Which Is Better?????

[ziq223]

Hey Soft-ies!

I Was Researching About Amps On The Internet As I Only Have About 10%-15% Of Knowledge About Amps.

I Knw That The Higher Wattage The Amp Has, The Better It Is. (Thats What I Think)

But Till I Came Across Stack/Cabinet Amps.

Lets Take The Marshall MG15MSZW (Zakk Wylde) Amp For An Example.

Its 15Watts.

I Have A Roland Cube 30X.

Its 30Watts.

2 Times More Than The Marshall.

Which Is Better?

The Roland, Because It Has 2 Times More Watts,

OR

The Marshall, As It Has Bigger Speakers.

Which Is Better?

 

[EMG]

Great Topic

Woohoo,

Great topic to discuss. I have little knowledge on amps too. Let's check out what Softies have to say abt this....

 

[jlowsh]

Higher wattage simply means more power, it doesn't equate to better tone...

But if power and headroom's what you're looking for, then a 30W Roland would be more appropriate than a 15W Marshall.

There really isn't one amp that's "better" than another, IMO.

 

[jskadiang]

I'm going to say the Roland is the better amp, but for the sole reason of it sounding way better than the Marshall. (IMO of course)

 

[Ratboy]

if you are talking about watts
then you must also discuss how the "watts" are calculated
cause some will state the peak wattage, some will state the RMS ( Root Mean Sq, kind of an average calculation ) etc
so you must make sure comparing the same

but like the above posters, higher wattage does not equal to better tone
and tone is super subjective

 

[subversion]

good grief... then my Killer Ant amp which is a mere 1W must be the lousiest piece of equipment on planet earth, right? shucks...

 

[theunknown]

i want an vox ac4tv cause it can run on 1/4 watts. i must be foolish then.

 

[1tczx]

haha watts=power=loudness
simple as that. (as in combo amps)

 

[bf0502tr]

be warned too that wattage to loudness ratio also depends on whether it is tube or solid state amp. plus it depends on whether, like subversion, u put ur amps through a big ass speaker cabinet =/

 

[edgie]

Wattage doesn't mean loudness totally but the level of decibel in which the tubes will start to break up. For example, 100 watts is not really 2 times louder than a 50-watt amp( assuming both amps are running on the same number of speakers like 2 x 12).

But a 100 watts amp has a stiffer feel and cleaner response on, let's say, 90 decibels, than a 50 watt amp. When cranked, 100 watts may be a louder than the 50 watts but not so much.

Ever wonder why Tom Morello or Yngwie love their 50-watt marshalls over 100 watts? It's because they want the tubes to distort easily without too much volume.

 

[theunknown]

however it is also noted amps with the same wattage (diff brands n models) can break up at different volumes stages. but generally low watt => lower vol. say a marshall amp 100w n 50w breaks up at volume 5/10. 50 watt => lower vol.

if big speakers = better, why not have a 999999999999999" speaker?
likewise for wattage.