why are amplifiers so much louder than stereos?

[imported_Rampage]

i mean, like a little guitar amp will blow away a much bigger stereo on volume.. and a big amp will blow away a even bigger stereo..

whats the difference?

i have a 1970 fender amp with like a 2 foot wide speaker and its just fvckin loud. as far as sheer volume its tough for me to beat it with anything else when i jam out.

 

[Brutuskend]

edit n/m

 

[mzkhadir]

I think this is what you are looking for :

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/amplifier2.htm

 

[Looney]

Costs. Because in a stereo, they need to include things like radio, CD player, ac/dc powersupply, AND speakers.

 

[davestar]

Originally posted by: southpawuni
i mean, like a little guitar amp will blow away a much bigger stereo on volume.. and a big amp will blow away a even bigger stereo..

whats the difference?

i have a 1970 fender amp with like a 2 foot wide speaker and its just fvckin loud. as far as sheer volume its tough for me to beat it with anything else when i jam out.

betting you've got a 12" speaker. anyway, the answer has to do with speaker sensitivity (guitar speakers are rated quite a bit higher than hi-fi speakers) and the power of the amp. "big" and "bigger" are meaningless terms here...

 

[Platypus]

What kind of Fender amp is it?

Model, etc. Is it vacuum tube? Class A?

 

[imported_Rampage]

its vacuum tube, i dont know a whole lot about it, it was my dads. i can take a pic sometime. its bigger than 12". i'd guess 2 foot.

im not next to it right now, but Fender 70?? i think thats what it says im not exactly sure

 

[charlieg6]

Originally posted by: davestar

Originally posted by: southpawuni
i mean, like a little guitar amp will blow away a much bigger stereo on volume.. and a big amp will blow away a even bigger stereo..

whats the difference?

i have a 1970 fender amp with like a 2 foot wide speaker and its just fvckin loud. as far as sheer volume its tough for me to beat it with anything else when i jam out.

betting you've got a 12" speaker. anyway, the answer has to do with speaker sensitivity (guitar speakers are rated quite a bit higher than hi-fi speakers) and the power of the amp. "big" and "bigger" are meaningless terms here...

Yep, speaker sensitivity causes the big volume difference. A lot of popular guitar speakers (V30 G12H-30, etc) have sensitivities around 97-100dB, whereas typical home stereo speakers are around 85-90dB.

Also, many tube guitar amplifiers are rated for clean power (ie, 15W before adding some amount of distortion). But, since the distortion produced when cranking beyond the clean point is very musical, many guitar amps are made to operate in this "distorted" range.


PS The Fender 70 sounds like a bassman... prob a 15" speaker.

(Excuse the noob linkage
http://www.secretvietnamwar.com/fender/amp/front1.jpg

 

[Platypus]

Originally posted by: southpawuni
its vacuum tube, i dont know a whole lot about it, it was my dads. i can take a pic sometime. its bigger than 12". i'd guess 2 foot.

im not next to it right now, but Fender 70?? i think thats what it says im not exactly sure

You sure there aren't two speakers in it..?

What color is it? What color grille cloth?

 

[imported_Rampage]

wait i do have a pic, let me upload this guy.. u can prob tell me more about than i know..

 

[Platypus]

Originally posted by: southpawuni
wait i do have a pic, let me upload this guy.. u can prob tell me more about than i know..

I like old Fender amps

Sound good for the most part, depending on the model.

 

[imported_Rampage]

picture

see i def think thats bigger than 12"...

i have a little crate amp that i bang around on most of the time, and its got dual speakers but it really sucks in comparison to the fender for sound quality

 

[charlieg6]

Originally posted by: southpawuni
picture

see i def think thats bigger than 12"...

i have a little crate amp that i bang around on most of the time, and its got dual speakers but it really sucks in comparison to the fender for sound quality

Yeah, that's a 15".
The Fender 75 started production in 1980, not really one of their more beloved amps, but a solid workhorse.

http://www.fender-amp.com/timeline.asp

 

[HonkeyDonk]

Originally posted by: southpawuni
picture

see i def think thats bigger than 12"...

i have a little crate amp that i bang around on most of the time, and its got dual speakers but it really sucks in comparison to the fender for sound quality

when people say 12", they are referring to the speaker diameter, not the complete amp/combo box.

That looks like a 12" speaker to me. But sure, the casing could be 1.5-2.0 ft wide.

 

[charlieg6]

Originally posted by: HonkeyDonk

Originally posted by: southpawuni
picture

see i def think thats bigger than 12"...

i have a little crate amp that i bang around on most of the time, and its got dual speakers but it really sucks in comparison to the fender for sound quality

when people say 12", they are referring to the speaker diameter, not the complete amp/combo box.

That looks like a 12" speaker to me. But sure, the casing could be 1.5-2.0 ft wide.

Whoops, you're right, that is a 12".

 

[imported_Rampage]

Originally posted by: charlieg6

Originally posted by: southpawuni
picture

see i def think thats bigger than 12"...

i have a little crate amp that i bang around on most of the time, and its got dual speakers but it really sucks in comparison to the fender for sound quality

Yeah, that's a 15".
The Fender 75 started production in 1980, not really one of their more beloved amps, but a solid workhorse.

http://www.fender-amp.com/timeline.asp

cool, well it beats the crate!

i like it alot, but im no expert.
well gotta go to work damnit!

 

[merlocka]

The two things (guitar amplifier & stereo loudspeaker) are doing 2 different things, and neither are good at doing the other.

The highest fundamental note on a 24 fret guitar is 1175Hz, lowest is 83hz. Yes, there will be harmonics that need to get through and all that... bear with me.

The key point is that the guitar pre-amp, power amp, and loudspeaker are optimized for high power and efficiency in this range.

Also, in a guitar amp, a bit of distortion is easier to get away with. It's not quite as simple as that, but all of the signal impurities add up to give a amp it's "tone" or "color".

That's a much different design goal than neutral & flat reproduction (frequency and power) of a reference waveform, which is what your home stereo system is supposed to do.

For equal $$$, you'll naturally get more dB from a guitar amp. If you want to have fun, pipe your CD player into your guitar amp and see how good it sounds

 

[charlieg6]

Originally posted by: merlocka
The two things (guitar amplifier & stereo loudspeaker) are doing 2 different things, and neither are good at doing the other.

The highest fundamental note on a 24 fret guitar is 1175Hz, lowest is 83hz. Yes, there will be harmonics that need to get through and all that... bear with me.

The key point is that the guitar pre-amp, power amp, and loudspeaker are optimized for high power and efficiency in this range.

Also, in a guitar amp, a bit of distortion is easier to get away with. It's not quite as simple as that, but all of the signal impurities add up to give a amp it's "tone" or "color".

That's a much different design goal than neutral & flat reproduction (frequency and power) of a reference waveform, which is what your home stereo system is supposed to do.

For equal $$$, you'll naturally get more dB from a guitar amp. If you want to have fun, pipe your CD player into your guitar amp and see how good it sounds

True, a home stereo will have more of a flat response than a guitar amp, but not too much... most of the shaping of a guitar's tone comes from the speaker (HF and LF rolloff). If you plug your guitar amp into a home speaker (which isn't a great idea, but if you did), you would get pretty decent sound reproduction. Note the massive rolloff below 100Hz above 3kHz for this guit speaker:
http://professional.celestion.com/guitar/products/classic/detail.asp?ID=4

 

[sharkeeper]

The two things (guitar amplifier & stereo loudspeaker) are doing 2 different things, and neither are good at doing the other.

The highest fundamental note on a 24 fret guitar is 1175Hz, lowest is 83hz. Yes, there will be harmonics that need to get through and all that... bear with me.

The key point is that the guitar pre-amp, power amp, and loudspeaker are optimized for high power and efficiency in this range.

Also, in a guitar amp, a bit of distortion is easier to get away with. It's not quite as simple as that, but all of the signal impurities add up to give a amp it's "tone" or "color".

That's a much different design goal than neutral & flat reproduction (frequency and power) of a reference waveform, which is what your home stereo system is supposed to do.

For equal $$$, you'll naturally get more dB from a guitar amp. If you want to have fun, pipe your CD player into your guitar amp and see how good it sounds

Ding! Ding! Ding! Winner!

Ever hear music played through a bullhorn? Those things are crazy efficient - some over 116 dB (1W/1M). Years ago I had some Altec Lansing "University Sound" speakers that were removed from a ballfield that fit this category. We connected them to a 4WPC Delco AM radio and the speakers played insanely loud. We were in a 22,000 sq foot warehouse and it was unbearable. Rush Limbaugh at 127 dB is quite the torture you know!

Next we connected up one of those keychain toys that has a clown on it and when you push the nose it laughs. Well that sounded wicked like we were at a carnival funhouse.

Efficiency is nice if you don't mind giving up quality. For getting attention such as making public announcements outside, these fit the bill perfectly.

 

[Platypus]

Yep, that's a 12" speaker.

That's a pretty decent amp, I bet if you retubed it, it would sound pretty amazing.

How well does it break up?

 

[Platypus]

Go get yourself some JJ 6L6's for the power tube section and 12AX7's for the pre-amp and crank the sh!t out of it. I bet that baby has some soul to it you don't find in most fender amps today.

 

[sharkeeper]

distortion! haha

 

[mobobuff]

Originally posted by: sharkeeper
distortion! haha

What was that played over?