NAD - Blackstar HT 40

[mi_canuck]

Happy NAD to me!

Went to the shop 3 days in a row to compare back and forth between this and a Marshall DSL 40C... I just honestly preferred the way the Blackstar sounded and functioned (control layout, tone adjustments, etc). I 'wanted' the Marshall - who doesn't lol.... but in the end, I went with what sounded best to me and what I like to play. Both had the 70/80 Celestion speaker too. I read that many upgrade this to a Creamback... so maybe a future project. But as is, sounds quite nice.

The range of tones is pretty amazing and the cleans are quite nice. Not really sure how "Marshally" this really sounds (I'll admit I'm not a seasoned player), but the ISF feature really impressed me. "USA to UK" range they claim. Sort of like modern/vintage I suppose. But it seems to cover tones from Metallica, to Nirvana, to Black Sabbath quite well.


I any case, I'm super stoked for this thing. A good match to my SG I think.

 

[mwalluk]

Re: NAD - Blackstar HT 40

Nice. Owned one previously. One of the few amps that really made my neck pickup on my LP shine. Defintely upgrade to wither a creamback or vintage 30. Mine had a century vintage which sounded good, switched it out for a creamback

 

[mi_canuck]

Re: NAD - Blackstar HT 40

There are two Creambacks... G12M-65 and G12H-75... Besides the wattage what are the main differences?

 

[mwalluk]

Re: NAD - Blackstar HT 40

There are two Creambacks... G12M-65 and G12H-75... Besides the wattage what are the main differences?

Essentially the 75's are a higher wattage H30, where as the 65's are a higher wattage Greenback. There's minimal tone differences in both respect comparisons (75 vs H30 and 65 vs Greenback), one has slightly more mids, but less bright.

I went with 75. Seemed to have a nicer crunch, thicker, more full sounding.

 

[MkIII Renegade]

Re: NAD - Blackstar HT 40

It's a great combo for sure. Blackstar in general is highly underrated.

It is quite strange to A/B from modern to vintage voicing in one sitting. Really makes you think about your midrange preferences.

 

[moshpit817]

Re: NAD - Blackstar HT 40

I had one and really liked it.I had a 1-12" cabinet with an Eminence "The Tonker" speaker in it that I plugged the Club 40 into..it really added a nice low end and increased power handling..like said above Blakstar is under-rated IMO..that should pair up with your SG nicely.

 

[mi_canuck]

Re: NAD - Blackstar HT 40

It's a great combo for sure. Blackstar in general is highly underrated.

Poking around on sites like TheGearPage, you'd think it was the worst amp in the world by how badly it gets slammed there... I suppose if it doesn't start with 'M', it's s*** for most of the folks over there.

 

[moshpit817]

Re: NAD - Blackstar HT 40

Poking around on sites like TheGearPage, you'd think it was the worst amp in the world by how badly it gets slammed there... I suppose if it doesn't start with 'M', it's s*** for most of the folks over there.

You are right! I have seen some amps on there with like 2 knobs costing $3500 + that get rave reviews! When I decide to get another combo amp it will be another Club 40 for sure..also if you do the biasing they have a Bias Blend pot next to the regular bias pot to help balance the 2 El-34's bias in it..I got my friends exactly even between both tubes,nice feature IMO.. Blackstar forum has the answers to any questions you may have.

 

[mi_canuck]

Re: NAD - Blackstar HT 40

You are right! I have seen some amps on there with like 2 knobs costing $3500 + that get rave reviews! When I decide to get another combo amp it will be another Club 40 for sure..also if you do the biasing they have a Bias Blend pot next to the regular bias pot to help balance the 2 El-34's bias in it..I got my friends exactly even between both tubes,nice feature IMO.. Blackstar forum has the answers to any questions you may have.

I'll have to educate myself on how to do this biasing

Although I prefer gain and that type of music, playing around with the clean channel this evening impressed the **** out of me. The "class A" voicing (button out) is very VERY nice. So responsive to how you pick, and stays nice and clear even with the guitar volume rolled down.

I'm loving it more every day!

 

[Mr Wolf]

Re: NAD - Blackstar HT 40

I really want to try one in my search for a combo. On paper they sound good, and Blackstar stuff generally seem to be well liked. Any limitations or apparent weaknesses beyond potential speaker upgrades?

 

[mi_canuck]

Re: NAD - Blackstar HT 40

I really want to try one in my search for a combo. On paper they sound good, and Blackstar stuff generally seem to be well liked. Any limitations or apparent weaknesses beyond potential speaker upgrades?

I've only had mine a few days so too early to tell. Plus I'm not the right guy to ask as I have little experience with amps.

I've seen some complaints on TGP, but as I mentioned above, it's usually due to snobbery.

 

[mwalluk]

Re: NAD - Blackstar HT 40

I really want to try one in my search for a combo. On paper they sound good, and Blackstar stuff generally seem to be well liked. Any limitations or apparent weaknesses beyond potential speaker upgrades?

compliants also stem from "its not a true tube amp" to "hybrid amp".

ht40 uses 2 el34 and 2 preamps. Unlike most amps that tubes parlay off eachother, 1 tube is soley for one channel.

It's a bad ass sounding amp. Meshes really well in a band setting. Clean is nice, good gain (too much gain).

It can sound a lil compressed at times. I got rid of mine in favor of a mesa stiletto. I prefer the more organic raw tone.

 

[mi_canuck]

Re: NAD - Blackstar HT 40

While very versatile - which is partly why I got it (and mainly because it sounded really REALLY good to me) - it obviously won't please everyone's taste. It's strength is high gain, while still having decent cleans. If after an amp that truly shines for clean tones, a Fender or Vox or some boutique amp will probably be better for that person. But also cost more.

I challenge anyone to at least try one, rather than basing off internet opinions.

 

[stratguy23]

Re: NAD - Blackstar HT 40

The HT 20 and 40 are really good, everyday working-man amps. They're versatile and are intuitively laid out controls-wise.

While I generally favor Marshall tones and the HT only offers a hint of that and is generally voiced more "modern", I would pick the HT 40 over the DSL 40 because I find the DSL 40 Ultra channel almost unusable. It's voiced very trebly versus the Classic channel, whereas the HT offers a much more coherent experience across its 2 channels.

My only knock against the HT 20 and 40 is that they're big and heavy for their wattage. I wonder if there's a lot of air in those enclosures, or if they really are using substantial transformers, etc.

 

[mi_canuck]

Re: NAD - Blackstar HT 40

For sure heavy. That's the one downside. About 55 lbs for the HT 40.

 

[mwalluk]

Re: NAD - Blackstar HT 40

Dude highly recommend considering a tube swap. I had really good results with a full set of Mullards. As you know there is an ungodly amount of gain. Hell when I had mine, I only had gain on maybe 6 the whole time. I played hard rock. Mullards tamed the gain some, but also added a lil more warmth to clean channel.

Fresh tubes and a speaker swap will really make the amp shine. Happy you like it.

 

[Mr Wolf]

Re: NAD - Blackstar HT 40

compliants also stem from "its not a true tube amp" to "hybrid amp".

ht40 uses 2 el34 and 2 preamps. Unlike most amps that tubes parlay off eachother, 1 tube is soley for one channel.

It's a bad ass sounding amp. Meshes really well in a band setting. Clean is nice, good gain (too much gain).

It can sound a lil compressed at times. I got rid of mine in favor of a mesa stiletto. I prefer the more organic raw tone.

In all fairness, given the price points I would expect the mesa would be an overall upgrade generally (of course noting personal preferences aside). I'll give the Blackstar a whirl - it's the only way to know! Thanks

 

[mi_canuck]

Re: NAD - Blackstar HT 40

Dude highly recommend considering a tube swap. I had really good results with a full set of Mullards. As you know there is an ungodly amount of gain. Hell when I had mine, I only had gain on maybe 6 the whole time. I played hard rock. Mullards tamed the gain some, but also added a lil more warmth to clean channel.

Fresh tubes and a speaker swap will really make the amp shine. Happy you like it.

I keep reading about Tung-Sol being the tube of choice. I've also heard of Sovtek. Not too familiar with Mullard. I think the stock pre-amp tubes are Ruby?? Not sure on the power tubes. I may tinker with that stuff later on. For now will get familiar with it (only had a week). May take a stab at checking bias. Also want the speaker to be nice and broken in before making any opinions on the stock 70/80.

 

[mwalluk]

Re: NAD - Blackstar HT 40

I keep reading about Tung-Sol being the tube of choice. I've also heard of Sovtek. Not too familiar with Mullard. I think the stock pre-amp tubes are Ruby?? Not sure on the power tubes. I may tinker with that stuff later on. For now will get familiar with it (only had a week). May take a stab at checking bias. Also want the speaker to be nice and broken in before making any opinions on the stock 70/80.

Tungsol is nice in V2 spot. I believe that's the closet to back cab which controls overdrive channel. Do a quick google search to find out which one controls which channel. I had a tungsol and jj, then went mullards.

ruby, groovetube and mesa are just relabelled tubes.

sovtek lps are good tubes, sovtek wa and wb a cheap and not useable.

 

[mwalluk]

Re: NAD - Blackstar HT 40

In all fairness, given the price points I would expect the mesa would be an overall upgrade generally (of course noting personal preferences aside). I'll give the Blackstar a whirl - it's the only way to know! Thanks

price point wise, cant beat ht40. I had a dsl and carvin legacy prior, prefer the ht40 over them. more british flavor.

I got the Mesa b/c its the amp I always wanted. Plus I got a kiler deal. $400+ cheaper than what they go for on used market.