Spyder
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Hi Folks. I bought new Octave MRE 220 monoblocks, replacing my Ayre MXR's, and thought I would write this review to share my assessment of them, so far, for any who may be interested. They have spent about 50 play-hours/6weeks in my system comprised of an ARC Reference 10 pre amp, Ayre C-5xeMP Universal Player, two Shunyata Hydra power conditioners (separating analogue and digital), Shunyata ETRON Anaconda and SIGMA Digital power cables, Shunyata ETRON Anaconda balanced interconnects, all of which sit atop a double wide HRS SXR audio stand and drive a pair of ProAc Response K 6's connected via Acoustic Zen Satori double barrel speaker cables. All of the components, with the obvious exception of the Octave's, are fully broken in.
Starting with the short version: these amps are absolutely incredible with no discernable short-comings thus far. Like any new high-end component and particulary tubed ones, there is a break-in period for all the constituent parts to reach peak performance including signal flow and temporal alignment/coherence. For my ARC Ref 10, it was 600 hours of play (yes; a lot). Fortunately, for the MRE 220's its about 100 hours/3 months according to Thomas Brieger of Octave. In typical tube fashion, they started out bright and a bit closed-off. However, right out of the box they were still very impressive.
Even though the MRE 220's have been in production for a few years and are very well known/regarded in Europe and Asia (having won the prestigous Golden Sound Award in Japan), my impression is that the Octave brand is relatively new to North America. I'm in Canada and may be one of only a handful of folks here who own a pair. Consequently, pre-purchase researching was a bit challenging. However, I was amazed with the accessiblilty and helpfulness of the company principal and cheif designer, Andreas Hofmann. When I sent my first email to Octave with a bevy of questions, he was the one who responded! He and Thomas Brieger of Octave have demonstrated an unprecedented level of support in answering all my questions throughout the purchase and set-up process. Maybe that is the way things are in Germany. It's very rare here.
True to German form and reputation these babies have the build quality of a Panzer tank, and are similar in weight. I thought my Ayre MXR's were "heavy" duty. The MRE 220's come in at about 10 pounds more a piece. They are gorgeous in appearance, at least by my tastes. The fit and finish are precise and impeccable. For those who follow/known amplifier design and in particular tube amps, you know the important of the transformer section. In that regard, I was not surprised to learn (based on the weight and performance) that these beauties employ custom iron core transformers (old school meets new).
Now for the more fulsome sound review. What I so enjoyed about my Ayre MXR's was the rich and real mids, especially the human voice. However, they were lean (some have said very lean) in the bass and a bit washed out in the dynamic transients (some have said lack articulation in the higher ranges). But the mids were so impressive in the MXR's that I forgave their shortcomings. With the passage of time, however, I pined for more bass and clarity. The problem with bass is that it doesn't always play well with the mids. Bass can often over power or washout the naturalness of the mids, especially voice. I sense that perfecting the presence of the upper range without compromising the mids cretaes a similar design challenge. An easy design fix for component designers appears to be backing off a bit on both, thereby appealling to those of us who love to live in middle earth.
Like a fine wine and most things in life, its all about balance and proportion. When you get that right, then you have arrived (I've avoided the overused Holy Grail analogue). The Octave MRE 220's nail it! The highs are clear and crisp and not harsh or hashy, matching or exceeding the best I've heard from top of class high end solid state amps. Piano and cymbals rendered perfectly real. The ability of the MRE 220's to mine the inner details and nuances of recordings meets or beats the best amps I have had the pleasure of listening to. The bass is equally superlative: complete across the whole lower range. Impressive for any amplifier. Extremely so for a tube amp. Powerful and effordless. Like the ACR Ref 10, the Octave has an umatched ability to conjoin the best sonic qualities of the two audio worlds.
One of the virtues of the Ayre MXR's that I truly enjoyed was their abilty to create a wonderful soundstage through my K6's in my somewhat acoustically challenged sound room. The MRE 220's exceed all of the Ayre's soundstage parameters: width, depth and spacial presence - in a significanct way. No small feat considering the Ayre's reputation in that regard.
With the exception of my ProAc's, all the components I have owned over the years have come from manufacturers on this side of the Atlantic. The audio mags I read review most often review components from NA manufacturers, though that is changing. I love my ProAc's and I have again been rewarded for casting an audacious eye beyond the NA market. An affirmation of how many truly outstanding components there are in the broader global market. In that regard, I was not surprised to see Magico at this year's AXPONA pair its tour de force Magico M Project speakers with the Octave Jubilee monoblocks and preamp.
I have not heard any of Octave's preamps but based on my experience with this product I am sure they are equally outstanding. All I'll say is that the MRE 220's and ARC Ref 10 play beautiful music together. If there is a techincal term for component copulation, then it would certianly apply here.
I hope you enjoyed this review/assessment. It's intended to return the favour to those who have provided their many useful comments and reviews on audo equipement that I have thoroughly enjoyed on this site. Take care and keep in "audio" real.
Starting with the short version: these amps are absolutely incredible with no discernable short-comings thus far. Like any new high-end component and particulary tubed ones, there is a break-in period for all the constituent parts to reach peak performance including signal flow and temporal alignment/coherence. For my ARC Ref 10, it was 600 hours of play (yes; a lot). Fortunately, for the MRE 220's its about 100 hours/3 months according to Thomas Brieger of Octave. In typical tube fashion, they started out bright and a bit closed-off. However, right out of the box they were still very impressive.
Even though the MRE 220's have been in production for a few years and are very well known/regarded in Europe and Asia (having won the prestigous Golden Sound Award in Japan), my impression is that the Octave brand is relatively new to North America. I'm in Canada and may be one of only a handful of folks here who own a pair. Consequently, pre-purchase researching was a bit challenging. However, I was amazed with the accessiblilty and helpfulness of the company principal and cheif designer, Andreas Hofmann. When I sent my first email to Octave with a bevy of questions, he was the one who responded! He and Thomas Brieger of Octave have demonstrated an unprecedented level of support in answering all my questions throughout the purchase and set-up process. Maybe that is the way things are in Germany. It's very rare here.
True to German form and reputation these babies have the build quality of a Panzer tank, and are similar in weight. I thought my Ayre MXR's were "heavy" duty. The MRE 220's come in at about 10 pounds more a piece. They are gorgeous in appearance, at least by my tastes. The fit and finish are precise and impeccable. For those who follow/known amplifier design and in particular tube amps, you know the important of the transformer section. In that regard, I was not surprised to learn (based on the weight and performance) that these beauties employ custom iron core transformers (old school meets new).
Now for the more fulsome sound review. What I so enjoyed about my Ayre MXR's was the rich and real mids, especially the human voice. However, they were lean (some have said very lean) in the bass and a bit washed out in the dynamic transients (some have said lack articulation in the higher ranges). But the mids were so impressive in the MXR's that I forgave their shortcomings. With the passage of time, however, I pined for more bass and clarity. The problem with bass is that it doesn't always play well with the mids. Bass can often over power or washout the naturalness of the mids, especially voice. I sense that perfecting the presence of the upper range without compromising the mids cretaes a similar design challenge. An easy design fix for component designers appears to be backing off a bit on both, thereby appealling to those of us who love to live in middle earth.
Like a fine wine and most things in life, its all about balance and proportion. When you get that right, then you have arrived (I've avoided the overused Holy Grail analogue). The Octave MRE 220's nail it! The highs are clear and crisp and not harsh or hashy, matching or exceeding the best I've heard from top of class high end solid state amps. Piano and cymbals rendered perfectly real. The ability of the MRE 220's to mine the inner details and nuances of recordings meets or beats the best amps I have had the pleasure of listening to. The bass is equally superlative: complete across the whole lower range. Impressive for any amplifier. Extremely so for a tube amp. Powerful and effordless. Like the ACR Ref 10, the Octave has an umatched ability to conjoin the best sonic qualities of the two audio worlds.
One of the virtues of the Ayre MXR's that I truly enjoyed was their abilty to create a wonderful soundstage through my K6's in my somewhat acoustically challenged sound room. The MRE 220's exceed all of the Ayre's soundstage parameters: width, depth and spacial presence - in a significanct way. No small feat considering the Ayre's reputation in that regard.
With the exception of my ProAc's, all the components I have owned over the years have come from manufacturers on this side of the Atlantic. The audio mags I read review most often review components from NA manufacturers, though that is changing. I love my ProAc's and I have again been rewarded for casting an audacious eye beyond the NA market. An affirmation of how many truly outstanding components there are in the broader global market. In that regard, I was not surprised to see Magico at this year's AXPONA pair its tour de force Magico M Project speakers with the Octave Jubilee monoblocks and preamp.
I have not heard any of Octave's preamps but based on my experience with this product I am sure they are equally outstanding. All I'll say is that the MRE 220's and ARC Ref 10 play beautiful music together. If there is a techincal term for component copulation, then it would certianly apply here.
I hope you enjoyed this review/assessment. It's intended to return the favour to those who have provided their many useful comments and reviews on audo equipement that I have thoroughly enjoyed on this site. Take care and keep in "audio" real.
