Octave V70SE vs Qualiton X200

@chipcalzone -- if you can bump up your budget a bit more, take a look at Qualiton a50i. The 50 watts of pure class A is just magical! Based on my auditioning experience, it punches above the X200 -- as it should, given the price difference.

BTW, I demoed the Octave v70 and agree with another poster that it was a bit more on the SS side of the spectrum. But that's not necessarily a bad thing in my book. It retains all the positive attributes of holographic imaging, separation and romance of a good tube amp. You should audition the Octave as well before making your final decision. 

Just my 2 cents.

@arafiq 

Thank you for your inputs. If I were using more efficient speakers I would demo the A50i however using 86db Dynaudio's so the 50 class A watts I assume is not enough. I have no plans of changing my speakers in the near future as I'm quite happy with them.

@chipcalzone 
The store I demoed the Octave line had the entire Dynaudio line so I asked to hook up the Confidence 20's as well as the Contour 20i's.
My jaw dropped. IMO the combo of the Octave and Dynaudio is a match made in heaven! Good Luck to you!

@chipcalzone -- I'm driving the Harbeth SHL5+ with the a50i with no issues at all. The SHL5+ are 86db/6 ohms. I can crank it up to the point where I don't care to stay in the room. And even then I'm probably at 50% of the volume dial. But either way, both models are excellent. Good luck!

https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/9424

X200 vs A50i both are very nice and I own the X200 and did demo the a20i and for my needs the X200 was the choice.
V70 is very nice and a friend has one and she said it took a long while for it to well sound right. Those are her words. She said the first few weeks she was ready to send it back that's how bad it sounded.
With the X200 you do have a lot of tube choices and many people are all "you have to run the KT170" well I did and they are okay but I prefer the all around great sound of the KT120 and when wanting to listen to classical critically I pop KT88's in. I listen to all formats, Streaming Q, CD and Analog or LP. 
 I have QLN Prestige Three's at 88 ish dB the X200 sounds fantastic with them.