Questions about the Blackstar HT-5

[_tom_]

Comparing them to other things on the market is only natural Dave.  If like Matt or Tom you're after a cheap practice or home recording option they're pretty good.  If you're looking for the 'Holy Grail' they won't be it  :)

Yeah I'm not expecting miracles but it'd be nice to have an amp that can sound better than my Laney for at home. I'd still use that for gigging or playing in a band. Speaking of which, I know some musicians from uni who live near me back home so hopefully I can get something good going over easter/summer :)


edit - is this an accurate demo of how it sounds? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsO1-1TCchA

Sounds great to me. As soon as the guy pm's me back I'll just go for it :P

[HTH AMPS]

Tom,

I'd just had a listen to a few clips on Youtube and that clip you posted seems to represent how that sound in general.

Quite impressed by them, course most of the clips are metallers playing, so I'm not sure how the more vintagey tones fare.

[_tom_]

Just got a reply from some guys on HC who own em, apparently with the gain set low you can get decent lower gain marshally tones but just a bit darker. The user reviews on harmony central seem to back that up as well.

[Dreichlift]

I bought the combo version of the HT5 and think it's great, I've had no problems with it and for the money I think it's the best sounding amp you can buy. Sure it's not the same as a Cornford, Orange Tiny Terror, Laney Lionheart, Peavey Mini Colossal etc but it's class AB not class A like most other 5W amps (so a bit more power), Also it's way better than the 5W Epiphones, Fenders, Gibsons and Harley Bentons out there.

Does it sound exactly like a Plexi or Bassman? I don't think so, not perfectly, I'd say it's more JCM800 than Plexi but if you think of it as having a nice useable sound that can lean towards a more marshally sound or more fendery sound. It does a fair approximation, IMO the Marshally sounds are closer than the Fendery sounds though.

As for cleans, I'd say they're useable but there's not a lot of headroom. I'm not really bothered by this as I like a little breakup in my cleans (sounds, not underwear  8) ).

It really does sound great for the price and beats my old Valvestate hands down for practice/bedroom playing. If I had one complaint I'd say it's a little more bassy than I'd expected but it can be controlled with the EQ.

[d1dsj]

Wow, to be fair at that price as long as it's reliable I don't see how you can go wrong! I think it sounds pretty darn good if it's a heavy sound you're after. I'd give it a go. :)

[Matt77]

Comparing them to other things on the market is only natural Dave.  If like Matt or Tom you're after a cheap practice or home recording option they're pretty good.  If you're looking for the 'Holy Grail' they won't be it  :)

Yeah I'm not expecting miracles but it'd be nice to have an amp that can sound better than my Laney for at home. I'd still use that for gigging or playing in a band. Speaking of which, I know some musicians from uni who live near me back home so hopefully I can get something good going over easter/summer :)


edit - is this an accurate demo of how it sounds? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsO1-1TCchA

Sounds great to me. As soon as the guy pm's me back I'll just go for it :P

Yes

[_tom_]

Nice :) Sounds like a snarlier Laney. In other words, just what I want.

[dave_mc]

Bit harsh wasn't I - sorry  :oops:

The gain channel sounded OK but lacked some sparkle and transparency.  The clean channel was a bit flat.

All IMO of course.  Matt77 likes it, it was his I played!

i don't mind if you're harsh, i'd rather you'd be truthful :)

also too many daves here, when you were talking to afghan dave, i thought you were talking to me... :lol:

[_tom_]

Well its just been paid for, but I wont be able to get home and play it til next weekend (a week on sunday) :( The suspense will be killing me by then :lol: I could go back next Wednesday but I might be going back the following sunday for a jam with some old school friends so I might as well wait until then.

Hope I like it. If not I guess I can make most if not all of the money back as they're in pretty high demand right now arent they?

[Dmoney]

my mate got one. he didnt like it. he's waiting to sell it.

[_tom_]

oh :\ what didnt he like about it?

[Dmoney]

he just didnt like the sound. i think he got it and thought it would be an awesome little amp, probably got talked into buying it from wherever. he said it just doesnt cut it. that it doesnt sound as good as he had hoped. doesnt have the drive or the feel that he was after. he doesnt want to take it back for credit so he's waiting on some price changes or something then he's gonna think about selling it.

[_tom_]

Ah fair enough. I've kinda talked myself into it really :lol: I dont think its going to be the be-all-end-all or whatever but I'm hoping it'll be more usable at reasonable volumes than my Laney is.

[Dmoney]

yeah. i think maybe my man was looking for something portable to gig with. i dunno. he was into the idea and thought it would be a good little buy at the price. ive never tried one myself. if was going to get one id go play and be sure i like it, rather than play it a bit, get excited, buy it, then get bummed out.

[Matt77]

Make sure you warm it up a bit longer than your other amps when you put it on standby.
I'm not sure how true it is, but the guys in Sounds Great said that they take a bit more warming up. Something to do with having push-pull AB something or other using just one valve. (means nothing to me)

Hope you like it