Amplifiers are very important especially if you are using analog effects. With digital effects, you can plug direct into the DI box or into the mixer and you can get a decent sound as your multi effects is emulating the amp tones.

All guitarist who have heard how a tube amp sound will tell you they are the best out there. Tube amps will give you a tone that is so fat and it just melts your heart :D

I currently owned a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe (2x 12) and its one of the lower end kind of tube amps. I have heard much better ones like Gries. Other brands like Laney are also good as they are cheaper than the Fender tube amps and sound quite good too.

Here is a picture of my amplifier.

The amazing part about a tube amp is that it can make a crappy guitar sound good.
Therefore don't just concentrate on getting a good guitar and good effects, the amplifier also plays a very important role in your final tone produced!

If you find these amps too big for home play, there is one that i will recommend.
Kustom 12A tube amp. It is small, portable and sounds good even though it has only 1 tube in the preamp stage. Others like the Roland Cube are good too.