Naim or Octave with Dynaudio Confidence C1

The Naim separates with a Naim CD player are super musical. The most musical ss amps I've heard. I'd love to audtion the Naims against Octave. Unfortunaely, I'd have to go to Chicago to do that because no New York dealer is offering Octave at the present time.

That is too bad. It would be great to hear some comments from others who have heard each of these products. Usually, that is very rare. The Octave line is very new in the Unoted States and thus unfortunately it will be hard to find dealers with the products.

Ciao,
Audioquest4life

Does anyone know how Octave's designer gets that many watts from only 4 power tubes and why the power increases from 40 to 70 watts without an increase in power tubes between the V40 and V70?

I think I can answer that question. As you move up the line in the integrated and into the MRE 130 mono amps, the designer has chosen to step up the plate voltage as you step up into the bigger models. I have the specs for the integrated's, I will post later, however, I believe the MRE 130 has a plate voltage of 530 volts. I measured the output in milliamps of the recommended bias settings on the amp using the Tube Amp Doctor Biasmaster and measured .38ma for the desired bias setting according the manufacture. I was using KT88's. That seems to me a conservative reading. Of course, I can go higher in regards to milliamps, in fact I have, using KT120s in an experiment running at .65ma with no problems.

This is my belief, Octave uses a stepped up plate voltage approach as you go higher in the lineup, always taking into consideration tube life, equipment usability and robustness and ease of use. Essentially, plug and play concept of use. Perhaps the V40 is measured using the EL34 tubes and not the optional 6550 or KT88's. I do know that the plate voltage is a big factor and therefore as you move up the line, you get higher output. The two EL34's on the V40 do not output as much power as a pair of KT88's on the V70.

Ciao,
Audioquest4life

Although the 202/200 are musical amps, they are not considered to be the most successful in the Naim line. If you find the C1's to sound good on them, chances are likely the C1's will sound better with the higher range models. The 282 is considered to be at the sweet spot in the Naim line providing good sound at a sensible cost(although higher up there is the 252 and the 552).

The Supernait lacks the refinement of the separates. I should add that all current Naim amps(except the 5i) can be upgraded by adding an external power supply to the preamp stage.

Best bet is to audition both Naim and Octave side-by-side.