Topic: Any Cayin TA30 Users on the Board?

[Nick Culbreth]

I'm mulling over some playback changes and I was wondering if anyone here runs or has run a Cayin TA30.  I'd love to hear some reviews before taking the plunge.

[Thom Joad]

I've also been thinking about changing integrateds and this is on my shortlist too.  So any input from someone here would be helpful to me as well.

Also on my shortlist are:  Primare A20, Roksan Caspian, Thule Spirit I60, and the Sim Audio I-5080 or I-3.  Anyone have any of these?

[Frank M]

I *think* somebody brought one of these over to my place one day.  I don't remember the model, but it used EL34's in a push-pull config.  It had no trouble driving the VR-4's, which aren't particularly sensitive.  We both thought it sounded great.

Just my $0.02.


-Frank

[Craig T]

I *think* somebody brought one of these over to my place one day.  I don't remember the model, but it used EL34's in a push-pull config.  It had no trouble driving the VR-4's, which aren't particularly sensitive.  We both thought it sounded great.

Just my $0.02.


-Frank

Yes, that was the TA30.

[Tim]

frank - what else are you running behind those VR-4's?

[Frank M]

frank - what else are you running behind those VR-4's?

Sorry Tim, I didn't see your post sitting there until today. 

I had them bi-amped with a Golden Tube SE-40 and a Parasound HCA-1200II.  Preamp is a Sonic Frontiers Line 1.  The SE-40 has been sitting dormant for a while because of a blown rectifier, but I'm only a few weeks away (at least that's what I'm telling myself) from buying the mod kit which will fix and improve it. 

Ultimately, I'd like to have a pair of Atma-Sphere M-60's on top and some kind of switching amp on the bass cabs.

[Nick Culbreth]

After some thought I decided to go with the PrimaLuna Prologue One instead of the Cayin and I'm very pleased with my decision.  Here's a link to Upscale Audio for a little more info:

http://www.upscaleaudio.com/view_category.asp?cat=36

The amp arrived this afternoon and I was immediately impressed by the build quality, everything is very neatly wired point to point and quality parts are used throughout.  As soon as a I turned on the amp I was impressed with the sound, which is slighly laid back with nice detail.  Compared to the YS Symphonies > B&K ST-140 combination the bass is a little bit deeper and punchier, the midrange is very smooth and lifelike and the highs have nice extension.  I was was initally worried about having enough power to drive my Maggies but the PrimaLuna has more than enough juice to drive them.  I'll share some more thoughts once my DV-563 returns from repair later this week and I get a chance to do a little tube rolling but I'm pretty confident that I'll never own a solid state system ever again.

I love new toys, can't wait for the new tubes to get here tomorrow.