aja
I just got the HT-5 combo recently. It is simply awesome. Ask any questions you may have.
All about music in melville JHB are supposedly the importers, so that would be your best bet. They have the whole blackstar range. They have changed their name now, cant remember what - music company or something. I have seen the blackstars at music connection and music mate as well. I don't want to say what I payed for it, but all about music charged me substantially less than I would have paid elsewhere.
I listened to the HT-5 head through a 4x12 (hiwatt I think, cant remember), the HT-5s mini stack with the head and two 10 cabs and also with only one cab, and finally the combo, which I settled on.
The combo is great - one celestion 10" in a compact design that is easy to travel with, yet all the features of the head - effects loop, mono 16, dual 16 and mono 8 Ohm outputs etc. Very convenient
The sound is fantastic. I play an Ibanez RGR321EX with EMG humbuckers. The humbuckers may be a bit heavy for this amp IMO, possibly the 10" speaker gets a bit swamped with the bass but it still sounds amazing if you roll off the guitar volume ever so slightly, although I normally leave it full on. If you have a single coil guitar you will love this amp!
The overdrive channel gives you everything from blues overdrive to full on metal. It is freakin loud for 5 watts, could easily keep up with a drummer on the overdrive channel IMO. The clean channel is not so loud, but the breakup you get at high volumes is beautiful and perfect for blues or vintage rock.
It is true what they say - it sounds like a 100W tube head on total meltdown. Imagine playing a tube amp on "11" at bedroom levels while still maintaining beautiful clear tones!
The celestion 10" speaker is great too - it is rated at 40 watts, so it will handle absolutely everything you can throw at it! I love the vintage British sounds it produces. This amp sounds more to the British side than USA IMO, but only because of the speaker. If you use the headphone/recording out you can get any sound you want using the ISF knob. The emulated cabs on the recording out sound very similar to me. I use a decent set of Sennheiser cans. The 4x12 seems to have a bit more bass than the 1x12.
On the clean channel, roll the treble up a bit and lower the bass for an amazing full rich clean sound. I love the chiming sounds it creates on the high notes. Hit the strings soft for a warm full sound, hit them hard and the chimes come out.
Yeah sure it has no reverb, but at least it has an effects loop so that is a quick fix. I have never liked reverb too much anyway - my personal opinion is that it degrades tone and hides my mistakes.
Sorry for the haphazard writeup, this is my first post here. Hope it makes sense. Dont think this amp is a toy, it is much much more.
proze
Great to hear! Cos I've got one on order... ?
Ray
I've been shopping for a little amp and when I read a review in a maga baout this amp I realized it may be just the thing I'm after. When you parting with cash you do the reaearch, no? And then I found a thread on musicradar which reckons there may be a problem. I'll try and post the link:
http://www.musicradar.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31000
How much does it go for anyway?
Ray
Well thanks, that is good to hear. All else I've read about these amps is good.
Gearhead
MoJo JoJoe wrote:
{...} the UK standard of 240v {..} our SA voltage is 220v
The power supply strategy in Europe has been the same for decades: they very very gradually up the voltage. The philosophy is to decrease the current (=cost). Should they do the increase at once, a lot of equipment would fail and they'd get a large claim. So they first specified the voltage equipment should be able to handle is 240V but are only now (25 years down the line) getting there.
If it is true that the Blackstar amps could not handle 240V then it IS their fault really. 220V does not exist any more, not even in SA (go measure). Eskom does either 230V or 0V.
On a side note I wonder why they would get farting noises instead of output tubes blowing? Karel please please explain?
Gearhead
Just to set the record straight: I was not pissing and I may have misread your post about the over voltage. F@<k, if I can't post without being accused of trying to flame someone I might as well log out for good. What smiley does one need to put in there to make sure everyone understand good intentions? I'll put it in my signature.
Spyke
Lets diffuse the miscomms here and move on shall we? Good, now grab a cookie and some milk and we'll sing Kumbaya... ?
This thread's timing is perfect. I wandered into Marshal on Saturday and inquired about a small valve amp (as much as I want a Piggyback, I'm leaning towards tone and practicality.). The assistant (Who I don't know, forgot to ask) showed me the Blackstar HT-5. I remembered reading about it here a short while ago and listened attentively. I'm now taking it into serious consideration while I rectify the financial side of things.
Ray
I dont know much about amps (well, not much about any gear really) but I went to MusicMate today and saw the HT-5 combo. This amp has a really quality look about it. It is finished really well. And sounds excellent. Just waiting to check out the Vox AC4TV before I buy anything. Total Guitar Mag gives both good reviews.
Spyke
Digging up an old one here, but I'm keen to know what sort of prices you guys managed to pick the HT5's up for.
Doing some serious shopping at the moment and the affordable amp I want won't fit in my car :'(
Blackstar HT5 is next up, but would like to know how it compares - Combo, not head alone.
dee
Last price I saw was about R5500 for the HT-5 combo, excluding any discount of course. Although it was probably about 2 months ago, but the Rand has picked up some strength since then. It might be a bit cheaper now.
Spyke
Just want to add, if the guys don't want to make it publicly known what they paid, please feel free to PM me if you don't mind.
Spyke
Little stiff for me at the moment I'm afraid... R5500 before negotiations I might be able to do.
Thanks so far for the help
Ray
Yip, take a look at the Vox AC4TV. 4750-00 at Turnkey. I have seen the HT-5 and really appears to be very well put together.
Spyke
Ray wrote:
Yip, take a look at the Vox AC4TV.
Considered, started a new What Amp thread... ?
proze
FWIW, I'm really frikkin' impressed by my HT-5 combo and I'm very glad I bought it! Great tone, lots of volume for 5W, excellent build quality - colour me impressed. I don't by any means have the greatest experience, though, so take that with a pinch of salt, I guess.
aja
proze wrote:
FWIW, I'm really frikkin' impressed by my HT-5 combo and I'm very glad I bought it! Great tone, lots of volume for 5W, excellent build quality - colour me impressed. I don't by any means have the greatest experience, though, so take that with a pinch of salt, I guess.
hehe I'm in the same boat as you. It sounds great to me but admittedly I don't have much amp experience
