Does the same output power from tube amp and ss amp have difference?

[Sunsun22]

I heard from someone says the output from tube amp; if they are the same output power (W) as a SS amp, can drive loudspeaker better than SS amp. Is there any proof of this?

I am driving my B&W N802 speaker with a SS amp that has 200W per channel on 8 ohms. I am also curious to build a SE 211 power amp that has only 18W output but is wondering if it can properly drive the N802.

Does anyone here tried to drive N802 with 18W output tube amp before?

[Alkis]

What is the sensitivity of N802? 211 can produce only 4 watt in Class A1, so it has to be biased in class A2, introducing some ammount of distortion as well, but this is relative.
845 is a better choice.Better specs and 25W in A1.

[Sunsun22]

N802 is 89dB. I saw many 211 SE states it is 15~19W while 845 is over 24W, yet I love the details of 211 although I never heard 845 before.

[chrish]

Generally speaking, tube amps have more benign clipping behaviour. Therefor, you do not require the same amount of headroom as a SS amp. 1 Watt of tube power is going to drive your speaker to the same volume as 1 Watt of SS power - you cannot alter the laws of physics.

For 89 dB speakers,

1 Watt 89 dB
2 Watts 92 dB
4 Watts 95 dB
8 Watts 98 dB
16 Watts 101 dB
etc...

Damping factor is also another thing to consider.

Cheers,

Chris

[udailey]

Also, what I have heard is that distortion increases with wattage on SS while decreasing with more watts on tubes. So maybe drive your tube amp with SS which seems the reverse of what most folks do who combine the two. Somebody kick me if I'm wrong, its just a 'fact' thats in the back of my head.

[kmtang]

I am using my 45 or 2A3 single ended tube amp to drive my Tannoy 3 way tower speaker. I repaired a Sansui SS power amp for a friend lately. The Sansui amp has power of 100Wrms per channel. Unfortunately, it just lack of the lively sound and dynamics in comparison of my little tube amp.

Of course, I am using large size Lundahl C-core output transformer for my tube amp. That really makes the difference. Large output transformer would have the bass extension that rocks.

Johnny

[5th element]

Originally Posted by udailey

Also, what I have heard is that distortion increases with wattage on SS

This is inaccurate and if the designer wishes they can make a SS amplifier have distortion below the threshold of hearing right up until before clipping.

Also it isn't just the number of watts on offer that you should be interested in. These are normally quoted as watts into a resistive 8 ohm load. From what I've read the B&W nautilus range can have quite demanding impedance minima with difficult phase angles.

I think maybe what you may have heard is that because a tube amp is transformer coupled, you can use the most suitable secondary tap for driving the load the loudspeaker presents and thus come up with a decent enough match. This could explain why some lower power valve amps work better with the 802s then some lower powered transistor amps.

[jrenkin]

Originally Posted by chrish

Generally speaking, tube amps have more benign clipping behaviour. Therefor, you do not require the same amount of headroom as a SS amp. 1 Watt of tube power is going to drive your speaker to the same volume as 1 Watt of SS power - you cannot alter the laws of physics.

For 89 dB speakers,

1 Watt 89 dB
2 Watts 92 dB
4 Watts 95 dB
8 Watts 98 dB
16 Watts 101 dB
etc...

Damping factor is also another thing to consider.

Cheers,

Chris

I think you also need to consider your preferred listening levels. In my large living room, I listen to nominally 73- maybe as high as 80dB. Plenty loud for normal listening, and with even 89dB speakers, much less than 1 watt. All you need is enough headroom for good transients. so for me, not being a headbanger, a couple of watts would do. I suspect you won't have an issue with an 8 watt amp unless you crank it to painful levels, have a room fully padded with acoustic foam, or play outside. 90+ dB is getting painfully loud for me.

[Sunsun22]

Since most speakers are somewhere between 85dB to 101dB, then what we need is just a few watts, right? Why there are amps of 1000W? I have tried to drive my N802 with a Class-A 20W+20W SS power amp but it sucks while the same amp can give good music on a horn speaker.

I heard 211 before; love it but I'm afraid that it cannot drive N802. Can anyone give me their experience between 211 and 845?

[kevinkr]

Originally Posted by udailey

Also, what I have heard is that distortion increases with wattage on SS while decreasing with more watts on tubes. So maybe drive your tube amp with SS which seems the reverse of what most folks do who combine the two. Somebody kick me if I'm wrong, its just a 'fact' thats in the back of my head.

Not the case in any measurements I have done on competently designed solid state and tube amps. Both exhibit rising distortion with power level assuming that cross-over distortion has been properly dealt with. It is often the nature of the distortion that differs. Tube amps generally also produce orders of magnitude greater distortion but usually with a simpler, lower order and more benign spectral distribution.

I strongly prefer the dynamics and tonal signature of tube amplifiers to SS, but this may largely be a matter of preference on my part. Solid state amps almost always measure better on the bench, but tube based amps sound better to me driving (most) actual speaker loads.