tube watts vs solid state watts

It is true that the amp itself considering all its components has more to do with perceived power. A Tube amp rated at less than 30 watts for instance may have enormous trannies that will power your speakers to a high volume. That being said I find that many tube amps clip more easily when pushed versus high powered SS. I have not used low powered SS but have tubes (low watts can't be pushed without distortion) and 400 wpc ss amps which have tons of headroom. The real difference is the quality of sound not just the volume. The tube amp is more musical.

I'd agree that tubes seem to put out more power than SS given the same output rating. But I think this has something to do with the way tubes clip and distort vs. the way SS clips and distorts. I think the latter is much more difficult to endure, whereas tubes tend to clip much 'softer' if you will. On a scope the difference is that between a gradual sloping curve and a dramatic, Wiley Coyote cliff, dropping off into an abyss of ear-piercing distortion. (Can you tell I prefer tubes?). The bottom line is that for the same power amp you may be able to push the tubes louder without perceiving (being bothered by) the distrotion/clipping that is actually ocurring.

Marco

It's not that tubes play louder. They just present the midrange more upfront. 90DB through a tube amp and 90DB through a good solid state(everything else being the same) will sound totally different. In a SS system, the bass will be more fleshed out so, bass will move more air than mids so, it moves the SPL level up earlier and quicker than a tube amp will. The tube amp will be moving the air with more mids and less bass which in turn sounds louder cause it more midrange and less bass. I hope you get what I mean! Get a SPL meter and two amps( 1 ss,1 tube) and test it.

Tube watts sounding louder is an urban legend.

Loudness relates to Gain (Volts out per volt in), not to power rating which is simply the maximum that can be output without unacceptable distortion. A low power amp, perhaps a tube amp, with a high gain will play louder, for a given setting of the volume control, than a much more powerful amp with lower gain so long as the maximum power of the smaller amp is not exceeded.

A watt is voltage times current, regardless of whether the juice is generated by a tube amp, a solid state amp, a magnetic amp, or any other type you can think of.