The Cayin HA-2A is Cayin's new tube amplifier, with a panel design and style that reveals dual VU meters. On its front panel we find 4pin XLR (BAL), 4.4mm (BAL) and 6.35mm (SE) connections. 

The HA-2A differs from other HA series in that it is Cayin's first vacuum tube headphone amplifier designed with all vintage NOS tubes. NOS (New Old Stock) refers to a tube that has never been used and comes from an old production. The amplifier consists of a total of five tubes, with the RCA 17AX4GT being the one that acts as a rectifier valve and supplies power to the electrode plate of the preamplifier tubes. This will fully exercise the unique harmonic richness and warm and delicate audio characteristics of tube rectification.

Both the preamplifier and the power tubesuse Amperex components. The two Amperex ECF82/6U8 in the preamp stage and the two Amperex 17BF11 in the power output stage have to go through a rigorous internal testing and matching process before we can install them in our amplifier.

The HA-2A differs from common headphone amplifiers because the nominal frequency response of the HA-2A can reach 20 Hz-50 kHz in a range of +/- 3 dB. Additionally, it is constructed using point-to-point soldering to ensure the shortest signal path and improve transparency and refinement of audio performance.

It features dual RCA and XLR inputs and is equipped with 6.35mm balanced, 4-pin XLR and 4.4mm balanced headphone outputs. It also offers high, medium and low impedance adjustment modes, making it convenient for users to pair with headphones of different impedances and power handling requirements.

The unit is compact and weighs only 10 kg, making it relatively small among tube headphone amplifiers and well suited for desktop use. In fact, it is part of the new Cayin series of devices so it is fully compatible with the iDAP-8, iDAC-8 and iHA-8.