The Course of Vacuum Tubes in Cayin Portable Personal Audio, and a Glimpse to the Future

[Whazzzup]

I like me portable tube dap

 

[wj18]

Anyone knows any news about a Mjolnir-equivalent transportable tube amplifier??(with retractile tubes as seen in the last Canjams)

@Andykong ??

I'm intrigued by the screen, looks like an 8" and also may I assume it's detachable from the amplifier?

 

[Andykong]

Anyone knows any news about a Mjolnir-equivalent transportable tube amplifier??(with retractile tubes as seen in the last Canjams)

@Andykong ??r

This remains a WIP with an initial schedule for 2025, the circuit design is moving on satisfactory but we are battling to improve the industrial design, the structure and control mechanism of the retractile tubes are very difficult to mass produce, so I won't expect any official update within 2024. 2025 remains highly possible.

 

[WDitters]

This remains a WIP with an initial schedule for 2015, the circuit design is moving on satisfactory but we are battling to improve the industrial design, the structure and control mechanism of the retractile tubes are very difficult to mass produce, so I won't expect any official update within 2014. 2015 remains highly possible.

That should probably read: "This remains a WIP with an initial schedule for 2025" and "so I won't expect any official update within 2024. 2025 remains highly possible"

 

[Andykong]

That should probably read: "This remains a WIP with an initial schedule for 2025" and "so I won't expect any official update within 2024. 2025 remains highly possible"

Thanks, I stand corrected.

 

[Andykong]

The 3D printed prototype will assist us in making an informed decision regarding the external design of the portable amplifier. From here on, we shall carry out further structural optimization to include internal details such as PCB mounts, suspended installation of Nutube, and rails for the removable battery tray. It will take several iterations of the prototype before we arrive at the final chassis structure.

At the same time, the C9ii circuit design is well on the way. As you can see, we don't need to consider the shape and dimension of the chassis at this stage, we spread out the circuit to make it easier to try out different options, and solder jumper wires flexibly. We simplified the design down to single input and single output only but we do include switches to enable timber options which is an important part of the C9 product line. Again, this might take a few iterations before we finalize the circuit design, but at some point, we shall layout the PCB to match the shape and dimension of the C9ii chassis structure and check out how far we can go with new features such as HYPER mode in the cramped environment.

NB: I'll start a new C9ii product thread when we complete the R&D process, this thread will remain as general tech talk on the Nutube implementation for portable audio products.

These photos were taken at the R&D workbench on 2024 07/22, we have moved from an oversized PCB to something that can fit into the "real" chassis and assembled the first engineering sample. This is an important milestone in making a portable Nutube amplifier, still a lot of calibration and refinement before we can roll out the product, but the Engineers are working round the clock to deliver this sample to the Hong Kong AV Show.

For more details and ongoing development of the C9ii PRODUCT, please refer to the official product thread HERE. I shall keep this thread as a tech talk on portable tube applications in general.

The last photo is an interesting topic, it shows how we connect two Nutube in a daughter board and connect them to the main circuit board in flex cable. We have tried using an "audiophile" approved cable to connect the boards, it sounds great but the "hard-core" cable will pass micro-vibration to the tubes and you can hear more ringing. The flex cable might look horrible to the eyes of audiophiles, but they work better.

 

[Zaghamkarim]

Can't seem to find any impressions or comments on the C9II from HKAV - would be interesting to know what people thought of the first sample.
Need to satisfy the itch in the brain to know what's brewing, at least until I can get my hands on one.

On a side note, it is good to see the portable tube amp market picking up - the PB5 launched earlier this year and the EA4 from L&P was just announced.
Definitely a good sign that there is more movement / interest for tube sound on the go! Hopefully also means less funny looks when walking around with two slabs in the hand, though something tells me that's rather unlikely.

 

[bmichels]

Anyone knows any news about a Mjolnir-equivalent transportable tube amplifier??(with retractile tubes as seen in the last Canjams)

@Andykong ??

from what I know, " it run on battery or AC power. This will be Cayin's first attempt at an AIO (All-in-One) product and the player section will be Android-based. » .

Video : https://weibo.com/tv/show/1034:5032166011109380

 

[Gold Fox]

2025 – Even Smaller, Even Bolder

Some time ago, someone asked an interesting question: What if a dongle could be more 'tubey'? What if it could pack 'that thing' that Cayin is known for—or better yet, pack up a 6P1 inside?

This Saturday, we’re about to reveal the answer.

 

[audionewbi]

Nice!