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Solid state vs. all tube

#8
Simply put, if you take the total wattage output and plot the second derivative of the anti-log to the base e of the 41 hertz signal and all of its harmonics and then integrate as x goes from 1 to infinity, then divide by Avogadro's number and add 3, you will "roughly" estimate how loud the amp will go.

Do that for each amp, and compare.
 
#9
Dustin Teel said:
Yeah man, naw.
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SactoBass said:
Simply put, if you take the total wattage output and plot the second derivative of the anti-log to the base e of the 41 hertz signal and all of its harmonics and then integrate as x goes from 1 to infinity, then divide by Avogadro's number and add 3, you will "roughly" estimate how loud the amp will go.

Do that for each amp, and compare.
Click to expand...
Ya know... I think these two posts say the same thing!
 
#10
esa372 said:
Ya know... I think these two posts say the same thing!
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LOL!!!

OP: don't get bent. We TB'ers are actually a helpful group after we goof off a bit.

Other than actually A/B'ing the amps with the same cab(s), there is no way to determine which amp will be louder. There are way too many variables in amp design. Also, the sensitivity of different cabs plays into the equation as well.
 
#12
Years ago I read that a good rule of thumb was about 1 tube watt = 3 solid state watts in terms of how your ears appreciate it.

Lots of variables though. I'm sure cranking a 300w SVT to the max produces insane earthquake volumes but you'll have some overdrive!
 
#15
@chaos. Thanks for the comparables. The question makes great sense. I play in a very loud stoner/metal band and my guitar player has full stack and head is cranked loud!! So, I wanted to just compare the tube wattage of 200 vs. 1000 watt solid state.
 
#16
But something like a VB-2, a YBA-200, AD-200 are all different in volume, but all rated 200Watts, and not all 1000 Watt SS amps will sound like the same loudness. Anyways, I wouldn't expect a 200 Watt tube amp to sound louder than 1000 Watt SS amps, but you should be able to beat a 500 Watt-er easy.
 
#20
BassmanPaul said:
<sigh> A watt is a watt. A unit of power that cares less about how it is derived. 200W from a tube or SS amp is equally loud at the same level of distortion.

A SS amp suppling 1000W will drown out any 200W tube amp through identical speaker cabinets.
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There is some truth to the tube amps being louder than SS amps.

As you turn up a tube amp, you start getting soft clipping, this sounds quite nice to us, so most of us are fine with a little, many like a lot. With SS amps you get hard clipping with sounds harsh and people tend to avoid that. You also get some nice compression on the go with tube amps.

So, it's certainly understandable why someone would say a 200 watt tube amp is louder than a 200 watt SS amp. But that's mainly because you can get the rated power (or more) out of a tube amp, but most avoid pushing a SS amp to it's boundaries.

All things being equal, yes, 1000 watts will be louder than 200 watts. Theoretically, into two identical cabinets with equal sensitivities at those powers etc., you'd expect the 1000 watt source to be about 7(ish) dB louder than the 200 watt source.
 

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