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 | B | PS Audio BHK Signature 250 has more power - 250W against 170W into 8 ohms. That is about 1.7dB, which is a small step in loudness but real headroom on peaks. |
| Analogue inputs | A | TEAC AP-701B takes more analogue sources - 2 against 1. |
| Amplifier type | depends | TEAC AP-701B is Solid State and PS Audio BHK Signature 250 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 | A | TEAC AP-701B costs less - $4,000 against $4,249 at list. |
| Watts per dollar | B | PS Audio BHK Signature 250 is the cheaper watt - about $17 per watt against $24. A blunt measure, and it says nothing about how either sounds, but it is the honest one for raw output. |
A TEAC AP-701B B PS Audio BHK Signature 250
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?
The usual trade-off: PS Audio BHK Signature 250 measures better, TEAC AP-701B costs about 6% less. With most speakers in most rooms that gap is smaller in practice than it looks here.
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.