What do you prefer? Tube amps or solid state/transistor amps?

Just wondering…

I like both, but there is a coldness in transistor amps that I really enjoy…

I have a hybrid backstar club 40 mkii and I love the tone I get from it. I do enjoy some of the higher end modelers like the fender GTX series ( not the LT ) if you dial the GTX in the right way it sounds great.

I usually play an old tube amp but there are a few solid state amps I like sometimes. Quilter and Roland/Boss have pulled off some SS amps that sound pretty tubey if you want the best of both worlds.... sort of.

nerd section, read at your own risk

I would say that tubes aren't inherently warmer than solid state. A lot has to do with the circuit. Transistors and IC op amps produce a wider range of high harmonics than tubes when pushed hard which is less ear pleasing, especially all those odd order harmonics. The lower order harmonic distortion us less noticeable to the ear because it is closely correlated to the input signal. In an amplifier, engineers utilize corrective negative feedback to control harmonic distortion and achieve higher levels of clean amplification. Because of the differences in the harmonic content of their distortions, transistors require larger amounts of negative feedback to produce equivalent amounts of apparently clean power to tubes. This feedback can be both global and local to individual transistor stages whereas tube insyrument amps usually employ small amounts of global feedback and vox amps 7se no feedback at all and still manage to produce copious amounts of headroom that sounds clean enough because the harmonic distortion is correlated to the input signal. Watt for watt a tube amp sounds louder, but on a scope the tube amp produces the same amount of clean power, its distortion just sounds clean further up the dial. The transistor has the big advantage if lower voltage and current draw per watt. Tubes waste a lot of power. Even an extremely efficient tube amp running into class B dissipates way more supply voltage as heat when compared to an inefficient class A solid state amp.

The biggest difference is the way a push pull power amp interacts with speaker. Tubes couple differently than transistors whether in a discrete circuit or as ICs because tubes are voltage amplification devices with high output impedance that must drive a low impedance transducer like a speaker via a transformer whereas bipolar transistors are voltage to current amplification with a low output impedance that direct coupled to a low resistance from a speaker... and AB tube amps are way different than class D which is an entirely different method of amplification based on pulse modulation... if you want more science I could go on.

When a baby is sleeping right next to it it might be hard.

But I play a Hod Rod IV 40W at Home at low volume does say Volume close to 2 and it does sound amzing on cleans and an Marshall JCM800 100W at home does Sound also Great and not too loud with Master on 0.8 or 0.9 , its OKish. I do not know where this is coming from that you can not play them quite , maybe I just can deal with it or got the ones can be played, maybe it is because I am in germany we got really solid walls always made thic and out of concrete and not like a lot to find in the US made from plywood or something like this... but yes when you touch the knobs by or something , it will be a super sonic classified weapon knocking out your windows, so need to check this all the time and better make markings and only dial in with finger tippings on the knob. And I did put the Amps / Cabinet on styrofoam where they came with in the box , so they do not transform all the vibrations into the floor.

And then you can take it , when you got a strong back, infront of a crowd , who should listen and stop talking and they will , I swear they will , there is no other way, they have to run very far and most are too lazy, hehehe.

Both played Free without any attenuator and with pedals , you have to be a bit carefull some pedals will turn up the Volume , have to tame them.

But Tubies and Transitors are great, depends what Amp you buy in the End there are also very bad Tubies and very bad Transitor Amps as well, I would say, you should not choose an Amp by Tubes or Transistors , ....

just go for the Sound you are looking for then try out Amps going this way and when they do not boss you up into heaven then never buy an Amp an Amp without Pedals does sound really amazing when you found the right one and you will wanna have the Amp in your bed at night just to listen to it when falling asleep on the 4x12 Cabinet , then you found the right one. There are also Transitor Amps do Sound very great when you looking for this type of Sound like some Fender Tone Master do sound clean great , or the Roland Chorus is a very great direct sound to stand out of a band very different to a clean fender sound , also some High Gain Metal Amps are great and Transitors and like mentioned all are very different in Sound and can be great Transistors ....

But most people I would say will end up with tubes , tubes are still more organic , warmer and more fat in sound, not all the time but overall mostly,
and most Amps can do a lot are a bad choice as far as I can say , just search for an Amp can do one sound very great , you will find much more what you love all the time instead of an Amp can deal all the sounds in music history, it is mostly impossible that they will sound good. Like my hot rod is very bad on gain , you can play it but mostly you will not like it at all , but the cleans are just heaven, and the JCM800 does sound very thin and lifeless on cleans , you will also not like a lot, of course you can put on both pedals to make them better the hod rod with a fuzz or a good overdrive is great and jcm clean with a reverb or a tiny bit of warm pedals or making the cleans wide , does sound then also much better.

When you have to be very very quite at home, then I would more say a speaker does not make sense , then you are sadly depending on Headphones all the time, there are also Transistors are much too loud and hard to get quite on bedroom level. For me this is only in the middle of the night or when someone is on the phone, but not when they just are there and talking to each others, I can still hear the door bell and playing along music ... no problem at all, even with the JCM800 100W.

But I play a Hod Rod IV 40W at Home at low volume does say Volume close to 2 and it does sound amzing on cleans and an Marshall JCM800 100W at home does Sound also Great and not too loud with Master on 0.8 or 0.9 , its OKish. I do not know where this is coming from that you can not play them quite , maybe I just can deal with it or got the ones can be played, maybe it is because I am in germany we got really solid walls always made thic and out of concrete and not like a lot to find in the US made from plywood or something like this...

Nah, a jcm800 at less than 1 on the master is an acquired taste. It's a sound, just not one everyone gets off on. You didn't get a magic amp, pcb marshalls are pretty consistent, you're just down with all that preamp tone. So is Billy Corrigan. Or he was anyway, back when I was a younger man he railed against power amp distortion in the trades all the time. I've always gone either way but preferred a little of everything breaking up including the speakers barking. But I prefer to not play at all if I can't play loud... unless I'm playing jazz. Although I still like to play nice and loud to match the stage levels of acoustic instruments like horns and drums. More than bedroom... if you can't hear eachother at the right levels without monitoring you're not playing jazz.

I don't screw around with a lot of gain pedals so the amp does the heavy lifting.

I personally prefer tube amps, but there are some nice transistor/OP amps I like. I have a Marshal Lead 75 combo, it's a good pedal platform.

the 80s lead solid state combos are highly underrated

I don't really have a preference these days honestly, I've seen the good and bad of both. If I were to be honest though, I'm more of a Modeling guy.

Like most my age (I'm 42) I started out on Transistor amplifiers in the 90's when the whole "hey man, this sounds like real tubes (Transtube Peavey et. al)" thing was a thing. And honestly, I used a lot of them and could make them sound great if I dialed em' in good. My favorite coveted transistor amps were the Peavey Stereo Chorus 212 and Classic Chorus 212. Anything blue-stripe with a Supersat knob was probably my favorite. Even against current modeling though, those amps sound very flat by comparison.

Tube amps are typically warmer and have a nice "glassy" sound when clean that I really like, and if I had infinite pockets I'd probably be more gung ho of continuing down the Tube Amp path. Some of my favorites were the Mesa Boogie Heartbreaker, Carvin X60, and Marshal TSL JCM2000 Superlead, but those were all spendy. I finally got my first Tube amp in 2008 with the Bugera 333XL.but the cost of ownership keeps going up on changing tubes, and it's been a lot of care and mainteannce keeping that thing up compared to a transistor amplifier. Also, I have no use for it now since I'm not playing live anywhere.

I just got a Boss Katana for a modeling amp. I can dial it in so It sounds like the Bugera, it's 100W so it's plenty loud enough for the stage, but has an 0.5w setting with a 5" speaker so it's good for jamming aloud in the house during the daytime. It plays well with my Line6 HD500 so I've been able to reduce my pedal-count drastically. That's where I'm personally heading with amplifiers these days because I'm just tired of clutter, lots of wires, and having to have 2-3-4-5 different amps when one will get the sound I want.

I'm all for the transistor - I don't have the money to change the tubes (even to get a tube AMP)

I definitely prefer tube amps - valve amps, for those us Down Under - but I think it also depends on whether we’re talking about tube preamps, tube power amps, or both being tubes. For example, with Origin Effects amp recreation pedals, they sound spectacular going into a power amp (tube or solid state) and then into a cabinet. Or, frankly, even into something like the Two Notes CAB M+ with matching IRs and then into an FRFR cab. So, maybe I’m really saying I like both, but the feel of a tube amp can’t be beaten.

Tube amps forever...

Tube amps feel how you play.

I am SO with you regarding clutter - Learned my lesson on Gear Acquisition as a photographer - these days I usually turn up to photo sessions with less gear than amateur enthusiasts, however there is something to be said for looking the part.

As a lifelong amateur musician I have no aspirations to earn money and the punky, folky, outsider music I love most has always had sketchy production values anyway! Billy Childish (No friend of Jack White) and Jack White rock my world in that respect. I'm very content with my supposedly tube-like Vox Pathfinder 15r. However, I have never played through a real tube amp and in a way I'm reluctant to even give it a try, for fear of ruining my contentment with my solid state Vox. Even if I did fall for tubes I still think I'd still make do with a IR/modeler alternative like a Boss IR-2 since I'd rather do without the hassle, clutter and expense of a "prestige" tube amp.

My sofa setup is pretty much the same as Norah's here - Mustang + Pathfinder and so if it's good enough for her...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcASSZ4mWx8

I don’t find there’s any hassle or clutter with tube amps, though they are heavier than solid state amps. I’ve have tube amps for years and never needed to even replace tubes, let alone have one go on me during playing or transport etc. For me the appeal of tube amps vs solid state (and I’ve had both) is feel through the fingers and in the room, and interactivity with drive pedals (which I could never really get right with solid state amps). Having said that, one my mates that I jam with plays a 1W Marshall sold state thing and it is one of the most glorious things I’ve ever heard. But he’s a genius on guitar.

I'd rather do without the hassle, clutter and expense of a "prestige" tube amp.

Clutter?

My sofa setup is pretty much the same as Norah's here - Mustang + Pathfinder and so if it's good enough for her...

I'm not so sure that's pathfinder behind Norah. I'd have to give it a good listen on speakers.