2. amps-preamps
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Power output of tube amps compared to solid states

I'm having a hard time trying to figure out how tube amp power output relates to solid state power output. I've been looking at the classifieds for tube amps and I see lots of tube amps with 50w or 60w output, but nothing close to the 250w output typical of solid state amps.

So I have no idea what type of tube amp is required for my set up, right now I'm using totem forests with a required power rating of 150w-200w at 8ohms. The bass is so powerful on these that I have the sub crossover set to 40hz.

My question is, are tube amps so efficient that 50w from a tube sounds like 150w from a solid state? Or will 50w output from a tube severely limit how loud I can play my speakers? If so, are tubes usually meant to be driving super-high efficiency speakers?

I had previously tried a tube pre-amp with a solid state power amp (both musical fidelity) and didn't like the results because the imaging suffered greatly, even though the music sounded nicer from a distance. Now I want to try a solid state pre-amp (bryston) with a tube power amp (no idea which brand to look at), but I don't know how much power output I need or if it will even be possible with my speakers. Does anyone know what I would require?
acrossley

Showing 3 responses by br3098

br3098
1,010 posts
 
Here's an interesting tale, at least to me:

I have a pair of Apogee Cepheus 6 ribbon hybrid speakers that I recently unpacked from the audio archive (aka the garage). While these speakers are not amp killers like the older Apogee full range planars, conventional wisdom has always been 100W minimum and 200W or more is better. I had been powering them with either a Krell KAV-250 or a Songraphe SA-400 - both worked well.

Just for giggles I hooked up my CJ Premier 11A tube amp @ 70 Wpc. Sounded great; sweeter than either of the SS amps, and to my surprise, better bass. Much better - bass was deeper and much better controlled than with either SS amp. Volume was very good; about the same as the SS amps.

OK, so why not push my luck? I then hooked up a GTA SE-40 40(or so) Wpc, and SET to boot. Well, it sounded pretty darned good as well. Sweeter even than the CJ, although not nearly as much bass. Volume was adequate but not hopping loud.

I would love to test these speakers with an Atma-Sphere M60. Ralph???
br3098
1,010 posts
 
Ralph, I just might do that. It's a smallish room - I don't imagine that you have a quietized water cooling system perfected yet?
br3098
1,010 posts
 
Ralph,

Thanks for your response. I am seriously considering giving one an M-60 pair a try. In your opinion, do the Zeros (or other auto transformers) change the sound much?
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