Tube Watts vs. Solid State Watts - Any credence?

A watt is a unit of quantity and all are the same, but each case is different regarding the characteristics of each watt produced and how it sounds. Same amp can perform radically different with different speakers.

So saying a watt is a watt is true in theory in terms of how much power is generated, but in practice, all watts will be different sounding case by case. So there is certainly credence in saying that and value in knowing it, but alone it still determines only one piece of the puzzle in practice.

Are you trying to tell tube/solid state amps measure RMS differently?

Compare Alan Watts to Reggie Watts, and you will find that one continues to produce sound and the other does not.

Another thank you, Bombaywalla!

For the most part, I've never much cottoned to ARC (or, CJ) products. As time moves forward, I tend to like the newer ARC products even less. Still, outside of the commentary OTL and a certain slant on the power supply, I came away more than impressed with how Mr. Johnson thinks and feels. Call it new found found respect.

Anyway, the contrarian part of my post is that a watt is NOT just a watt. We measure power under steady state conditions, using a resistive load. Music is anything but steady state, and despite Bud Fried's raison d'etre, loudspeakers are not at all resistive loads. Not to complicate matters too much, but loudpeaker (bass alignment AND crossover design) topology will greatly impact how much power an amplifier can put into it.

That said, all things equal, I've seen so many less powerful amplifiers put out more seat of the pants power than higher power amplifiers, and have come to the conclusion that the audio industry has not properly discovered how to measure actual / real-world / musical power. The most obvious example I can list is an 11 wpc push-pull 2A3 tube amplifier that thoroughly out-muscled the same manufacturer's 120 wpc hybrid tube / solid state product.

10-12-15: Trelja
Another thank you, Bombaywalla!

welcome Trelja.