why is a 5W tube amp louder than a 20W SS amp

[GilmourD]

Re: why is a 5W tube amp louder than a 20W SS amp

Connecting speakers and amps without taking note of correct impedance is just stupid ignorance. Not just with guitar gear but with any audio equipment.

I'm aware that in some cases mismatched impedance may work with tube amps, but why to take the risk?

Some people just did it. Some people did it on purpose. Heck, Marshall didn't even optimize the primary side to what the tubes wanted to see. They just used what was available until later. Why do you think a JTM45 only really made 30 watts clean even though it had a decently high B+? KT66s and 5881s can dissipate 25W and 23W each respectively, so a pair could theoretically put out around 50W.

[Jacew]

Re: why is a 5W tube amp louder than a 20W SS amp

Some people just did it. Some people did it on purpose. Heck, Marshall didn't even optimize the primary side to what the tubes wanted to see. They just used what was available until later. Why do you think a JTM45 only really made 30 watts clean even though it had a decently high B+? KT66s and 5881s can dissipate 25W and 23W each respectively, so a pair could theoretically put out around 50W.

And that's why there is so much stories about how unreliable and expensive to maintain tube amps are...

That's interesting thing about JTM45. I haven't actually thought about that.

[NjuiMusic]

Re: why is a 5W tube amp louder than a 20W SS amp

cause science bro

[IMENATOR]

Re: why is a 5W tube amp louder than a 20W SS amp

Is there some different criteria used in measuring tube and SS amps? Or is my 20W amp just broken?

It is about measuring the output power being feeded at the speaker using a "test" signal. But "watts" alone is no longer useful, something like "RMS" or "peak" along the rating is absolutely important to understand the context of the test the vendor did. Also, speaker size and efficiency (sensitivity) makes a lot of difference, a small non efficient speaker in a 20 watt amp could easily be buried in the mix by a bigger and more efficient speaker in a 5 watt amp. Also the frequency eq of the amp makes a big difference, an amp with lots of mids could stand out in the mix (that may be good or bad depending on what the band and song needs) and you may not need to crank the volume while an amp with a more flat/balanced eq profile may need to crank the volume in order to stand out in the mix, a good example of this is the famous scooped mids for metal, nice in the bedroom but lost in a band mix, I have been there before.