Differences between 100 & 50 watts

[Tone Slinger]

In a gigging situation, what would be the main difference between the 100 and the 50 ? I have mainly used 50 watters over the yrs, but have used 100 watters as well. Is the overall 'size' of the sound (headroom) or what ?

[Roe]

different tone and response + a 4db difference

[flemingmras]

3dB of volume difference...hardly discernable in a gig situation. 100 watts sound "bigger" and stay tighter at a higher volume setting than 50 watters do. More of a tone and feel thing than a perceivable volume thing. Too many other variables to mention that affect perceivable volume for there to be a power = volume debate.

[Roe]

+3 will hold if the "100w" has exactly double the power of a "50w", something which is not the case with marshalls. its more like a 40w amp vs a 110w amp

[flemingmras]

+3 will hold if the "100w" has exactly double the power of a "50w", something which is not the case with marshalls. its more like a 40w amp vs a 110w amp

You can't even nail that down to a constant. As inconsistent as they were with B+ voltages it's damn near impossible to nail it down to that absolute.

On top of that, given the same set of speakers, a 50 watt amp could sound way louder than a 100 watt amp depending on what frequencies they favored when they voiced the circuit vs the response of your hearing. Change speakers to speakers with different voicing and sensitivity ratings and that changes everything altogether.

Wattage anymore with guitar amps mainly comes down to tonal differences between the two. If you had a 50 watt head and a 100 watt head, both of them dimed, all else being equal, the 50 watt will be more overdriven and have a slightly looser feel to it than the 100 watt head. It's not even a volume issue until you start getting down to the 5-10 watt range.

[Roe]

I agree but the so-called 50 watters hardly ever put out 50% of the power of the so-called 100 watters

[Tone Slinger]

Thanks for the info guy's. Out of the 8 Marshall amps I've had (mainly 800 series), I liked the 100 watt '73 Super Lead, and the 100 watt black and gold version of the Jubilee (forgot the name). I will probably be getting a new 100 watt Metro kit soon.