Raven Osprey with Spatial M3 Sapphires

@jjss49 
thanks so much for the info, Just curious as to which of your three amps you prefer? The fact that you also have the M3's is extremely helpful.
I am also looking at the LTA line and that would compare with the Raven Reflection in pricing. I'm new to this tube stuff never owning anything other than my grandmothers tube radio, lol. I do however have a Modwright Pioneer LX500 player which I love. I have wanted to experience the tube sound through these speakers and have an email out to Clayton. I appreciate your insight.

@jjss49 Thanks for the input. I did contact Clayton about the Osprey and his response was ..."Yes, this amp is excellent and should have a good grip on the M3s. Good choice."
That's a pretty good endorsement so I may just move towards a trial of the amp. I am also very interested in the ZOTL40. My only source that offers balanced outs is my DAC RME-ADI-2 but also offers unbalanced as well. other sources Modwright Pioneer LX500 and SPL-Phonos have unbalanced RCA's. It's a lot of money for me so I'm weighing out the cost to pleasure ratio ;-) I do appreciate everyone's input

@lostman00771   It took me a while to dial them in with acoustic treatments, placement etc..and finally settled on the Octave V70 Class A which really is a stunning match for the M3’s. Plenty Plenty of power and the results are the best I’ve had in my 55 years of listening. I also upgraded my phono cartridges. Playing with the AT-Art9xa at the moment and the Hana Umami Red is on deck.
Highly recommend the Spatial line as well as the Octave line of amps.

@arafiq
Thanks, for me I had always owned SS amps and have been dying to hear what a tube amp offers. The dealer that sold me my Acoustic Signature Triple X sells the Audio Hungary and raves about them. While I did not audition the Raven Osprey, I did audition the Octave V40SE from
https://www.safeandsoundhq.com/collections/octave-1
They offer a very generous return policy if you are not satisfied, however that is only for in stock items. The class A was a special order they had two demo units of the V40 after hearing it with the Spatials I was convinced it was the right choice.
Granted it was substantially more money than the Osprey but I was already thinking the M3’s needed more muscle. A lot of the posters on Agon say you can drive them with like 12 watts I wasn’t confident in that.
So the Octave V70 Class A is an outstanding sounding amp throughout the frequency range and certainly improves with changes in tubes, power cords and yes even the fuse. It is so detailed that the imagery and soundstage are huge, deep and wide through the Sapphires. But not in a pretentious way, just as it should be real. The midrange is magical and that IMO is where the soundstage lives. Stock tubes are KT120’s, I swapped them with KT150’s improved bass response. The stock driver tubes JJ’s should be changed too at some point. Not that they’re bad but with Siemens ECC81’s and Telefunken ECC83’s the air between instruments is palpable. SR Orange for the fuse further lowers the noise floor as does the Octave Super Black Box which is very worth it but not essential at first. There are not too many reviews out there but the ones I’ve read say pretty much what I have said. Magical Midrange pure clean detailed but not really a tubey warm amp at all. After breaking it in I’m still in awe at how beautiful my music sounds, yes the music as it should be. The Safe and Sound dealer was wonderful to work with, Mike is the owner but you can ask for Aaron as well. I would recommend buying a V40se or another one of their demo units and that will give you an idea of the Octave signature sound. Then you can always return it in 30 days without any restocking charge, which Raven does. Let me know if I can help further and if your close by in Massachusetts your welcome to a listen

@arafiq 
Yes I didn't speak to the bass. I have owned Parasound, Krell, more recently SPL and then decided to switch to tubes. So the big difference in bass for me came when I went with an open baffle speaker. I came from Vandersteen 2 ce's which made the room shake. The M3's certainly don't do that, they're so very different. It took me a while to adjust to the change thinking I was missing something. I was wrong, in fact the Spatial's brought out everything in the music, just not over emphasized.
Even with the SS amps the bass was noticeably better, tighter and more detailed. The Octave was certainly leaner but again more real IMO. When I switched to the KT150's bass response improved even more. I think based on your room acoustics and getting the M3's dialed in the Octave is a stellar performer. The other thing I read after the fact that the V70 Class A seems to be optimized for 4 ohm again another match with the M3. @jjss49  is correct with his assessment on power. The Octave has the ability to use low power tubes KT88, 6550 which I tried and the difference is very noticeable. The higher power just makes the M3 so much fuller. Octave manufactures their own transformers and Andreas and family are very responsive to inquiries. I've emailed him quite a few times to ask for his expertise. Always responds even to my more mundane questions. Both Octaves I demoed are dead quiet and use the ecopower to save tube life. The V70 is autobias and the V40 you have to adjust. I found the V40se to be a beautiful amp with the M3's as well for half the money. Same price as the Osprey. The V70 Class A (Reflection price range) takes that beautiful midrange and IMO achieves what Clayton Shaw intended in his engineering of the M3 Sapphire.

@arafiq 
yes too bad. My family is down in Houston but they’re not cursed/blessed with this hobby ;-)
I don’t believe the V70 will take the 170’s but honestly the 150’s are just so amazing.
enjoy and hope you let us know what you wind up with.

+1 arafig
Agreed price to performance ratio. These are all phenomenal amps each I’m sure with its own sonic signatures and their companies have rich histories. The Raven Reflection is the same price as my V70 Class A but I had a local dealer that I was able to demo. I also emailed Andreas from Octave.  I’m extremely satisfied in my decision. Interesting read:
https://stereo-magazine.com/review/octave-v-70-class-a-review