Glad to hear you are enjoying the ta-30.
Having had mine for several months now, all I can say is it keeps getting better.
I have only one real problem with the amp. After a late night of listening and having been completely melted into the sofa- it won't carry me upstairs and tuck me into bed... |
LOL... yeah really. my tv watching has decreased about 50% since i got the cayin. everything sounds like new. and i can listen forever without getting listener fatigue.
Rwbadley - what CD player are you using? |
A rather chunky old Sony Sacd 333 unit. The speakers are a DIY Dynaudio 52 model, with a 12" sub patterned on the Ariel. I find little use for the sub with the addition of the Cayin, but sometimes it gets powered up. |
I have had my Cayin for about 3 months now. I agree, it just brings out stuff I havent heard before. I had it driving my NHT VT-2's, amazingly it did surprisingly well, even tamed the NHT edge. Now driving GMA Europas it just keeps me enthralled.
CDP is a CAL CL-5. TT is a Music Hall MM-7, or will be as soon as the new one gets here, original arrived damaged. By the way, Walter at Underwoodhifi is wonderful to deal with, and is cross-shipping the new table, excellent service for a first-time customer.
I havent played with different tubes yet, but am looking at either EH or maybe Svetlana's. |
Jdcrox,
I am curious, how well do you feel the Cayin drives the Europas? Isn't it 30 watts? Can you tell me a little about the type of music and volume you are enjoying? Also, what size room?
Thanks, Scott. |
Scott, my listening room is about 13' x 16'. Carpeted. Current favorites lean towards Jazz, esp sax, female vocals. Also a fair amount of mostly classic rock. It has never sounded strained even at quite loud levels, louder than I would comfortably listen to. Surprised me how well it drives them.
John |
Scott, if I can jump in here. My Europa's are being powered by (as a second amp) vintage/updated Heathkit A-9c integrated monoblocks with 20 wpc in a 17x18x11 room. The Heathkit would not of course compete with the Cayin. Nonetheless, there is plenty of power. Typical full sound listening level is volume set at 12. The most I can stand is volume at 1. Even 20 watts of PP tubes is enough, I believe.
Monte |
If you own a hot glue gun (about $20 at Home Depot), have basic soldering skills, can paint/wipe down stain on cabinets AND can afford about $2500 consider the Zalytron "Phenomenal 3" loudspeaker kit. Easy build, as cabinets come pre-built/veneered and you can have the crossover parts preassembled on boards if you like (I did). Took me about 6 hours total to do the final stain/soldering/assembly.
I bought a slightly customized version with the identical drivers (PHL 1240 mids and Focal Audiom TD5 tweeters - the same tweeters as in the original Grand Utopias) and they are fabulous with low powered tube amps at 93dB 8Ohms impedance.
Beautiful music with my 30W/ch 6L6GC based monoblocks and Ming Da preamp.
The drivers alone cost over $1500 and only a few TD5 pairs remained last month. I may just buy another pair of the tweeters for a future project...
www.Zalytron.com |
Jdcrox,
Thanks for the info. our rooms and musical tastes coincide.
It appears the Cayin may be something to think about. The price is certainly right.
Scott |
I have had my TA-30 for several months now. I recently upgraded my CDP to a ShengYa tubed output player and cd playback improved GREATLY. I love my TA-30, it powers my power hungry Martin Logan Aeirus i's really well. I have never had an issue with them sounding under powered.
I bought mine from Paul at BizzyBee and I am looking forward to the new pre-amp that he is going to be releasing here really soon. It is suppose to match up really well with the Cayin TA-30.
Jeff Aguilar |
Yes the Cayin amps look very nice. I'm interested in the Cayin 500, with 4 FU29's, but as I cannot read german, I have no idea of the description/details. I tried emailing a Cayin dealer in Europe, and they just said, "yes the FU's are great for classical music"(which is my collection. But thats not telling me just how the amp sounds, etc. Its alot of money $3500, to lay down w/o knowing more about the amp. Anyone here heard a FU's?, (the MK11, has GU's, but I believe its the same tube, just has a remote)...Not to railroad your thread, may I offer this recommendation. For a cdp, you should consider the Cayin 12 Tube player. I just got mine and the dynamics are certainly there. Its as good as or better than a very popular tube cdp, at 3x's the price, I won't name.
So can anyone offer an opinion on the 500? |
America get ready for an invasion.....The Cayin Invasion....I CAN'T WAIT!!! The Hype Era is over at that time. |
I think the Cayin TA-30 would be a great amplifier for the Klipsch speakers from the Heresy to the K-Horns. I am contemplating the possibility of purchasing a pair of Heresy II speakers for my living room system and I just have this feeling that the TA-30 would be a perfect companion. Has anyone tried this combo yet? |
I think you are probably right John. The Cayin sounds like a real good match with Klipsch which definitly sound best with tubes and don't need alot of power. |
I know a guy who has a Cayin TA-30 with Klipsch speakers, and he loves it. i don't remember which Klipsch's though. that's how i was turned on to the Cayin.... i thought they sounded pretty good on the Klipsch speakers, and then they sounded great on my Def Tech's. |
How would the Caytin TA-30 work with the Paradigm Studio 100. I have been told they need a lot of power to drive the woofers.
Thanks,
Bob |
