2. amps-preamps
  3. 184439-174629

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

Showing 1 response by gs5556

gs5556
1,213 posts
 

A statement such as 10 watts of tube amp power equals 100 watts of SS power is from a marketing textbook and not a physics or engineering text.

Power is consumed by a load -- a light bulb, toaster, motor, space heater... or a transducer (loudspeaker). The amplifier is simply an interface between the speaker and the wall outlet that converts the wall outlet to a lower voltage and causes the fixed  60 hz wall voltage to mimic the signal voltage and varying frequency. The only power an amplifier consumes is the wasted heat through the tubes or transistors. As far as the speaker is concerned, it matters not whether it's one or the other. If either type of amplifier can maintain voltage throughout the speaker's load impedance then both will operate identically as far as energy conversion is concerned.

More to discover