Octave HP 700 preamplifier: Listening impressions

[ack]

Welcome to the forum Alan - about time

 

[MadFloyd]

Nice write up, Al. Your mention of Rite of Spring reminds me how much I enjoyed the presentation on your system with the Octave - with the BSO performance fairly fresh in my mind and the commanding presence of your system (with great instrument separation) it really made me appreciation the composition. Stravinsky is great but really needs an optimized system (or live performance obviously) to do justice to the complexity of the music.

 

[Al M.]

Hi Al,

Regarding the your review of the Octave preamp, I had not heard your system for a while, so the ceiling treatments, version 2 of the Yggy, and the preamp were all new to me. Your system has come a long way since the last time I had listened to it. The changes make a more inviting and engaging listening experience. I found the overall sound to be more realistically smooth, have great tonal color, rich and dynamic bass, a more balanced sound-stage perspective. In particular, I was happy to hear a sweetness on certain recordings that I felt was missing the last time I was there, while still offering fine detail throughout the frequency spectrum.

I appreciated the ability to compare the Octave directly to a couple of preamps I know rather well. While I know the changes in your system performance are due to a few changes, I was still very impressed with the Octave preamp. I imagine the tone controls will be welcome during the low humidity winter days.

Hi Alan,

I am glad you liked the sound, and I am especially pleased that you heard a sweetness in certain recordings, since this is really important to you. If you hear it, then it's real (I seem to be more prone to fool myself when it comes to that...). The preamp back then was only a few days in my system and broke in more since, with further improvement of tone color and shading. I also enjoyed the comparison with your impressive preamp builds.

Al

 

[Al M.]

Nice write up, Al. Your mention of Rite of Spring reminds me how much I enjoyed the presentation on your system with the Octave - with the BSO performance fairly fresh in my mind and the commanding presence of your system (with great instrument separation) it really made me appreciation the composition. Stravinsky is great but really needs an optimized system (or live performance obviously) to do justice to the complexity of the music.

Ian, I am glad you enjoyed the Rite of Spring on my system as much as I do!

 

[rshad0000]

Thanks for such a thorough review of your new pre and amp combo. I currently own the octave v80se and I feel that what you have would be the logical next step.
I’m using a Chord Dave with my v80se and it really seems to have great synergy. A DAC you may want to consider if you ever decide to change.

 

[Frazeur1]

Very nice review Al! While I have not listened to the Octave separates, I think the integrated line of SE units bring a lot of great value to the table, and have enjoyed listening to them. I would only imagine the upper preamplifiers and amplifiers, just bring that much more to the table. Enjoy!

 

[Al M.]

Very nice review Al! While I have not listened to the Octave separates, I think the integrated line of SE units bring a lot of great value to the table, and have enjoyed listening to them. I would only imagine the upper preamplifiers and amplifiers, just bring that much more to the table. Enjoy!

Thanks, Frazeur! I am sure what you say about the integrated line of SE units is true, and it will avoid the tonal problems that I had in combining the Octave power amp with the Pass B1 buffered preamp, before I purchased this Octave preamp.

When I wrote up my listening impressions, I did not yet realize just how much the bass actually has improved. Now that I am more familiar with the component I hear more. It is not just about bass control and evenness, as I originally reported, but also fine resolution of bass texture. For example, phrases in orchestral music that are played in unison by celli and double basses have a much more complex tonal fabric, and micro-detail of timbre in jazz stand-up bass playing is significantly enhanced as well. I am now doubly glad that I went overboard with the quality of the interconnects to the subwoofers that handle just bass, which are the same as for the signal to the main speakers (ZenWave Audio D4). You never know, and better safe than sorry.