Post by luke on Jan 31, 2008 14:38:14 GMT -7
[emaiThose who hope a 5 watt tube amp will enable them to play at 2am in their apartment, the fact is, you will still have to use a power attenuator or speaker isolation cabinet, if you want cranked power tube tone at low room noise levels. Shout really loud -- that's how loud 5 watts is.
For most people, 5 watts is completely unacceptable at home, except perhaps during the middle of the day. The lxh2 ultra-low power tube amp is only about 20 mW. Thus the Champ is 5 / .002 = 2,500 times louder than the desired level, which is headphone level.
Relative to the standard amp power of 50 watts:
50 mW - thousandfold decrease in power (1/8 as loud) 3 orders of magnitude 0.5 W - hundredfold decrease in power (1/4 as loud) 2 orders of magnitude 5 W - tenfold decrease in power (1/2 as loud) 1 order of magnitude 15 W - threefold decrease in power (about 2/3 as loud) 50 W - unity 100 W - twofold increase in power (maybe 25% louder) 500 W - tenfold increase in power (twice as loud)
1/8 the volume of a 50 watt amp sounds like the level I want to hear. Everyone can agree, 1/8 the volume would be nice. But let's look at the amazing decrease of power that will give this result. A 1/8 decrease in volume amounts to 3 orders of magnitude of power, yielding just 50 mW -- a *thousandfold decrease* in power. *Three* orders of magnitude! A 50 watt amp is *a thousand times too powerful*.
X% louder = 2^log10(P2/P1) * 100%
40 watts is 94% as loud as 50 watts.
30 watts is 86% as loud as 50 watts.
25 watts is 81% as loud as 50 watts.
22 watts is 78% as loud as 50 watts.
20 watts is 76% as loud as 50 watts.
18 watts is 74% as loud as 50 watts.
15 watts is 70% as loud as 50 watts.
12 watts is 65% as loud as 50 watts.
10 watts is 62% as loud as 50 watts.
9 watts is 60% as loud as 50 watts.
8 watts is 56% as loud as 50 watts.
7 watts is 55% as loud as 50 watts.
6 watts is 53% as loud as 50 watts.
5 watts is 50% as loud as 50 watts.
4 watts is 47% as loud as 50 watts.
3 watts is 43% as loud as 50 watts.
2 watts is 38% as loud as 50 watts.
1 watt is 31% as loud as 50 watts.
3/4 watt is 28% as loud as 50 watts.
1/2 watt is 25% as loud as 50 watts.
1/4 watt is 20% as loud as 50 watts.
1/10 watt is 15% as loud as 50 watts.
50mW is 13% as loud as 50 watts
20mW is 10% as loud as 50 watts.
10mW is 8% as loud as 50 watts.
5mW is 6% as loud as 50 watts.
1mW is 4% as loud as 50 watts.
0.5mW is 3% as loud as 50 watts.
0.1mW is 2% as loud as 50 watts.
50uW is 1.6% as loud as 50 watts.
10uW is 1% as loud as 50 watts.
The
l] [/email]
For most people, 5 watts is completely unacceptable at home, except perhaps during the middle of the day. The lxh2 ultra-low power tube amp is only about 20 mW. Thus the Champ is 5 / .002 = 2,500 times louder than the desired level, which is headphone level.
Relative to the standard amp power of 50 watts:
50 mW - thousandfold decrease in power (1/8 as loud) 3 orders of magnitude 0.5 W - hundredfold decrease in power (1/4 as loud) 2 orders of magnitude 5 W - tenfold decrease in power (1/2 as loud) 1 order of magnitude 15 W - threefold decrease in power (about 2/3 as loud) 50 W - unity 100 W - twofold increase in power (maybe 25% louder) 500 W - tenfold increase in power (twice as loud)
1/8 the volume of a 50 watt amp sounds like the level I want to hear. Everyone can agree, 1/8 the volume would be nice. But let's look at the amazing decrease of power that will give this result. A 1/8 decrease in volume amounts to 3 orders of magnitude of power, yielding just 50 mW -- a *thousandfold decrease* in power. *Three* orders of magnitude! A 50 watt amp is *a thousand times too powerful*.
X% louder = 2^log10(P2/P1) * 100%
40 watts is 94% as loud as 50 watts.
30 watts is 86% as loud as 50 watts.
25 watts is 81% as loud as 50 watts.
22 watts is 78% as loud as 50 watts.
20 watts is 76% as loud as 50 watts.
18 watts is 74% as loud as 50 watts.
15 watts is 70% as loud as 50 watts.
12 watts is 65% as loud as 50 watts.
10 watts is 62% as loud as 50 watts.
9 watts is 60% as loud as 50 watts.
8 watts is 56% as loud as 50 watts.
7 watts is 55% as loud as 50 watts.
6 watts is 53% as loud as 50 watts.
5 watts is 50% as loud as 50 watts.
4 watts is 47% as loud as 50 watts.
3 watts is 43% as loud as 50 watts.
2 watts is 38% as loud as 50 watts.
1 watt is 31% as loud as 50 watts.
3/4 watt is 28% as loud as 50 watts.
1/2 watt is 25% as loud as 50 watts.
1/4 watt is 20% as loud as 50 watts.
1/10 watt is 15% as loud as 50 watts.
50mW is 13% as loud as 50 watts
20mW is 10% as loud as 50 watts.
10mW is 8% as loud as 50 watts.
5mW is 6% as loud as 50 watts.
1mW is 4% as loud as 50 watts.
0.5mW is 3% as loud as 50 watts.
0.1mW is 2% as loud as 50 watts.
50uW is 1.6% as loud as 50 watts.
10uW is 1% as loud as 50 watts.
The
l] [/email]