Both are desktop amplifiers, $2395 against $1800. This page puts them side by side on the only three things a maker can be held to — power, output impedance and noise — and then asks the question that actually matters: which headphones do they treat differently?
The Cayin HA-6A reaches 100 dB on 567 of the 567 models here, the Bryston BHA-1 on 566.
| Specification | Bryston BHA-1 | Cayin HA-6A |
|---|---|---|
| Power into 32Ω | 500 mW | 3.0 W |
| Power into 150Ω | 358 mW | 1.5 W |
| Power into 300Ω | 445 mW | 900 mW |
| Power into 600Ω | 667 mW | 450 mW |
| Output impedance | not published | 2 Ω unverified |
| Output noise | not published | 25 µV unverified |
| Price | $2395 | $1800 |
| Headphones it reaches 100 dB on out of 567 | 566 | 567 |
A figure marked not published is missing from the maker’s own material, which is not the same as being good or bad. Where one of these two publishes a number and the other does not, the comparison on that axis cannot be made at all — and saying so is more useful than guessing.
1 headphone reaches 100 dB on the Cayin HA-6A but not on the Bryston BHA-1 — Symphonium Titan.
566 of the 567 models here reach 100 dB on both. That is a power count and nothing more; whether either source suits a given headphone also depends on the two lines above.
Each has a page of its own with a full headphone list and the provenance of every figure — worth opening here, because Cayin HA-6A has published no electrical specification at all and everything above comes from independent measurement: Bryston BHA-1 and Cayin HA-6A. Or put either against your own headphones in the source comparison tool.