[Andykong]

I've yet to hear a set of active speakers that I would choose over headphones or passive speakers. So, I do hope someone has a good recommendation.
It's not easy to cram a worthy Amp into the confines of a speaker housing and many of the recent day offerings also cram a DAC in their as well...as though they're packing luggage for a trip.

There are two desktop active speakers that stands out to my preference, one is Dynaudio BM5a (or 6a if you have very big table), the other is PSI A14. Unfortunately I don't have the opportunity to audition them with HA-1Amk2, I'll be interested to find out if they works out fine.

 

[Andykong]

2018 is a special year to Cayin because this is our 25th Anniversary, we have delivered several milestone products that summarized our effort in past three four years. We are fortunate to have customers who take us seriously and valued our contribution. Our highest gratitude and appreciation on this special day – we are so grateful for your support and we are looking forward to a fruitful and exciting 2019, and we hope you'll be there with us. Happy Thanksgiving Day!

 

[Sorgiulio]

Hi, has anyone tried this amp with the LCD-2 Classic? Would it be a god pairing? I heard LCD-2C don't really like all-tube amps.
Thanks!!

 

[talmadge]

I have tried both the LCD X and the LCD 2 closed with the Cayin with very good results

 

[Sorgiulio]

Thanks talmadge. Did you notice any problem with impedance matching with the LCD2? I'm not a tech expert, I only know that tube amps have higher output impedance and my LCD-2C are a low impedance headphone.
I like the fulness and musicality typical of tube amps but where I am now I can't test any. I could get this amp for a good price, I love how it looks and read very good reviews. I'm just not sure it's going to work well with the headphones I have at the moment.

 

[Pictograms]

The impedance matching lets you get very low output. So I think you will be okay, I use Multi driver BA iems on mine with no issues

 

[Sorgiulio]

OK, I've read the whole thread and finally decided to pull the trigger. Wish me luck

 

[Pictograms]

Let us know how the LCDs pair, I have been looking at trying some planars but never get around to it...

 

[Orang_sabar]

Hi all,

Will the use of power filter have a significant effect to ha1a mk2?

Thanks

 

[Andykong]

Hi all,

Will the use of power filter have a significant effect to ha1a mk2?

Thanks

It depends on your household power supply and the quality of the Power conditioner. Some user swear on the clarity and 3D improvement after adding a isolation transformer, some complain that the filters in the Power Conditioner has reduced the liveliness of the music.

I live in a apartment type building, with 8 units in one floor, and 34 Floor in one building, so the power supply suffers a lot of interference from all sorts of heavy duty electrical appliance. I use a Regen Power Conditioner (something like PS Audio P5) to support my complete personal audio system, I think that works pretty well with me, but I am not sure if my experience can be generalised to your situation

 

[Orang_sabar]

Thank you for your feedback

It depends on your household power supply and the quality of the Power conditioner. Some user swear on the clarity and 3D improvement after adding a isolation transformer, some complain that the filters in the Power Conditioner has reduced the liveliness of the music.

I live in a apartment type building, with 8 units in one floor, and 34 Floor in one building, so the power supply suffers a lot of interference from all sorts of heavy duty electrical appliance. I use a Regen Power Conditioner (something like PS Audio P5) to support my complete personal audio system, I think that works pretty well with me, but I am not sure if my experience can be generalised to your situation

 

[Pictograms]

Although not quite what you want, I have a Ifi ipurifier and it does filter out noise that my laptops terrible power supply adds. Very noticeable but that may just be because my laptop is SO noisy when it’s pluged in.

 

[UsoppNoKami]

It depends on your household power supply and the quality of the Power conditioner. Some user swear on the clarity and 3D improvement after adding a isolation transformer, some complain that the filters in the Power Conditioner has reduced the liveliness of the music.

I live in a apartment type building, with 8 units in one floor, and 34 Floor in one building, so the power supply suffers a lot of interference from all sorts of heavy duty electrical appliance. I use a Regen Power Conditioner (something like PS Audio P5) to support my complete personal audio system, I think that works pretty well with me, but I am not sure if my experience can be generalised to your situation

I plugged my tube amps through a APC AVR recently and the sound was horrible, low end bass and dynamics were muted, only left the treble.

Power regeneration is probably best, but for me I just fitted an unswitched Furutech NCF wall socket, the eTP80 power board and using their NCF power connectors + cable through the unfiltered sockets on the power board to hook up the tube amps. Nice black background, eliminated the residual noise that the amp was picking up from power.

 

[noobchu]

Hi Everybody. I just got one cayin HA-1A mkII since about 3 weeks. I think I've read all this thread before buying one^^

First gorgeous piece of gear <3

Some trouble of noise floor that I almost solved :
- something looking like white noise => by plugging the pre-out to something (luna eclipse help a little, cayin C5 helps a lot..)
- Noise coming from my computer through the USB of my dac (Xonar essence STU) => using toslink and remove the USB cable from the dac. (other usb dac same problem ex dragonfly black)

I've still some low noise lookings like ground loop that are quite audible with HD800s and getting higher when rising the gain knob. I've tried to use a Furman AC210 and it doesn't change anything. still listenable... But a bit anoying^^.

Next step find some great 12au7, because I find some part of the sound too recessed ^^

 

[Pictograms]

If you have a cable with a lifted ground you can check if you have a ground loop, I found PSAudio to have a awsome walk through to locate a ground loop.
If you really want to get rid of it you can get this https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/HumX--ebtech-hum-by-ground-loop-hum-exterminator
I keep thinking about it so I don’t have to worry about my setup, but I don’t have any issues currently.
I’m sorry I can’t help with your white noise issue but I have found I get weird noise from my mojo like white noise if I have it plugged and connected in but not on, but I think you have a different issue?