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Watts are watts?

So it's been said that tube watts aren't the same as SS watts. This always struck me as nonsense, but I'm open to hearing what others think. In particular, I've been wanting to delve into tubes...whether in the form of a tube preamp or a tube or hybrid integrated. So....I'm sure that 90 watts would easily drive my Goldenear Tritons 1s. But how about if I decided to return to Maggies? I would normally never even consider that little power for Maggies...hence the question. Are tube watts really "stronger" than SS watts?
secretguy
tls49's avatar
tls49
1,351 posts
 
No doubt that the amp/speaker pairing is important for good sound, and it's true that lower sensitivity speakers need more power than higher sensitivity speakers, however that's just part of the pairing issue. Generally, it's best to use higher impedance speakers with tube amps and speakers with benign characteristics of their impedance/phase angle relationship. You may find a combination that works OK for you, but IMHO, I don't consider the speakers mentioned to be very "tube friendly".
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,136 posts
 
The thought is that when driven in distortion, clipping, that tubes will generate more pleasant sounding harmonic components than solid state amp.  More 2nd and 3rd compared to 7th and 11th overtones.  Ideally, you shouldn't be driving any amp into clipping.
jperry
2,430 posts
 
Buy a tube amp. Discussion is nice, but experience is better
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geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Watts are watts except when there is some dynamic headroom built in, let’s say 3dB.
Then watts are not watts.
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