The Octave has a fantastic output tube protection feature too. Back when I had my V70se and later the V110 I had a couple of output tubes that arced over causing the protection to kick in. No damage as a result. I've also had a couple of tubes that shorted out. In the case of the shorted tube it isn't readily obvious which tube it is. I found the easiest/best way to troubleshoot (if that should ever occur) is to power down the Octave for a min or 2. Switch it to bias mode and power it back up and watch the bias LED's. The bad tube will usually cause the LED's for the bad tube to from green to yellow to red very fast. Most all the tubes I bought were pre owned and not having a tube tester really didn't bother me.
As far as the BB and SBB by adding it the noise floor drops even more while providing a bit more headroom.
As far as the BB and SBB by adding it the noise floor drops even more while providing a bit more headroom.