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Cayin TA-30 thoughts...

Recently bought a Cayin TA-30 after reading tons of great stuff about it.

I've been listening to it for about a couple of days now.

my setup right now is:

Cayin TA-30
Denon 2200 DVD/CD/SACD
Definitive Technolgy BP2004TL's

Alot of my musis listening is jazz/vocals/pop/rock with artist like Stan Getz, Louis Armstrong, Norah Jones, Ella Fitzgerald, Jack Johnson, Willie Nelson, and on and on....

The Cayin replaced a Yamaha RX-V1000 (which is for sale). The Yamaha was a great piece for me, and if i wouldn't have switched to tubes i would have kept it.

I also use to own a Consonance M99 int tube from Opera Audio.

My first impression was CD's seemed easier to listen to. There was nothing harsh at all. The Cayin seem to bring out detail in the music i really didn't notice before. so listening to my CD's was like hearing new stuff. Vocals were very smooth, and you could hear very faint details, like when the singer would lick their lips and you could here the full extent of the vocals fading out.

Things seemed to be imaging a lot better as well.

I'm using the stock EL34 tubes, and plan to get some Svetlana's or EH tubes to play with.

Also i plan on purchasing either a Music Hall CD25 or Arcam 72 or 73t CD player so i'll report in a little more detail when i get all this setup and have had plenty of time to listen to everything.

Hope you find this a useful read. if you have any questions, please feel free to ask!
kray
kray's avatar
kray OP
240 posts
 
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?
rwbadley's avatar
rwbadley
143 posts
 
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.
jdcrox
119 posts
 
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.
abbeydog
70 posts
 
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.
jdcrox
119 posts
 
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
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