Question about tube vs SS poweramps and latest firmware

GreatGreen

GreatGreen

Power User
So we know that the primary difference between tube vs solid state poweramps is that one operates on current drive and the other operates on voltage drive. Forgive me if the terminology isn't spot on, I'm just a dude with a hobby here, not an EE. The important thing to note though is that tube amps directly interact with and are influenced by speaker impedance, while solid state amps are not, and this explains why tube amps and solid state amps sound inherently different.

Anyway, given Cliff's latest epiphany (epiphanies), and given the same speaker cab, wouldn't we now be able to make pretty much any given tube amp and, say, an extremely flat solid state amp like a Matrix GT1000 or something sound identical with the right settings in the Speaker tab of the Amp block?
 
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Another big difference is the weight. My SS Crown XLS 2000 is about 10lbs. Your back, arms and legs will thank you when you sell your tube amps. Your wallet will thank you too bc you won't have to waste money on replacing tubes.

One thing I did notice is that I've had to use SS amps that are 10x the wattage of my tube amps to get the same SPL. My 2000 watt Crown XLS 2000 replaced my 180 watt Mesa Boogie Stereo Simul-Class 2:Ninety (2:90). You have to read the specs and small print, especially the ohms and input sensitivity to make sure you're comparing apples to apples. I had known about how speaker ohms affected the wattage of an amp but never thought about how the input sensitivity has just as much or even more impact on SPL. Some amps will give wattage specs with the input being driven to it's threshold before clipping and others will drive it with the nominal +4dBu or -10dBV and leave some headroom, so you don't have to be right at the edge of clipping bc SS clipping sounds horrible.


Here is an old thread with some info:
http://forum.fractalaudio.com/amps-...so-much-more-powerful-than-ss-power-amps.html
 
It's my understanding that most amplifiers are rated by how much they can output at X total harmonic distortion. Under this assumption, of course tube amps will be louder per wattage rating because they're designed to operate well beyond their clean headroom capabilities. A tube amp rated at 100 watts means that it can hit 100 watts before clipping, and who the hell knows how much louder it can go from there, but it's probably a lot. SS amps on the other hand are basically unusable once they hit clipping output and beyond.

Don't let people tell you "tube watts are louder than solid state watts" either. A watt is a watt. It's just that tube amps are usually rated well below their maximum sustained output capabilities.

And that's not even getting into the fact that there isn't industry regulation or even industry standard for this kind of thing. Some companies rate their amps at max output before .001% THD, some rate their amps at 0.00001%, some rate theirs at 0.1%, some measure using only a 1kHz sine wave, some measure using white noise, etc.

So yeah when it comes to how loud something can get, the only real standard you've got are your own ears. And even those change over time... especially if you're a musician.
 
GreatGreen said:
Just making double sure that's the case before I sell my tube poweramp!
Click to expand...

Take the Pepsi® challenge!

Do yourself a favor and buy the SS before you sell your tube power amp, then compare them. Never mind the hoopla, you got to hear it for yourself and make your own decision.

Good luck whatever you decide on.
 
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