NAD: Blackstar HT-5TH Limited Edition

[mudf00t]

So here I am sitting and waiting for my Mesa Dual Rec to come (won't be here until Wed) and I don't have another practice amp here... so I am fiending to play. I have decided that I do not like the BOSS ME-80 I bought and would rather just put together a pedal board... so I decided to take back the BOSS and this Schecter C1+ that I bought on impulse and get a practice amp.

I figured that I could probably pick up this Blackstar HT-40 (Club 40) that I saw at my local guitar store and only have to come up with like $100 on top of the returns. However, when I get there I see they have a sweet little 18 watt Hughes & Kettner mini head for $450 as well as a used but mint Marshall MA50C Combo. I decide to get the Marshall and then the manager says to me... "Before you buy that Marshall I suggest you check out this HT-5 over here. I am telling you now that I think it's a better amp and will fit your needs better.". So, I played it a bit but didn't really tweak it or anything or play it loud as there were 2 older couples in there looking at banjo's... but I respect what this manager has to say... he knows quality gear and he is always very cool to me when I stop in. So I decided to buy it.

All I can say is WOW... this little amp is just killer. I think I hit a home run by getting it...

You would think that a 5 watt amp would be this little twiddly beginner amp like so many brands sell... but I am here to tell you that this amp could totally be used for a small club if you had a small speaker cab like a 2x12 without a doubt... HOWEVER... it RUNS MY 4X12 loud as hell! I am not kidding. I am shocked. Not only is it loud enough but this thing sounds awesome. Mind blown.

I have spent a few hours messing around with it now and I have to say that this is probably one of the best pieces of gear that I have ever owned as far as just pure awesomeness and range of tone. I am not all that excited about the 10s but I have it running my 4x12 cab right now as I said above and the tone and volume is just blowing my mind since it's only a 5 watt amp. This thing can get seriously loud! I mean... obviously it's not a 100 watt amp but I could do a gig with this amp... I am not kidding. The other thing about it is the huge range of great tone that I can get... I am just shocked, really. I never thought a little 5 watt combo could be this killer. I am so glad I decided to go get a combo today.

I want to be clear about what I am saying about being able to gig with this amp. I don't think that the 10 inch Celestions really provide the breadth of tone and volume to be able to fill a club against a drumset... however, it certainly could if you had a decent quality 2x12. The combo speakers aren't bad but it sounds so much better plugged into my cab. However, you could certainly mic the combo and it would be fine. If you have never played one of these, I certainly recommend that you do. It will change how you think about amp wattage at the very least.

It's not perfect. It could use a boost and could benefit from a better EQ on the clean channel but I am not going to nitpick it. I can address these issues with pedals that I planned on adding to my pedalboard anyway. I think I got lucky.

Here are a couple of demos with decent tone examples.
Blackstar HT-5TH Guitar Amplifier (Limited Edition) Demo - YouTube

Blackstar HT5TH Limited Edition 2x10 Combo Amp

 

[nigelpkay]

I like the Blackstar HT5, I think it was their first amp they released, I can't remember, but out of all the HT series, and even the topline Series One, it has the best tone. It's strange because I used to have the HT100, and I've read that those with HT20, 40, 60 etc... you can't quite seem to get the tone of the HT5. It sucks because you want that same tone but with higher wattage for a 4x12 and metal band situation.

What I did was buy the HT Dual pedal which is what I've been told the HT5 was basically an amp head version of. The pedal contains an actual preamp tube, and runs on a whopping 300v power supply. What I do is plug it into the FX return on my Marshall JVM head to use it as the power amp. Sounds amazing and hits that HT5 tone I was looking for.

My only complaint with Blackstar is that although the rhythm tones sound great (it's more low-mid based than high-mid based like a Marshall), I find that single lead notes lack that Marshall sweetness, it sounds a little flat. I saw a Youtube video of Neal Schon playing a Marshall, and then a later video when he was endorsed by Blackstar and you can really tell the difference with the lead tones. Other than that, it's a great tone that when you leave the ISF knob in the middle (I usually run at 1 o'clock for more Marshally sound), it's a nice half-way between a Marshall and Mesa.