text: V40SE — ellington H I F I
  "The Octave's ability to accurately portray—or at least not distort—musical timing and momentum was superb. Naim-caliber superb, in fact.
  "The Octave V 40 SE was characterized by an up-front sound with nonetheless excellent stage depth with stereo recordings—and with a better-than-average sense of scale. It was enjoyably vivid, even if tone/tonal/timbral colors weren't as saturated as with the best preamps and amps. And while I wouldn't describe the V 40 SE as sounding bright, its treble was sufficiently extended that reasonable care should be taken in the setup and adjusting of partnering gear, especially phono cartridges; ratty-sounding digital gear should be avoided altogether.