A valve amplifier against a solid-state one. They are not really rivals: they differ in character, in what they will drive and in what owning them involves, so start there rather than with the watts.
| Area | Better | Why |
|---|
| Power | evenly matched | Effectively the same output - 90W against 100W into 8 ohms is under 1dB, which is not an audible difference in loudness. |
| Grip on hard loads | B | PrimaLuna EVO 300 Hybrid Integrated holds up better into a 4-ohm load: its output increases strongly to 150W, where the other increases modestly. That matters with demanding speakers far more than the 8-ohm figure does. |
| Bass control | A | Accuphase E-280 has the higher damping factor (500 vs 160), which usually means a tighter grip on a woofer. Above about 100 the returns flatten out, so read this as a tendency rather than a ranking. |
| Analogue inputs | evenly matched | The same number of line-level inputs (5). |
| Headphones | depends | Only Accuphase E-280 has a headphone output. Worth something if you listen late, nothing if you never do. |
| Amplifier type | depends | Accuphase E-280 is Solid State and PrimaLuna EVO 300 Hybrid Integrated is Hybrid. Valve designs are usually warmer and softer at the limits and need their tubes replaced eventually; solid state is the lower-maintenance choice. This is a taste and ownership decision, not a quality one. |
| Price | evenly matched | Priced within a few per cent of each other. |
A Accuphase E-280 B PrimaLuna EVO 300 Hybrid Integrated
depends neither is better in the abstract - it turns on your room, your system or how you will use them. Only specs published for both amplifiers are judged; anything missing on either side is left out rather than guessed.
Which should you choose?
Neither runs away with it - they trade advantages. Let the "depends" rows and the speakers you already own settle it. If your speakers are a difficult load - 4 ohms nominal, big woofers, or a sensitivity in the low 80s - PrimaLuna EVO 300 Hybrid Integrated is the safer partner, because how an amplifier behaves when the impedance drops matters more than its 8-ohm rating.
What a spec sheet cannot show: how either sounds with your speakers, how the controls feel day to day, and what the app is like to live with - which is where most all-in-one amplifiers are actually won or lost. Power figures are the manufacturers' own and are not measured to a common standard, so treat small differences as noise. If you can hear both, that will tell you more than any row above.