Best Valve Amplifiers – Budget and Stereo Options for Audiophiles

Buying an amplifier for your musical instruments is not an easy task. In fact, there has been a massive argument between the supporters of Solid State amplifiers and Valve amplifiers.  For people who love pure music at its best vouch for the best valve amplifiers. Also referred to as Tube Amplifiers, they tend to address the quality of sound at its best and natural. Leaving aside the argument over which among the Valve amplifiers and Solid state amplifiers, we will list out our top picks for the best Valve amplifiers you should buy in 2018.

Best Valve Amplifiers

With the technology growing the Valve Amplifiers have been going into oblivion. However, there are a few amplifiers that have been powerful enough and worth the attention. Without much ado, we will move ahead to find the best Valve Amplifiers for your needs.

What Should You Look for while buying a Valve Amp?

Well, Valve amps are a little from a maintenance point of view. Do note that you need to go through swapping tubes quite often. Searching for Valve Amps would be dependent upon a considerable amount of research and an efficient budget.

Another point you should give a thought to includes only one sound profile, unlike the solid-state amplifiers. Some amps are designed explicitly for individual preferences. Some of them may have better cleans while some of them may excel in overdrive.

Power is another aspect you need to take care of. If you are looking for amps for live performances, you would have to opt for high wattage. On the other hand, practicing at home will need you to opt for the model that excels in that direction. Choosing the best option that suits your requirements would not be a much easy task as such.

Modding abilities are what would make Valve amps one of the excellent opportunities for your musical meanderings. That would be what helps you bring up an ideal sound quality that you are looking for. Of course, modding by changing the vacuum tubes would be a bit expensive, and as such, we would advise you to opt for modding only when you are in absolute need as such.

How would you Find the right tone for the Amps?

Getting the right tone for your Valve amplifier needs a lot of research, experimentation and the music that you are into. Attempt multiple settings and try to achieve the best results to suit your needs. Finally, it should come up to how your instrument and the amplifier gel up with each other.

Marshall DSL Series 15H

Price - [amazon_link asins='B009AF7X88' template='PriceLink' store='wwwfaceofitco-21' marketplace='US' link_id='c0aa7de2-437a-11e8-9e05-3da16b99bd15']

The amplifier is indeed one of its kind and has been the best brand for you. Each of the notes comes up with sophistication and professionalism. Of course, it is quite expensive but lives up to its expectations.

It is one of the best when it comes to smaller rooms and practice environments.

The Pros

• Stronger tonal response
• Comes with TONE and Deep shift buttons that increase the tone variance.
• Included footswitch.
• It comes with two separate gain channels. This should be a factor that would satisfy all genres of music lovers.

The Cons

• There is no LED for the footswitch.
• No line out and Reverbs loop

VOX AC10C1

Price - [amazon_link asins='B00VUT8HMS' template='PriceLink' store='wwwfaceofitco-21' marketplace='US' link_id='fc39af4b-437a-11e8-ad55-e5169d227467']

VOX has been a name to reckon with thanks to the standards that the company has been known for. Wattage and size have been brought down, but nothing detrimental to the quality of the output is seen.

The saturated distortion is what would be the best part of this device.

The Pros

• The cleaner sound tones offer you a better distortion that would be natural.
• It comes with VOX top boost included within
• The sounds are warmer and full.
• The system comes with an external speaker jack.

The Cons

• There is no mid-range control available
• The amplifier comes with only one channel.
• No line out and effects loop available.

Fender Blues Junior III

The full organic sound quality is warm enough, and that would make Fender Blues Junior III one of the best options for your needs. It can make a distinct differentiation between rhythm and lead play.

The Pros

• A true to form “tone”
• Consists of five tubes making it sound like a bigger amp
• It comes with spring reverb as an excellent option.
• It can pick sounds clear and distinct in every aspect.
• You have access to spring reverb as the excellent option.

The Cons

• It offers you only one channel.
• You will need to buy FAT footswitch as a separate entity.

Would you consider it a worthy purchase? Check it out on Amazon.

Bugera V22 Infinium

Price - [amazon_link asins='B00LMRNNLI' template='PriceLink' store='wwwfaceofitco-21' marketplace='US' link_id='144b39bf-437c-11e8-b295-8d1dae7f9644']

The Valve amplifier comes with the full equalizer system built in. The high-end tube construction ensures crisper and warmer high-quality sound.

You can be assured of a sound that is entirely authentically vintage and quite crisp. The two-channel preamp offers responsive resonance. The features are worthy of being considered expensive, but available at a lower price tag.

The Pros

• An excellent tonal profile.
• High end features at lower prices.
• High end three band equalizer performance.
• You also have excellent reverb controls
• Two numbers of Foot-switchable channels.

The Cons

• No line out available
• Gain is a little out of vintage

For more information, visit Amazon.

Hughes & KettnerTubemeister 5 and 18

[amazon_link asins=’B005WJU0LI’ template=’PriceLink’ store=’wwwfaceofitco-21′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’edd45018-437c-11e8-8f24-ab1c4910042f’]

Portable enough, there is more to it than just mobile convenience. You are assured of stronger sound quality with better gains. Cleaner tones assure you better performance.

Available in two options of 5 and 18 Watts versions, they are quite appealing for the hard rockers. The distortions are perfect for the vintage seekers.

The Pros

• High gains offer fantastic performance.
• It offers you effects loop and two channels on TM18.
• Portability is what would make it an excellent option.
• Offers an excellent speaker emulation.

The Cons

• Clean tones too appear a little distorted.
• No reverb available

Check it out on Amazon.

Blackstar HT-5R

[amazon_link asins='B0051CN96O' template='PriceLink' store='wwwfaceofitco-21' marketplace='US' link_id='31dc15fb-437d-11e8-bbdc-fdc1b62e7e87']

If you are looking for the affordable versions of cheaper metal solid amps, Blackstar is the brand worth the attempt. It offers you two foot-switchable channels and a foot switch as well. You would also have access to a three-band graphic equalizer.

The tube amp with a modern look is what would make it one of the new age amplifiers you can consider for your needs. In fact, versatility is the name of the game, and we would indeed think it is the best one for you. We would treat it as your best bet for a versatile option for your needs in the quality.

The Pros

• Three bands equalizer combined with ISF control
• Two channels that are Foot-switchable
• You have access to effects loop.
• The equipment comes with footswitch included.

The Cons

• Speaker is not up to the mark. It appears as if cost-cutting has affected the quality of a speaker.
• There is no reverb available.

Interested? Find more information on Amazon.

Peavey 6505

[amazon_link asins=’B00ZAV5ACC’ template=’PriceLink’ store=’wwwfaceofitco-21′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’696cc8bc-437d-11e8-84fb-97befc8ff04a’]

If you are a fan of the big sound, this is what you would go with. The distortion produced is unique in its own right. It offers you a lot of gains to work with.

Guitarists around the world vouch for the Peavey 6505, the quality of the tubes is impressive enough. The two channels have best in class features for both pre and post gains.

The Pros

• Intuitive controls would make it one of the best for your needs.
• Tube quality is impressive enough.
• Durability and reliability are the two aspects one of the excellent options.

The Cons

• No dynamic range
• You may not get distinct results occasionally.

In Conclusion

Valve amps have been one of the best options for enhanced performance. The versatility and practical functionality would make them an excellent choice par excellence. The models featured in our comparison would make them the best value for money given their performance.

What would you think about the Valve amps featured on our compilation? In case if you found the article to be a little inconclusive and believe we have missed any worthy options from our list, do share your favorite amps with us. We would give a thought to your choices when we update our list in the future.