When I said a I thought the Cayin A88T would be a great first amp, I was refering to it as a great first stereophile-grade tube-amp (and perhaps last as it is wonderfully good). The minor learning curve and having to bias the amp is the hole in the donut! Why look at everything else you get with the Cayin A88T (including incredible value used) and get upset at 10 minutes of study and buying a multimeter?
Yes, it may take a max of 15 minutes done in a relaxed way to bias the amp, but it need not be messed with again for about a year or so. Once done, it is very easy to do again. Get a multi-meter (about $18 at Radioshack), and read the directions within audiogon in biasing it. I recommending buying the optional alligator ends if not included. And don't touch anything inside the amp with your hands with the bottom off as it is very high voltage!
That is nothing compared to the rewards. Those who don't want to bother, should perhaps just buy a different Cayin amp or even what is a very nice and warm solid Harman Kardon 2 channel amp brand new on the internet for $200, and forget about asking for even higher fidelity. Gee, if learning something new and avoiding minor frustration is a problem, everyone would be wearing slip on shoes, instead of ones with laces! Let's keep things in perspective! By the way, you can soften the sound if that is what you like, by turning the bias down from the 400mV recommended to 435 like I did. With the KT88s, it had a nice effect. Be careful about going up though, you could fry your amp if you go too high.
I had the A100T amp also. Very nice. I thought the A88T to be a bit warmer, but the A100T more dynamic. Its all a matter of what you want to hear. As a plus with the A100T though, you can fry eggs on the shelf above if you want.
Instead of SED KT88s in my Cayin A88T, I tried the SED 6550 tubes. What a difference. The 6550 changed the sound and softened it quit a bit. The KT88s are much more open sounding and dynamic yet still possed good midrange texture. It is my favorite KT88 tube. The famous 'Black Sable' is just a SED KT88 that got the Cryo treatment. A dubious improvement for the price. The SED 6550s shifted the sound a little and positioned it roughtly between Cayin A88T and the Conrad Johnson CAV50. The mids became extra warm, but the vocals sounded too soft to me as the upper midrange is a little recessed. Female singers with a normally etched tone of voice didn't exactly sound like themselves. Diana Krall sort of turned into Julie London. People who like classical music or don't mind giving up some extension for deeper midrange texture, may love the SED 6550 though.
I just bought a used (expensive, gulp) Joule LA150MKII preamp and plugged it into the Cayin A88T pre-in. What I thought was about as good as you could get got even better. The sound was even more life like and smoother, and the highs opened up and that little bit of unwanted edge in the upper mids that I got with my wonderful SED KT88 tubes went away for the most part. The sound positioned itself it seemed, roughly between the Cayin and a Cary Amp, and incorporating the best of both amps presentation it seemed. (The Cary had more of a solid state more clinical presentation by my ears, more mid-hall sounding with a tube blush). I can't speak too highly of the Joule LA150 MKII preamp. I listened to many (Canary, Rogue, Cary, Musical Fidelity, Audio Note, Conrad Johnson, etc) and the Joule was my favorite for capturing the essence of the music. It was a major expense buying it, but to me, well worth every penny.
Yes, it may take a max of 15 minutes done in a relaxed way to bias the amp, but it need not be messed with again for about a year or so. Once done, it is very easy to do again. Get a multi-meter (about $18 at Radioshack), and read the directions within audiogon in biasing it. I recommending buying the optional alligator ends if not included. And don't touch anything inside the amp with your hands with the bottom off as it is very high voltage!
That is nothing compared to the rewards. Those who don't want to bother, should perhaps just buy a different Cayin amp or even what is a very nice and warm solid Harman Kardon 2 channel amp brand new on the internet for $200, and forget about asking for even higher fidelity. Gee, if learning something new and avoiding minor frustration is a problem, everyone would be wearing slip on shoes, instead of ones with laces! Let's keep things in perspective! By the way, you can soften the sound if that is what you like, by turning the bias down from the 400mV recommended to 435 like I did. With the KT88s, it had a nice effect. Be careful about going up though, you could fry your amp if you go too high.
I had the A100T amp also. Very nice. I thought the A88T to be a bit warmer, but the A100T more dynamic. Its all a matter of what you want to hear. As a plus with the A100T though, you can fry eggs on the shelf above if you want.
Instead of SED KT88s in my Cayin A88T, I tried the SED 6550 tubes. What a difference. The 6550 changed the sound and softened it quit a bit. The KT88s are much more open sounding and dynamic yet still possed good midrange texture. It is my favorite KT88 tube. The famous 'Black Sable' is just a SED KT88 that got the Cryo treatment. A dubious improvement for the price. The SED 6550s shifted the sound a little and positioned it roughtly between Cayin A88T and the Conrad Johnson CAV50. The mids became extra warm, but the vocals sounded too soft to me as the upper midrange is a little recessed. Female singers with a normally etched tone of voice didn't exactly sound like themselves. Diana Krall sort of turned into Julie London. People who like classical music or don't mind giving up some extension for deeper midrange texture, may love the SED 6550 though.
I just bought a used (expensive, gulp) Joule LA150MKII preamp and plugged it into the Cayin A88T pre-in. What I thought was about as good as you could get got even better. The sound was even more life like and smoother, and the highs opened up and that little bit of unwanted edge in the upper mids that I got with my wonderful SED KT88 tubes went away for the most part. The sound positioned itself it seemed, roughly between the Cayin and a Cary Amp, and incorporating the best of both amps presentation it seemed. (The Cary had more of a solid state more clinical presentation by my ears, more mid-hall sounding with a tube blush). I can't speak too highly of the Joule LA150 MKII preamp. I listened to many (Canary, Rogue, Cary, Musical Fidelity, Audio Note, Conrad Johnson, etc) and the Joule was my favorite for capturing the essence of the music. It was a major expense buying it, but to me, well worth every penny.