Please lecture me on different power tubes modes

[VergDan]

My amp is an Orange TH100 and it has 4 modes:
4 power tubes running at full power＝100w
4 power tubes running at half power＝50w
2 power tubes running at full power＝70w
2 power tubes running at half power＝30w
I'm not sure what's the difference between these modes besides volume, and I'm especially interested in the difference between using 4 tubes versus 2 tubes.
Can someone please help?

 

[hamerfan]

Re: Please lecture me on different power tubes modes

4 vs 2 means simply that 2 tubes are shut off. This could be made on a conventional tube amp by pulling the inner two tubes. Full vs. half power means pentode vs triode mode, this has a greater impact on tone.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Please lecture me on different power tubes modes

Your post isn’t quite right, mostly it’s just semantics but...

4 Tubes, Full Power = 100W
4 Tubes, Half Power = 70W
2 Tubes, Full Power = 50W
2 Tubes, Half Power = 30W

Regardless, think of it as four different tonal options. Some may happen to be a little quieter, but it’s more about headroom, response and feel. The highest power option will feel the stiffest with every input being represented most accurately. It will
compress less, so playing softly and loudly will translate to the output volume being louder or softer. As you go down in power, and especially into triode or low B+ mode, the amp will be more “squishy”, compressed and might be a little less loud overall.

Try all four modes out to see the tonal difference.

 

[VergDan]

Re: Please lecture me on different power tubes modes

Your post isn’t quite right, mostly it’s just semantics but...

4 Tubes, Full Power = 100W
4 Tubes, Half Power = 70W
2 Tubes, Full Power = 50W
2 Tubes, Half Power = 30W

Regardless, think of it as four different tonal options. Some may happen to be a little quieter, but it’s more about headroom, response and feel. The highest power option will feel the stiffest with every input being represented most accurately. It will
compress less, so playing softly and loudly will translate to the output volume being louder or softer. As you go down in power, and especially into triode or low B+ mode, the amp will be more “squishy”, compressed and might be a little less loud overall.

Try all four modes out to see the tonal difference.

If I want a nice distortion tone with a bit of that power amp overdrive flavor at lower volume, but still be able to clean up using guitar volume knob, I use 2 tubes running at full power am I right? Sorry I don't have the amp around me at the moment to really try out myself.