It depends on the situation. 100W generally means headroom, which means that if I need to play clean I can still be loud and clear above the mix without breaking up. If I'm in a situation where I will never need to do that, then 50W is plenty - plus I can get breakup sooner without destroying everyone's hearing.
100w all the way. Every amp I ever played in both 50w & 100w the 100w always sounded better. You also get more head room with bigger amps. However, if you need to crank the amp in order to get a good sound out of it you should be looking at even less power than 50w. 20w - 35w is about as high as you can really go, 50w is not that much quitter than a 100w amp.
I have both a 50 watt and a 100 watt JCM 800 and I like having that extra headroom as well. Its noticeable to me.
Since I am just playing at home, 50W is my preference given those two choices. I have a 50W Mesa and a 20W Marshall and there is no way I can get away with cranking either one in my basement, but luckily they both also have an excellent 5W mode which is great for at home. Now if I lived on a farm or my house was surrounded by forest with no close neighbors, then during the warmer weather on the deck out back it would be 100 W all the way.
One of each! 50 is awesome for easy sweet, saturation but the 100s feel girthy in the headroom from the start. Good enough excuse to have both!
I have never owned a 100 watt tube amp. But the 50’s now and 40’s seem to do a great job, and a bit cheaper to retube when your big bottles start going south, don’t get me wrong I have played through some 100 watters, I have just never owned one, because my lead 100 mosfets are tubeless. Cheers Mitch
100w. You can make a 50 out of 100, but not the reverse! Headroom and bass response doesn’t hurt either.
My 18 watt budda twinmaster is Laf. Same with my vox ac30. i prefer a 100 in jcm800 but my 1987x is plenty if power
I've always loved 100 watt heads and half stacks or stacks. Find their sweet spot and let it rip. All my comments below reflect studio usage. I use lots of different powered rigs from 15 watts on up. It all depends on what I'm working on, of course. Everything has it's forte'. When the situation calls for a big, tight and aggressive sound (as is the case in most forms of heavy rock and metal) there is no substitute for a 100 watt head and a half stack or stack. They sound bigger, wider and deeper - more "Stately" than their 50 watt counterparts. They also feel somewhat tighter, firmer. I also prefer solid state rectifiers for that sort of thing.
I love lower wattage amps, 20 - 30w. I’ve never really run out of power even with them. I just find the same amp in 100w sounds better than a 50w one. (To me anyway) Even a 20w amp can be very loud.
Both are fantastic. The 100's are nice and fat but the 50's get that nice power tube saturation easier. Something about a cranked 50 watt Marshall just gets me fired up.
