I have heard that a low impedance speaker, like an electrostatic, it will eat tubes like there's no tomorrow. On the topic of equivalent power. I've had 100w tube, 160w tube, and a 185 w solid state amp in my system. I can attest that the solid state is MUCH more powerful in terms of controlling the speaker. They are not even close. I do not drive my speakers to high levels, so I cannot comment on clipping points. I also note that when people talk about a tube amp having good bass, it is in terms of a tube amp. I had two high quality tube amps, and neither had even a shadow of a solid state amps bass control. The amps were AR vt100m2, Sonic Frontiers SFM-160's. For solid state I have , a McCormack DNA1/AGold. The SFM-160's actually had internal jumpers to that you could set for 8,4,2 ohm loads. The vt100 had 4 and 8 ohm terminals. I have also had my old 125w Denon receiver hooked up to the speakers, and although the sound quality was lower, the bass was still more powerful than either of the tube amps. I've driven Vandersteen 2's and 3s (8 ohm), and virgos (4 ohm) with these setups. The vt100 seemed to be a little wimpy with the vandersteen 3.
Tube vs Solid State - Comparable Output?
I know this is a terribly general question -- and maybe off the wall -- but is there any difference in a tube versus a solid state amplifiers' with comparable power ratings ability to generate high current? This relates to amp selection for current hungry low impedance speakers. Is 200w the same whether its created by tube or solid state? Someone recently told me that a 100w tube amp (Audio Research) was comparable to a 200w solid state amp in this regard. True or no? Thanks in advance.