Is "valve amp" Brit-speak for "tube amp"?

Vacuum tubes, which were once standard equipment in radios and all kinds of electronic equipment, were ostensibly made obsolete by the introduction of the transistor in about 1960. Transistors are MUCH smaller than the old-time tubes (which resembled light bulbs, pretty much), and paved the way for the miniaturization that is still going on today.

Not surprisingly, audiophiles have always preferred certain qualities of the sound produced by the old vacuum tubes, especially in guitar amps.