Blackstar HT-5 vs HT-20 Head?

[hawk45]

I really dig the HT-5 head for the price and the huge sound you get. I see they now have a 20 watt head (HT-20) and only $100 more and comes with reverb built in! Anyone tried both of these next to each other? I'm thinking for the extra hundred bucks it'd be worth moving up to the HT-20.. as long as it sounds as monsterous as the HT-5.

Questions.. Both would be used with a 212 cab. So, do you think the HT-20 can pull off the same killer sound of the HT-5 w/o blowing out my ears? Or do you think the HT-5 with a 212 will be plenty loud for jamming with buddies and even possibly gigging with at some point? I'll probably use 90% at the house and 10% out with buddies jamming. No gigs in the near future.

 

[FIREBALL]

id go with ht 20...i had a ht5 and it sounds to much lke a pedal

 

[JohnnyC]

this is thread is relevant to my interest...
would like more thoughts as i just sold my HT5 and WANT to buy the HT20
but cant find a place that stocks them locally to try out.

 

[FIREBALL]

this is thread is relevant to my interest...
would like more thoughts as i just sold my HT5 and WANT to buy the HT20
but cant find a place that stocks them locally to try out.

blackstar has 100 watt version for $899 now...i think that extra cash spent would be cool compare to the ht 20...

 

[hawk45]

100 Watts is WAY more than I would ever need. I play 90% in my house.. I'd never get close to getting those tubes warm enough to breakup. For me 20 Watts is probably too much.

 

[marshallmel]

My friend is a Blackstar dealer and I have played the HT-5 and HT-20 side by side and I would advise spending the extra $$$ for the HT-20.

 

[hawk45]

Awesome! This is what I needed to know. I'm going to try to get up to GC tonight and try out a bunch of amps to see what sounds best at levels and maybe bring one home to try out in my working environment. Knowing how I am.. I'm sure the outcome will be vastly different from what I'm thinking going into it. Probably end up with a MB Dual Rectifier or something totally un-needed.

 

[Audioholic]

Hard to say which would be better for home playing. I have not had the chance to A/B them, but I did have an HT-5 and it was killer for home playing and recording. 20 watts can get mighty loud. my only beef with the 5 is that it wasn't so perfect for gigging, so I sold mine and tried to wait for the 20. However they took longer then expected in releasing it and I went with something else, sadly.

If you do play out of house even just a bit, the extra wattage may come in handy. Based on video clips alone, the HT-20 sounded similair to the 5, so sonically they may be close, but the extra headroom may be needed.

 

[Mudder]

I'd like to play them side by side, then compare with the Jet City stuff too.

Man there's a lot of great cheap stuff out there right now. When I was learning the cheap stuff was Crate, and the new guys kill Crate.

 

[hawk45]

I'd like to play them side by side, then compare with the Jet City stuff too.

Man there's a lot of great cheap stuff out there right now. When I was learning the cheap stuff was Crate, and the new guys kill Crate.

I hear ya man! When I got my first guitar at around 18 I could only afford a old used Crate amp that cost me like $250 (which was alot for me back then). Solid state crap out the wazoo! Nothing close the the SS stuff out now. Man.. I'm so torn.. it's hard to stay focused.. I just found myself looking at Mesa Expresses online and some Krank stuff too.. few weeks back it was Fenders! Man.. from Fenders to Kranks! All over the place man.

 

[TheMightyBastendorf]

I made a quick demo of the HT 20 head,

It might shed some insight!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp3bvpnMOns

 

[KentC]

Have you ever looked at the RD20 from Randall? I have played both the Randall RD series and the Blackstar stuff I I feel that the Randall is a better amp overall than the Blackstar. Sure the Randall may share the tone stack with both channels, but the HT-20 only gives you a tone knob. The Blackstar does have a couple extra features on it like the ISF knob which is cool, but I just think the Randall sounds better overall. Ma be something to look into if you haven't already

 

[slaveunit]

If he hasn't decided in over 4 years... Well.....