I think that this is such a cool looking piece of gear. I am envious that you have this headphone amp even though I think it is way too expensive. Cayin's A-88T Reference integrated tube amp goes for about $1,900. Maybe if Cayin had integrated a pre-amp section with 3 inputs into the HA-6A so that I could drive a pair of powered speakers or a power-amp, then I would definitely buy it. Now it is just on my maybe-list.
Whew... I was worried when you initially mentioned "buyer's remorse". Cayin is a big deal and very well regarded in Asia but a relatively unknown here in the U.S. Not sure why. I almost got a Cayin amp to drive my Klispch Cornwalls (horn speakers) but decided to get pure Class A, made in the USA SET amp instead. .... Cayin's are beautifully made.. .strikingly similar to PrimaLuna and Line Magnetic.. Someday..... maybe for my study once I get into headphones. Would be curious what your TOP 3 to 5 headphones would be as I am a novice. Well done !!!
Thanks for the review. I’m thinking about buying an NFB 11.28 for solid state(critical listening) and then a Tor Roger tube amp for more buttery smooth sound and maybe some extended woblyness in the bass department. I like how you explain things and how you go in to detail with the sound and what you hear. I really do like the old fashioned style and tube rolling reminds me of changing coffee to my La Pavoni machine.
Just for understanding: you bought some new tubes and let them burn in for the night and then said "ok burn in changed the sound" compared to the previous setup. Did you tried to listen to the new tubes before burn-in? I guess new tubes are a big(ger) change respect to burn in
Nice review! In my main system in my Mystere pa21 amp I use Kt88s which I prefer over the el34s, to me they sounded more tube like. I use the gold lion brand which I feel sound much better than the electro harmonics.
Thanks for your review. Do you mind me asking what is the brand/model of small wooden component rack behind you to the left - the one with the dual headphone stand on top of it? Love the look of it. Thanks!
Really enjoy your passion and this was a great review :) Now I'm so tempted to pick this up but might go with the more affordable HA-1A MK2. Keep up the great review's! BTW I really like your rack set up (where the RME ADI-2 sits)...can you advise what model it is? thanks!
the Cayin ha-1a mkii is amazing, when I first got it with stock tubes it did have some hiss but at proper listening volumes it wouldn’t really be there & it was time for a tube change so I went with the genalex gold lions for the main four witch I got on tubedepot.com, I got the 12au7 with balance triodes, I got them matched & the low microphonic, these are options you can choose when on your tubes & for the el84’s I just got them matched & for the 12dt5 I got a nos tube from eBay & it’s the General Electric one, if you jus look up 12dt5 tube you’ll see it & in my opinion it sounds much better & they’re not even fully burned in yet
@@MidFiGuy Thanks so much. Great video. Very informative. I am currently trying to get a Glenn OTL but if there will be too much delay in getting the Glenn OTL then I would get this one instead. I hope that the hiss problem get sorted out by that time.
The Manley was that good, but yes I'm going on memory. I would love to have it in the apt for a proper review. I've previously reached out to them for a review unit and they didn't respond 😆😭
Update: there is still a hiss, you can definitely hear from switching the HD6XX headphone output from active to inactive. It's still pretty low, but if you set the the impedance to medium then it goes down to an almost inaudible level.
@@MidFiGuy Computer and monitor can cause the interference buzzing too. From my experience the source of buzzing were: Ground loop, DC current, Valves, Poor power and RCA cables, too sensitive headphones, Interference from the surrounding equipment. (Firstly, try to move away from the monitor with separate power connection, /not shared with other equipment). Also can use Cooking foil wrap isolation test (around amplifier) to find the source of buzzing. Play with cables and roll the valves. Good review, looking forward for more. Regards from Russia. Kim
@@MidFiGuy As, another cheap. option, try La Figaro 399 . I was quite impressed for the price/ sound ratio. of cause with rolled tubes, Western Electric 421A.
@@leonidkim3708 Thanks for the detailed & helpful response! So I actually unplugged everything in my room, moved the Cayin on top of my bed with no inputs connected. I plugged it directly into the wall and the hiss was still there. BUT! I found that the balanced 4-pin XLR is the issue. If I plug the HD6XX into the single-ended 1/4" jack then the hiss is virtually gone! You have to really listen to hear it. I don't have a 4-pin XLR cable for the Aeolus which is why it never really posed an issue!
Not yet. I keep eyeing the tube amps in the Head-Fi F/S forum. There's currently a Bottlehead Mainline and a Glenn OTL that I'd love to get my hands on for review & comparison purposes.
I was looking at the Pendant hard before I chose the Cayin. People have said the Pendant didn't have the fit and finish of something that starts at $2k. Regardless I still really want to do a review on it and the Mogwai SE.
@@johnsonadekunle7675 subscribe if you haven't already. I have a stellar tube amp being shipped to me now and I'm comparing it directly with the HA-6A 👍
I have the Aeolus and Verite C from ZMF and I was leaning toward the Pendant. But I realize Meze paired the Empyrean with this Cayin at the Canjam. I have the Empyrean also. So this Cayin is winking at me at this point but I will take my time.
Glad the Sylvania's worked for you, probably my favorite sounding preamp tube.
I think that this is such a cool looking piece of gear. I am envious that you have this headphone amp even though I think it is way too expensive. Cayin's A-88T Reference integrated tube amp goes for about $1,900. Maybe if Cayin had integrated a pre-amp section with 3 inputs into the HA-6A so that I could drive a pair of powered speakers or a power-amp, then I would definitely buy it. Now it is just on my maybe-list.
Great review. I do have the Cayin ha1-mk2 which is also very nice but yours is a definite step up.
Whew... I was worried when you initially mentioned "buyer's remorse". Cayin is a big deal and very well regarded in Asia but a relatively unknown here in the U.S. Not sure why. I almost got a Cayin amp to drive my Klispch Cornwalls (horn speakers) but decided to get pure Class A, made in the USA SET amp instead. .... Cayin's are beautifully made.. .strikingly similar to PrimaLuna and Line Magnetic.. Someday..... maybe for my study once I get into headphones. Would be curious what your TOP 3 to 5 headphones would be as I am a novice. Well done !!!
Would be very helpful if you included the “magic” tube details in the description.
Thanks for the review. I’m thinking about buying an NFB 11.28 for solid state(critical listening) and then a Tor Roger tube amp for more buttery smooth sound and maybe some extended woblyness in the bass department. I like how you explain things and how you go in to detail with the sound and what you hear. I really do like the old fashioned style and tube rolling reminds me of changing coffee to my La Pavoni machine.
Well done Sir. That’s an excellent review. Keep going in feeding your passion!
Much appreciated! There will be more to come :)
Excellent review 👏. Well presented. Thanks.
Just for understanding: you bought some new tubes and let them burn in for the night and then said "ok burn in changed the sound" compared to the previous setup. Did you tried to listen to the new tubes before burn-in? I guess new tubes are a big(ger) change respect to burn in
Great review. Thanks!
very good and comprehensive review. I'm interested in this range of amps too. I'm a HD800S user.
great review.... would like to see you compare the KT88 vs EL34 difference on this amp
Nice review! In my main system in my Mystere pa21 amp I use Kt88s which I prefer over the el34s, to me they sounded more tube like. I use the gold lion brand which I feel sound much better than the electro harmonics.
Thanks for the review! Can this tube amp drive Susvara?
The difference with the HA-300's volume knob, the volume line indicator doesn't light up
Thanks Joe, great to know. Pleasure chatting with you in Currawong's Discord. Will hopefully get my hands on an HA-300 in the coming months.
@@MidFiGuy for sure! I feel the same way with burning in the new Psvane Acme 300bs. At 100 hours and need another 100 hours to get its true sound
Thank you so much for this amazing review!! 👏👏
Thanks for the kind words and sub, subscribing to you as well!
Thanks for your review.
Do you mind me asking what is the brand/model of small wooden component rack behind you to the left - the one with the dual headphone stand on top of it? Love the look of it. Thanks!
Hello,
did you maybe compare this amp with violectric hpa v 550? which of the two has more power?
Thanks for your answer in advance
Awesome. Thx for the vid 👍🏼
Any time!
@@MidFiGuy - no! thank you!! THANK YOU >:-(
Really enjoy your passion and this was a great review :) Now I'm so tempted to pick this up but might go with the more affordable HA-1A MK2. Keep up the great review's! BTW I really like your rack set up (where the RME ADI-2 sits)...can you advise what model it is? thanks!
the Cayin ha-1a mkii is amazing, when I first got it with stock tubes it did have some hiss but at proper listening volumes it wouldn’t really be there & it was time for a tube change so I went with the genalex gold lions for the main four witch I got on tubedepot.com, I got the 12au7 with balance triodes, I got them matched & the low microphonic, these are options you can choose when on your tubes & for the el84’s I just got them matched & for the 12dt5 I got a nos tube from eBay & it’s the General Electric one, if you jus look up 12dt5 tube you’ll see it & in my opinion it sounds much better & they’re not even fully burned in yet
also after changing tubes the hiss is much quieter & now it doesn’t have any microphonic noises when there’s vibrations going on
@@irun2sanaxox yep! Picked up the exact tubes and configure but I got some now RCA for 12DT5. The amp sounds amazing. Enjoy yours!
@@seanlefebvre438 good stuff man, it really is a good amp & a beautiful one too :]
From where have you bought it? Can you please add the link in the description?
Got it from MusicTeck here in the states. Link added in description!
@@MidFiGuy Thanks so much. Great video. Very informative. I am currently trying to get a Glenn OTL but if there will be too much delay in getting the Glenn OTL then I would get this one instead. I hope that the hiss problem get sorted out by that time.
Did he list the tubes he swapped out for the result he wanted.
Can you switch between ultra linear and triode mode during playback? Or does it harm the amp ? Thanks in advance and terrific review.
Yes, you can
How is this compare to feliks euphoria?
Thanks for your good video and I fount an adapter (SAT UB-1) that can connect headphones by connecting to the amplifier speaker terminal on etsy.
If you had a choice to keep only one of your headphones which pair would you choose?
Most likely the Arya. Check my headphone battle vid if you'd like. I consider it the most balanced
have you tried the ha-3a? trying to decide if the 1k jump is worth it.
got this instead...have you been tube rolling? anything you feel was endgame for you?
You can put kt77 or 6ca7 they're the same el34 give you a stronger bottom end but still with the lush creamy mid-range better than the 88
I found the Aolous to be very slow on that amp. Compared to a focal clear. Its was nice the mids but just didn't compete on a technical level.
Is there an way that the change was the zmf headphones
Now I'm also thinking about the Manley Absolute. I only need one high end tube amp and I'm done.
Same here with the Manley's. Starting to narrow down my options now :P
Wish I could compare the Manley and HA-6A side by side.
The Manley was that good, but yes I'm going on memory. I would love to have it in the apt for a proper review. I've previously reached out to them for a review unit and they didn't respond 😆😭
That is bad news about audible hiss. Manufacturers often make their amplifiers too powerful.
I'll have to check on the hiss. I just noticed the replacement power cable I was using wasn't grounded properly. Will report back
Update: there is still a hiss, you can definitely hear from switching the HD6XX headphone output from active to inactive. It's still pretty low, but if you set the the impedance to medium then it goes down to an almost inaudible level.
@@MidFiGuy Computer and monitor can cause the interference buzzing too. From my experience the source of buzzing were: Ground loop, DC current, Valves, Poor power and RCA cables, too sensitive headphones, Interference from the surrounding equipment. (Firstly, try to move away from the monitor with separate power connection, /not shared with other equipment). Also can use Cooking foil wrap isolation test (around amplifier) to find the source of buzzing. Play with cables and roll the valves. Good review, looking forward for more. Regards from Russia. Kim
@@MidFiGuy As, another cheap. option, try La Figaro 399 . I was quite impressed for the price/ sound ratio. of cause with rolled tubes, Western Electric 421A.
@@leonidkim3708 Thanks for the detailed & helpful response! So I actually unplugged everything in my room, moved the Cayin on top of my bed with no inputs connected. I plugged it directly into the wall and the hiss was still there.
BUT! I found that the balanced 4-pin XLR is the issue. If I plug the HD6XX into the single-ended 1/4" jack then the hiss is virtually gone! You have to really listen to hear it. I don't have a 4-pin XLR cable for the Aeolus which is why it never really posed an issue!
How many DB is it per click of the volume??
Where do you buy this? Can you only by directly from the manufacturer?
Is this a dark/warm sounding amp?
Great Amp just hart to buy one.
Tubes need to burn in from 40-70 to even over 100 hours for some tubes.
Found the official distributor of Cayin in the Philippines. I'm in for real trouble soon! 😅
Howe does this sound compared to a Mjolnir 2?
Nice review. Have you been able to hear other tube amps in this price range, say ZMF Pendant, DNA stratus/Starlett?
Not yet. I keep eyeing the tube amps in the Head-Fi F/S forum. There's currently a Bottlehead Mainline and a Glenn OTL that I'd love to get my hands on for review & comparison purposes.
I've been looking for a clean high end tube amp for my headphones. Maybe this or the ZMF Pendant.
I was looking at the Pendant hard before I chose the Cayin. People have said the Pendant didn't have the fit and finish of something that starts at $2k.
Regardless I still really want to do a review on it and the Mogwai SE.
I may end up buying this one and I will need your help choosing the tubes.
@@johnsonadekunle7675 subscribe if you haven't already. I have a stellar tube amp being shipped to me now and I'm comparing it directly with the HA-6A 👍
@@MidFiGuy I already did.
I have the Aeolus and Verite C from ZMF and I was leaning toward the Pendant. But I realize Meze paired the Empyrean with this Cayin at the Canjam. I have the Empyrean also. So this Cayin is winking at me at this point but I will take my time.
Want and have the $ but can't justify in my head...
I'm sure someone's mentioned it already, but it's not pronounced MullARD. It's just MULLard
10 pounds is heavy ? my amps are 100 pounds, each ! (50 kilos)
toobs, whatever
circuit board is a mess
Too much talking... you did not play it for sound test...😠