Comfortably established in Karlsbad, in southern Germany, Octave Audio has just celebrated its 30th anniversary of amplifier production, although its big range of tube models has only recently found a UK distributor. So it seemed appropriate to try out Octave's most popular integrated, the £3895 V40SE. Octave's founder and designer Andreas Hofmann actually developed his first amplifier design in 1975, but the origins of the business go back further, to the Hofmann transformer-winding factory established by his father in 1968. Hofmann specialised in high-voltage phase-shifting transformers for industrial use, but this expertise also provided a great starting-point for a tube amplifier company. In 2000, Octave formally took over Hofmann, and it continues to design and build its own transformers to this day.
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