That's weird - about the Yamaha "sounded TERRIBLE"
I've come across polarised views from several folks who've actually played one (rather than just heard clips or whatever). It seems some are like me - "oh WOW! this is it" and others are "oh it's AWFUL" ... haven't really heard any in-betweens.
There's one thing I'm wondering - what sort of surface was it standing on? I discovered a few months back that it's VERY sensitive to the surface below and immediately in front of the speakers. Stand it on a reflective surface like a bare table top and it sounds very harsh and tinny to my ears. Lay out a towel or something in front of it (better if the thing is actually standing on it too) and it sounds like it did in the other room sat on the cushioned arm of a sofa. (EDIT: Even my wife can hear the difference! And that's saying something... She'd wondered why I was nicking her cushions one day, so I demonstated the effect)
The sound of it on a reflective surface is "livable with" if you already own it, as in "you can tweak it for improvements"... or you can angle it "upwards" by leaning it on a book or something... but, you're right, it sounds a lot more like a tin can on a reflective surface!! I've learnt to make sure I don't use it like that... (cork table mats on the living room coffee table usually sort me out)
And the more I think about it - no, I
wouldn't have bought it, not in a million years, if it had sounded like that when I tried it out!

(the shop I tried it in has a carpeted step under the guitars hanging on the wall - I was stuffed into a corner with the thing on that carpeted step, I thought it was a bit odd, I felt a bit "unloved" when they put me there... but maybe they knew it was the only place in the shop where it sounded good!!).
Kind of makes me think Yamaha have got a bit of a marketing problem on this thing if this really is what causes some people to love it and others to hate it!!
Anyways! Congrats on the Blackstar, sounds like you've got a solution that makes you want to play... and that's what it's all about
