Good point and I think it is great that you mention this in the flow of tube rolling posts. The 3A is indeed a very good amp with stock tubes already, beating most options out there up to and around it is retail price. The natural 'tube fluidity' that SS amps simply can't match is already there in the sound while at this level of TC tube amps you start to get good technicalities too.Hello everyone in this thread,
I've been using this amp since July of last year and absolutely LOVE it. The Schiit Lyr 2 I was coming from is certainly no slouch, but the Cayin is better in every way, with all of the headphones I have as well.
I wanted to make a post on here because I see the thread focuses a lot on tube rolling. I tried this out, and had terrible luck!
The tubes I got were as follows:
TAD 6V6GT STR REDBASE - MATCHED PAIR
Sylvania 5814A Double Mica
They were awful! These tubes severely compressed the soundstage and limited frequency extension in bass AND treble. The amp was worse than the Lyr. I tried mixing the new tubes with the stock tubes, and there was slight improvement, but it still wasn't good.
I went back to the stock tubes, and the sound was just heavenly by comparison. The 4 tubes cost $175 which is a bit much for something that just flat out didn't work well.
The point is for anyone who has this amp or is interested in getting it, it is GREAT with the stock tubes! Rolling is by no means a requirement to make this amp great, it can still EASILY be the best amp you've ever heard straight out of the box. It is for me, and I will not be investing money in tube rolling for something like this. The risk doesn't seem worth the cost (from my experience only, of course), especially since I love the sound as is.
It is also true, that unfortunately tube rolling is an expensive passion with potential traps and failures. One has to be prepared to take some loss every now on then or just get disappointed in certain tubes.
That said, the reward a good and well chosen NOS tube set can give is undeniable and can be very enjoyable. A good set of tubes can elevate the already great stock 3A to 'fantastic' levels.
While I already loved my 3A enough with stock tubes to quickly sell my GSX-Mini, I don't think I would have kept the Cayin this long with stock tubes only. Bass with stock tubes for me is a little lean and lacks those last bits of extension. For acoustic music genres it is not an issue at all, but with EDM tracks it is apparent and bothering.
Thankfully with NOS tubes this can also be fully adjusted/remedied and since I rolled these tubes in, my 3A is lacking nothing in the bass department making me a very happy owner the last 17 months.
Last edited: