Amp volume and sound level question?

  • Thread starter Thread starter PDP
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In reality, you're not going to run either amp(s) wide open at 10, so go with the 50w. A 50w turned down will be louder and punchier than a 25w turned up.
 
The difference in loudness between a 25w and 50w amp is extremely small. My guess is you'll get more sound out of 2 25s...and more speaker placement options.
 
fat_fleet said:
The difference in loudness between a 25w and 50w amp is extremely small. My guess is you'll get more sound out of 2 25s...and more speaker placement options.
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Yeah. I have always heard that in order to double the volume, takes 10 times the power. I'm not sure I understand why PDP is asking the question anyway. Curious tho.
 
The actual volume difference from 25 to 50 to 100w is small, but the perceived volume difference is quite noticeable. You feel the difference between 50 and 100 watts. The available clean headroom of a 100w amp over a 50w amp is noticeable and it's what gives the 100w the advantage in sheer brute force. It might not be appreciably louder, but you feel it a lot more. Where a 50w starts to flatten out and self compress, the 100w still stays tight and dynamic. Decibel for decibel the 100w seems to be louder because it's more dynamic. I assume the same would have to hold true with 25w vs 50w.
 
Greg_L said:
The actual volume difference from 25 to 50 to 100w is small, but the perceived volume difference is quite noticeable. You feel the difference between 50 and 100 watts. The available clean headroom of a 100w amp over a 50w amp is noticeable and it's what gives the 100w the advantage in sheer brute force. It might not be appreciably louder, but you feel it a lot more. Where a 50w starts to flatten out and self compress, the 100w still stays tight and dynamic. Decibel for decibel the 100w seems to be louder because it's more dynamic. I assume the same would have to hold true with 25w vs 50w.
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Greg_L said:
That's my non-technical layman's explanation for it anyway.
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I agree in a very non-technical layman's sort of way. My very favorite, go-to amp is 100w. I can dial it back to 50w with a power switch that cuts out half the power tubes. At a hundred watts I have to leave to room to turn it up to 4 (that's the master volume, with the gain on 7). But at 50 watts I can crank it up considerably more before a seizure occurs. But at the same time, I have a vintage 25w tube amp that I can't crank up much further without leaving the room either.

In other words, to my ears, the difference between 25 and 50 seems measurable but tolerable, while the difference between 50 and 100 seems simply bone-crushing!

And apropos of nothing, my latest amp purchase was a fairly simple circuit: a 16w tube amp with a tone stack and a "soak" control. The bonus? It's got a triode (what does that mean anyway?) 5 watt mode switch. It cuts the power all the way back to 5 watts--and even that is loud enough to tickle the ears when cranked! (Very cool for recording, though.)

So among my dozen amps, I can go from 5w to 100w. From 5w to 25w, the change feels very gradual. From 25w to 50w--it's a more of a serious jump, for sure. From 50 to 100, the difference is downright spiritual!

Bottom line: If I were starting all over, I'd find the tone I love in a 100w package and tell the world to deal with it!
 
Hey OP! You never said nuffin' about STEREO!!!

All bets are off then. A stereo signal is not phase correlated so two sources will not add as two double mono ones would.

It is however pointless to debate guitar amp "loudnesssssses". The decibel "rule" that you need 10x the power for a subjective doubling of loudness was done many years ago and probably with steady tones and for the results to be valid the amplifiers would have had to be nigh on perfect in terms of regulation and power/frequency response.No guitar amp is anywhere bloody NEAR electronic perfection!

WhiteStrat: "Triode" operation means that the OP valves are switched from Pentode to Triode mode and that is vastly less efficient (couple of "ours" do this). Tis a bit of a kludge since strictly speaking you need a different op transformer for triodes!

Re the perfect rig powerwise. Many guitarist find a 100W head and a selection of good pedals does the bizz most of the time. Having that massive headroom is very useful I am told.

Dave.
 
Greg_L said:
The actual volume difference from 25 to 50 to 100w is small, but the perceived volume difference is quite noticeable. You feel the difference between 50 and 100 watts. The available clean headroom of a 100w amp over a 50w amp is noticeable and it's what gives the 100w the advantage in sheer brute force. It might not be appreciably louder, but you feel it a lot more. Where a 50w starts to flatten out and self compress, the 100w still stays tight and dynamic. Decibel for decibel the 100w seems to be louder because it's more dynamic. I assume the same would have to hold true with 25w vs 50w.
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This is basically why I asked. Its the amount of clean power available. Would adding a second amp give you more clean power or are you just doubling the sound with the same (lower amount)of clean headroom as the smaller amp?

I think the answer is needing the bigger amp.
 
PDP said:
This is basically why I asked. Its the amount of clean power available. Would adding a second amp give you more clean power or are you just doubling the sound with the same (lower amount)of clean headroom as the smaller amp?

I think the answer is needing the bigger amp.
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Adding a second amp will just be double the same sound. If you want cleaner power definitely go with bigger wattage.

Lots'o watts always wins!
 
WhiteStrat said:
Bottom line: If I were starting all over, I'd find the tone I love in a 100w package and tell the world to deal with it!
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Oh great, another room emptied out by the guitar. I hate mixing for nobody but one guy at the bar too drunk to care about the noise.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
Oh great, another room emptied out by the guitar. I hate mixing for nobody but one guy at the bar too drunk to care about the noise.
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I'm with whitestrat. Anything that makes the sound guy's life miserable and ruins his night is good with me.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
Oh great, another room emptied out by the guitar. I hate mixing for nobody but one guy at the bar too drunk to care about the noise.
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Sorry--wrong context. I don't play live--I'm talking about recording. And I've got a very well treated studio sitting in the woods on 25 acres. I'm not worried much about noise.
 
I'm looking to add a B cab so I can run my Marshall as a full stack. Fuck small clubs and bars. Fuck sound guys. Fuck it all! I'm rolling my shit out like it's Wembley fucking stadium and everyone else can fuck off. Rock and roll!
 
Greg_L said:
I'm with whitestrat. Anything that makes the sound guy's life miserable and ruins his night is good with me.
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Yeah, that's why I charge too much to end up in that situation anymore. You can keep your 130dB stage volume and empty rooms.
 
Greg_L said:
I'm looking to add a B cab so I can run my Marshall as a full stack. Fuck small clubs and bars. Fuck sound guys. Fuck it all! I'm rolling my shit out like it's Wembley fucking stadium and everyone else can fuck off. Rock and roll!
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Prolly compensating.
 
Q: What's the similarity between Gerg and Beethoven?

A: They both ended up deaf unusually early.

At 130dB you have about 15 minutes before permanent damage sets in so enjoy that time!
 
Bobbsy said:
Q: What's the similarity between Gerg and Beethoven?

A: They both ended up deaf unusually early.

At 130dB you have about 15 minutes before permanent damage sets in so enjoy that time!
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Don't worry about me. I'm making the job easier for the inept hapless mongoloid sound guys out there. It's all about them. The poor misunderstood unappreciated sound guy. The power tripping delusional sound guy. I'm gonna play my amps so loud that he doesn't have to mic them. I'm going to save him the embarrassment of having to bend over to position a mic. No one's gonna see his hairy plumber butt. If it's too loud for the drunken losers in attendance, that's okay. I'll take the blame. He can throw up his fat little hands and talk shit about the too loud guitarist. I'm okay with that. Sound guys can't make a good mix anyway. They're always looking to blame something for their shitty sound and lack of skill. I only gig to play my shit obnoxiously loud. I don't care if anyone likes it - especially sound guys. They're the dregs of musical society. . :)
 
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