Maybe not exactly what your original post was asking but...
I have had the same Cayin that you asked about and I now have the Prologue 2 from Primaluna . Two different sounding pieces . The Cayin A88T is much warmer than the
Prologue 2 , in stock form . When I auditioned the Cayin I put it against a Cary SLi-80 and had a hard time discerning any difference . The Prologue 2 , in stock form , is more like a good SS amp than a tube amp . All of this comparing was done on the same speakers , Reference 3a
Di Capo i's .
Now , I have completely retubed the Prologue 2 and it now has all of the warmth of the Cayin but with much better top end extension and a little more on the bottom as well .
I sold the Cayin as it was rather difficult and involved to bias , for me . Where as the Primaluna's are auto biasing . I have read that the Primaluna company has a fulltime 'overseer' at the plant keeping tabs on the assembly process and only allowing the use of authorized parts . The Cayin side of the factory ( they are both made in the same facility ) supposedly is allowed to use any replacement parts that they can find when they run out of supplies . This would lead me to think that there could possibly be a difference in the final product . Read on here how people like and dislike different brands of things like diodes , capacitors , resisters , wire and etc.
One more thing , the Di Capo i speakers are an honest , uncolored and efficient speaker . They will allow you to here what your equipment sounds like down to the difference in interconnects and power chords . While auditioning amps , I tried other brands of speakers that made hearing these differences difficult to impossible .
In this regard you should decide where you want your desired sound to come from , mainly . Those Harbeths will give you much more of a warmer sound than say the Refence 3a's and be harder to drive .
Good luck and enjoy the hunt !
