New 5 watt head on the market: Blackstar HT-5

Animal

Animal

Well-known member
With all recent buzz about low wattage amps now available, I'm surprised no one here has mentioned the latest offering from Blackstar:

http://www.blackstaramps.co.uk/products/ht-5/ht-5h.html

Reviews seem to be mostly positive, especially amongst people requiring serious gain for heavy playing but still having the option to switch to a clean channel.

Videos of the head seem quite nice:

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=uQjADxog0Es
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=bflHRtcc95M
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=DKGMh1EBuXw
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=GbmrjqOjsAE
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=_2DWIAYPuEs
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=NUW9_zDHCyY

The build quality looks quite solid considering the price point:
http://bbs.espguitars.com/showpost.php?p=725667&postcount=49
http://bbs.espguitars.com/showpost.php?p=725828&postcount=54

Anyone here played this little beast? So far, from what I'm hearing, I like it better than the Krank Rev Jnr. and it boasts gain, features, and versatility not available on the Tiny Terror or Blackheart Little Giant, and is similar to the Egnater Rebel in terms of flexibility at a much lower price point and wattage with actual channel switching. My main concern, and gathering from what I've read, is that the HT-5 lacks the dynamics and tonal "girth" or balls of all the other aforementioned amps. Afterall, I think all of the gain comes from internal diode clipping, as it's basically a HT pedal in a small tube amp form.
 
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Re: New 5 watt head on the market: Blackstar HT-5

A 12BH7 preamp tube ... interesting. Looks like a really cool amp. I'd love to have something to mess around with at home or for small gigs.
 
Re: New 5 watt head on the market: Blackstar HT-5

i dont know how I missed this amp, I did see their 30 watt head but thought it too pricy nice tones on this Definately more my taste than my EVJ and at $299 its alittle more than my head cost plus mods cool
As far as diode clipping and the HT pedals...the HT DistX pedal opperates at 300 volts so theres something cooking in that tone and its the tube! I ordered one last night(the pedal that is)
 
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Re: New 5 watt head on the market: Blackstar HT-5

Hames Jetfield said:
My main concern, and gathering from what I've read, is that the HT-5 lacks the dynamics and tonal "girth" or balls of all the other aforementioned amps. Afterall, I think all of the gain comes from internal diode clipping, as it's basically a HT pedal in a small tube amp form.
Click to expand...

I heard/saw that a while ago, just the online glib... and I've only played one Blackstar head which fizzled on the floor of GC & they didn't have another.

Anyway... thats NOT a tube amp. It's a hybrid.

The 12BH7 is really a TV tube, they're probably using it as a buffer or driver of sorts... like the phase inverter before a solid state power amp.
 
Re: New 5 watt head on the market: Blackstar HT-5

ooooh i thought that was a preamp tube... from their manual//
Features
The HT-5 is the ultimate studio and practice amp, packing all the great tone and
innovative features of the award-winning HT valve pedals into a two channel,
footswitchable valve amp format. The patent-applied-for ISF (Infinite Shape Feature)
circuit gives you infinite adjustment over the characteristics of the tone control
network and takes you from the USA to the UK and any where in between. So now
you can effectively design your own tone and finally find ‘the sound in your head’.
In making the HT-5 ideally suited to home and studio use, the aim was to develop a
valve amp which sounded full and toneful even at the lowest volume level. With this
in mind the Blackstar design team designed a brand new valve power amplifier
topology. The HT-5 power amplifier is a low powered push-pull design which
produces the crunch and break-up characteristics of a traditional 100W output stage
but at a much lower volume. This is achieved by the use of a 12BH7 dual triode in
push-pull configuration producing 5 watts output, which is rich in valve harmonics
and compression.
The HT-5 also has a fully specified speaker emulated output which further enhances
the studio credentials and allows any guitarist to get amazing valve tone straight to
tape or disk, or through headphones. It also features the unique 4x12/1x12 voicing
switch allowing you to change the tonal characteristics of the emulated signal
between two emulated cabinet types.
Add to this an effects loop with switchable level, along with 16Ω and 8Ω speaker
outputs which allow you to run the amp into an external speaker cabinet of your
choice, and you have everything you need for recording or practising.


its still interesting to me .. whats a push/pull configuration?
dont fear the hybrid{tubeWorks user here} but yeh the magic in tube amps is the power tubes not so much the preamp tubes
 
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Re: New 5 watt head on the market: Blackstar HT-5

More quality clips of this lil' thing:
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=mDFQi_jBN20
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=9i_aUoanCA8&feature=related

I've even read on the Boogie board, by the same guy in the video above that he's even gigged with this amp through a Marshall 4x12 and reckoned it sounded amazing. Quite a call considering he also owns a Mark IV.

Even keeps up in a band setting (band comes in halfway through):
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=FsO1-1TCchA

WANT!
 
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Re: New 5 watt head on the market: Blackstar HT-5

Apparently there are many problems with the first batch dying... or not even working at all! I'll see if I can remember where I read it and attach a link.
 
Re: New 5 watt head on the market: Blackstar HT-5

Yeh I've heard some isolated horror stories about reliability. Maybe should wait until till 2nd generation HT-5s.
 
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Re: New 5 watt head on the market: Blackstar HT-5

if it breaks down you need to call a TV repairman who comes over and request that you place it on the ground for him to work on so he can expose his goods when he bends over to fix it.
 
Re: New 5 watt head on the market: Blackstar HT-5

DankStar said:
if it breaks down you need to call a TV repairman who comes over and request that you place it on the ground for him to work on so he can expose his goods when he bends over to fix it.
Click to expand...

That's an ummm interesting.... guitar related fantasy you have right there. Does this repairman have a vagina?
 
Re: New 5 watt head on the market: Blackstar HT-5

That will be my next amp!!!! That is what I have been wanting for ever! That is AWESOME!
 
Re: New 5 watt head on the market: Blackstar HT-5

J Moose said:
The 12BH7 is really a TV tube, they're probably using it as a buffer or driver of sorts... like the phase inverter before a solid state power amp.
Click to expand...

IIRC there was a project on ax84.com with 12bh7 as power tube, I think it was 2 watts or something...now they replaced 2W push pull project with 6sn7.
 
Re: New 5 watt head on the market: Blackstar HT-5

I ordered mine off of guitar center online. Got it, hooked it up, let it warm up for awhile, went to jam out some tasty Mick Ralph licks...and ....NOTHING. Sounded like bacon fryn'. Sent it back and got to wait until mid April to get a new one.
 
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