Cayin A-50T: An affordable tube amplifier

Vacuum tube amplifiers are the Holy Grail for a lot of audiophiles, but they tend to be a lot more expensive than solid-state amps.

Priced at $1,295, the A-50T is one of the most affordable all-tube integrated amplifiers on the market, but I wasn't thinking about that as I ran my fingers over its half-inch thick front panel and fondled the beautifully machined knobs, or admired the quality of the rear panel's RCA jacks and hefty, gold-plated speaker wire binding posts. It's beautiful and the A-50T's quality is on par with amps that sell for $2,000 or more.

I reviewed the Cayin for Playback magazine a few months ago, and you can read the full review here.

(Credit: Cayin)

Cayin is one of China's oldest and largest high-end audio manufacturers; they're justifiably proud of the fact that they build every significant part of the A-50T in-house. Got a turntable? The A-50T can be ordered with a built-in phono preamp for an extra $250; that still leaves three line-level inputs.

I had an immediate and overwhelmingly positive reaction to the sound of this amp. It's warm and juicy, like a wet kiss, but I never felt the A-50T was soft or lacking in midrange or treble resolution. Bass is wonderfully ripe, what can I say, 35 watts never sounded this potent before.

The little amp does "space" like the high-priced spread; all of my better sounding CDs and SACDs projected huge, three-dimensional soundstages with gobs of depth and full-bodied images.

VAS Audio imports the Cayin A-50T.

[pubmat]

I'm sure it sounds great, but give me a sold state amp any day. They last longer with much less maintenance, have significantly higher s/n rating, much lower distortion, and much more power. Oh, and WAY cheaper watt for watt, plus they sound better. Its no comparison. Yes, that warm sound is nice and they look cool, but modern amps are so superior, I can't think of a reason to buy a tube amp.

[alegr]

"I can't think of a reason to buy a tube amp". Oh, it gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling. Not sure about fuzzy, though, but definitely warm, even hot.

[Wes#1]

Pssst... note to "pubmat"... this IS a "modern amp"!!!
From your post, I gather you've not heard a "modern" tube amp, much less own one. These tube amps don't just look nice, they pack just as much hi-tech behind the tubes and far better build quality than many solid state audio receivers and amps. Yes, you get more wattage from solid state for the price; but, as a whole, not better sound. And you can't customize the sound of solid state amps, like you can with any tube amp by swapping out the tubes. Roll 'em!

[pubmat]

pssst....WES#1--it may be a "modern amp, put its a PRIMITIVE design. Its inefficient as hell, and you strangely avoided the other points I made: lousy s/n, higher distortion, and MUCH more expensive watt per watt...this amp is a JOKE, 35 WATTS PER CHANNEL??? For 1300 bucks??? I can get a 500.00 receiver that would blow this away, AND be more versatile. And yes I've heard them, and they dont impress me....give me a high current 5-8 channel amp and a great pre.....NO CONTEST.