The main difference between tube amplifiers and solid state amplifiers is that the harmonics, that is, the richness and depth of the sound that they produce vary between each type. While both amplifier types will produce some distortion, the type of distortion produced by each differs. A tube amplifier will generally produce second order distortion which many find to be friendlier to the ear. In contrast, solid state amplifiers create more third order distortion which some listeners find less appealing.
The high cost of many tube amplifiers is a major factor that affects many peoples’ decision regarding which type of amplifier to invest in. It is certainly the case that at the high-end, tube amplifiers, alongside high-end solid state amplifiers, can really break the bank, but nowadays we believe there are a great variety of excellent tube amplifiers on the market that are comparable in price to their solid state counterparts.
At the end of the day, the debate between tube vs solid state amplifiers has been running for a long time and will probably continue running for a long time to come. At the end of the day the best way to decide is to listen to each amplifier and make up your own mind. It is clear which side of the debate we come down on, and we hope that this website can help you decide whether a tube amplifier is right for you.

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