TheMiddleSky
Headphoneus Supremus
Standard one. With Elrog 300B the differences are simply larger (micro detail, soundstage, imaging, and smoother sound)
Cayin HA-3A, a Compact 6V6s Transformer-coupled Tube Amplifier
- Thread starter Andykong
- Start date
Standard one. With Elrog 300B the differences are simply larger (micro detail, soundstage, imaging, and smoother sound)
Hello friends, HA-3A owner for just about a year now and still thoroughly enjoy using this amp every day for both IEM’s and headphones. Would welcome advice on pairing a new dac. I currently use a Bifrost2 and love the sound, but suspect it’s the weakest link. In keeping with the analog / warm sound profile of the Bifrost, I’m thinking about the Gustard R26 or possibly a Holo Spring 2 / 3. Very broad music tastes inc. EDM, ambient, funk, jazz, pop, orchestral movie scores…
Welcome any thoughts or alternative suggestions. Thank you in advance and Happy New Year to you all!
Welcome any thoughts or alternative suggestions. Thank you in advance and Happy New Year to you all!
omni94
Head-Fier
Should be receiving the R1 myself tomorrow, to pair with the 3A!
Deleeh
Headphoneus Supremus
Holo Audio Cyan 2 has been released and could be interesting.
R26 is certainly also a very good choice especially its internal streaming function if that would be an option.
Does anyone else get a slight buzzing sound coming from the amplifier? not in the headphones but a buzzing from the unit itself.
Yes, just have heard the slight hum from power transformer. It seems we should try the DC blocker or something like that.
Really didn’t notice that hum before, until I place my ear right next to trans, so maybe it’s not a big problem.
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After some reading I’ve decided to order one.
As the power transformers of my tube amps are producing the similar slight hum while heating significantly, I suppose stopping that mechanical hum must help. Mechanical energy inevitably transforms into thermal.
As the power transformers of my tube amps are producing the similar slight hum while heating significantly, I suppose stopping that mechanical hum must help. Mechanical energy inevitably transforms into thermal.
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Yes it comes from one of the transformers. I have the iFi GND Blocker plugged into the amp but I also have the iFi DC blocker so I will try that tonight and see if that helps. The amplifier is right next to me so I can hear a slight buzz but when I put my headphones and listen to music its not a problem.
From the biggest one.
For what it’s worth, my HA-3A is silent with no transformer hum. It may be attributed to the quality of the power coming down the street and into the house. I have had some transformer hum with an original Dynaco amp that turned out to be caused by a bad rectifier tube. Might be worth adding that to the troubleshooting list.
mudguardiain
100+ Head-Fier
I have started to get some noise issues with my HA-3A. Initially started to occur after approx one hour but is now pretty constant. Have checked, cleaned, swapped tubes but nothing has worked. The VU meters are spiking when the noise occurs, even with no signal being fed. I switched the rest of my gear off to see if this made any difference, the problem still existed. Has anyone got any ideas please?
Start your troubleshooting with potential wireless interference. Can you move it away from the router or WiFi devices? Are the interconnects shielded from RF? They can act like an RF antenna in the worst case. When you put on and take off the tube cage, will that make a difference to the noise level? If you are using USB Audio as the source of your DAC, try to remove the USB connection, sometimes the USB noise will go into the ground system which means it will continue to affect your system even when you switch off the rest of your gears.
Troubleshooting a tube amplifier noise problem is tedious, these are good starting points, we can figure out something if your tests offered some noticeable changes in noise pattern or noise level and we can act from there on. The HA-3A community is very friendly and supportive, describe your setup in detail and the tests you have performed, a lot of experienced users will be more than happy to share their experience with you.
mudguardiain
100+ Head-Fier
Many thanks for your reply. my set up is: Melco N1A, Holo Spring 3, Cayin HA-3A. All of this is plugged into a Puritan PSM136 which has a dedicated Earth via their Ground Master device. I also have all of this plugged into a dedicated mains spur. I have been running the set up for a few months without any issues at all, everything was very quiet, no hint of noise. I will check every cable in the system & reconnect everything. My main concern was that the VU meters are spiking quite high, even with no input signal being played, I assume some voltage must be appearing somewhere to trigger this, although I am far from being an electronics expert so on guessing. Forgot to mention, I am using Puritan/Supra cables.
Hi guys !
I'm new in audio. I apologize in advance for the stupid question.
I have WA7 Fireflies (3rd gen). I'm thinking about buying Cayin HA-3A .
Are there any differences between them? How much better is the Cayin HA-3A and how much will it add to the sound quality.
I'm new in audio. I apologize in advance for the stupid question.
I have WA7 Fireflies (3rd gen). I'm thinking about buying Cayin HA-3A .
Are there any differences between them? How much better is the Cayin HA-3A and how much will it add to the sound quality.
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