HT-5 Review

[Hendog]

OK, this is a first impression as I just played it for the first time for about 20 min. I used my Silo but I need to try it with my Les Paul to have better tonal understanding of its capabilities.

It takes a few minutes to really dial it in. The ISF knob takes some tweaking to get to the sound you are looking for.

The overall volume of this (I have the half stack) is perfect. It is just loud enough to use for a jam session (well, with my 3 piece anyway) and quiet enough that you can get great sounds from it at low volumes.

Because of the reviews I have read (here mostly) I expected the high gain to blow me away and the clean to blow. Neither is true. The high gain is nice, but I'm not sure that my Valvetronix cant get close. The clean (with the ISF at 3 o clock and the bass all the way up) sounds pretty damn good.

It sort of does Recto and sort of does Marshall, but does neither perfectly. That may be a good or bad thing depending on what you are looking for.

So far, overall its a 10 if you consider it's cost. As far as sound, its an 8 for clean and an 8 for overdrive.

I will take it to my jam session tomorrow and update you guys on Sunday with my thoughts.

 

[Hendog]

Here you go...

 

[ShaneV]

Yeah, people really bad talk the clean. I was surprised at how much it didn't suck after hearing people talk about it.

 

[luv]

Yeah, people really bad talk the clean. I was surprised at how much it didn't suck after hearing people talk about it.

gives me hope...this just seems like a really cool practice amp..especially for the price. but i want a passable clean channel, so i'm glad to hear it doesn't suck.

how is the headphone out? anybody use that ever?

 

[Hendog]

Crappy sound quality but...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fskECzoDLM"]YouTube - Blackstar HT-5 Test[/ame]

 

[fogman]

nice vid! thanks.

 

[TonyEVH5150]

I use the headphone out. I have a set of Sony wireless headphones plugged in. I left the speaker emulation at the 1x10 setting. The 4x12 sound is too bass and midrange heavy for my ears.

The cleans are good, but just not the chimey, Fender-like tone that some look for in a clean amp. They are definitely better than my Valveking cleans were.

I'd agree with the 8-8-10 review. I just can't find an amp at this price point that will do what this amp does. The closest competitor (I guess Blackheart) doesn't have two fooswitchable channels, an effects loop, or a gain shaping feature.

 

[Hendog]

Now that I have played it for a solid hour, I'm not sure that it is a better amp than the Valvetronix. I shouldn't even be rating it yet because I have to keep it low at my house at 10:30 at night. I'll let you guys know the real deal after jam tomorrow.

Keep in mind, I have the 15 watt 1x8 OLD MODEL Vox that was the best sounding configuration they made. Of course I haven't played the 100 watt head but I doubt it is a better amp.

 

[skerwo]

Now that I have played it for a solid hour, I'm not sure that it is a better amp than the Valvetronix. I shouldn't even be rating it yet because I have to keep it low at my house at 10:30 at night. I'll let you guys know the real deal after jam tomorrow.

Keep in mind, I have the 15 watt 1x8 OLD MODEL Vox that was the best sounding configuration they made. Of course I haven't played the 100 watt head but I doubt it is a better amp.

I don´t know the HT-5, but I also owned the VOX Valvetronix 15 (the old model). It was pretty good sounding at lower volumes, but lacked at higher volumes. For my opinion it wasn´t able to do some jam sessions. I think it was the 8" speaker.

Meantime I´m playing a small 15 watts tube combo (a russian clone of the Fender Pro jr.) with a 10" celestion speaker. This works real fine with some pedals (I use the Danelectro Cool Cats). Works very well for practice at home with lower level and also for some sessions. Clean volume´s loud enough, overdrive´s coming from the pedals. A real good and lightweight setup for these things.


Rainer

 

[YtseJam92]

Damage Control...

 

[Hendog]

and Tunnel Vision...

 

[luv]

best video i've seen of this amp...shows a true variety of tones...including good cleans (in my opinion)

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WDzcAd1evo"]YouTube - BLACKSTAR HT-5 HEAD presentation[/ame]