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Tube Watts vs. Solid State Watts - Any credence?

I've heard numerous times that Tube watts are not the same as Solid State watts when it comes to amps running speakers. For example, a 70 watt tube amp provides more power than a 140 watt solid state amp. Is there any credence to this or just sales talk and misguided listeners? If so, how could this be? One reason I ask is a lot of speakers recommend 50 - 300 watts of amplification but many stores have 35 watt tube amps or 50 watts tube amps running them. More power is usually better to run speakers, so why am I always hearing this stuff about a tube watt is greater than a solid state watt?
djfst

Showing 10 responses by geoffkait

geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
And without knowing the, uh, drum roll please, efficiency of the speakers.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Watts are not Watts. The reason tube amps have better Watts than solid state amps is pretty simple. It's because they generally have more dynamic headroom than solid state amps. Thus all things being equal tube amps won't clip as soon as solid state amps. Case solved.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Czarivey, good question. Yes, they're better, too.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
A worse amplifier has higher dynamic range? Worse how? Because it clips easier? And therefore has more gross distortion at volume? Because it has less dynamic range? Worse it has an order of magnitude higher THD than the "better" amp? I see where this is going. :-)
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
One strike against Class A tube amps in particular is their very high cost, has anyone actually checked out what a good 100 Watt Class A tube amp goes for? Hel-loo! One assumes you're NOT referring to milli watt SET headphone amps, not that there's anything wrong with them as all.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Gee, in all this time on this thread no one has bothered to mention the most distinguishing feature of tube amps vs solid state amps. That is the lack of the irritating harmonics present in solid state amps. Not to mention the more natural and realistic presentation. So, in that sense tube Watts are actually even better than solid state Watts than if we only consider dynamic headroom.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Czarivey, yeah, I guess you're right. it's really the Americans who have been brainwashed. ;-)
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Mapman, really? Which ones? I'm dying to know.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
A solid state amp that sounded identical to a tube amp? That's gold, Mapman, gold! Humor is the best medicine. ;-)
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
The large magnetic field produced by large transformers cannot be good for any frequency, high, low, what have you.
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