50w vs 100w

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thegame said:
I've always felt 100w has better (and more) lows and highs while 50w has better mids (bark more and sit at a different frequency).
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BlueParfait said:
Yeah there's that liveliness and responsiveness in the mids and upper mids, right?

I love that shit a lot
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YES! Agreed 110%. It really isn't about how loud it the amp is more how it feels and the tone between the different power sections.
 
I played my 2203 and 2204 last night, they both kick every ass that comes near them, but.............if I had to only have one.....2204 is the one I will keep.
 
2 to 3 decibels is the difference between 50 & 100 watt amps.
Also the 60's & 70's JMP's are way louder than the reissues.
 
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There are a couple amps I’ve had both 50 and 100w versions. What everyone has said here. The 100w usually has a bit wider , bigger sound spectrum. More lowend , punch and clarity in some cases.

50w can sound sweeter, have more squish in the attack, more forward mids and less headroom obviously.
 
glpg80 said:
50W lets you get that squish in your tone earlier on the master volume than 100W. Huge part of blues playing and early 70’s rock. Both still loud as fuck but if you need a bit of that power side compression 50W is the only way to go as the goods are just easier to get.

Personally I prefer 100W+ headroom. Metal and squish do not mix.
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I hate squish
 
shar-vell Dan said:
A 100 watt JMP can have a peak watts output of up to 175 watts.
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And that number, is straight in to the amp. Boosted? Even higher. Which is why some think the double boosted Superlead can push 300w at max distortion.
Which explains why my 72 100 buried my C+ Coli when I ran both at the same time. All I could hear of the Coli, was the low end thump it has.
 
100 all the way but then again. At high volume which is tighter? A high gainer usually keeps things together. Old Marshalls are a moist shart on the low end usually
 
Racerxrated said:
And that number, is straight in to the amp. Boosted? Even higher. Which is why some think the double boosted Superlead can push 300w at max distortion.
Which explains why my 72 100 buried my C+ Coli when I ran both at the same time. All I could hear of the Coli, was the low end thump it has.
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Well boost or not older 20 & 25 watt Pre Rola & Rola celestions even newer speakers can blow easily with the Master past 6.
I keep mine between 4 & 5.
You should never have to dime a guitar amp.
 
389-1967-Marshall-Super-Bass-2-22-HERO@2560x1707.jpg


Loudest NMV amp ive played was a 67' Super Bass. It could kill mammals at 50 paces.
Scary LOUD.
 
Techdeth said:
I hate squish
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It’s addictive. Throw some 13’s on a strat and play some 4 bar blues with a bit of reverb. I don’t hate it but I don’t crave it. I do respect players that want it though - it’s a thing the lunchbox amps have been taking advantage of for years. The problem is that anything less than 50W tend to also lose the bigness of a 100W a bit too much so IMO it kinda limits me to only 100W and pulling tubes/halving impedance if I want 50W squish.
 
Racerxrated said:
And that number, is straight in to the amp. Boosted? Even higher. Which is why some think the double boosted Superlead can push 300w at max distortion.
Which explains why my 72 100 buried my C+ Coli when I ran both at the same time. All I could hear of the Coli, was the low end thump it has.
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Oh shit, it is louder than Coli? 😯
 
glpg80 said:
The problem is that anything less than 50W tend to also lose the bigness of a 100W a bit too much
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And this is why 45-60w is the sweet spot for me.

It's tamer and has a nice squish while still sounding "big enough". It's not the best of both worlds, but it's a great enough compromise that I love.
 
I think it depends on what you are going for. I have an 18watt plexi (not to be confused with the 18watt Marshall circuit) and that amp sings, still plenty loud for me and enough thump. For amps with more gain like the silver jubilee, I have preferred the 100w to my 50watt version.
 
Racerxrated said:
And that number, is straight in to the amp. Boosted? Even higher. Which is why some think the double boosted Superlead can push 300w at max distortion.
Which explains why my 72 100 buried my C+ Coli when I ran both at the same time. All I could hear of the Coli, was the low end thump it has.
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Boosted doesn't increase power at the output. That depends strictly on the power supply of the amp. Boosting increases the distortion or the amount of frequencies in the sound.

Most likely, the reason you hear the Marshall over the Mesa is that the Marshall has most of it's energy in a tighter frequency band, while the Mesa is smeared across more frequencies. (This is why distorted amps are much harder to cut through the mix than clean amps.) Your ear only picks up the loudest at a given fequency - also why much of the bass and low mids disappear live as they're covered up by the bass and the snare/toms which are louder at those frequencies.

As noted, those old Marshall were rated at 100W, but that's an average power rating and they also rated those like hi-fi amps, so with low THD compared to where anyone ever plays them for guitar.

In the 50W vs. 100W Marshall, I definitely always preferred the 100W versions due to the tighter low end and bigger bass, but the difference is fairly slim and I could happily play the classic Marshall 50W too.
 
My favorite high gain amps seem to all use 4 power tubes (100-180 watts) besides just my Hermansson Triple Recto

Most of my favorite non-high gain amps seem to be between 30-50 watts

I think 100 watts seems to be a good balance of power/punch and enough tone maintained for metal or more aggressive rock styles, while other styles can benefit more from the greater complexity/nuances in tone that some of my favorite lower wattage amps can offer and most styles outside metal or hard rock don't demand for as much punch or oomph in the sound
 
thegame said:
I've always felt 100w has better (and more) lows and highs while 50w has better mids (bark more and sit at a different frequency).
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Agreed. Even more so I find with over 100w amps and same for my amps less than 50w in the other direction of relative pros and cons. Always trade offs it seems. For what I like 100w I find usually is a good balance/sweet spot of pros vs cons
 
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