[project86]

Can't wait to see more of this thing. I'm a huge fan of the HA-300 (original and mk2), HA-6A, and HA-1A mk2. So I am reasonably confident this thing will be great as well.

 

[Jacobal]

Price?

 

[Syan25]

It looks lovely and I expect it will cost a small fortune.

 

[Brandfuchs]

Cool, can't wait to see more pictures! How much output power does this it have? Is it enough to drive Susvara?

 

[rush1]

Great news! I suppose this will be a pushpull amp? powerfull too.

 

[tutetibiimperes]

Cool, can't wait to see more pictures! How much output power does this it have? Is it enough to drive Susvara?

I’d assume driving headphones like the Susvara and Tungsten is the only reason to build a headphone amp using KT170 tubes.

Their Soul 170i does 75w Triode and 130w ultralinear into 8 ohms.

Assuming this is the same design and scales linearly that should be about 9w into 64 ohms triode and 16w ultralinear. It should be a beast.

 

[Andykong]

Wonder if these will make other tube manufacturers to start developing their own KT170s... one can hope!

Spoiler

Exactly that post was what I meant.

PSVane just released their KT150, I assume they are also working on a KT170.

Overall there is very little of New developments here though

There aren't any rules or patents to stop other tube manufacturers from producing something that can substitute the KT170 in tube rolling, but it will only happen when there is a reasonable demand to attract new players into the niche market. The KT170 tube and amplifiers are pricy, hence limiting the "demand" of the tube to a certain extent.

 

[Andykong]

Always good to have more options, especially some that aren’t coming out of Russia.

Are all KT-series tubes interchangeable? Could you use KT66/88/90/120/etc tubes in this?

They are not interchangeable. You can make an amplifier to work with several, but not the complete KT family. In addition, if you have an amplifier that can take KT88 and KT150, most likely it will starve the KT150 to keep the KT88 operating safely, so performance and optimization are not guaranteed even when the amplifier is "technically" compatible.

 

[Andykong]

I really wonder wether the price will be closer to a Feliks Envy, which is already over the Ha-300 Mk2 or closer to the Pearl i30 at 22.000€

I can't tell you the numbers directly, for obvious reasons. As a consultant, I advised Cayin to position the Soul 170HA to avoid direct competition with HA-300MK2, it's not a good practice to introduce internal competition.

Since you are attending the Munich High End, you probably will be the first to find out more details than other members, I am looking forward to your photos and impression. Unfortunately, I can't meet you there in person because I have another engagement during the Munich High-End weekend.

 

[Andykong]

I’d assume driving headphones like the Susvara and Tungsten is the only reason to build a headphone amp using KT170 tubes.

Their Soul 170i does 75w Triode and 130w ultralinear into 8 ohms.

Assuming this is the same design and scales linearly that should be about 9w into 64 ohms triode and 16w ultralinear. It should be a beast.

Please check out the Soul 170i integrated amplifier review I quoted in the opening post. you'll notice that the KT170 has a very attractive sound signature. It will benefit a large variety of headphones, including the more sensitive dynamics headphones. We are not necessarily aiming at the highest output from the tube, synergy well with the headphone collection of most headfiers is the critical success factor for a high-end headphone amplifier at this calibration.

 

[dadracer2]

Oh my goodness. I was not expecting this. My only hope is that it will be too expensive for me to contemplate! I can't make it to Munich so will jst have to hope my local dealer gets his hands on one at some point. I hope it is a huge success.

 

[Wes S]

There aren't any rules or patents to stop other tube manufacturers from producing something that can substitute the KT170 in tube rolling, but it will only happen when there is a reasonable demand to attract new players into the niche market. The KT170 tube and amplifiers are pricy, hence limiting the "demand" of the tube to a certain extent.

The KT170 actually doesn't appear to be that expensive compared to 300B's and 2A3's, so that's a plus in my book.

 

[Sha1rholder]

I've made a social science analysis about Moondrop Phone and Chi-Fi products, if you are interested.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/chi-fi-how-it-stands-the-origin-of-moondrop-hifi-smartphone.972589

 

[tutetibiimperes]

The KT170 actually doesn't appear to be that expensive compared to 300B's and 2A3's, so that's a plus in my book.

That might just be because no premium maker is making KT170s.

You can buy 300Bs for less than the KT170s from other New Sensor Co brands as well as various Chinese brands.

It’s the WE, Japanese, and NOS 300Bs that bring big money.

The KT170 is a new tube, so no NOS options out there.

 

[Wes S]

That might just be because no premium maker is making KT170s.

You can buy 300Bs for less than the KT170s from other New Sensor Co brands as well as various Chinese brands.

It’s the WE, Japanese, and NOS 300Bs that bring big money.

The KT170 is a new tube, so no NOS options out there.

Good point! As a 300B user, I don't even consider the cheaper one's as options as the delta is so huge between those and the WE and Elrog's, so I wasn't even thinking about that.

Knowing how big the gap is between the entry level 300B's and the TOTL ones, I can only imagine how amazing it would be if WE or Elrog started making KT170 tubes. . .