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In my opinion Leo Fender had essentially perfected the guitar amplifier by 1964.

This calculator clearly shows that increasing the sensitivity of your speaker by 3db is the same as doubling the wattage of your amp.

Do you have a ~20watt 6V6 amp and think more power is needed? Don't rush out and spend several hundred bucks on a 6L6 amp. First try a much more economical speaker swap.

Works with solid state amps too.

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In my opinion Leo Fender had essentially perfected the guitar amplifier by 1964.

Looks like you also get major boost in SPL by placing the amp in a corner. I don't believe the calculator is correct in it's placement calculations.

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In my opinion Leo Fender had essentially perfected the guitar amplifier by 1964.

"I don't believe the calculator is correct in it's placement calculations."

It's not entirely correct. It doesn't really account for room gain -- its calculations are based on an "ideal" room that's large and non-reverberant, like an anechoic chamber. Outdoors, or in a very big room, volume behaves much as the calculator describes. The volume drops off significantly/drastically with distance, and a wall or corner behind the speaker makes a huge difference.

But most rooms are smaller and more lively/reverberant and volume doesn't always behave the same way. I've taken my SPL meter to several clubs and done a lot of experimenting at home, and in some rooms the volume barely drops as you move away from the amp. In a 30'x30' room, my Orange Tiny Terror can produce 116dB at 3' just like the calculator says it should, but at 20" it's only down to 114dB -- much higher than the calculator says it should be. I've noticed similar discrepancies in other rooms -- the volume is often much higher at the back of the room than it "should" be.

Room gain is well known, but it's subject to so many variables that it can't be reduced to simple formulas. Room size, room shape, floor/wall/ceiling treatments, furnishing, the number of people in the room, etc.

Excellent post strayedstrat. Thanks for the info.

By playing around with the values I noticed that if I set "Amplifier Power" to 1 watt, "Distance" to 3.29 ft, "No of Speakers" to 1, and "Speaker Placement" to Away from walls then the calculated SPL will match the speaker sensitivity.

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In my opinion Leo Fender had essentially perfected the guitar amplifier by 1964.