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This is a gross oversimplification but I really don't know that much about tube amps. Tubes are just a device that are like solid state transistors. They operate on different principles (the part I don't know so well) than the solid state devices. You can use tubes as output devices in an amp, but to get high power you must have a high output voltage, hundreds of volts, and use an output transformer to bring it back down to use with 4 or 8 ohm speakers. This way the tubes need to be at operating temperature and are fragile, like a warm light bulb. You can also use tubes in the input of the amp to get the "tube" sound and use regular solid state output devices. This way the tubes don't need the extremely high voltage to work, and they don't dissipate too much power requiring tube replacement, extended warm up periods, and they aren't as prone to breaking in a car enviroment. This is what the Tube drivers amps do, I think the planet audio amps are this way as well. If I got anything wrong feel free to correct me and call my college professors who didn't want to teach me this. "Nobody designs with tubes these days" they tell me.
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Hey, you can easily duplicate the sound of a tube amp using a .02ohm, .50cent resistor on the speaker lead. Why spend 15k on one when you can make your tx amp sound like one so much cheaper?!?!?!?! And NO, I'M NOT KIDDING!!!
------------------ Sometimes the majority only means that all the fools are on the same side.
Use your ears to judge components, NOT your wallet! K.I.S.S.
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