tube watts vs solid state watts

You boys are filthy, filthy, filthy! Minds in the gutter at all times eh? The reference was to the movie "Spinal Tap"...I guess no one's seen it!? Y'all should be ashamed. This is a public forum after all!

Marco

This is a public forum after all!

Marco, I hate to red pen you, but did you intend to include the L in "public"? After all, if yours goes to 11...

Actually, most tube amps run into difficulty driving low impedance loads and put out less power at 4 and 2 ohms than most equivalent solid-state designs (many of which double power into 4 ohms and then double again into 2 ohms). So if you have a well designed ss amp rated at 50Wpc into 8 ohms it could put out 100Wpc into 4ohms and up to 200Wpc into 2ohms. A typical tube amp rated at 50Wpc will put out nearly the same 50Wpc at 4ohms and much less power (maybe 25 watts) at 2 ohms. That said, a few tube amps are specifically designed to drive low-impedance loads more efficiently. I believe that VTL has a few models optimized to drive 4-ohm loads.

Additionally, tube amps traditionally have terrible damping factors which is why their bass is loose and indistinct compared to decent solid-state.

The clipping characteristics of tube and ss amps do differ, and tubes do sound less harsh and do less harm to tweeters. However, except in Pro sound applications, anyone who, on a regular basis, drives their amps into clipping is simply using the wrong amp. Solid state amps can have circuitry that detects when clipping is on the verge of happening, and prevents it by a gain reduction. Of course this is compression, but at extreme volume level it is scarcely noticeable, and sure is better than clipping. Pro sound amps are most likely to have this feature, because these amps are often used right up to their power ratings, and with live sources that can not be preauditioned to set gain. I am using CarverPro digital amps, 600 wpc at 4 ohms, that have clip detection, and I have this feature switched on. Much to my surprise I discovered that my Maggie 1.6 speakers, 4 ohms, can trip the clip limiter feature if I play certain music at too high a volume level.

Jax2

"d" minor - saddest of all keys.

:-)