glenecho said:The TS100 that I tried out didn't have sufficient clean headroom. I somewhat expected that out of a stereo amp with EL34's. Unfortunately Carvin wouldn't ship me one with 6L6's, so they lost a sale. It also didn't help that starting 2-3 days after I got the amp it started blowing fuses left and right. Needless to say, I sent it back.
NaturalScience said:I have a TS-100 and it sounds great. I've never had any problems with headroom. Sure is heavy, though - and it doesn't help that I have to go up/down stairs about 4 times to get it to/from practice. After reading about these new 16-lb Carvin poweramps, I'm seriously considering getting one of those. If solid state amplification really sounds as good with the Axe as folks say, I'm pretty sure I'll stick with the lighter poweramp and keep the TS-100 as a backup.
aksman said:NaturalScience said:Also, 16lb 2 space mega-wattage carvin over just getting a 1 unit DCM150?
xrist04 said:aksman said:NaturalScience said:Also, 16lb 2 space mega-wattage carvin over just getting a 1 unit DCM150?
With SS power, you'll definitely want lots of clean headroom. To match a tube power amp, a rule of thumb is "Five times the tube wattage, for solid-state."
This is not because tube amp watts are any 'louder' than solid state watts -- a watt is a watt, no matter where it comes from. It's more because, when overdriven, tube power amps ease into a musical type of harmonic distortion, whereas solid-state amps exhibit nasty-sounding distortion when they are overdriven.
Five times the power ensures that the solid state amplifier has plenty of headroom to handle musical peaks, without offering any solid-state distortion. If you're used to 50W of tube power, per side, into 8 ohm cabs, then look for a SS power amp that can deliver 250W or 300W per side, into 8 ohms.
aksman said:That alone makes me thing that the tube preamp should be preferred to solid state.
NaturalScience said:I have a TS-100 and it sounds great. I've never had any problems with headroom. Sure is heavy, though - and it doesn't help that I have to go up/down stairs about 4 times to get it to/from practice. After reading about these new 16-lb Carvin poweramps, I'm seriously considering getting one of those. If solid state amplification really sounds as good with the Axe as folks say, I'm pretty sure I'll stick with the lighter poweramp and keep the TS-100 as a backup.