NAD - Blackstar HT20 combo

[MartinBarre]

Just got it. I'm not in a band any more so it was probably a silly purchase since I always play straight into the laptop through my old Line 6 Toneport, but...I always wanted a Blackstar and this only cost me £250, almost half the price of a new one.
I've only played it for a short time but I'm loving it. Funny thing is, the PRS in the photo has a Super Distortion in the bridge and it sounds great but without cranking the amp it's hard to tell what the gain will be like. So, I plugged in my KEXTMG with EMGs, expecting it add some saturation but it didn't seem to add anything except volume. I don't know shit about valve amps (and yes, I'm aware this isn't a TRUE valve amp but it seems to work like one) so I'll need to fiddle about with it.
I've read that the stock Celestion Rocket speaker is shit - anyone got any thoughts on that?

Also, I would have been better with the HT5 which can be used in 1W mode, but...£250 for this seemed a real bargain!

20150329_145305 by stormwatch1977, on Flickr


20150329_145244 by stormwatch1977, on Flickr

[straycat]

I have the head and 2X12 cab and love mine.
The 2X12 came with Celestion 70/80's and they sounded decent.
It does have a set of Whse Speakers green berets (25 watt) green back clones and it sounds fantastic.

[MartinBarre]

I'm thinking of getting a pedal to boost the gain at lower volumes. Have you tried any with good results?

[jgcable]

I have the HT5 and it has plenty of gain. It doesn't have a 1 watt mode though... only the standard 5 watts. It sounds great at every volume level.

[chrisolson]

Maybe try a Greenback in it to clamp down on the middy-ness inherent in Blackstars - actually whatever the 65W version of the GB is - G12H or something like that? Not a V30 though. A T75 sounds very good with BS amps.

[themisfit138]

You should be able to get decent saturated tones at lower volumes, but I have never used a Blackstar. I use Mesa Mark series and Marshalls. With a Master volume Marshall, you can crank the master volume to add saturation and use the channel volume to control the volume of the amp.
This will not work the same on a Mesa they are more reliant on preamp gain. For them the channel volume is actually a gain stage, there is also a volume 1 knob that is also a gain stage along with the gain knob. The master volume basically just controls the volume of the amp, and adds very little gain. This is mostly true for a Fender based amp.
So, maybe one of those methods will help you with the Blackstar.

[straycat]

Crank the OD volume and keep the master volume low.
I can get great saturation at low volume on my HTstudio 20 head

[MartinBarre]

Yeah, that way does work best Straycat, it sounds good. I love the lead tones from this thing. However, even cranked that way I'd like a boost so it'll be interesting to hear how the HT DistX pedal goes with it.
I took out the wee Marshall MG15 last night to try the two of them - I think the little 8" speaker adds some harshness to the tone that's missing from the Blackstar but I specifically wanted a 12" speaker as I think they sound way better overall. I'll get there eventually!