Amp Power: Tubes vs Solid State

Another possible factor for the phenomenon noted above is that tubes are run at much higher voltages than transistors, and therefore don't require as whomping a power supply, in addition to the fact that they don't need to utilize massive heat-sinking, traits which may endow them with more graceful performance under duress when comparing smaller, lower-powered choices built to a moderate price point.

Technically speaking a Watt is a unit of measure of power, as such a Watt is a Watt. The fact that tubes clip more gracefully is similar to a stone rolling (tube Watts) down a hill (point of overload and subsequent distortion) as oppossed to a stone falling (solid state Watts) off a cliff (point of overload and subsequent distortion). Of course you can avoid frequenting the point of overload with more Watts.

I have been told a similar relationship that Tpsonic mentions; 2 to 1 generally speaking. I had a CJ Premier 11 a 70 wpc tube amp driving a pair of Thiel 3.6's and it did a very good job. Much better than I anticipated or would have excepted given the difficult load Thiels can represent to an amp. As I found for more info and thinking of my experience the 2 to 1 sounds reasonable.

Generally speaking,you can double a tube amps' rated power and find it compatible to a solid state{50w tube vs. 100w ss}.As Unsound said:tubes will find the most problems with low impedance and complex crossovers-unless using high amounts of negative feedback,not a good idea.Solid-state with high impediances.I hope this helps.I'm sure there are exceptions to the rule,but this is usually in-the-ballpark.

That all depends what you mean by a difficult load. If it's a higher than typical impedance load many tube amps may have advantage. If it's a lower than typical impedance load many solid state amps will have an advantage. Many lower powered tube amps will clip more gracefully than a solid state amps. Many solid state amps offer more power per dollar. IMHO it's a moot point. First find the appropriate tools for the job, the decide which tool you prefer to work with.