I'm late to this thread (and thankful for that as well)...but you, and Georgestrings, and others need to realize (hopefully by now you do) that the EE and AE types will never give up on telling you that you are wrong and that they are right. It's what seemingly defines their self-worth and reason for existence. I certainly hope they put the same amount of energy and passion into practicing and performing on their instrument...kinda the point behind this forum...or so I thought.
So many of them have told you again and again that a watt is a watt, that you are wrong about what you hear because it is "perception".
Here's a thought - music IS perception....loudness IS perception. The experience of whether something is loud enough to cause you to hold your ears or strain to pick up the nuances of a given sound IS perception. Not many bassists that can actually play decently that I've ever met worry too much about how their "SPL or effective watts" are measured...they worry about how their instruments and rigs actually sound to themselves and their audiences - again, perception. They notice that (in your case) at maximum usable volume on two different amps EQ'd similarly (another HUGE variable here), the tube amp is perceived as louder - not just by them but by their bandmates and their audience as well. I've actually never seen audiences at a musical performance bring an SPL meter into the performance "just for fun" or to "prove that a given instrument or rig was or wasn't louder than another one". Yet all of us have experienced performances that were "really loud" or "unbearably loud" or "just right"....a judgement we make without the SPL data or a scientific explanation. That "fact" or "myth", whether scientific or not, is actually usable for the purpose of making choices and making music...the point behind all this discussion in the first place.
The human sensory experience IS perception...and the engineering crowd just can't seem to get their arms around that fact even when you're technically NOT arguing with their facts - you're arguing about your perception of the situation...in this case, that similarly rated amps have different perceived loudnesses...to probably a large majority of the people who have actually tried them.
Having a thread about myths is all well and good - but if it doesn't address the end result - in this case amplification of music played on the bass instrument and perceived by the performer and audience - they become academic exercises...interesting, but not all-important. Time and time again those of us who have played through similarly rated tube and SS amps have noted that usable "perceived" volume and loudness through the tube amp is much higher than the similary rated SS amp. I'm sure that's due to all the fine, correct technical reasons the professional and armchair engineering types have continually bludgeoned you with throughout this thread. But those reasons aren't going to sway you or your band mates/audience away from the "fact" that the tube amp is "perceived" as louder in your practical, real-life playing situations.
And you should know - many, many people on this board think just the way you do and agree with your perceptions. They just have already been slammed with the science or watched others get slammed with it enough times to refuse to enter into these threads to state their opinions or perceptions. I'm just dim-witted enough to keep coming back for more
Just watch - they very well might start in on me now by trying to argue that perceptions that differ from scientific explanations don't exist...can't exist...even though sensory perceptions don't really argue against their facts, for some unknown reason they'll take it as as a challenge and pounce on an opportunity to display their superior technical knowledge and ridicule my logic. I hope not - as that discussion goes nowhere....but no worries, I can handle it...sometimes the discussions can even be quite constructive for all involved as long as the remarks don't get personal.
Speaking about not arguing about their facts - the underpowered amp blowing speakers myth is a perfect example. Many (notice I did NOT say all) of those who posit an opposing opinion do not argue that an "underpowered" amp blows speakers...they posit that in the event that a closely rated amp and speaker might be a fairly dangerous combination if the amp is pushed into clipping on a frequent basis. Say, for example, a 275 watt amp powering a 300 watt speaker (rated however you want, I'm just making an example here). If you repeatedly push that 275 watt amp into hard clipping, yes, it certainly can damage that speaker - but not
because it's underpowered. Several of us have actually seen it happen - of course pushing an amp rated above the handling capacity of the speaker into clipping often will do it that much faster! Personal experience has shown me that it's not a bad idea to own an amp that's rated somewhere close to twice the wattage rating of the speaker and then play well within the sweet spot of that amp (i.e. nowhere near clipping). Again, not necessary according to the science behind it all - which has been explained by the experts earlier - but a good idea nonetheless for clean headroom throughout the dynamic range of playing techniques for the instrument. Of course, consistent touch and playing technique help even more on this score
Bottom line - you shouldn't discount your sensory perceptions out of hand or because of the reasoning on this thread - very probably there are explainable scientific reasons behind your perceptions (and a watt is a watt is a watt...that you can't argue against), but remember that what we do - playing bass - falls squarely within the domain of perception and sensory reaction. If you were the only one who perceived that the tube amp kicks the SS amp's a@@, then you might have cause for worry. But you're certainly not the only one
