[XVampireX]

I've asked in Headphones.com Discord server about this amp, GoldenSound said that he and several people tried it on both Susvara and Tungsten, he said that it's sharp on treble on Susvara but on Tungsten it's great.

I'm guessing on Immanis it's not gonna be the best match?

 

[project86]

But they listened in show conditions, which in my experience makes it impossible to draw any meaningful conclusions on things like amp/headphone pairings.

Shows are great to get a really baseline idea of what a headphone generally sounds like. Especially closed back headphones and IEMs. Beyond that, I wouldn't put much faith in show-based impressions, no matter how experienced the listener may be. Stuff like soundstage, amp/DAC synergy, dynamics, are all too specific to discern in a loud crowded space with limited listening time.

Don't get me wrong, I love reading threads about show impressions, but I know they are realistically more about build quality, appearance, and very general performance characteristics, rather than specifics.

 

[Billy Kueek]

Price is ~7500€ incl VAT in germany.
Therefore I'd expect ~6000$ excl. VAT in the US

This price would be the same as standard Envy here in my country.

 

[ThanatosVI]

This price would be the same as standard Envy here in my country.

In my country it's right between Standard and performance Edition Envy

 

[tutetibiimperes]

In my country it's right between Standard and performance Edition Envy

If it’s $6K US at release that would put it below the standard Envy, but that’s still some dang rarified air for a Cayin headphone amp.

Then again their HA-300B Mk2 gets good reviews, and they’re the OEM for the new ZMF Aegis, so it’s clear they can make a quality amp.

If this one sounds as good as the HA-300B Mk2 or Aegis and can put out huge gobs of power for headphones like the Tungsten and the harder to drive Hifiman headphones there’s definitely a case for it.

 

[jamato8]

If it’s $6K US at release that would put it below the standard Envy, but that’s still some dang rarified air for a Cayin headphone amp.

Then again their HA-300B Mk2 gets good reviews, and they’re the OEM for the new ZMF Aegis, so it’s clear they can make a quality amp.

If this one sounds as good as the HA-300B Mk2 or Aegis and can put out huge gobs of power for headphones like the Tungsten and the harder to drive Hifiman headphones there’s definitely a case for it.

There is room up and down the price chain if the quality is there, which Cayin is proving capable of.

 

[ThanatosVI]

There is room up and down the price chain if the quality is there, which Cayin is proving capable of.

That's the nice thing about Cayin, they know how to produce products with great price performance ratio like Ha-3a or N7 but also great priducts for absolute performance like N30LE or the Pearl series

 

[Billy Kueek]

In my country it's right between Standard and performance Edition Envy

That’ll make it harder to decide?

 

[Andykong]

I've asked in Headphones.com Discord server about this amp, GoldenSound said that he and several people tried it on both Susvara and Tungsten, he said that it's sharp on treble on Susvara but on Tungsten it's great.

I'm guessing on Immanis it's not gonna be the best match?

The 170HA demo unit in Munich High-End is an engineering sample, we demoed another engineering sample at the Shenzhen Headphone Expo last weekend. The two samples use different winding in the output transformers. The Shenzhen sample has slightly smaller output power when compared to the Munich sample and the general feedback was that the Susvara was on the soft side.

We'll redesign the output transformers based on the feedback collected from Munich and Shenzhen events, and then fine-tune the circuitry with the new output transformers. We believe the final production unit will have a better synergy with a wider range of headphones.

 

[jamato8]

The 170HA demo unit in Munich High-End is an engineering sample, we demoed another engineering sample at the Shenzhen Headphone Expo last weekend. The two samples use different winding in the output transformers. The Shenzhen sample has slightly smaller output power when compared to the Munich sample and the general feedback was that the Susvara was on the soft side.

We'll redesign the output transformers based on the feedback collected from Munich and Shenzhen events, and then fine-tune the circuitry with the new output transformers. We believe the final production unit will have a better synergy with a wider range of headphones.

Transformers are a true art form.

 

[Andykong]

Transformers are a true art form.

Yes, this is THE critical component of our vacuum tube amplifier, that's why we have half the floor in our facility to develop and mass product transformers in our 4-storey manufacturing facility. We design and produce all the output transformers and power transformers in our speaker amplifiers and headphone amplifiers. To a certain extend, the output transformers of headphone amplifiers are more complicated than speaker amplifiers because we need to accommodate a much wider range of impedance loading and cover single-end and balanced output independently. Being able to design and try out various options is an important advantage of our headphone amplifier R&D capability.

 

[XVampireX]

Interesting how this amp is gonna be with Raal Immanis.

 

[ThanatosVI]

Interesting how this amp is gonna be with Raal Immanis.

That's like the only big boy amp that wasn't paired with the Immanis in munich.

I expect excellent results, but unfortunately couldn't test it.

 

[dadracer2]

Is the power supply unit solid state. I can see the 2 tube rectifiers but no details on the PS, so just asking?

 

[Whazzzup]

Nice looking amp, envy / cayin soul cage match. Pass the corn…