Solid-state amp, modeling amp, and tube amp difference??
Solid State and Modeling amps (which have pretty much been solid state up until the Spider Valve amp from Line 6) are workhorses that will give you constant and exact performance every time you turn it on. Tube amps have a certain "mojo" to the sound that can only come from a sound passing through the imperfect signal of the vacuum tube. Solid states will be the cheapest, and you can buy a lot of wattage for 200-300 dollars. You may not like the sound you get from them, however. Modeling amps will cost a smidge more, on par with the low end tube amps. They'll have a whole ton of features on them as well. If you're experimenting with your sound and are looking for "pretty darn good" on the cheap, go for it. There's another possibility, and that's "hybrid" tube amps. The large part of the amps character comes from the preamp stage, and the hybrid amps are tube-preamp. These run about the same as modeling amps. Tube amps will run from $400 and up; WAY up. You have to deal with tired tubes and replace them every once in a while. You can't jostle the amp too much, and they're going to weigh more. Having said this...if you can get one, you will hear the difference. having both the preamp stage and the power stage (and sometimes the rectifier stage and phase inverter stage) all tube brings a real sweetness that can be best heard in solos and low-gain settings. As far as wattage goes, the smaller, the cheaper, but not necessarily the worse. 5 watt tube amps are awesome, cheap, and can be loud enough to play in a band with sensible musicians. 15 watts is loud enough to get over an exuberant drummer, but not the rest of the band. 30 watts and you're playing with the band pretty well....but not really rocking the house down. around 50 watts is where you see the "stacks" come up. 50. 100, 150, 300 and up will power 1 or 2 sets of speakers will little effort, and a LOT of volume. 50 watts will play a small club, and 150 will play a small concert venue. Tube amps will be louder sounding due to the output of the amp itself....keep that in mind. Go look around at Musiciansfriend.com for a while and follow these rules of thumb. hope that helps!
Solid state amps that don't suck?
I've been playing for 45 years and have owned or played about everything there is, cheap to expensive, solid state and tube, practice amps to towering stage setups. Fender, Ampeg, Marshall, Orange, Acoustic, Ibanez, Randall, Hiwatt, Kustom, Mesa Boogie, Crate, Peavey, Vox, Yamaha, etc. In general, I'm a big fan of the Fender tube amps and recommend them, but haven't been quite so enamored with their solid state models. They're not bad, but it's the character of the tube amps that I like personally. To my ear, it's hard to beat the sound of the Fender Deluxe I bought used 40 years ago, but they're expensive and since your taste in music style is probably a lot different than mine, I don't think you'd be disappointed in a solid state Mustang or Champion. However, my newest amp is the Vox AD50VT, and I have to say it's one of the best one's I've owned or played that isn't all-tube. It's actually not 100% solid state - it has 1 tube. It's very versatile with a good sound, very portable with a single speaker, reasonably priced and surprisingly loud for a 1 x 12. Mine has a Celestion speaker (not sure they all do) and it's rock solid. It's loud enough for stage use and louder than some of the 2 x 12 amps I've owned. It close-mic's beautifully and I've had zero issues with it. But, as I said, this amp does have a single tube that needs to be replaced once in awhile and it's essential to keep a spare on hand, just in case. This little amp is stacked with an impressive array of digital SS processing that emulates 11 different classic amplifiers so it will give you just about any sound you might want. It may not be the right choice for you, but it definitely does NOT suck.
Not to be funny - but 15 watts. The "watts" of an amp is the maximum amount of power an amp can produce - the more watts, the louder and better sound it will emit when you crank it up. there are really two types of amps - "tube" and "solid state". Tube amps use vaccum tubes to amplify the signal from your unstrument to the speakers through the pre-amp, a solid state, or transistor amp, uses more modern circuitry to bring the noise. 30 watts on a tube amp is alot of juice - the tubes create more sound for the amount of watts - many "combo" tube amps are 30 watts and that is sometimes more than you need - as with tubes - you have to have a higher volume to have the best sound - not really for home use - more for stage, recoeding or rehearsal spaces. Tube amps are heavy and fragile - the tubes are very sensitive - like 4 little lightbulbs in a box - they are easily damaged if not taken care of - so shouldn't be moved around too much. with a solid state amp though - 30 watts is not very much - that would be a practice amp, and can distort and perform well at a lower volume- - because the circuits can be manipulated at any volume. Solid state amps may not have the best sound, but often are cheaper and more durable than tubes. if you are a beginner or just playing in the house for yourself, get a transistor/solid state amp to make noise. it'll last forever without any maintenance.
What is the difference between a hybrid combo amplifier and a regular combo amp?
A combo amplifier is where you have all the electronics and speakers in one compartment/unit. The opposite is separate head (amplifier) and cabinet (speakers). Hybrid amp is a combination of tubes and solid state technology, like a tube preamp stage and solid state power amp - or the other way around, solid state preamp and tube power amp. Most of what is called hybrid amps today have a tube preamp section and a solid state power amp.
Tube amp vs. solid state?
Each has its own benefits. Both can yield great results, but we must remember they are just one component in a chain that's involved to actually bring the sound to your ear. Solid state amps are almost requisite in large passive sub-woofers. In home theater and electronic based music, solid state amps reign supreme. (drum and bass, ambient, and rap to name just a few) They are usually more dynamic. (difference between the softest and loudest sounds the amp is capable of playing at a set volume) They are generally quieter at idle if paired with a quality preamp. If you are forced to listen in a less than quiet environment this bonus can be lost. Tube amp is particularly suited for mids and highs. They will give you a much fuller, warmer sound. This type of amp will be less true to the original recording, but will also be more forgiving of a poorly recorded one. They will add more of their own sonic signature to the mix. They are usually not dead quiet at idle. If using tube amps, a more efficient speaker is usually the order of the day. Although powerful tube amps are available at a premium. They make "warmer" sounding solid state amps as well. Which can be very convincing as tube amps. Don't forget, tubes do burn out. But a bonus of being able to change them is trying different types. This can allow you to more closely tailor the sound to your liking. Speaker choice, component matching and choice of source component (digital or analog) are also important considerations which are worth investigating. Hope this helps. Audiogon is a pretty nice forum to try also. Remember, it's what you hear that matters in the end.
You do not need the same power as tube amps can be driven into clipping without sounding horrible.The top 90% of a solid state amp’s power range is for headroom so that peaks do not get clipped much. This is because clipping sounds awful in a solid state amp as the amplifier loses its feedback when it clips.A tube amp has an output transformer and can be driven into fairly hard clipping as the transformer smoothes out the corners and it does not sound bad much of the time it clips.You can experience the same listening sound level with a 35W per channel tube amp as a 200W per channel solid state amplifier.This is a well known effect for decades.