That "tube sound" and power ratings

Why don't you just listen to some tube gear?

As usual, Al's explanations are exceptional and I agree with everything he says in his post. I'm not sure if I'm getting this line in the OP's first post.

"If the rating is too high won't that mean lower distortion and hence less tube sound for a given volume for those speakers than a lower power tube amp (in general that is - I realize not all Watts are the same). So won't a high wattage tube amp have less of the special tube sound "tubies" like at their preferred listening volume?"

When I read that, it sounds to me like people with tube gear are choosing lower power amps so that they will distort. And the distortion is pleasing to the ear. That's not the case. People with tubes, just like people with SS, don't want their amps to distort. But if, and when, distortion does occur, there are those who feel that tubes sound "less bad" when they distort. I think that might be the missing piece you were looking for. But I think it would be a mistake to say people buy tube amps to make them distort. (Unless they play guitar. lol) Also, something else to consider is that tube amps and SS amps sound different from each other when they are not distorting. And both designs are liked and disliked, for the way they sound when operating under normal circumstances. That's why in my first post, I said why don't you listen to some tube gear. Its something you really need to hear for yourself to form an opinion. Its not easy to put this stuff into words.

"09-25-14: Zkzpb8
From my experience I've seen a lot of tube amp owners who like distortion. Not SET guys with highly sensitive speakers, but the 10-20 Watt tube amp owners who mate their amp with a speaker rated much below 90dB."

I've never heard of anyone doing that. Are you sure they actually wanted the amp to distort all the time and not just prefer tube distortion if the amp distorts?

"A good friend of mine is a recording engineer and he always says "people love distortion"... In the studio throw a tube compressor on - and ''fatten" up the sound - warm things up. It's the same effect when someone uses a 10 Watt tube amp on a pair of speakers that are rated 25 Watts minimum. I see guys do it all the time - they're fully aware of the speaker's specs, and despite the manufacturer's advice to use more power they do it anyway. It's a seductive sound - but the product of distortion."

That's not the same thing. In the studio, what you're talking about above is signal processing. Its part of the creative process. Playback gear's job is completely different. The idea behind that is to reproduce the original event as accurately as possible. Making your amp distort on playback goes in the opposite direction of that goal. You don't want you home audio system to distort because you want to reproduce whatever is on the recording as best you can. Even if its distortion.

"That's definitely true that in the studio it's processing the signal - but at home, tube amps are often doing the same thing. It is a form of distortion. Not all tube based systems distort this way, but I do see lots of listeners using underpowered amps for the speakers they have."

Just to clarify, I was talking in general theory as to what is expected of a home stereo. Reproduce the original event as accurately as possible, etc... You've heard it all before. I wasn't suggesting that everybody approaches their system that way. There's the 2 extremes, and most people are somewhere in the middle.

"Tubes are a great way to emotionally get close to the music - I think of tubes as a way to create an illusion that performers are in the room with you - but I never think of this as accurate or neutral - but it can be very involving..."

Why not? When you go see live music, do you expect it to be accurate, neutral and not emotionally involving? lol. I know I do. I want it to sound just like my stereo system at home.