u cant really say tube verses solid state really because it depends on what you use them for. valve will give u the warmth when playing and a really wide feel. which most players will use for really warm loud sounds. the disadvantage to valves are that there very tempermental and need to be serviced quite frequentley to maintain a decent sound. also the quality of tubes give different sounds to. as for solid state there used for quick response and high trebley sounds. and u get a certain amount of cut from the speakers because they dont react as well as tube amps do. as i said there built for a different purpose. metal players maybe more interested in solid state amps due to the quick repsonse when chugging and riffing.