OCTAVE v80se w/SBB and JADIS I-50

French always do things differently, whether you like it or not or both is another matter. Jadis has a cult following. They also look like French royalty, the royalty which is no more there but so longed for.

Thank you for all your advice.
I forgot about the Class A and Class A/B differences of the 2 amps.  And the simpler biasing of the Octave.  I have heard the Jadis i-50.  I will try to get a chance to listen to the Octave soon.

The Octave has a fantastic output tube protection feature too. Back when I had my V70se and later the V110 I had a couple of output tubes that arced over causing the protection to kick in. No damage as a result. I've also had a couple of tubes that shorted out. In the case of the shorted tube it isn't readily obvious which tube it is. I found the easiest/best way to troubleshoot (if that should ever occur) is to power down the Octave for a min or 2. Switch it to bias mode and power it back up and watch the bias LED's. The bad tube will usually cause the LED's for the bad tube to from green to yellow to red very fast. Most all the tubes I bought were pre owned and not having a tube tester really didn't bother me.

As far as the BB and SBB by adding it the noise floor drops even more while providing a bit more headroom.

Hamburger, 
What did you think of the Jadis after listening to it?
I hope you do listen to the Octave amplifier. Direct A/B comparison would be ideal but easier said than done. 
Charles 

I think all of you are on the right track about both brands. Thanks for the lead.

The Jadis has its strong house sound of "lush warm romanticism’ portrayal of music.
The Octave has a "cleaner modern sound" with a more modern execution of technology. (I assume you can hear the "technology" and feel it... haha!)

For my taste in equipment (a Burmester user) and in music (all genres of music; classical to techno/dance), I prefer the sound of Octave and I think it will work better for me too. I am building a second system with Vienna Acoustics The Kiss.

Btw, where does Ayon (Spirit III or Triton III) stand between Jadis and Octave?
Thanks, again.