Tube Watts vs SS Watts

[cfsporn]

I noticed the OP hasn't responded yet...


Let's just hope he's getting some hardcore reading done from the litany of links provided in this thread.

 

[Aidenn7]

Short a few beetleheaded remarks(common on talkbass). This has been a good read. anybody wanna smell a kemper or a Fractal?? I say it smells like money.. but if anyone wants to offer hands on experience go right ahead!!

 

[ThePoloHobo]

My SVT did have a nice smell of burning dust. And then smoky smell before a connection broke somewhere.. Pro Coverage ftw.. they paid to ship it from OK to Buffalo, NY just to solder it

 

[dincz]

RMS is just a measurement method used for AC signals.

From wikipedia:

It's applicable to voltage and current but not to power. RMS voltage and/or current are used to calculate power in watts. There is only one kind of watt.

 

[GeezerGuy]

Alright, correct me if I'm wrong, but what I've learned is that when you're discussing 'loudness', watts should not be the principle interest, tube watts and SS watts are the same, and a tube amp being pushed sounds a lot better than an SS being pushed. I'm still working on grasping some of the more technical elements that got brought into the conversation, but you guys have been super helpful, thanks!

 

[seamonkey]

Alright, correct me if I'm wrong, but what I've learned is that when you're discussing 'loudness', watts should not be the principle interest, tube watts and SS watts are the same, and a tube amp being pushed sounds a lot better than an SS being pushed. I'm still working on grasping some of the more technical elements that got brought into the conversation, but you guys have been super helpful, thanks!

Have to disagree, a SS amp, any class, built in the last few decades sounds better when pushed.
It is why that FOH has been using SS for house power amps for the last few decades, and believe it, they do get pushed - hard!

 

[dincz]

Have to disagree, a SS amp, any class, built in the last few decades sounds better when pushed.
It is why that FOH has been using SS for house power amps for the last few decades, and believe it, they do get pushed - hard!

I think "pushed" in this context means pushed beyond its rated power i.e running the output stage into clipping. Not a usual state of affairs for FOH power amps.

 

[seamonkey]

For Subs, pushed beyond the rated power for bursts is not a problem. You should get a bigger amp, but it happens.

 

[Gaolee]

Have to disagree, a SS amp, any class, built in the last few decades sounds better when pushed.
It is why that FOH has been using SS for house power amps for the last few decades, and believe it, they do get pushed - hard!

If you have ever pushed a big Acoustic Control stack you will know that SS has sounded very good when pushed for a long, long time. There's SS and then there's SS, just as there are tubes and then there are tubes. Lousy sounding tube amps are going to sound lousy no matter what. How you make the wave form isn't as important as the wave form you make.

 

[zontar]

Tube Watts vs SS Watts?

I went to school with an SS Watts...

 

[Kirk Bryant]

It would be SERIOUSLY great if a Mod would make a stickie of cfsporns' list ....please please pretty please with added spls on it.


edit: thanks cfsporn, (for below comment) I've never looked at that stickie, haha but read most of it over the years, I'm sure.

 

[cfsporn]

It would be SERIOUSLY great if a Mod would make a stickie of cfsporns' list ....please please pretty please with added spls on it.

I appreciate the endorsement, but I actually got this list from the FAQ sticky.

 

[bassdude51]

It's already been covered in this very thread that tube watts vs ss watts has been a beat to death subject for many, many years on Talk Bass. Watts is watts. Story over.

But...............................

Most solid state bass and guitar amps are full fidelity, generally 20 hz to 20,000 hz. Not so for many if not all tube guitar and tube bass amps. Most of them are crude amps and do not cover the full spectrum of fidelity. That's why some complain that bass tube amps sound too mid-rangy.

Now Hi Fi tube stereo amps are another story and they are full spectrum fidelity.

Tube amps have musical and pleasant sounding over-drive distortion and solid state does not.

 

[seamonkey]

Tube amps have musical and pleasant sounding over-drive distortion and solid state does not.

Incorrect
Many many popular "fuzz" boxes have and are, overdriven mini solid state amplifiers. Very pleasant, familiar, and popular sounding distortion.

First generation tube amps were not easy to overdrive. Not that much gain. It wasn't until after SS Fuzz boxes got popular that tube amp makers starting making tube amps that could overdrive.

 

[bobodechimp]

Agreed.
Nathan Watts is a phenomenal bass player known for his work with Stevie Wonder.
Loudness is (was?) a Japanese heavy metal band.

loudness haven't thought about them In awhile

 

[ThisBass]

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.

Binary "encoding" means nothing but distinct numbering system.
The principle of class-D is more close to frequency modulation with a carrier and modulation depth.
There is no binary encoding involved neither corelated with the LF-signal.
Neither is there a thing like DA-conversion (binary encoding to analog conversion) to get back the LF-signal at output terminals.

 

[Rick Auricchio]

Gasoline gallons vs. diesel fuel gallons. Which is larger?

A pound of lead or a pound of feathers. Which weighs more?

"Watt" is a unit of measurement. It has nothing to do with perceived tone or loudness.