Octave Jubilee Mono Ultimate 
(KT170)(Black/Makassar)

What's new?

• KT 170 power tubes
• Oversized, ultra-wideband output transformer
• Loudspeaker (secondary) windings with multi-wire technology to minimize skin effect
• Advanced driver stage with optimized tube layout
• Mains transformer unit with 3 proprietary mains transformers
• New electrolytic capacitors with higher current delivery capability
• BIAS display and setting with significantly higher long-term precision
• Resonance-optimized base construction (8 mm aluminum, 2 mm steel, 50 mm X-MDF)
• Finishes: Black or Silver with wood (Macassar Ebony) or stone (Granite, Slate) inlay​

The Octave Jubilee Mono power amplifiers were introduced in 2003, four years after the venerable Octave Jubilee preamplifier made its debut. Together, they represented the pinnacle of Octave’s offerings in both performance and technical excellence for well over a decade.

With 250W of power on offer, immense power reserves, and Octave power management for rock-solid performance and reliability, the Jubilee Mono represented a milestone for high-end tube amplifiers. In 2016, the design and performance were advanced further with the introduction of the Jubilee Mono SE
(Special Edition), featuring eight KT 120 tubes generating 400W of output power per channel.

Today, Octave is proud to announce the revolutionary successor to its flagship Jubilee amplifier model: the JUBILEE MONO ULTIMATE the new crown jewel of the Octave amplifier range. JUBILEE MONO ULTIMATE is the most sophisticated power amplifier design in the company’s portfolio to date, featuring
a multitude of new technologies and eight KT 170 tubes delivering 440W per channel.

The fundamental goal in designing the JUBILEE MONO ULTIMATE was to provide an extreme extension of both the bass range and the amplifier’s overall power bandwidth. Done successfully, meeting these objectives serves to reduce distortion in the frequencies above and below the listening range, producing a sound that not only becomes more physical, but also more sensual, natural, and real.

Although not immediately obvious, the critical midrange in particular benefits considerably from a deep and accurate foundation. The influence that the lowest, nearly inaudible, low bass range has on the musicality of the midrange is significant. By meeting the design goals for the JUBILEE MONO ULTIMATE, this foundation allows the body, harmonic continuity, and spatial depth and decay of every musical element to have its own distinct origin and ending – as it does in live music. Now, more details on how we got there:

In most amplifier designs an increase in power bandwidth is usually associated with an increase in distortion. Andreas Hofmann, Octave founder and chief designer, developed an entirely new output transformer and a new, complimentary driver stage for JUBILEE MONO ULTIMATE that nearly
eliminates this effect, while still enabling a dynamic range that is second to none.

This is a path no one can take quite as Octave can, because we have been developing and manufacturing bespoke transformers ourselves using our own proprietary technologies for decades. Thanks to this, we were able to develop an enormous output transformer for JUBILEE MONO ULTIMATE with the necessary power bandwidth of 10Hz to 100 kHz, with virtually no increased distortion. One of the ways this was achieved was through the use of proprietary windings to counteract the skin effect, which worsens the characteristics of the upper frequency range. JUBILEE MONO ULTIMATE’s output transformer windings feature more than double the separate speaker wires of conventional designs, thus increasing the surface area of the windings by 50% to combat skin effect. This contributes significantly to the incredible resolution and smoothness the ULTIMATE conveys in the midrange and high frequencies.

Otherwise, we employ four dedicated transformers designed specifically for JUBILEE MONO ULTIMATE: the enormous output transformer, a separate transformer for the output tube heating, and a dual mains transformer system for the power section of the output stage. In addition to improving performance overall, this extensive and overbuilt design approach also allows the new KT 170 tubes to be operated optimally. The heavily modified JUBILEE MONO ULTIMATE driver stage also contributes significantly to the expanded bandwidth and the increased naturalness. The extension of the ULTIMATE’s power bandwidth, especially in the lower frequency range, is a new development approach
in the spirit of the ideal of "No Loss of Fine Details - without Limits".

Specification