Anyone using Octave amps or preamps?

My (second) owner of the Octave LP1 is magic with my 1.5 Thiels.

I found an recent review of the Octave MRE 130's. It is in issue 37 of the online zine, Tonepublications.
It is a pretty interesting read;
http://www.tonepublications.com/MAGPDF/TA_037.pdf

What caught my eye in the article was the reviewer opted to try some KT120's and replace the 12AU7's with the new Psvane equivalents. I ordered the same tubes the following day after I read the article. The KT120's do add some more bass, a noticeable increase, and the dynamic range does seem to be greatly increased. I do not have but 10 hours or so on these new tubes. Compared to the EH KT88's, one of my favorites for the MRE 130, and the Svetlana Winged C, another favorite of mine for the MRE 130, these seem to have all of the traits I like in both those tubes. One caveat, the midrange is really pronounced. It is not bad, but may be irritating for an extended period of listening at higher volums. I think it will settle down some after a few more hours. Overall, I am satisfied and I am optimistic the pronounced mids will settle down. These tubes do provide more of everything, more highs, more mids, and a pronounced deeper bass.

I have experimented with the sub on and off, and these new tubes are really giving the sub a run for the money in my current configuration. I mean the bass does have a more subterranean note. Note I am driving B&W 800's.

From the music I have thrown at the amps, Kansas (Lefoverture), Miles Davis (Sketches of Spain), and others such as Robin Trower, the music is detailed, has wide separation, and is stunningly captivating. I believe these new KT120's are a pretty good match with the Octaves.

Fellow Octave owners please continue to post your experiences, tips and tricks, mods, and whatever your experiences may be with Octave in general.
Thanks.
Audioquest4life

Podeshi-

Thanks for input. Funny you mention Next Level as I just talked to them a few days ago about setting up a time to audition the v70se/v80 with bb/sbb. I'm looking forward to hearing these combos. I did just get an email from someone with experience with Octave and they perfer the v80/BB combo. I hope I like the BB better than SBB to save a few bucks.

Tyler at Next Level ( and a lot of research) led me to conclude it is a significant step up to go for the v80 and esp the super black box (and gives great flexibility on driving any speaker loads). I ended up going a different route but was close on pulling the trigger on v80 plus SBB

Curious if anyone has been able to audition the v70se and the v80 to compare. I'm thinking of using one of these two integrateds with Dyn C1's. I'm also pretty sure I would want either the black box or super bb. I haven't been able to locate Octave gear to audition though.
Thanks.

I picked up an Octave Jubilee preamp from a guy selling his entire hi-fi system. It is only two years old and includes the remote control option. It was at a price point that fit within my budget.

Compared to the Octave HP500SE the Octave Jubilee preamp really shines in the low level resolution. The details in recordings seem to be present in the music versus the HP500SE somewhat lower level of resolution. The HP500SE with built in phono still a great bargain because it is an excellant unit. I compared the 500SE against the Einstein Tube, well, the Octave HP500SE remained in place, until recently, when I had the opportunity to get the Jubilee preamp for a great sale price.

I will be writing a user review in the not too distant future about the Octave Jubilee preamp.

I am also awaiting the Octave Phono amp to test on my system.

I think slowly the best secret in audio, Octave, will be coming to light in North America.

Wow, great report in Absolute Sound about Octave phono preamp -- sounds like enough reviewers will pick up on how great Octave is and then the prices will go up!

Darrin - Thank you for the kind words; the pleasure has truly been ours!

Best Possible Regards,

Next Level AV

Just a shout out for Tyler at Next Level. He is a pleasure to interact with and is committed to honest audiophile advice. Very committed to getting someone the best possible product for his system.

I've been using the MRE 130 /HP 500SE for the past 6 months, and I love it. I've owned Dartzeel, Pass Labs, MBL, VAC, and VTL. I have no doubt that in my system the Octave sound much more alive and enjoyable. Highly recommended.

Thank you for your response. As I live in germany I have maximum exposure with Octave products, been to the factory a couple of times and own Octave gear myself, the MRE130's with SBB and HP500SE with phono.

I am glad to see that these products are finally getting some exposure in the US as they are great products. I agree with you about being a great bargain for the money. That is why I am interested to see how they will fair against other well known name brand companies already established in the states.

Thank you again,
V/r
Audioquest4life

I was. Good machines, their top pre amp being a notch above AR. OTOH the "cheap" element escaped me; it wasn't priced stratospherically -- but wasn't dirt cheap either (nor did I expect it to be)!

Thank you for your response. As I live in germany I have maximum exposure with Octave products, been to the factory a couple of times and own Octave gear myself, the MRE130's with SBB and HP500SE with phono.

I am glad to see that these products are finally getting some exposure in the US as they are great products. I agree with you about being a great bargain for the money. That is why I am interested to see how they will fair against other well known name brand companies already established in the states.

Thank you again,
V/r
Audioquest4life

We have on display and sold several of the integrated units. The V40SE ($4.9k) and V80 have done really well because of their value and overall performance. There is a new V70SE integrated that is coming out very soon which will have the same features as the V40SE and V80 (HT Bypass, Economode) but, of course, will provide more output, control, inputs, and overall refinement. The V80 is my personal favorite at $10.5k with phono as it uses the company's renowned hand-wound transformer, balanced input, and a great deal of current (4-KT88s).

The separates are really magical and just downright bargains in HiFi. We have used the MRE-130 monoblock amplifiers ($16k for the pair) on a pair of Dynaudio C4s and the results were inspiring.

Overall, we are biased being a dealer but we believe Octave to be one of the best values out there in HiFi. The build-quality and performance are stunning when comparing to other gear at almost any price point.

Plus, you can upgrade any of the amplifier or integrated units with either the Black Box or Super Black Box capacitance upgrade modules to further enhance the performance of your system as the budget allows.

Hope that helps!

Tyler T. Mueller

Next Level AV