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Question about wpc on tube amps

I have been kind of looking at tube amps based on what people seem to think about them.

Here is my question- whenever I look at the wpc, they are remarkably low vs. a solid state amp for the money. 

It leaves me scratching my head. Then, somewhere I read that you can't compare a tube amp with a solid state amp . Something along the lines of "10 watts of tube power equals 100 watts in a SS amp". 

What? Is this real?  Seems unlikely to me. 

Are the wildly low power ratings on the tube amps I am looking at simply due to the fact I am looking at $1,000 amps vs the bajillion dollar amps you guys buy?

Would I be better off spending the money on a tube preamp for the "tube" sound I always hear about. 

I am running Magnepan . 7's  with a Bryston amp. Since the . 7's are power hogs are tubes even a realistic thing for me in my lowish budget? 

Thanks! 

 

timintexas
dz13
200 posts
 

While I agree that 10 watts of tube amp does not equal 100 watts of SS power, I'm not sure about the idea that tube amps won't work with Magnepan speakers though the small budget would be a problem unless something used can be found. 

Here is another Audiogon thread on the topic:

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/tube-amp-for-magnepan?highlight=magnepan%2Btube%2Bamp

I had always heard that it wasn't necessarily the amount of the current, but the quality of the current that makes the Magnepans sing. 

 

gregdude
222 posts
 

If you're anywhere near green bay, I'd be happy to bring 2 different integrated tube amps by for a listen one is maybe 10-12 wpc the other is double that. Both are over 60 years old. Both sound good on a variety of speakers. 

fthompson251's avatar
fthompson251
303 posts
 

@ghdprentice Just bought new tubes for my VAC Renaissance 70/70 Signature-$1720 for 8 Gold Lion 300B’s!

OP:

I’ve used this amp exclusively with speakers with self power bass internally. (Genesis V, Goldenear Triton 1.r and soon to arrive Legacy Audio Focus XD’s) All these speakers are 90+ dBa 1 watt/1 meter so I get explosive dynamics with 65 watts per channel. The Legacys are rated at 95.6 efficiency.

ghdprentice
6,439 posts
 

Wow…. 8 - 300B’s! Let’s see if you got Takatsuki that would be about $8.8K! 
 

‘I am using Takatsuki for my headphone amp… fortunately only 2. 

larryi
3,743 posts
 

If anything, a claim/rating of 10 wpc by a tube amp builder is LESS than 10 wpc of a typical solid state smp.  Most tube amp “ratings” are at extremely high distortion levels while solid state amps are typically rated well short of clipping.

But, I suspect the notion of tube amp watts being “more” than solid state watts has to do with tube amps sounding more full, saturated, and weighty at lower volume than typical solid state amps.  The can play at lower volume and still satisfy.

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