50w vs. 100w: Thump, Lower Volume, etc...

[jyd]

I've got a 100watt B+ and I always have the loop engaged for the stages I play and my apartment--it's even too loud for my apartment.  

I'm thinking to downsize, and wondering if 50watts makes a difference, even in pentode/triode, BUT the 50w can still thump and have girth CLOSE to the 100watt.  

Cheers!

[briman]

Use your loop volume to reduce the volume. I have mine on full power not half and I can easily play in an apartment. It won't sound as thumpy or saturated as when you have it at normal volume but it is decent enough.

When your neighbors are not home ....turn the loop volume down a bit or the volume up. If I lived in an apartment, I would personally go talk to my neighbors and ask them if they can hear your amp and and adjust the volume to the highest you can that they can't hear. Good luck@

[splawndude]

Hey jvd....

When you say 'downsize' do you mean get a 50w amp or run at half power?

I ask because the volume difference won't be that great between a 50w amp and a 100w amp - especially a Splawn

I run at half power but not because I think it is quieter or easier to manage. I do it to save on tubes and have slightly less overhead.

I'd just stick with the 100w amp and maybe mess with the half power option and what Brian is saying.

[jyd]

Thanks, man. Yeah, I use the loop volume ALWAYS... That's my thing: am I compromising tone, by always having the loop volume on??  I definitely would prefer not to have to use the loop volume on stage... I have 1watt amps I use at home, so I'm not worried about it so much at home.  

So I was debating selling my 100w and getting the 50watt with New/Old and Mid Cut, since the 50's are already B+.

Cheers, brother!

[gtrjunior]

I too always use my loop volume and I can honestly say that I feel that I’m not at all compromising tone. These amp jus KILL.
Every time somebody hears my amp I get the same response....
“DUDE....WTF!!!!”

[briman]

As Splawndude and gtrjunior say, there will be barely any difference in volume between 50 watt Splawn and 100. I have owned a 50 watt Competition for 5 years and know this first hand.

Using the loop volume will not reduce the splawn tone....it will make it even better as it allows your tubes to start cookin and give you the cranked amp feel and tone at lower volumes. You have to play with the loop volume and find your sweet spot depend on where you are using the amp. At a show, you obviousy open her up a bit more but in bedroom you need to use more of the loop volume. I set mine at 2 o'clock and volume at about 8 or 9.

[jyd]

Great info. At my apartment, I have to have the loop volume at 9:00!!

So your Competition: do you like it more than the QR? And do you have the mid cut and old/new?

[briman]

I didn't word that very well lol. I owned a Competion for 5 years but sold it in 2013 i think. It was a 2005 model with no loop volume. I like my QR's more because they have the loop volume and clean channel.

The tone was pretty much the same as the "old" option on the new QR's. Very stiff and middy. In my opinion there is no difference between an old Competion and a old Quick Rod tone wise. Only... there is a clean channel on the QR's.

[cvogue]

I have a Street Rod, it's 40 watts and the half power switch is a pentode/triode thing. Be aware that when you go to half power on an amp (Quickrod) that doesn't use the pentode/triode mechanism you need to adjust your impedence setting since it takes two power tubes out of the loop.

But I digress!!

I never use the half power switch, you get a bit of decrease in volume but you lose a lot of "oomph". As gtrjunior and others have said, just use the loop volume. You'll still lose a bit of tone going really quiet but it sounds better (to my ears) than using the half power switch.

[gtrjunior]

I set mine a little different. I get the front panel volume up to about 10-11:00 and use the loop to bring it down.
However, I’m in a house and my basement is completely my music space. So volume is not really an issue....and my wife puts up with all my sh*t!!

[jyd]

Yup, that setting would be way too loud in my 800sf apartment!  i've had the cops called 3 times: no foolin.  They didn't think it was funny the third and final time.  Ha!

[briman]

You should talk to neighbors that are close and see if there is a time you could turn it up a bit like when they are at work etc. Also work with them to find where the peak is that they start to hear you.

Good luck. Some cops are great but some are pricks.

[PDC]

I have a fully loaded 50 watt QR and it has every bit a much 'thump' as the 100 watter I sold to buy it. Plenty of power and headroom to handle stage volume but much more 'tameable' for bedroom playing. Keep in mind that a 100 watt amp has a dedicated 100 watt power transformer, so if you disengage pair of power tubes, you are basically running a 50 watt amp through a 100 watt transformer which can stiffen it up a bit. Running a 50 watt tube power section through a 50 watt power transformer is a better 'match' making dedicated 50 watt amps sound better (at least to my ears) than 100 watt amps running in half power mode.

[splawndude]

PDC-


Great contributions today with your thoughts.

Thanks for the contributions.

:cheers: