I have an A100 and drive it with a preamp connection. The preamp I use is the VAS Citation I, made by Cayin's parent. I also use the VAS Citation to drive VAS mono blocks, in a three channel configuration. Very happy with the 'Cayin' sound. I do notice a significant difference when I use the preamp to drive the A100, even beyond the Phono inputs which was the main reason I acquired the Citation. When I drive the amp with cd input, there is less of a difference, but still noticeable. Tubes make all the difference. I have not done any tube rolling, yet. I also have a Cayin T88, which is not in use. I moved up to the 100 for more power and it made a significant difference. I drive different sets of ProAC speakers.
cayinA100 T tube amp
i recently purchased this amp and became interested in the fact that there is the ability to add a preamp, bypassing the factory amp......i was pursuaded to buy a solid state preamp with assurances that this combination would significantly inhance the sound.......turns out this was a very bad mistake,and the combination was much worse than just using the cayin alone.....still, the idea of adding perhaps a high end tube preamp still intrigues me and and i wonder if anyone has any sugestions on any products that would "significantly" upgrade the cayin as a stand alone integrated amp......thanks