Ok, so I have been on a mission to find an ipod speaker. It was my birthday recently and I recently helped a few people with getting ipod speakers so was "well versed" with what was available. However, it is very difficult to audition these things! Rarely do they have them in an area where you can audition the speaker properly. And unfortunately it appears that "Hardly Normals" carry the best range (uggh!).

So, it appeared to me that 3 brands had really cornered the market - logitech, Altec lansing and Bose. In terms of price, the logitech's and the altec's fight it out for best prices - each of them have products that start at around 100 bucks and go up to about well....800 bucks. And there was the Octavio by Vaf (well, made in china, designed in Australia - typical). But I will get to it last.

I purchased the IM600 by altec lansing for friend, and they love it. It is small, portable, has an inbuilt battery and it goes loud. Not nice loud, but loud enough. It distorts a bit and gets a bit harsh at loud volumes. In the right room the harshness is tamed, but in bright rooms it can be unbearable. Bass is there but not good bass, synthetic "look at me, I'm a woofer" bass. However, the sound quality overall is ... disappointing. For the price it is ok, but I have been spoilt by good quality sound for a while, so it was not the right unit for me. Others with less discerning ears might like it well enough. My friend certainly does.

The logitech pure-fi anywhere is the other unit I was interested in - in fact, I actually bought it. Unfortunately, I took the wife with me to hardly's looking for other stuff and was looking at this logitech and the WAF was high - so I gave it a shot. It (like IM600) had received some great reviews online. When I got it home, it was doa. The unit did not power up - went back that arvo and got a new one. Not impressed. Turns out the guys in the tech team at Hardly's have had a number of them come back with faulty power units, so they thought it was a batch made badly. Anyway, the new one worked fine powering up. And the sound was better than the altec IM600. However, There is no bass. I mean, this thing is anemic when it comes to bass. upper midrange and treble were fine, good even. But without the bass, everything sounded thin and reedy. Funnily enough, it sounded better outside. And, in a small (very small) room and up close it was ok. But you know when a product is not living up to your expectations when you keep changing the tracks to find one that makes it shine. Both the logitech and altec sell for similar prices (180 up to 300 when they are not on sale). Both have batteries so they really are for portable use - but not for critical listening. Mainly for background music, when you are cleaning the house or outside or garage or etc.

Many friends have the bose units. they are small and they sound better than both of the other units I looked at. However, they are twice the price. And while they sound better, they are not going to make you sit up and take notice of a piece of music. They have more bass, but the bass overshadows their shortcomings - namely the lack of detail. Amazing how just a little more bass can make sound so much more enjoyable. So a bose will set you back between 400 and 500, depending if you go for a one with a battery. But they do have pretty good WAF.

Now, to get better than the bose in SQ, however, your really need to jump up in price. And honestly, there is very little above it. There is a 700 dollar Harmon Kardon, Altec lansing Octiv Air, Vaf Octavio and the B &W zepplin ($1300 retail - good grief). Of course, above those is the 4 grand meridian f80, but c'mon! Both the meridian and the b&w are out of my price range for that type of product, so I did not even audition them (too dangerous). HOwever I did audition the other 3. And the winner? well, I guess the title says it all. The Vaf Octavio knocks them out of the water. The Harmon kardon was good, better than the octiv air but the Vaf just was a little better. Well, it should be, it's design is pretty close to a classic speaker design (it is like two bookshelf speakers welded together with a 8" passive driver to augment the base). The Octavio was able to sound better and more natural due to its design. The others were all trying to be something they weren't, and the sound quality suffered because of it. Yes, I would not call this a portable speaker ( the damn thing weighs 10 kg!) but honestly, how often do we ever move these things. I have read reviews that claim that the Octavio sounds pretty close if not better than the zepplin - this would not surprise me, it sounds awesome for what it is (however, I have heard so much crap, that it did not have to try hard to sound good).

Bad news is that it retails for 700 dollars. Good news? I got it for nearly 40% off retail. Got to be happy with that. Now that it is in the price range of a bose, I can happily claim that it beats the pants off it! I am happily changing the tracks on my ipod to see how good the next song sounds.

any questions? happy to answer

My own experience with the Octavio wasn't so good I'm afraid. I bought one of these off an ebay seller and it turned up DOA. The power supply light was lit, and the iPod showed a charging indicator but there was no power illuminated on the unit and no audible sound at all. I was very disappointed so mailed the seller and they said to contact VAF direct.

I called VAF and Philip answered. He groaned when I mentioned the Octavio and went into a long story about how it's not really their product, it's just their design, whatever that means. Either way I gathered it was now my problem instead of theirs. He referred me to another Australian distributor called Powermove. I called them and they said I have to take it back to the reseller as they couldn't help. It's interesting because in the product manual it asks you to register the product on the VAF site, so I'm guessing they've had more failures than VAF can deal with. I got the impression VAF would like to disassociate with this product.

I eventually got all but $50 of my money back via an Ebay dispute. Overall a very painful experience. These may sound great (I wouldn't know) but based on my experience I just couldn't risk buying one again and burning $500 on a product that arrived DOA.

If the seller was still in the warranty period then you could have had a case against Vaf. However from what you describe this appeared not to be the case.
I have bought on ebay and whilst one secures a great price on occasion the joy is short lived when there is a warranty issue
and you have to claim against the seller.
I therefore try to steer clear on big ticket items on ebay as it can be painful,

That is a shame, dyates. However, as you noted, you bought it off ebay and did not get a chance to hear it (a shame). I have had only good communication with powermove, the distributors. It is also not unusual for creators to onsell their product - we don't really know how many products are being made by what manufacturer. I also looked on ebay for getting one of these, even putting in bids, but they quickly went up to a price where I felt that the risk outweighed the cost of the product. Always willing to pay a little more for a warranty. Looks like your ebay guy did not have a warranty or was not a registered seller of this product (if it was new).

I went into a local electrical store yesterday and listened to a bunch of ipod speakers (for my own interest, obviously I was not buying) and had another listen to the b&w zepplin. It is definitely a nice speaker, little funny looking, but the sound is great. I would say now, after more careful listening, that it generally sounds better than the octavio. However, I was not willing to pay at least double the price for it. I also listened to some Cord ipod speakers (like Aktimate and Audioengine's) and they were also good, not quite as good as the octavio or zepplin, but also very good value for money (around the 4 to 5 hundred range). Grundig also have a more expensive range and they also had a nice ipod speaker (revo I think) but did not have the umph of the octavio (but it was a third of the size). Not enough bass for my liking but very good. However it cost 700 bucks, so too pricey if you ask me.

As always, when we get a product we usually only get one of them, so there is bound to be some in the batch that will be faulty or the person will have some bad luck with the item. I fortunately had some good luck with price and with the product.

on the strength of BigDaves and others reviews of the VAF Octavio I went and bought one a couple of weeks ago (new and from an eBay seller).
Local pick-up was available so I was happy to take a chance and save quite a few $$$ on RRP, knowing if anything was wrong with it I could go back to the seller.

I've had no problem with mine and it's been used everyday since I bought it.

Amazing sound for its size and it has plenty of power to play loud and clean. Bass is well balanced and controlled, there's plenty of it without being overdone, midrange is clear and detailed. Excellent bang for buck product IMO and to top it off it looks super and is well built.

Yeah, nice to know that you can pick something up locally and get a good price. Nice to know that you are also pleased with your purchase, Lebowski. I also have used it everyday, and revel in its SQ. while I find it to be a little forward sounding, I like that in a speaker (as long as it is not harsh). I think it is the best compromise between having individual bookshelf speakers, and way more portable. Yes, it is heavy, but that just makes me feel better about its quality of construction.

Ok, just been listening to the new Black Eyed Peas album and all I can say is Wow! Nicely recorded album and it really makes the octavio sing. great bass, clear vocals and beat. Really in a different league to other ipod speakers.

Just an update on my enjoyment with this ipod speaker. It is still going strong and sounding better than when I first got it - smoother, like the burn in period is nearly over (if you believe in that stuff). Can't believe how good it sounds with just an ipod. I do have all my music ripped at 256kb/s or better, so I am sure that that makes a difference. But to be able to cart something around (well, it is a little heavy and bulky) and get good sound without taking my whole 2 channel system from the main room is great. Still cannot recommend it highly enough. Thought I would try out that new Cassie Davis album (perth singer - interesting to see what we put out) and the bass response is just great (and it is fairly well recorded). Newton faulkner also sounds exceptional through the Octavio.

Hi BigDave,
good to hear that you're enjoying your VAF Octavio. I was just wondering where you purchased it from for 40% off retail price?

I'm currently looking for a new dock/speaker setup for my iPod/iPhone. Other dock/speaker setups I have considered are the Bose Sounddock II or similar Altec Lansing systems. However after a bit of research it seems that the Octavio is a far superior alternative for only a slightly greater cost (especially since it's been reduced from $700 at some retailers).

Also, is the dock iPhone 3GS compatible? If not, I'm not too concerned as I realize that I can connect it manually via the rear ports and/or another dock.

And also, can you connect additional speakers via the output ports at the rear? Considering they are labelled "output" it seems logical, but I just thought I'd check. Has anyone tried this, and how did it sound?

Thanks

I have a VAF Octavio and use it with my iPhone 3G (not an 'S'). They come with dock adaptors so you're 3GS should be fine.

I bought mine new from an eBay seller, paid $430. Very happy with it, sounds excellent and has wayy more power than I'll ever need, it plays very loud and clean.

Not sure about hooking up additional speakers to it, perhaps Big Dave can help.

Awesome, thanks for the response.
I think I'll be making an investment in the Octavio very soon!

I heard that the speakers can go as loud as about 100db before losing a bit of quality, which is very impressive!
I'm having a party soon, not a HUGE party, but with a few people; do you think the Octavio would be loud enough for an outdoor area?


I went to the shops yesterday to test a few different docks like the Altec Lansing and Bose ones, but they weren't too great. They weren't necessarily bad, but it seems the Octavio is the better option.

Cool, I checked on eBay and found the seller. I also found another couple online stores, and I think $430 is the best price.

Thanks for your help!

sorry, only just saw the reply. Easier if you pm me for direct contact.

the output will not power speakers, it will only send the signal out (which is normal). It goes hell loud and will have no problems running outside. You can plug in two other external sources apart from the ipod on top. Only thing I don't like is the on/off/volume toggle on top - I worry about breaking it as it sticks up a bit and controls so much. volume wise it blows the bose and altec lansing gear out of the water (unless you go for the altec lansing sound wave thingie, but that thing costs much more than the vaf). I only use my old ipod (click wheel black and white screen) and it sounds great. The higher the encoding, the better the sound, and if you plug a cd player into the back it sounds great too. pretty versatile if you ask me. pretty heavy, remember, and can be toppled over if you are not careful. Only better ipod speaker I have heard is the b&w zepplin, but not by much (and it is twice the price). Got my good deal from Hardly Normal.

Ok thanks BigDave
I haven't seen them at "Hardly Normals" recently, but maybe I'll ask around...Otherwise I can always get it online.
Thanks for your help.
Hopefully soon I'll be an Octavio owner too!

absolutely.

Hi Andrew,

Did you end up buying one? if you're still looking I'm going to sell mine as it was bought for the office a few months ago and rarely get's used.

Send me a PM if you're interested.

Cheers
Mark

Hi Lebowski,

Just a quick question, when you use your Iphone 3G with this, does it charge the phone?

Do you also need to put it into Aeroplane mode or is it fine running in normal phone mode?

How much are you after for your set?

Regards,
Ethan

Hi Ethan,

Yep, charges the phone and works fine in normal mode. You get a message when you first fit the iPhone in the cradle saying it needs to be put in flight mode but I bypass this and the phone works as normal.

I'll PM you.

Cheers
Mark

Has anyone noticed that the Octavio seems to have gone AWOL from the VAF website?

Using google I could find some image galleries, but it's certainly not a listed product.

Which is a good reason not to buy it...

they struggled to sell due to the high manufacturing cost. The only iPod dock that comes close to a VAF Octavio is the B&W Zeppelin at almost $900.

Bought an Octavio a few days ago from Techbuy ($430) for my son.

He and I both love the sound. Wife hates the bulkiness (it's one big unit!) but that's alright.

Guy at hardlys showed me an Altec Lansing boombox the other day which sounded pretty good but not as good as this puppy. (HN price for boombox was $499. Net prices around $400)

Thanks for the review. Pointed us in the right direction.

Yo Big Dave. You seem to be an Octavio Fan. Just wandering if you knew if the video out function works properly. I have connected ipods, iphones, ieverything!!! and all devices don't recognise it as a video out device. Tried it on a few different VAFs now and still the same so I know mine is not faulty. Heard about anyone having video out problems?? Connected VAF (arghh) contacted powermove and no-one wants to help.

Otherwise I really love the sound that comes out of it, really awesome. But just wish the video out worked...