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as in this case. Yet the Jubilee   firmly grapping, gnarly and ex­                Octave Audio
        300 B seems not to be of this   tremely controlled bass on top.                  Jubilee 300 B
        world, but rather needs to be   Let’s leave reflections over                     54,000 euros
        located in some kind of 300 B   watt and ampere aside for a mo­                  Distribution: Octave Audio
                                                                                         Phone: +49 (0)7248 / 3278
        universe. There it combines the   ment. And instead look for a                   www.octave.de
        supple, highly emotiona l and   matching loudspeaker which                       Dimensions (W × H × D): 24 × 66 × 40 cm
        always thrilling sound of the   allows fullrange operation with                  (9.5 x 26 x 15.7 in.) mono block
        old triode with an amount of   the Octave. Then we’re simply                     Weight: 60 kg (132.5 lbs) each
        essential purity, transparency   going to listen to music. Over                  Measured values
        and sheer power now which has   the maybe, nah, the very best
        never been heard from the 300 B   valve amplifier you can buy for
        (or any other valve amplifier).   money and good words.
        The fact that the quite rightly       Roland Kraft ■
        world­famous valve is driven
        with a certain reserve in a tra­                                                 Frequency response charts
                                                                                         Balanced and wide-band with gentle roll-off
        ditional circuit technology, will                                                above 20 kHz, 0 dB at 10 Hz
        be noticed in incredulous won­                                                    TESTlab  Octave_Jubilee 300_h  07/22/19 16:00:13
                                                                                            +0
        der only after pushing the mains                                                    -20
                                                                                            -40
                                                                                          d
        switch of the Jubilee 300 B.                                                      B V  -60
                                                                                            -80
        Which also dynamically keeps                                                        -100
                                                                                            -120 10m  100m  500m 1  2  5  10 20  50 100 200 500 1k
        putting more wood on the fire                                                                W
        in such a casual way that it ma­                                                 Distortion analysis k2 to k5 vs. power
                                                                                         Rising evenly over output power with
        kes a mockery of its own per­                                                    dominant k2
        formance data and proves to be                                                   Practice and compatibility
        a rigid game partner for even                                                    Amplifier compatibility diagram
        demanding loudspeakers. Okay,                                                    Medium output with good stability, trouble-
                                                                                         free with speakers from medium sensitivity
        it will still not be able to move                                                upward
        mountains, but the subjectively                                                  Voltage 8 ohms      12.5 V
        available output power is far                                                    Frequency response  2.6 dBs
                                                                                         Current 3 ohms      3.1 A
        above the mere specs with a
                                                                                         Measured values
                                                                                         RMS output power (1 kHz, k = 3 %)
                                                                                         into 8 Ω           19 watts
                                                                                         into 4 Ω           30 watts
                                                                                         Peak output power (60 Hz burst)
             From a metrological point                                                   an 8 Ω             19 Watt
              of view, the Jubilee 300 B                                                 an 4 Ω             30 Watt
             proves to be exceptionally                                                  S/N ratio
             good. For an amp with no                                                    RCA (2.83 V into 8 Ω)   101 dBs
                                                                                                            104 dBs
                                                                                         XLR (10 V into 8 Ω)
                negative feedback, the
            distortions also remain on a                                                 Power consumption
                      very low level.                                                    Standby/operation   0/331 watts
                                                                                         Evaluation
                                                                                         Bottom line: Octave’s new interpretation
                                                                                         of the 300 B topic is an amplifier which
                                                                                         eliminates all problems associated with the
                                                                                         single-ended mode at one go. This pleasure
                                                                                         has its price which does not even appear
                                                                                         too high for the world’s possibly best valve
                                                                                         amplifier.
                                                                                         Measured values   Field test  Value
                                                       Not a hybrid, but a pure valve design   6       6    10
                                                       and the classic 300 B basic circuit in the   test verdict
                                                       signal path: in the “Low Gain“ setting an
                                                                                         Sound  absolute top class   65
                                                       EF800 pentode serves as the driver; if a
                                                       higher amplification is needed, an
                                                                                         0  10  20  30  40  50  60  70
                                                       ECC82 can be switched upstream. Three   Overall score
                                                       bias levels of 25, 50, and 70 milliamperes          87 points
                                                       allow to use various 300 B derivatives.  Price/performance  high-end

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