[petek]

Walter of LSA does not cite it, but essentially it is the same headphone as the Kennerton Gjallarhorn.

.....

Can you please verify the sensitivity rating again? There are two frequently used sensitivity measurements, dB/V SPL vs dB/mW, the later is more common in recent years, but some manufactures use dB/V instead.


33ohm 116dB/mW is very high sensitive for full size headphone, you probably will pick up some background noise if you use a tube amplifier like HA-1Amk2.

33ohm 116dB/V is equivalent to 101.2 db/mW, that is a fairly easy load, the HA1Amk2 should handle it very well.

 

[dpump]

Is it ok to use 12BH7 or E80CC/6085 in place of the 12AU7?

 

[PeteJ]

Hi everyone. I have recently purchased Cayin HA-1A MK2 and so far I am happy with it.

I was thinking about trying "upgraded" power supply cable, something like this with hope it would lower the noise floor.
Has anyone tried something similar and did it help at all ?

 

[martas38]

Hi everyone. I have recently purchased Cayin HA-1A MK2 and so far I am happy with it.

I was thinking about trying "upgraded" power supply cable, something like this with hope it would lower the noise floor.
Has anyone tried something similar and did it help at all ?

Hi, if there is a hiss, there will be a problem in the grounding loop of the electricity. Try connecting the amplifier, DAC, PC to the same electrical socket. My Cayin does not hiss with LCD-X. Then try replacing the EL84 with a PSVane or Tung-Sol tube.

 

[dpump]

Second request for info. Is it okay to use 12BH7 and E80CC/6085 in place of the12AU7?

 

[PeteJ]

@martas38 thanks for comment... I do not experience hiss acctually, its just a humming noise which is not terrible but audible when no music is playing or in a quiet parts of the songs. I am new to tubes and my understnding is... its normal, especially at this price point. I was told upgrading the power cord to the "audiophile" grade would lower down the humming noise but not sure if this is something worth trying bearing in mind price of this amp.

 

[martas38]

I think it's a ground loop.
Try connecting everything to one electrical wall socket and using a hub.
It also helps to disconnect the ground, but it is not safe.
I am sorry for my english.

 

[muths66]

Now trying to burn in my serial and tube. But there's some static sound for certain iems.

 

[Chodi]

I received my new Cayin HA-1A MK2 2 days ago. I have other tube amps and several headphones. I have read various comments about hiss/hum and compatibility with various headphones. Since I have other tube amps as well as some very expensive solid state (Auralic Taurus) I feel I have a reasonable basis for comparison. I have no hiss or hum issues with any headphone I have tried on this amp. In fact, the background is as black as any other amp I have. I saw someone here comment about Sundara with this amp I can only say I have never heard my Sundara sound this good. I also saw a comment about AKG712 headphones and all I can say is that they perform very well on my sample of Cayin HA-1A MK2 although they can sound better on some other amps. On to a comment about Beyer T1.2 that I read on here. I find it a fantastic match with my Cayin HA-1A MK2. I am using a Denafrips R2R dac as the source and I have HQplayer software on my computer to play all my music.

On the whole I posted these comments just to point out that there is someone out there who thinks this amp is a steal. Perhaps not the equal of some $2000 alternatives but when you consider the price and the esthetics (very beautiful product design) I think this amp deserves far more attention than it gets. I would point out that mine came with JJ tubes in the 12au7 position which I guess was a change/improvement stock part. As low cost new production tubes go they are very respectable. I have some NOS tubes on the way to try but the supplied tubes are really not bad. Not the equal of what I expect in 1950-1970 NOS tubes of certain vintage but still quiet respectable for anyone who does not want to play with tube rolling the supplied set is nice.

So how does my new Cayin HA-1A MK2 sound. After only two days and experiment with several of my headphones I can safely say it sounds fantastic. Not as romantic as my OTL amp and far from the sound of my solid state amps but that is why I love tubes. This amp also scales very well depending on your source. Very beautiful product I am a totally satisfied customer.

 

[Andykong]

Is it ok to use 12BH7 or E80CC/6085 in place of the 12AU7?

Technically yes, but on the risk of higher noise level when you increase the gain ratio or current passing through filament, and E80CC is a typical example of that. please consult your vacuum tube supplier whether this will affect your sound system.

 

[gadgetgod]

This combo is heavenly <3

 

[samtheman]

Hi everyone! I'm reposting this here as the old Cayin HA-1A MK1 is very old:

My little dott MKIII died recently and I replaced it with the Ha-1A MK1. I have a fair few tubes from my little dott amp (some rather expensive by my standards) and I'm wondering if any of them can be used with the Caylin?

Here are some of the best ones:

4 x Seimens C3g tubes with C3g to 6ak5/6J1 adaptors
8 x 6sn7 Sylvania GTA tubes with 6sn7 to ecc88/6dj8 adaptors
2 x GE 12sn7 gta tubes
2 x 6h30n-eb sovtek tubes
2 x 6c19n-b russian tubes with rocket logo
2 x XII-78 russian tubes
2 x cv4014 tubes
loads of various gb5654 tubes including gold brand sylvanias

Am I out of luck? Really hoping some can be used - particularly those C3g/ tubes which were end game tubes for the little dott

I've read the whole thread and found nothing - but I'm a little lost with tube names etc.

If anyone can help, I'd be realy gratefull.
Sam

 

[martas38]

Hi everyone! I'm reposting this here as the old Cayin HA-1A MK1 is very old:

My little dott MKIII died recently and I replaced it with the Ha-1A MK1. I have a fair few tubes from my little dott amp (some rather expensive by my standards) and I'm wondering if any of them can be used with the Caylin?

Here are some of the best ones:

4 x Seimens C3g tubes with C3g to 6ak5/6J1 adaptors
8 x 6sn7 Sylvania GTA tubes with 6sn7 to ecc88/6dj8 adaptors
2 x GE 12sn7 gta tubes
2 x 6h30n-eb sovtek tubes
2 x 6c19n-b russian tubes with rocket logo
2 x XII-78 russian tubes
2 x cv4014 tubes
loads of various gb5654 tubes including gold brand sylvanias

Am I out of luck? Really hoping some can be used - particularly those C3g/ tubes which were end game tubes for the little dott

I've read the whole thread and found nothing - but I'm a little lost with tube names etc.

If anyone can help, I'd be realy gratefull.
Sam

In front of the tubes marked as 12AU7, EC82, ECC82 or 6189.
On the power tubes EL84 or 6BQ5.
Do not use any others!
This applies to mk2.

 

[samtheman]

Thanks for the reply, Martas38. So are you saying that none of my tubes are appropriate for the mk1?

 

[Bkido]

Hi everyone! I'm reposting this here as the old Cayin HA-1A MK1 is very old:

My little dott MKIII died recently and I replaced it with the Ha-1A MK1. I have a fair few tubes from my little dott amp (some rather expensive by my standards) and I'm wondering if any of them can be used with the Caylin?

Here are some of the best ones:

4 x Seimens C3g tubes with C3g to 6ak5/6J1 adaptors
8 x 6sn7 Sylvania GTA tubes with 6sn7 to ecc88/6dj8 adaptors
2 x GE 12sn7 gta tubes
2 x 6h30n-eb sovtek tubes
2 x 6c19n-b russian tubes with rocket logo
2 x XII-78 russian tubes
2 x cv4014 tubes
loads of various gb5654 tubes including gold brand sylvanias

Am I out of luck? Really hoping some can be used - particularly those C3g/ tubes which were end game tubes for the little dott

I've read the whole thread and found nothing - but I'm a little lost with tube names etc.

If anyone can help, I'd be realy gratefull.
Sam

Hey the MK1 uses the following tube types: 2x EL84 (6N14), 1x 12AX7, 1x 12AU7

I'm afraid that none of your current tubes will work in the Cayin. Also not adapted. Especially because of the space constraints.
Maybe try to find someone who might be interested in your Little Dot tube rolling kit and fund some new tubes for the Cayin with it.