Looking for feedback from anyone that's using Octave Audio integrated amps in their system. I'm interested in the V40 SE and the V70 SE but cannot find a lot of thoughts/comments on these.
Xti16, One more clarfications before decide the purchase. What will be diff b/w KT88 and KT120? Only the power diff. or character? I am plan to purchase v-70se. So, I can ask to fix the tubes at factory itself. Tks
With the V70SE there will be no increase in power using the KT120's. But you will be able to push them a little harder than most other tubes. As far as the sound difference the KT88 will be a warmer sound and the KT120 will be more forward in the mids and highs with a little more punch in the bass. That being said I don't know which KT88's Octave is using today. My V70SE had SED KT88's when I got it almost 3 years ago.
To all participants of this discussion. (If you are still here :). I switched to Octave V70 SE from a very good solid state integrated and I wish Octave had the same deep and punchy bass! I feel lack of bass especially when I listen to vinyl. I have Linn Sondek LP 12 with Adikt MM cartridge. While V70 ES has outstandingly detailed and crisp highes and great mids, bottom part needs more weight IMO. My question: does V70 needs more burn in time to show all it's force or may be Black Box can fix it? Or solution in subwoofer?
The black box or super black box will lower the noise floor and yield a bit more headroom (depends on how many drivers per speaker). But if you are trying to get more punch in the bass at high listening levels that would be a characteristic of tubes in general. They sound a lot more powerful at low to very high mid levels of listening. Approaching the highest levels the lows are the first stop gaining but the mids and highs go a little further. I experienced that with both the V70SE and the V110.
That said what tubes are in your V70SE now? How many hours do you have on the amp? Most tubes need a good 100hrs of burn in. Some are as high as 400 hrs. Watch the bias for drifting. I always saw when driving the tubes hard the bias drifted the most upwards. I personally kept the bias all green with 6550's - KT88's - KT90's and KT120's. BTW the V70SE will have no problem with KT120's or KT150's. You won't get any more power per Andreas. You'll just hear the sonic differences. You might like the KT120 or the Ei KT90 type 2 or 3.
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