How big of a difference do amps make?

I would NEVER own a tube amplifier. Too much money, to much fooling around. Too big a chance for major fireworks.
Paying to retube an amp? no way. (Maybe if i had a garage full of NOS tubes.. but to buy tubes now? crazy expensive.)
I take the solid state amp.
The folks who love tube amps just like the colorations..
There i said it.
A tube preamp can give you a great sound. Good solid state amps are GOOD.

"The folks who love tube amps just like the colorations..
There i said it."

Feeling brave are we??

Elizabeth I would venture that you never heard a great tube amp or maybe you have never owned one, just a guess. So far as colorations with a tube amp wouldn't you also acknowledge that tube pre-amps also can add their own flavor? It seems your fears may lie with thermionic meltdown maybe? I'm sure a concern with some designs but certainly all of them. I've owned 5 tube amplifiers over the years and never have had a major issue with any of them, biasing and replacing tubes is all.

Amp speaker interface is crucial. Source component and recording is where it logically starts and will determine the potential of everything downstream at least in my experience but amps can make a significant difference in the system whether tube or ss.

Rok2id, I wish things were as simple as you seem to wish or believe them to be, thanks for keeping it real :)

In the last 20 years, only encounter with "fireworks" was with a SS amplifier. Never with a tube amplifier.

I am no expert but I have heard a significant difference in sound tonality, etc...whether it be when trying a different amp, a different preamp, or a different source when using the same speakers. And then, when trying different speakers with these same components...again a significant difference in sound again...and on and on.....IMHO any component in the chain can make a significant difference (to some degree) in sound.