How Loud Does My Amp Need to Be?
First, let's define the terms:
Wattage (W):
an indicator of power, means how much power the amplifier has, and is ascertained by multiplying the voltage and the current. All the guitar amplifiers will specify by its particular wattage, and whilst loudness will be presented in decibels (dB).
Decibels (dB):
Decibels are used to measure most of the sounds, and one decibel is equivalent to one tenth of a Bel. For giving it some content, a live rock concert will normally hit around 100-150 dB, and a normal conversation between two people will normally be at around 60 dB.
Now that we've defined our terms, we can now compar power output and decibel levels to calculate: How loud your amp needs to be? what kind of amp do I need?
Essentially, a 15 watt guitar amplifier will give you sound as loud as we need. And it will be very loud. Date back before the invention of complex speaker systems and better amplifiers, many guitar amps had extremely high power outputs, sometimes up to 100 watts. But, this was only to compensate for poor quality speakers, and now the sound man will use the PA system to amplify and edit the sound, not the amplifier. Even the best guitar amplifiers cannot do this. This is why many guitarists now use lower wattage amplifiers, but all manage to generate a louder sound. You also need to consider the differences in decibels between power outputs. Take a 30 watt amplifier for example; it will only generate a sound 3 dB louder than a 15 watt amp, the difference in loudness which is barely audible to the human ear. But, a 15 watt amp will begin to distort at a lower volume, has something else to consider. Loudness is a complicated issue, but after all, a smaller amplifiers should do you just fine.
