Cayin MT-12N EL84EH Integrated Amplifier Reviews | Drop

Cayin MT-12N EL84EH Integrated Amplifier

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Mar 25, 2021

Verified Buyer

The Cayin arrived double boxed with the full original kit. This includes manual, fuses, and gloves for handling the tubes. Preamp tubes are Cayin branded 6N1 and 12AU7, likely produced by Shuguang in China. Driver/Power tubes are Electro Harmonix EL84EH made in the New Sensor (Reflektor) plant in Russia. The amp is clearly marked as 120v/60hz in original print. This does not appear to be a unit made for 220v/50hz and hand modified to work in 120v. Good starting sign. Additionally the unit is extremely heavy for the size and output wattage. I've not had a chance to give it a full testing, but my initial impressions are pretty good. My testing setup for this is Roon -> RopieeeXL (on RPI4) -> Topping DX7s -> Schiit Freya+ -> Cayin MT-12N -> JBL Studio 570. I've been on an Astropilot kick, so Emotional Palette was the logical choice of smoke test song. I can tell right away that this wasn't a bad purchase, no hum on the speakers until the knob is well over 70%. I'm assuming they're not driving the tubes terribly hard at all considering the base circuit on these is originally for 6P1 tubes, which max out at ~250v, plus we're only getting ~10w. Sound wise, yeah, I've heard variants of this circuit before. It isn't bad, bass extension could be a bit better, but the mids and treble are bloody sweet and about as detailed as you can expect with a push-pull. More will come as I spend time with it, but so far I'm digging it. Here are some pictures of the unit before it was cabled up and turned on:

And a few pictures of the amplifier in action:

Edit 1 (3 days in): I've been using this amp at night and it is working wonderfully. Why burn hours on the big/expensive tubes (with all the power draw that comes with that) when I'm likely to fall asleep when I can use this cute little guy which only draws ~80w and is full of dirt cheap (relatively speaking) tubes. Sound quality is still pretty great for stock tubes, but I'm very much so about to step it up a bit. I'm starting with the 6N1 because I have a huge pile of them and want to stick with the tubes the amp was designed for. I could absolutely use a 6922/6DJ8 in place of the 6N1, but I'd lose out on the excellent low noise characteristics of the 6N1 when that is pretty important in the phase splitter tube. So I spent a bit of time testing and labeling 20 Voskhod 6N1P-EV tubes from 1981 to find as good as a match as I could to replace the stock Cayin 6N1. I'd have tested more, but holy crap that is mind numbingly boring.

Tomorrow I plan to do the same with a pile of Reflektor 6P14P-EV that I've been sitting on for a long while, but have been rather loathe to break the neat looking Cold War era packaging on. They're probably made at the same plant as the stock Electro Harmonix EL84EH, but are the higher ratings and quality level variant made for use in military application. After that I'll probably stuff a JJ ECC802S in the V1 and call it a day. Still happy. 1 year and 6 months in: Still happy. If I had to do it all over again knowing what I do now, I'd still buy it. This amp still gets frequent use even though I have arguably better and higher powered tube amps. The tube loadout is cheap and it makes for an excellent lower powered amp for bedroom and night-time use, but still kicks butt when it is movie time. At this point my only real complaint is that it doesn't have a headphone jack, and that is just me nitpicking.

(Edited)

Recommends this product? Yes

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eddiezr

107

Oct 10, 2022

FayneI know next to nothing about tubes and their variants, other than the common opinion that stock Chinese tubes almost always must be replaced with better quality Russian, German, British, American, etc... Do your ears tell you any different? Thanx

(Edited)

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Oct 11, 2022

eddiezrHonestly, in most cases with speaker amplifiers, no. Sometimes they'll have noticeable differences in bass and treble, but for me it usually more about having tubes properly matched (year, factory, construction, electrically) and using high endurance versions. On bigger amps which I only run for a few hours at a time I'll happily run more expensive/esoteric/rare tubes, but on something like this Cayin which gets used a lot, I tend to want endurance more than anything else. No point burning hours on a $1000+ tube set when the $100 military set does perfectly fine. With regards to this Cayin, the Chinese tubes aren't exactly the worst I've used. I mostly swapped the 6N1 tubes out because I have multiple factory boxes of Russian 6N1P-EV. NOS American or European 12AU7 are pretty cheap and very easy to find, so a cheap way to get the most impact from a tube roll. The EL84 it comes stock with are reasonably decent Russian tubes, the only reason I swapped em is because I have higher endurance Russian tubes on hand as well as the gear required to match them electrically.

eddiezr

107

Oct 11, 2022

FayneThanks for the response. This tube amp seems to be a good starter - basic but wisely designed. My speakers are late 90's Infinity Kappa 5.2s which are relatively efficient and mostly well balanced but they could use a little more mid-range fullness. A tube amp will probably do nice things with them, especially in the mid-range. I'm using a late 90s Yamaha stereo amp that performs well above its price point. So many choices... : )

Oct 11, 2022

eddiezrIt does make for an excellent starter tube amp from a well known Chinese brand. The amp runs fairly cool (as power amps go) and drives the tubes gently (not pushing voltages to the maximum). The unit is pretty basic, so there is nothing you have to fiddle with for maintenance. I've listed the most important details when dealing with replacement of the tubes (aside from the standard they're hot and full of high voltage dire warnings). The EL84 power tubes are cathode biased (a.k.a. auto-bias), so as long as you're using a matched quad (or at bare minimum two matched pairs), replacing them is as simple as pulling the old and popping in new EL84/6BQ5/6P14P/6P14P-EV. No need to use a multi-meter to measure bias voltage while futzing with a trim-pot or anything like such. When replacing EL84 after failure, it is recommended to replace both power tubes on whichever side had the failure. Replacing all 4 will give a better overall experience output levels wise, but isn't necessary. New production tubes of these makes can be had for reasonable(ish) prices from Mullard, Genalex, Electro-Harmonix, Tung-Sol, and Sovtek from the same plant(s) in Russia, as Shuguang and Psvane from China, and JJ from the Slovak Republic. I personally tend towards JJ and Genalex when I'm not using NOS. The 6N1 phase splitters should be a matched pair and have the triodes balanced (balanced meaning both halves of the tube are electrically similar, with similar levels of wear). If replacing, it is recommended to use 6N1P-EV as they're high endurance and vibration tolerant. When replacing 6N1 after failure, it is recommended to replace both. While you can replace just the tube that failed, dissimilar wear levels may cause different gain between the channels. If you don't mind risking additional noise, you can use 6DJ8/6922/ECC88/E88CC/6BQ7 and potentially get fuller sound, but YMMV. 6N1P is current production from Voskhod/Sovtek. Matched pairs of NOS Voskhod 6N1P-EV can be had for incredibly cheap prices. The 12AU7 in gain position can be easily replaced with pretty much any balanced 12AU7/ECC82/ECC802. If you're looking to change the way the amp sounds, that tube has the highest likelihood of doing it for the least amount of money expenditure. Current production brands are the same as with EL84. Swapping the stock tube for a JJ ECC802S may give a bit more bass, but YMMV. NOS versions of these kinds of tubes can be had very cheap too, so lots of options for a bit of rolling. The tubes in this amp have minimum operational lifespans measured in the 3000-5000 hour range. If you find you're using the amp a lot, it isn't a bad idea to have spares kicking around just in case. Like, buy a full set and stick it in a drawer or closet until you need it. I've had very good luck buying from https://www.tubedepot.com/ and https://www.eurotubes.com/

eddiezr

107

Oct 11, 2022

FayneFantastic info! Thanx and happy tubing : )

HexCowboy

117

Feb 7, 2023

FayneIf you don't mind sharing - what are your favorite tube amps, and especially with headphone jacks? I'm an old audiophile with decades of gear, but new to tubes. Thinking to get one for my office to alternate between stereo (highly efficient speakers with XBL^2 drivers) and cans (row of them). Currently running a DX7s pre and Amps are a Yamaha stereo or THX789, or a range of other chinesium can amps (like Topping).

Feb 7, 2023

HexCowboyIf you're looking for both speaker and headphone output, and don't mind more Chinese products, I'd suggest looking at the Muzishare i3 (link is to hifi-amplifiers, a Chifi store where I bought mine). The i3 uses a super basic push-pull with transformer coupled output able to deliver 12w to speakers and up to 6w for cans. It is an absolute monster, and sounds pretty darned good. It uses Russian 6N2P for gain and phase splitting, and Russian 6P1P or Chinese 6P1 for output driver. The 6N2P is very similar to a 12AX7 (a rather popular tube), and the 6P1P is electrically identical to 6V6 and 6AQ5 (both classics). The tubes it uses can be readily found and generally cheap ($3-10 a piece when buying small numbers), but for the most part are no longer produced. Doesn't have gain switch, but I found that most sensitive cans worked best on the single-ended 6.35mm TRS (which supplies much less power), and most planar and high Ω cans work best on the balanced XLR4 port. Cost plus shipping should be somewhere in the $600 USD range. Picture below (pardon the dust):

Another option also out of China is the Muzishare X3T (link to HiFi Exquis on AliExpress). This amplifier is a single ended tube rectified amplifier with transformer coupled outputs. It uses 12AX7 for input gain, EL84 for output, and 5AR4 for rectification. You'll get about 6w to the speakers with this unit and something around 1w max to the headphones. All three types of tubes are current production, but NOS for them can also be found for reasonable prices. Super sensitive cans may pick up some hum from the rectifier on this. Pictures (also pardon dust):

I suggest either of these Chinese amps because they have a fairly rare feature as tube amps go; the ability to flip a switch or turn a dial to select between speaker and headphone output. Plus they sound fairly good. If I had to pick between the two of them, I'd go with the i3. I'm a real sucker for the 6P1P tube (which is why I have 500 of them in my closet). I tend to only pull out the i3 these days when I'm using hard to drive planar and AMT cans, but that is not because it sounds bad, and more because I like my Schiit gear more. Picture related to my love of Schiit Products:

If you don't mind a hybrid approach, you could absolutely go with something like the Schiit Freya+ and Ragnarok 2 (links to Schiit site). I have a LOT of Schiit hardware, and have nothing but extreme <3 for it. It is all designed, manufactured, and assembled in the USA, and built using high quality components. The Freya+ uses four 6SN7 (very classic tubes with sweet mellow sound) as a preamp, but can also be run in passive or solid state mode. The Ragnarok 2 is one of the best sounding solid state amplifiers I've run into, able to deliver up to 100w to speakers and 24w to headphones. Unfortunately this combo is fairly expensive, somewhere in the $2500 range. If you weren't looking for speaker amplification, I'd suggest checking the Schiit Lyr 3+. It is a hybrid headphone amplifier which uses a single 6SN7 tube and is able to deliver up to 9w into headphones. The unit packs a 64-step relay ladder volume control, and can be used remote controlled as a preamp. You could of course pair it with a solid state speaker amp. If you were looking for a DAC, I'd suggest checking out any of the multibit offerings from Schiit. Modi Multibit 2, Bifrost 2/64, Gungnir, or Yggdrasil+. I bought a Gungnir and immediately started considering giving my old daily driver SMSL and iFi DACs away to my friends. I bought the Bifrost 2/64 and turned that considering into actuality. Zero regrets. If you've got a bunch of cash to burn and wanted both headphone out AND the ability to drive biiiig speakers, I'd suggest checking out the PrimaLuna EVO series integrated amplifiers. I have one of their power amplifiers from a few generations back (Prologue 5), and that sucker absolutely nails it when it comes to raw tube amplification for speakers. They're amps are nearly unique as they come with a digital controller circuit which keeps the tubes biased. Unlike most amps which require you to have matched sets of tubes or to have to pull a multimeter out every few months to bias, the circuit in the PrimaLuna gear allows you to mismatch your tubes without worry (assuming they're one of the supported tubes). The amps are made in China at the same factory that makes Cayin gear, but are designed in the US and EU. If you've got even more money to burn, check out Manley Labs. They're a bit too rich for my middle-class blood, but they're extremely nice sounding amplifiers. A bit too much of art pieces for my taste, but they're rather top class.

HexCowboy

117

May 13, 2023

FayneExact info I was looking and hoping for. TY for sharing!

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