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Tubes to Watts Ratio

I own a pair of great sounding Quicksilver M60s that produce 60W per side using 4 EL34s per side (PP configuration). These amps also have what appear to be pretty serious power supplies, as both transformers are no joke. I've noticed that most PP amps with this many tubes per channel and this kind of iron produce anywhere from 20-40 more watts. Does anyone know why such a design would not pump out a bit more juice?
bojack
mike_in_md
84 posts
 
Are the tubes running in triode or ultralinear ? That's most likely your answer.Triode is usually less watts.
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
Mike in md is correct, but Mike in ct (that's me) can think of at least 2 other factors. One is how hard the designer "pushes" the tubes in terms of where within their operating envelope are the output tubes running? To get a higher power output, a different designer may operate the tubes in a less linear region and/or with parameters that will shorten the tubes useful life. Second is how conservatively the marketing people rate the product. I'm sure that the technophiles among us can name some others.
bojack OP
630 posts
 
Mike,

Not sure because the manual doesn't specify and I cannot seem to find much info on line. My guess is UL, as these were made circa mid 90s when triode wasn't fashionable. On the other hand, they are very midrangey and sound like what I think a triode amp might sound like.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,577 posts
 
There are a variety of factors that govern the size of transformers. In power transformers, temperature rise can be a big factor- transformers that don't get as hot tend to be larger.

In output transformers, the amount of bandwidth that the transformer has on the low end has an effect on the size, as does the power that the transformer can deliver. If the transformer is set up in a class A amplifier, it might be a bit larger as well.

This is all general...YMMV
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