Blackstar HT-5

[THOMO]

Thumbs up for this little amp. Mine arrived yesterday and I was very impressed with the finish and the sound this amp makes. Its hooked up to a Marshall quad box and for 5 watts this amp rocks.

[CMH (OH)]

Been considering one of these myself since I only play at home and never gig out. Heard really good things about them I just wish they had reverb on board.

Not that it is a deal breaker since I have an effects processor and this does have an effects loop, but it would still be nice to have it built in.

How would you rate the amount of gain on tap for playing metal? Good enough to hang or would you need a pedal, etc in front of it?

Cheers,
Chris

[Ripley7t]

I love mine. I ordered it with the 15% off coupon I had from MF. They have lots of gain. Not death metal level, but good enough for most everything else.

[THOMO]

Yep the gain is very good. The effects can go through the send in/out. Plugged my Model 4 into it and this thing really rocks. Even the clean channel and using the ISF knob and a Strat you can get some great tones. For a bedroom/studio amp this is a value for the money amp.

[Rockinloud]

Yeah these are great little amps. I have the combo & run a TC Nova System in the loop. Awesome tone. Could use just a little & I mean very little push gain wise for heavier tones but all in all a very good amp. Can't believe this thing is only 5 watts either.

[THOMO]

Played it all weekend very impressed...........................

[mjtripper]

They are great amps, the only thing I don't like about it is the cab emulator/headphone out is pre fx loop. I'm really surprised this amp doesn't get more attention, at least around here.

[CMH (OH)]

You convinced me.

I found a mini stack on CL that is very reasonable and I'm going to give it a shot.

I guess I'll need to sell some gear now to make some room for this and keep the wife happy.

[Ark]

I played one at GC the other day and was very impressed. They are very Marshall like.

[THOMO]

They are designed by a couple of ex Marshall people................

[DarkkWarriorr]

I have this amp as well in a half stack format for recording/practicing (when I'm not using my other rack-mount and or multi-effects floor units), and indeed it rocks pretty hard for what it is, not to mention how articulate and responsive it is for a such little tube amp.
And although it lacks reverb and it could use a little more gain for the more extreme metal styles I like to play, running a couple of pedals through it will fix those issues easily. Plus, it's built well and doesn't feel cheap like other smaller amps out there.

[Speiro]

Just got an HT-5 combo today and it's awesome.