Spyder
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Hi there. On September 11, 2015, I posted a review of my then new Octave MRE 220's on AudioShark. To those who read it and provided comments, thank you for your kind feedback. Some who commented, asked if I had tried/heard of the Octave Super Black Box ("SBB"). For those who have not heard of this upgrade, the following is a brief description on the Octave website:
I have since purchased the Super Black Box, or in my case two of them because the MRE 220's are monoblocks, and this is my review of them in response to those who asked previously and for those who are simply interested in learning about their impact on the overall performance of the MRE 220's. The short review is: I was only expecting an incremental improvement and what I got was nothing short of a step change. What follows is a more fulsome review.
Since writing my initial review of the MRE 220's and before getting the SBB's I made some changes to my system. I replaced the Ayre C-5xeMP with an Esoteric K-01X, I replaced my Acoustic Zen Satori Shotgun's with Synergistic Research Atmosphere Level 4 speaker cables and my Shunyata Anaconda Interconnects with Atmosphere Level 4 XLR interconnects, which are all connected to a SR Grounding Block. I still have and thoroughly enjoy my ARC Ref 10 preamp. It's definitely a keeper too.
Needless to say all those acquisitions made very noticable and enjoyable performance enhancements to my system. They have also integrated seemlessly with the ARC and MRE's, or vice versa. Also, given the increased level of overall system performance from those changes and the fact my ProAc K-6's have a 90db sensitivity/4ohm nominal impedence, I (as noted above) wasn't expecting a material change by introducing the SBB's. I thought they would simply allow me to wring out of my system that little bit extra (e.g. a smidgen more inner detail and bottom end expanse). Boy was I in for a surpise. As one of the guys from our local audio circle commented: "Just when I thought you could not improve your system any further - you go ahead and do this".
Without repeating the details of my original AudioShark review of the MRE 220's, suffice it to say they are incredible and I could not be happier with them. So how could the SBB's make them more impactful? I don't exactly know. I'll I can say is they clearly have. I always knew how important the power supply is to amps, pre's and DAC's, but this experience has given me a whole new appreciation of that fact.
The SBB's only needed 50 or so hours of break-in, but even right out of the box the contributions they made to the MRE's and whole system were immediately apparent. The soundstage, which was impressive before, extended in depth and width. You can now drive around in it and get lost. The bass is noticably more dynamic and fuller in terms of energy, sustain and decay. The injection of power is palpable - like adding a supercharger to a naturally aspirated engine. Intstruments are more clearly positioned and again each one having more of its own space, sustain and decay with unmatched realism. The mids have bloomed even more with slightly more ethereality. Voice from the MRE's was always special. Even more so now. More emotive in terms of some of the expressive and inner qualities of the human voice (e.g. the inflection within the throat and the turn or purse of the lips), which delivers that right-in-front-of-you realism.
In short, thank you to those who suggested I check out the SBB. I owe you! Consider this review a further validation of your own experience and insights as well as an opportunity for me to pay it forward. In that regard, I know that Octave also makes some stellar integated amps and for those who have connected a Black Box or Super Black Box to one, I now get it! For those considering it, I hope this helps you make a more informed decision. That's what I enjoy most about these forums. Hope you enjoy this contribution.
Ray
OCTAVE, the Black Box technology offers an instrument to optimize the OCTAVE amplifier in respect to the speaker. This flexibility is a unique feature of the OCTAVE brand. The dynamic and tonal stability of an amplifier is strongly dependent upon the stability and capacity of the power supply, therefore the Black Box and Super Black Box were developed as external upgrades to the OCTAVE amplifiers’ power supply storage capacitors by increasing their capacitance by a factor of 4 (Black Box) or 10 (Super Black Box), respectively. This is a tremendous benefit if the speaker is difficult to drive. Loudspeaker efficiency is made less critical, while the amplifier is enabled to handle speakers with minimum impedances as low as 2 Ohms.
I have since purchased the Super Black Box, or in my case two of them because the MRE 220's are monoblocks, and this is my review of them in response to those who asked previously and for those who are simply interested in learning about their impact on the overall performance of the MRE 220's. The short review is: I was only expecting an incremental improvement and what I got was nothing short of a step change. What follows is a more fulsome review.
Since writing my initial review of the MRE 220's and before getting the SBB's I made some changes to my system. I replaced the Ayre C-5xeMP with an Esoteric K-01X, I replaced my Acoustic Zen Satori Shotgun's with Synergistic Research Atmosphere Level 4 speaker cables and my Shunyata Anaconda Interconnects with Atmosphere Level 4 XLR interconnects, which are all connected to a SR Grounding Block. I still have and thoroughly enjoy my ARC Ref 10 preamp. It's definitely a keeper too.
Needless to say all those acquisitions made very noticable and enjoyable performance enhancements to my system. They have also integrated seemlessly with the ARC and MRE's, or vice versa. Also, given the increased level of overall system performance from those changes and the fact my ProAc K-6's have a 90db sensitivity/4ohm nominal impedence, I (as noted above) wasn't expecting a material change by introducing the SBB's. I thought they would simply allow me to wring out of my system that little bit extra (e.g. a smidgen more inner detail and bottom end expanse). Boy was I in for a surpise. As one of the guys from our local audio circle commented: "Just when I thought you could not improve your system any further - you go ahead and do this".
Without repeating the details of my original AudioShark review of the MRE 220's, suffice it to say they are incredible and I could not be happier with them. So how could the SBB's make them more impactful? I don't exactly know. I'll I can say is they clearly have. I always knew how important the power supply is to amps, pre's and DAC's, but this experience has given me a whole new appreciation of that fact.
The SBB's only needed 50 or so hours of break-in, but even right out of the box the contributions they made to the MRE's and whole system were immediately apparent. The soundstage, which was impressive before, extended in depth and width. You can now drive around in it and get lost. The bass is noticably more dynamic and fuller in terms of energy, sustain and decay. The injection of power is palpable - like adding a supercharger to a naturally aspirated engine. Intstruments are more clearly positioned and again each one having more of its own space, sustain and decay with unmatched realism. The mids have bloomed even more with slightly more ethereality. Voice from the MRE's was always special. Even more so now. More emotive in terms of some of the expressive and inner qualities of the human voice (e.g. the inflection within the throat and the turn or purse of the lips), which delivers that right-in-front-of-you realism.
In short, thank you to those who suggested I check out the SBB. I owe you! Consider this review a further validation of your own experience and insights as well as an opportunity for me to pay it forward. In that regard, I know that Octave also makes some stellar integated amps and for those who have connected a Black Box or Super Black Box to one, I now get it! For those considering it, I hope this helps you make a more informed decision. That's what I enjoy most about these forums. Hope you enjoy this contribution.
Ray