the triple has one more rectifier?

Why three rectifiers? Is the first recitifier faulty? And if so, shouldn't the second one be able to pick up the slack?

And what in the hell are they "rectifying" anyway?

The real deal...stolen from some other place.
Tube amps use two kinds of rectifiers. Tube or diode. The rectifier is what converts the AC from the wall to DC, which the amp needs to run. The basic difference between them is speed.
Each time you hit a note, the amp draws power.
Diode rectifiers respond almost instantly, replacing that power. The amp always has a constant power supply.
Tube rectifiers react a bit slower. So as you hit a note, the amp loses a bit of power, then gets it back as the tube catches up. This is where much of the natural compression of a tube amp comes from. The initial sound is reduced in volume, and the amp gets louder as the note decays, increasing sustain. This is called "sag". The power supply sags a bit when you hit it. It gets "spongy".
This can make extremely fast runs bleed together, and can make power chords sound mushy. You gotta be playing at a pretty loud volume for that, though. At most volumes it is a definite plus, IMO. It makes for a nice creamy sound.
Some metal players prefer solid-state rectifiers and/or solid state amps for this reason. The amp sounds "tighter", with better articulation at high speeds. The sound is a bit colder, though.
Dual and triple tube rectifiers are put in amps to preserve some of that natural compression and warmer sound while not letting the amp sag so much at high volumes. The sound is still a tube rectifier, but tighter than a single tube rectifier amp.

A 150 watt triple rectifier is one loud MF. I would not go anywhere near it unless you need to fill a large stage. The 100w dual is still very loud and is certainly sufficient for small to medium clubs. It all depends on what you want to do. But you want to be able to crank the amp and enjoy it. IMO they both very loud amps.

tedcrop wrote: A 150 watt triple rectifier is one loud MF.

Agreed! I have a Mesa 20/20 power amp.. I've played hundreds of gigs through it, ranging from small pubs with only a vocal PA (where my rig has to fill the room un-aided) to large festival stages.. I have never needed more power.. in fact I don't think I've ever run the masters above half-way.

My old Marhall 50w per channel amp usually needed cranking all the way up, and on outdoor stages I often felt I needed more grunt.

1 Mesa Boogie watt is worth 5 Marshall watts IMO!

i think we should start a protest against guitar amp vomume knobs
we all know the amp doesn't get any "louder" from 3-10
it's usually just the tone that will change

i'm off to start a new topic