Why do 100 watt amps sound different to 50 watters??

riffpowers

ive done quite a bit of research on this , and compared many 50 watt amps with their 100 watt version in the practive rooms . Now I own a Mesa which has a 50/100 switch , essentially the same circuit but different power.

ive come to the conclusion that there isn't much of a volume difference , but they do sound very different . The 50 watters sound warmer and sweeter , the 100's have more bite and are more aggressive . I much prefer the 100 watters .

ive always wondered why they sound different ??!! Is there a technical reason for the way they sound like they do ??!!

Sassafras

Because after running your 100 watt amps at full volume, you're too deaf to hear the 50 watters.

usedtobe

Eh?

Cirrus

100 watts is only going to be a 3dB difference compared to 50 watts. Which isn't nothing, but you're talking about LOUD AND LOUD(er) so either way it's loud.

OTOH, 3dB in the context of a mix can be significant, so once you've got the rest of the band playing, you might find one or the other more preferable - either get the amount of power section saturation you want with 3dB less volume, or have 3dB more clean headroom to play with.

4 power valves also sound different to two in a push/ pull config, because they're not all exactly the same and because of complicated impedance/ back EMF reasons I frankly don't entirely understand.

If you're using the same set of speakers with the 50 and 100 watt amps, they'll respond to different amounts of power by sounding different.

Winny_Pooh

The larger output transformers on the 100 watters makes the biggest difference imo.

guitarfishbay

More power and headroom equals more balls, or that's what I've always thought. I also prefer 100 watts.

ecc83

Probably the lower output impedance of 4 valves rather than two has better 'grip' on the speakers?

Dave.

Drew_TNBD

I think it's to do with internal headroom sag characteristics of the poweramp. Even though a 50watt is only 3dB quieter, I would imagine that internally there is less headroom is key areas which means it's quicker to saturate. Perhaps. I don't really know. lol.

ThePrettyDamned

Drew_TNBD said:

I think it's to do with internal headroom sag characteristics of the poweramp. Even though a 50watt is only 3dB quieter, I would imagine that internally there is less headroom is key areas which means it's quicker to saturate. Perhaps. I don't really know. lol.

There is something. I don't play heavy rock anymore, but when I did I preferred 50 watts because it was "easier" to get along with. 100 watts was more "pushy". It's hard to put into words. 

I was a fairly tight player, but that was kicked into check when I saw trivium live and realised was proper tight playing is. If I had that kind of tightness to my technique I'd probably prefer 100 watts. 

Obviously, this is all gig volume stuff. Bedroom, I doubt there is anything much in it. 

ICBM

ecc83 said:

Probably the lower output impedance of 4 valves rather than two has better 'grip' on the speakers?

It's probably this, because otherwise there is no difference if you're comparing the same amp with 100W and 50W settings - the power supply, transformer size etc all stay the same, it's just that two valves are turned off.

But's also worth mentioning that most amps which do this *don't* correctly reset the impedance for the two-valve mode, so the amp is then running at half its matching impedance, which will make it sound softer and more compressed. If you want, compare 100W with the amp set to the same impedance as the cab, vs 50W with the amp set to half the impedance of the cab - that will eliminate that as a factor.

With actual 50W and 100W amps of the same circuit design otherwise, the size of the transformers will come into it as well.

57Deluxe

cos you wanna convince yourself the extra dosh you paid for the 100w was worth it...