Yes, if a sine signal is used, depending on the volume tone settings then the output can get assymmetrical, so the 1:1 mark space thing of a square wave isn't quite correct. But if we overlook that, the on/off point still applies and the power to the load is probably the same as a proper squarewave.Firestorm wrote:How easy is it to get tubes to pass square waves from overdriven "sines?" Seems they would fight that. A little clipping is one thing, but..
Of course if an already symmetrically clipped input signal is used, eg an MXR type distortion, sig gen, then a fairly accurate square wave could be produced, again, given suitable tone and volume settings.
The only design that seems to 'fight' hard clipping is unbypassed cathode biased power tubes, in which each tube / p-p side, has it's own cathode resistor, thereby eliminated the self cancellation that tends to occurs with p-p shared cathode resistor. But with enough signal swing from the phase splitter, they can eventually be pushed into sharp cornered hard clipping.