200 vs 300 "tube watts"

[BassOnTheSide]

Just some food for thought. Many of us, including myself, have experienced the "200W is not quite enough and 300W is more than I'll ever need" thing.

Just curious who has played a tube amp thats in the 200W range and found it to be not quite enough and moved up to a 300W (or more) tube amp.

It seems like there's some sort of "loud to really loud, and clean" barrier that's crossed by going from 200 to 300W (though tech specs might say this is a relatively small increase).

Not trying to argue this either way, but just curious about others that may have jumped over the "200W barrier" for any reason.

 

[Downunderwonder]

I have seen many comments relating the inability to get 300 tube watts into the desired level of overdrive without blowing up the room. I tend to run my D180 with the master backed off to get there without using the whole 180 clean watts. So I know a SVT would be no good to me.

 

[SirMjac28]

I went from a SVT to a AD200B and I haven't noticed a huge drop off but in my opinion it depends on the other musicians you're playing with.

 

[pickles]

I usually use big solid state heads but my db359 gets plenty loud and clean for my loud 5 piece rock band.

 

[BogeyBass]

really depends on the efficiency of the cab. I prefer 100 watt tubers actually and find them more reliable. but I'm biased cause all my svts have failed to often unfortunately. but yes the real glory is a quad of 6550s not to heavy not to lean. And no not 200 watt claims just 500 volts for tube life and a clean 130/150 watts and a very mean dirty 180. a 2ohm tap is key really if it ain't loud enough just add
another cab

 

[Chris 'Wighat' Jordan]

It's about what kind of music you're playing, your desired tone and how loud you need to be. I play most of my bar gigs with a 55-watt Ampeg B25B. The overdriven sound works great with my current band. If I was playing in a traditional country band, I'd use my SVT at the same gigs.

 

[Tim1]

I have never found a noticeable difference between 200 and 300 tube watts. I have two 200 watt tube heads (Orange AD200 and Trace Elliott V4), a 300 watt Super Bassman and for years played an SVT. As somebody pointed out, it depends on the response/breakup you want. That said, I definitely notice a volume difference between my 100 watt Ampeg V4B and 200/300 watts.

 

[Speedbird]

It's about what kind of music you're playing, your desired tone and how loud you need to be...

I remember years ago reading about Neil Youg. That killer guitar on "Rockin in the Free World" all comes from a little small ~50w tube combo from the 60's. It is set on 10. Then that sound is reproduced via solid state. I had always thought it was from a wall of Marshals or Hi-Watts

The point is, Neil Young can have any gear he wants but nothing beats the tone of some little old tube amp on 10. Maybe the same for you? Find the tone you want and work around that.

 

[CatSquare]

I can't imagine needing more than the 225w my amp puts out, but then I'm not interested in clean headroom, I like the sound of power tubes huffing and puffing (and blowing the house down).

 

[pfschim]

I run a Fender Studio equipped with 7581a power tubes, so it's delivering about 200w (a bit more than its 180w rating with 6L6's). I run it thru either a Faital 15PR400 loaded 2x15 or a Berg NV610 and it pretty much crushes. I don't feel any need for 100 more watts in any situation I find myself in.

 

[Downunderwonder]

I remember years ago reading about Neil Youg. That killer guitar on "Rockin in the Free World" all comes from a little small ~50w tube combo from the 60's. It is set on 10. Then that sound is reproduced via solid state. I had always thought it was from a wall of Marshals or Hi-Watts

The point is, Neil Young can have any gear he wants but nothing beats the tone of some little old tube amp on 10. Maybe the same for you? Find the tone you want and work around that.

even in a club that holds 200 punters a 50w Marshall cranked into a 4x12 gets so loud it can't go into the PA. Sensitivity is a bitch sometimes.

 

[taylor16]

200 watts will make your ears wiggle. 300 watts will make them bleed. I have zero problems with headroom with my 250 watt Mesa Prodigy.

 

[FunkHead]

I remember years ago reading about Neil Youg. That killer guitar on "Rockin in the Free World" all comes from a little small ~50w tube combo from the 60's. It is set on 10. Then that sound is reproduced via solid state. I had always thought it was from a wall of Marshals or Hi-Watts

The point is, Neil Young can have any gear he wants but nothing beats the tone of some little old tube amp on 10. Maybe the same for you? Find the tone you want and work around that.

Thanks for reminding me of how much I love Neil Young. For a Tube amp, I like 300 Watts (YBA-300)and use a B3K if I need a little Break-up at lower volumes.

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

Just some food for thought. Many of us, including myself, have experienced the "200W is not quite enough and 300W is more than I'll ever need" thing.

Just curious who has played a tube amp thats in the 200W range and found it to be not quite enough and moved up to a 300W (or more) tube amp.

It seems like there's some sort of "loud to really loud, and clean" barrier that's crossed by going from 200 to 300W (though tech specs might say this is a relatively small increase).

Not trying to argue this either way, but just curious about others that may have jumped over the "200W barrier" for any reason.

The difference between 200 watts and 300 watts is about 1.76 db. In most instances a 1 to 2 db change is considered by most, to be barely perceptible. Some of the previous posts bear that out with practical applications. That being said, I think that having a little extra headroom, with a 300 watt amp never hurts, even if you never crank it to the point where it is putting out more than a couple of hundred watts.

 

[brianrost]

The difference between 200 and 300 watts isn't much. Even if they are "tube watts".

The human ear is sensitive down to differences of about 1 dB. "Twice as loud" is 10 dB. A doubling of wattage only gets you 3dB more output, so a ratio of 1.5 is even less than that...1.76dB.

So if the ratings are accurate, and the ratio of power stays the same even well into the clipping range, you won't hear much of an improvement by going to 300 watts.

To put it another way, if I need more power I always go for at least 4x the wattage, for a 6dB increase. To get 10dB you need ten times the wattage.

I remember years ago reading about Neil Youg. That killer guitar on "Rockin in the Free World" all comes from a little small ~50w tube combo from the 60's.

Actually it's a 1950s Fender Tweed Deluxe...about 15 watts.

 

[shawshank72]

I have felt this as well.
Traynor YBA200 - Great amp but underpowered.
Traynor YBA300 - An absolute beast.

 

[Rick James]

200 watts will make your ears wiggle. 300 watts will make them bleed.

The difference between 200w and 300w is about 2dB, which is barely audible. If you can hear a big difference between a 200w and a 300w amp it has nothing to do with power.

 

[eyeballkid]

I've had the AD200B a couple times cos i loooove the tone but its just short on clean volume for me. So I keep going back to the 300 pro. Just picked up a BTA 400. WHOA NELLIE!

 

[Korladis]

I've had the AD200B a couple times cos i loooove the tone but its just short on clean volume for me. So I keep going back to the 300 pro. Just picked up a BTA 400. WHOA NELLIE!

I think partly it's that the 300 Pro is rated conservatively, while the AD200B is rated pretty generously.

 

[Eidolon0274]

CAB EFFICIENCY.