Limits on amp power?

[6267]

You can get a probable maximum of around 1875W from a standard 15A wall circuit...ideally...In practice this will be much less since the wiring may be old, the voltage may sag, or the wires might just burn down first.

There's also that transformer up on the pole (or on the ground for the bigger ones) that has a max wattage it can deliver. Assuming (which is a lot!) 50% power to audio efficiency, that means that you might be able to get 975W, at the risk of your venue/house/etc without a dedicated high-current supply. The UL would not approve this, and the power company won't like it! It's very important to have a real good electrician (make sure they know the black wire is hot! You wouldn't believe...) check stuff out if your plugging in more than a KW or so, especially on residential circuits....you may already be sharing with a fridge, microwave, television, etc. Definite fire danger! I have seen the pole transformers shooting huge sparks after/during some concerts that were clearly poorly set up electrically...these are situations best avoided!

RE: the moon....Space, the biggest compactron ever! Honestly, though, there's all kinds signal noise you'd need to shield, ionizing radiation...you'd need a lead shield for your preamp. Probably can ignore plate dissipation in absolute zero, need a big cathode. You could run the "filament" with a solar reflector aimed at the cathode

[PaoloJM]

Kevin O'Connor has built tube amps @ 700 Watts.
Champ Electronics in Nottingham has just finished building a 1kW amp!!
Check it out here The Champ CBA-20807 1000 Watt Amplifier - Part 1

The only practical use I can think for a 1kW amp is to enable "playing for the troops" without having to be in the war zone!!

[Steve Conner]

You can get a probable maximum of around 1875W from a standard 15A wall circuit...ideally...

Remember all of this is country dependent. In Europe the outlets are 10, 13 or 16A depending on the country, but we have 230V so you can draw something like 3kW from an outlet.

Some countries even have 400V three phase service to your home, and you can get a lot out of that.

Anywhere you fire up a 1kW musical instrument amp will probably turn into a war zone before long.

[6267]

Sorry about the Amerocentrism! Yes, Europe can pull more from the socket, if the wires are up to it . Japan probably can pull less with 100v mains. Additionally, US power comes in as two-phase 230v, only to be split in the house. A competent electrician should be able to wire up a 230v socket for you, if you don't already have one (generally in kitchen or laundry room, though...not exactly prime jam space!). Residentially, your neighbors might kill you before the watts do . 100W is plenty loud to get reasonable frequency response right through my 1930's walls here...

"TURN THAT DOWN I CAN'T HEAR THE TV IN MY OWN G**&*(^* LIVING ROOM!" --Actual quote, and remember to use appropriate sound damping when possible...this was across the street