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The one watt lie….

6

6.5CM

Active Member
i hear it time and again, 1 watt will get you X number of db’s, and thats all you need.

I’m not talking about SPL. Im talking about the soudn you get.

The low wattage high efficiency philosophy is a lie.

Low wattage amp with a very high efficiency speaker cannot compete with high power amp and very high efficiency speaker.

You may achieve a comparatively supernatural experience, but you will NOT achieve the same sense of scale. You will lose the function of making thin, tinny, lean recordings organic.

Muy wattage es mas bueno.
 
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I prefer my low power tube amps to my high power transistors amps, by high power I don't mean a lot, just 110W RMS 400W Peak

My favourite tube amps are about or under 10 watts, one of the best approx 3W

And I don't have very high sensitivity speakers rolling now, about 90dB

I don,t really need high watts to be happy with a good sound.
 
Not so much a lie as a misrepresentation. It depends heavily on the watt, the room, and the speakers, along with many other variables. I end-run the thing, and never worry about how much power I am using. As long as the music is good, I'm good.
That said, I like my music a couple of notches above 'only what is necessary' for my own personal enjoyment. I've never been to a quiet concert....
 
And honestly I don't listen more than 0.5 watte late nite, when it's calm, and I perfectly hear what I need to hear.

What i prefer to low watts amps is the design is very simple, global audible distortion low (Even with bad measurements).

I prefer a single ended or push pull amp to a parallel push pull amp with higher watts.

The only reasons I keep some is to Home Theater, not preferable for music at all, while it's vice versa, low high quality sound render bad with voices too tamed, smooth in some movies.
 
faber12 said:
OP, I am guessing you are not super impressed with your new amplifier?
Click to expand...

It pretty amazing when its in its zone. It is supernatural in some instances.

Jazz, Folk, classic rock, sure.

Depending on the recording, it can be unacceptable.

Billie Eilish, it can crap out when the bass line come in at the average SPL I like.
 
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db's are SPL, aren't they..?!?
The 'sound you get' is something 'you' get..
My fleawatt tube mono's(about 3 watts each) and kg4's give me a very pleasing sound.. they get louder than I want..
My simaudio I7(google it) and ML Sequel 2's will rock the house.. also pleasing, for a different reason..
 
I've been into all genres of music for over 40+ years and always based in solid state gear, which was not necessarily a choice I made but what I was exposed to. I kept up with all the audio mags throughout the 80-90's and tried to learn everything I could (and what I couldn't afford). The one thing I recall is the talk about headroom in amplifiers and how important it was. My understanding has been that wattage ratings aren't as important as having enough headroom in an amplifier to reproduce the transients in music that translate to the feel of the music. Is this still the case?

Do tube amplifiers have the so called "headroom" that solid state amps have?

I bring this up because I think it may relate to the OP's original post.
 
I've recently began exploring tube amps and am curious what flea watt mono amps you are running?

Swokie63 said:
db's are SPL, aren't they..?!?
The 'sound you get' is something 'you' get..
My fleawatt tube mono's(about 3 watts each) and kg4's give me a very pleasing sound.. they get louder than I want..
My simaudio I7(google it) and ML Sequel 2's will rock the house.. also pleasing, for a different reason..
Click to expand...
 
Jeepnmon said:
I've been into all genres of music for over 40+ years and always based in solid state gear, which was not necessarily a choice I made but what I was exposed to. I kept up with all the audio mags throughout the 80-90's and tried to learn everything I could (and what I couldn't afford). The one thing I recall is the talk about headroom in amplifiers and how important it was. My understanding has been that wattage ratings aren't as important as having enough headroom in an amplifier to reproduce the transients in music that translate to the feel of the music. Is this still the case?

Do tube amplifiers have the so called "headroom" that solid state amps have?

I bring this up because I think it may relate to the OP's original post.
Click to expand...
While tube amps may not have as much headroom generally if they do briefly clip it may not be noticeable and might actually be pleasing to the ear.
 
Jeepnmon said:
My understanding has been that wattage ratings aren't as important as having enough headroom in an amplifier to reproduce the transients in music that translate to the feel of the music. Is this still the case?

Do tube amplifiers have the so called "headroom" that solid state amps have?
Click to expand...

What is headroom?
Could a 25 watt amplifier provide more headroom for one listener than a 100 watt amplifier for another listener?
 
ScottFan355 said:
While tube amps may not have as much headroom generally if they do briefly clip it may not be noticeable and might actually be pleasing to the ear.
Click to expand...
I kind of agree. Tube amps soft clip. You don't really notice it like you do with a SS amp. There is something to be said for having some headroom I guess. Even listening at lower levels, there can be sudden spikes that can cause a lower watt amp to clip very quickly. Most of us may not notice it though. I have single ended direct heated triode, single ended pentode, push pull, and parallel push pull mono block tube amps. All ranging from 5wpc to 125wpc. I like them all, but listen mostly with the 5wpc SEP and a 17wpc PP amp. The big mono blocks are connected to a pair of less efficient speakers that can handle the higher output that I listen to when I want to listen at higher volumes. With the SS amplifiers I have, listening at higher volumes clipping and distortion is more noticable. Some speakers just don't sound as good at low volumes as they do at higher volumes though. I dont care how good they sound at higher volumes. If they can't deliver at 1 or 2 watts, I don't keep them around.
 
I love a Darling 3/4 watt amp, when paired with efficient speakers and at reasonable levels. I love a 4 watt tube amp driving efficient speakers at involving levels. I love a 25 watt First Watt amps when paired with efficient speakers and listening at pretty loud levels. I love a Yamaha 200 watt pro amp with inefficient speakers when I want to disturb the neighbors. Right amp + right speakers + right listening expectations = right sound.
 
I wonder what will happen to all the tubes,tube amps,preamps and stuff affter they become obsolete like cassettes,cds,vinyls,ect. I mean after all the youth and millenials are going streaming on phones,ect.
 
6.5CM said:
i hear it time and again, 1 watt will get you X number of db’s, and thats all you need.

I’m not talking about SPL. Im talking about the soudn you get.

The low wattage high efficiency philosophy is a lie.

Low wattage amp with a very high efficiency speaker cannot compete with high power amp and very high efficiency speaker.

You may achieve a comparatively supernatural experience, but you will NOT achieve the same sense of scale. You will lose the function of making thin, tinny, lean recordings organic.

Muy wattage es mas bueno.
Click to expand...

https://www.decware.com/paper43.htm
 
You may not need a lot of power (or you may) but IMHO the problem is a lot of low power amps are also not very good amps. So many of the <30W tube amps from the past had almost no bass capability. Sure, they could put out rated power mid-band, but almost nothing down low, plus it was heavily distorted, the result of tiny and cheap iron. I don't know anything about modern SETs and such, but you need to look at the entire power band. OTL solves the iron problem but I don't know if there's some other price to pay. Output impedance perhaps?
 
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