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Tube Watts vs SS Watts

then I must try a pure digital amp like a mark bass or Peavey megabass 1000
Again, neither of those are digital. The "D" in "Class-D" doesn't stand for Digital. In fact, it doesn't stand for anything at all!

Plenty of amps have DSP which is digital, but the final amplification is always analog as digital speakers aren't around and we haven't evolved digital ears.
 
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Heard that a lower watt tube head can be just as powerful as a SS head at a much higher wattage. How would 300 tube watts compare to 1000 solid state watts?

Tube amps are rated only for clean wattage, but can produce significantly higher numbers when driving the power tubes beyond their clean limits; a driven tube power section also adds harmonics, which is what some people refer to as "warmth".

You can't drive a solid state power section past it's clean limits without it sounding like garbage; that's why a 300 watt SVT has much more usable power than a 350 watt Tone Hammer, and where the misnomer that tube watts are more powerful than solid state watts likely comes from :thumbsup:
 
Yes this topic has been beaten to death.
The short answer is really "Watt ratings are marketing BS that have little solid basis in realty as it pertains to decibel levels."
The are vague guidelines that can't take the hundreds of variables that will actually define how loud you are into account.
That said, in the same way that watt ratings are a loose guidepost, there seems to be a loose guidepost of 2:1 when it comes to how loud something can be at a certain watt usage. A 400 watt tube head can be much louder than a SS 400 watt because it sounds far more attractive as the signal starts to break up. When SS starts to clip it either 1.) just caps its self with a limiter and doesn't get louder; or 2.) sounds kinda crappy. That's why some of those old tube amps look low wattage but are really loud.
 
Neither of those amps are digital either.

The switching function of a class D amplifier is binary. Most people would, therefore, refer to it as a digital amp.

You are correct that the output wave-form is always analog.


  1. A class-D amplifier or switching amplifier is an electronic amplifier in which the amplifying devices (transistors, usually MOSFETs) operate as electronic switches, and not as linear gain devices as in other amplifiers. The signal to be amplified is a train of constant amplitude pulses, so the active devices switch rapidly back and forth between a fully conductive and nonconductive state.
    The analog signal to be amplified is converted to a series of pulses by pulse width modulation, pulse density modulationor other method before being applied to the amplifier. After amplification, the output pulse train can be converted back to an analog signal by passing through a passive low pass filter consisting of inductors and capacitors.


    Class-D amplifier - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 
The switching function of a class D amplifier is binary. Most people would, therefore, refer to it as a digital amp.

You are correct that the output wave-form is always analog.


  1. A class-D amplifier or switching amplifier is an electronic amplifier in which the amplifying devices (transistors, usually MOSFETs) operate as electronic switches, and not as linear gain devices as in other amplifiers. The signal to be amplified is a train of constant amplitude pulses, so the active devices switch rapidly back and forth between a fully conductive and nonconductive state.
    The analog signal to be amplified is converted to a series of pulses by pulse width modulation, pulse density modulationor other method before being applied to the amplifier. After amplification, the output pulse train can be converted back to an analog signal by passing through a passive low pass filter consisting of inductors and capacitors.


    Class-D amplifier - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It is analog at all times. There is never a digital transformation. Therefore it is never digital.

With your mentality, your lightswitch, which is binary, is digital.
 
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It is analog at all times. There is never a digital transformation. Therefore it is never digital.

Most people would call a binary (only "on" or only "off") switching system as a digital system.

A class D "amp" goes from completely off to completely on by following a train of pulsing signals. The output of this switch is not analog, but is a series of binary pulses. This binary chain is smoothed out via filters to make an analog wave.

The conversion of the analog input signal to a series of pulses is an Analog-to-Digital conversion. The signal driving the amp is binary and the output of the amp (before hitting the filter section) is binary. Most people would refer to this as a "digital amp" and they would not be incorrect.
 
Heard that a lower watt tube head can be just as powerful as a SS head at a much higher wattage. How would 300 tube watts compare to 1000 solid state watts?

Let's say you're playing either head into an 8 ohm, or even a 4 ohm cab. Those would be quite even IMO. The 1000 SS watts can most likely get a little louder. But at that point, who cares?!? I know IME I played a GK 1001rbii for a few years. I think it's like 450 watts the way I was running it. Never ever had issues with keeping up with my original LOUD hard rock band. That amp had plenty of headroom with more to spare. I recently switched to an all tube head. It's about 180w @ 8 ohms. It's just as loud as the GK through the same cab.
 
Most people would call a binary (only "on" or only "off") switching system as a digital system.

A class D "amp" goes from completely off to completely on by following a train of pulsing signals. The output of this switch is not analog, but is a series of binary pulses. This binary chain is smoothed out via filters to make an analog wave.

The conversion of the analog input signal to a series of pulses is an Analog-to-Digital conversion. The signal driving the amp is binary and the output of the amp (before hitting the filter section) is binary. Most people would refer to this as a "digital amp" and they would not be incorrect.

Nope. Calling it digital is incorrect.

As I edited right before your post, your light switch is binary. Doesnt mean your lighting is digital.