Tube amps esp power tubes have some inherent adventages over trany amps - when a tube is driven to distortion the product is even order harmonics which sound pleasing to the ear and actually add to the tonality of the guitar. Bipolar trannys produce odd order harmonics when driven hard, odd order harmonics do not sound pleasing to the ear. You can use mosfet output staged amps - they do sound warmer then bipolar transistors but still dont have that breakdown effect which happens as you increase the input.
However to take advantage of the tube sound you need to drive the amp hard ie its damn load, great if you are playing in a concert hall but shite if you play casualy at home and you want to retain cordial relations with your neighbors (esp if you play as umm badly as me).
Modelling amps sound good but dont have the subtly and nuances of a tube amp (yet) but they do sound pretty good. I tought my old Valvetronix was nice but the sound of the new Peavey Vypyr is very impressive indeed. It may not sound exactly as the amp its modelling but the sounds are useable and work at all sound levels ie you dont have to deafen yourself to get a nice warm distortion.
My take is modelling amps are great value and sound good but they dont replace the multi thousand dollar Vox's and Marshells and Dumbles. Maybe one day but not yet - but they are much more versatile for the home and practice enviroments.
Cheers
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