealing with established tube sellers. I'll probably stick with established sellers as all the tubes above a very quiet and work well.
As you might have noticed I am a sucker for the older ST Shaped tubes
I also have sourced and purchased the following 12AU7 tubes
Top Row = Amperex Bugle Boy (Heerlen Holland Factory), Amperex Red Globe (Heerlen Holland Factory)
Bottom Row = RCA cleartop, RCA Grey Plate, RCA Blackplate
Trying to decide if I want to invest into Mullard tubes, as I think It would be the CV4003 or similar which are not only hard to get, but EXPENSIVE right now.
And from various suggestions and damn hard to find now E80cc tubes
L to R = Mullard Holland made gold pins, Tungsram industrial red label Rhodium pins, Philips SQ Gold pins (none are pinched waist tubes, too rich for my wallet)
Once I settle on some combinations I like, will begin rolling the Rectifier tube to see if I hear any differences, as many have stated in this forum the rectifier will do.
I've been able to source the following 25AX4GT tubes, since my HA-3A is a later build after Cayin changed from the 25DE4 rectifier
All NOS:
Late 1950's Sylvania grey plate, Early 60's RCA grey plate, 1957 GE Blackplate (also have a 60's grey plate) 1960's Raytheon & Tungsol (where I was able to source these tubes, the company wrote the year of manufacture in the inside flap of the tube boxes)
If anyone is looking for 25AX4GT tubes, I have 2 extra Tungsol and 1 additional GE from the 60's I'll probably never use. Had to buy a mixed lot of 10 to get the tubes I was looking for. Might cut loose even more once I settle on combo's I like. PM if interested.
To date here are the combo's I've really enjoyed listening to
Mazda 6V6G ST, Amperex Bugle Boy 12AU7 (for now RCA 25AX4GT)
Slighlty warm, good deep bass and solid sub bas rumble, nice solid mids/vocals, sweet highs, not overly extended.
So far this is my favorite combo.
Next would be:
Mazda 6V6G ST, Philips E80cc (for now RCA 25AX4GT)
Warm, but great extension of both bass and highs, solids mids, but the soundstage and separation is the best. better than any of the 12AU7's I currently have.
From what I've read the sound and stage of the E80cc rivals the sound from the Holly Grail UBER expensive Telefunken GR73 tubes.
But with the E80ccs I tend to stop listening and start analyzing the sound. Also vs. the 12AU7's the E80cc can get a little fatiguing as they do extend the sound out so much, especially in the highs, but they are great tubes and one of the reasons I have not stepped up to additional 12AU7's at this time.
I've found I keep rotating these power tubes in every few days because of how they sound
The Bendix 5992's are phenomenal tubes. They seem to enhance ANY of the preamp tubes I rotate in. But they are by and far the MOST expensive tubes I own.
Also reliable sources for these are just hard to find.
With the 12AU7's that are warmer, they really help to extend the highs
With 12AU7's that are brighter, they help to enhance the bass
With ANY of the E80cc's they make them more musical, and maybe just brain burn in, less fatiguing.
Probably the most expensive power tubes in the 6V6 family out there, and VERY hard to find from reputable sources, that will offer any type of warranty, that I would prefer to source from vs EBAY or similar (if anyone has good sellers from these sources let me know).
The upside, they are entertaining as they glow blue when in use (I've confirmed with several out there this is normal for the 5992, and not that the tube is leaking or is failing)
Here is a picture of the 5992 working during the day
And at night with the room lights off.
The Fivre 6v6's tend to sound better to me with the RCA clear tops or grey plates. With the Black plates or the Amperex Bugle boys something was not quite right to me (all IMO). The Mullard E80cc's were good with this combo
The RAF Black glass sound much better with warmer pre amp tubes like the RCA black plates. they were OK with the Amperex Bugle Boys, and sound was really solid with the Philips E80cc's or the Tungsram Red Labels, within the E80cc trio I have.
Reading on this forum many have said the missing piece was changing out the Rectifier, and many point to Sylvania as being the best sounding, but others have said the earlier GE blackplates helped. Will be rolling rectifier tubes in the near future.
Holding off on any "this is my final setup" type of comments as I just rolled into the mix a Musician Pegaus R2R DAC, after seeking out and listening to DAC's from Denafrips, Solo, Brunson and RME.
To my ears (and IMO) the Pegaus was the better sounding DAC for the sound signature I am chasing. I also wanted the i2S connection as I'm feeding this using the digital i2S out from a Cayin N7 DAP (I have a large library of FLAC files, and when needed can stream from this DAP)
Been a great combo so far. but it brings yet another variable where the tube rolling I've done is slightly affected for the better with a wider and deeper soundstage and accurate placement on that stge.. This has caused me to go back through the combo's I've somewhat settled on, and it really works to clean up and improve on some of the ones I did not. I've connected the DAC to the amp via a pair of 6n silver Lavricables XLR interconnects, and a good friend is building me a different construction/wireconfig 6n silver XLR interconnects now. More to come later.
If interested my source material was various bit depth FLAC files, and high res streaming files
My music ranges from Jazz (Modern and Classic), 60 to late 80s rock, older R&B, some classical and many 3 and 4 part harmony vocals.
Headphones used were both Meze Elite and Liric over the ears going through either the 4.4mm or XLR connection, and my current daily driver IEM's, Plussound Allegro's (the ability to use IEM's was one of the reasons I chose the HA-3A over the HA-6A, and other entry level tube amps out there)
All of these monitors are now using Eletech cables. Inferno Copper and Pergatorio silver for the over the ear headphones and the Sonnet of Adam for the IEM's, but I do rotate in my other favorite Plussound PPH hybrid cable to round out my experience.
Having the HA-3A has also caused the DAP's I use to no longer sound on par and my day to day DAP got upgraded too, and had to dig deep into some "commissions" payment reserves that luckily I was not expecting/was a pleasant surprise, that funded these new acqusitions for me.
I wanted to share the excitement I've found with the Desktop headphone amplifier world. by NO means am I rolling in funds. I've got to be selective in what I purchase and maximize my spend, as well this has blown my budget until probably next CanJam in So CA (almost a year from now). Posted this info in case it helps anyone who might be in a similar situation, and watching their money but want to expand into this world from the portable world.
And as always all the above is definitely IMO, and YMMV but hoping my sharing might help someone else out there looking to start their own journey into tubes desktop amps.
Thanks for reading!
Attachments
Last edited:
spacegrey
New Head-Fier
Hi folks! Finally made an account here just to see if anyone can potentially help me with a small issue.
I'm a 3-day happy owner of a Cayin HA-3A (my very first tube amp!) but I've been trying to resolve this small annoying issue on the persistent "hum" or "buzz" on my ZMF VC on the balanced XLR jack that will gradually show up whenever the amp haa been left running for some time. I did some reading, initially thinking it was an amp issue, cleaned everything and swapped the position of each tube pairs, but an earlier post in this thread by @zach915m gave me an epiphany that it MIGHT just be a DAC issue instead...I unplugged the XLRs connected from the amp to my Questyle CMA400i acting as DAC and the amp immediately shuts itself dead silent.
So I figured that it was a DAC issue and the fact that CMA400i is a DAC/Amp combo probably doesn't help with noise and all that, so I plugged in my Topping D50s and boom, the amp remains completely dead silent. Having thought I finally resolved the issue, I began happily listening through it again...only to find out that the buzzing restarts only around 30 minutes in.
So I'm still trying to figure out what exactly the issue here is:
1) An amp issue seems unlikely, since unplugging XLR (and RCA as I later tried) immediately shuts down any noise
2) Using a DAC/Amp combo as DAC seems not very relevant to the issue, since the issue shows up on my Topping D50s, a dedicated DAC
3) I'd assume if it was a ground loop issue, the system would have started buzzing the moment everything is connected, not hours after a plugged DAC sees some use.
4) The amp stayed on as I switched between DAC, and accordingly experienced a cycle of having the hums and the buzz, and quiet once a new DAC is connected. I'm not really sure if this is an amp / heat problem since the noise WILL completely disappear upon switching to a new DAC, only to reappear half an hour later with that DAC and only to disappear again once a new DAC is switched in. The amp was on and generating heat the entire time, the DAC being the only changing variable, so it's not likely to be a faulty component operating temperature issue on the side of the amp.
Any ideas? Thanks in advance!
I'm a 3-day happy owner of a Cayin HA-3A (my very first tube amp!) but I've been trying to resolve this small annoying issue on the persistent "hum" or "buzz" on my ZMF VC on the balanced XLR jack that will gradually show up whenever the amp haa been left running for some time. I did some reading, initially thinking it was an amp issue, cleaned everything and swapped the position of each tube pairs, but an earlier post in this thread by @zach915m gave me an epiphany that it MIGHT just be a DAC issue instead...I unplugged the XLRs connected from the amp to my Questyle CMA400i acting as DAC and the amp immediately shuts itself dead silent.
So I figured that it was a DAC issue and the fact that CMA400i is a DAC/Amp combo probably doesn't help with noise and all that, so I plugged in my Topping D50s and boom, the amp remains completely dead silent. Having thought I finally resolved the issue, I began happily listening through it again...only to find out that the buzzing restarts only around 30 minutes in.
So I'm still trying to figure out what exactly the issue here is:
1) An amp issue seems unlikely, since unplugging XLR (and RCA as I later tried) immediately shuts down any noise
2) Using a DAC/Amp combo as DAC seems not very relevant to the issue, since the issue shows up on my Topping D50s, a dedicated DAC
3) I'd assume if it was a ground loop issue, the system would have started buzzing the moment everything is connected, not hours after a plugged DAC sees some use.
4) The amp stayed on as I switched between DAC, and accordingly experienced a cycle of having the hums and the buzz, and quiet once a new DAC is connected. I'm not really sure if this is an amp / heat problem since the noise WILL completely disappear upon switching to a new DAC, only to reappear half an hour later with that DAC and only to disappear again once a new DAC is switched in. The amp was on and generating heat the entire time, the DAC being the only changing variable, so it's not likely to be a faulty component operating temperature issue on the side of the amp.
Any ideas? Thanks in advance!
DACs are known to inject noise via the mains through the power cable into other system gear. I'd suggest a power cord on the DAC that has noise filtration and/or a power conditioner.
I had the same issue and was hard to find where the issue was, the tubes are very sensitive, so if the amp is near a router, BT speaker, Monitor or TV it may cause interference/ noise.
In my case was a combination of some of the above plus a very sensitive RCA cable (audioquest).
I also noted that after burn-in period, noise issues tend to disappear or calm down.
Try using the 4.4mm balanced jack. That's what Zach told me to use. Zmf and other high impedance sensitive headphones will all have hum when using the XLR balanced out.
spacegrey
New Head-Fier
Thanks for the suggestions! I appreciate it.
The opposite was true in my case, unfortunately, since the system will boot up dead silent but the hum/buzz/hiss will slowly surface as time progresses, to the extent that it would eventually overtake the entire channel, even on 4.4mm. I'm listening to the system right now and the 4.4mm is as loud as the XLR jack originally was, and the XLR jack is now twice as loud as when it started...
Something that is also interesting is that I noticed that when plugged to my CMA400i, the amp of the CMA400i would also start hissing when the HA-3A's power cord is plugged in, even when the amp is turned off. The hiss promptly ceased when I unplugged the HA-3A's power cord is unplugged, and immediately returned once the cord is plugged back. "Plugged" in this case meaning plugged on the side of the device and not my electric socket.
I think this is implying that some sort of EMI is taking place, but I would've thought EMI would have been a "constant" noise, not something that builds up and gets progressively louder over time...
This is exactly what I've been doing - the hum/buzz/hiss was initially not audible on the 4.4mm but still would show up and get increasingly louder as time progresses, so this doesn't seem like a permanent solution.
The opposite was true in my case, unfortunately, since the system will boot up dead silent but the hum/buzz/hiss will slowly surface as time progresses, to the extent that it would eventually overtake the entire channel, even on 4.4mm. I'm listening to the system right now and the 4.4mm is as loud as the XLR jack originally was, and the XLR jack is now twice as loud as when it started...
Something that is also interesting is that I noticed that when plugged to my CMA400i, the amp of the CMA400i would also start hissing when the HA-3A's power cord is plugged in, even when the amp is turned off. The hiss promptly ceased when I unplugged the HA-3A's power cord is unplugged, and immediately returned once the cord is plugged back. "Plugged" in this case meaning plugged on the side of the device and not my electric socket.
I think this is implying that some sort of EMI is taking place, but I would've thought EMI would have been a "constant" noise, not something that builds up and gets progressively louder over time...
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