Summarize:

There are notable differences between the two styles of amplification. Tube amps use vacuum tubes in both the pre-amplification and power amplification stages, whereas solid-state amps use transistors for all stages. This can, and usually does result in markedly different tones. Solid-state amps are known for delivering bright, clean, accurate sounds. They respond quickly to your playing, and are far more rugged than tube amps: think of the difference between a light bulb (tube) and an LED (solid state). Throw both of them on the floor, and you'll be scooping up one of them with a dustpan! Also, with advances in technology, many solid-state amps are loaded with a wide array of modeled amp sounds, giving you a lot of versatility. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/6\/6d\/3343-5b1.jpg\/v4-460px-3343-5b1.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/6\/6d\/3343-5b1.jpg\/aid3343-v4-728px-3343-5b1.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":"728","bigHeight":"546","licensing":"<div class="mw-parser-output"><p>License: <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/3.0\/">Creative Commons<\/a><br>
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<\/p><\/div>"} Solid-state amps from a given manufacturer tend to sound the same, which can be a benefit when you need a reliable, repeatable tone. They are also notably lighterboth in weight, and on the pocketbookthan their tube brethren. This versatility and ruggedness comes at the expense of warmth of tone. While this is an entirely subjective evaluation, there are some differences that account for this: when pushed into distortion, a solid-state amp's waveform shows a hard-clipped edge and harmonics that stay strong through the range of hearing. By comparison, a tube amp pushed to distortion has a soft clipping edge, and harmonics that fall off well within the limits of hearing, giving tube amps their famed warmth. Tube (valve) amps have a certain unmeasurable "something" to them that makes them the most popular type of amp. The sound of a tube amp has been described as "thick," "creamy," "fat," and "rich"adjectives that would pack on the pounds if amps were food! {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/1\/1b\/3343-5b4.jpg\/v4-460px-3343-5b4.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/1\/1b\/3343-5b4.jpg\/aid3343-v4-728px-3343-5b4.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":"728","bigHeight":"546","licensing":"<div class="mw-parser-output"><p>License: <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/3.0\/">Creative Commons<\/a><br>
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<\/p><\/div>"} Tube amps can vary slightly in tone from amp to amp, and certainly do from player to player. For some players, their amp is the one that, in conjunction with their guitar, defines their sound. Tube distortion is softer, and to most, more pleasing to the ear, and when pushed hard, adds some compression to the dynamics that adds to sonic richness that only tubes can deliver. Tube amps can be much more powerful than solid state amps. A 20-watt tube amp can easily sound as loud or louder than a 100-watt solid state amp. A tube ampespecially a large onecan be very heavy: a big negative if you regularly haul your gear up 3 flights of stairs! Tube amps are also more expensive, both initially, and when it comes to maintenance. A solid state amp simply "is." Unless you have a massive power surge, your solid state amp will sound the same, year after year. However, vacuum tubeslike light bulbswear out over time and will need to be replaced. Tubes are not terribly expensive, but it will be an annual expense (depending on how much you use it). Tube amps rarely have emulation-type effects. You'll need stomp boxes for those sorts of things. However, tremolo and spring reverb are often incorporated into amp designs. While it's good to know the pros and cons of both types of amps, it's not always the case that "tube good, solid state bad." Studies have shown that when played without distortion, tube amps and solid state amps are virtually indistinguishable.
Compare tube versus solid state. The drawbacks of tube amps are generally more practical than sonic. Beware of type-casting.