Hughes and Kettner Black Spirit 200

lysander

Well, I ended up buying one.
I've only spent a few hours with it but so far I think it's brilliant.
The clean and lead channels in particular are incredible. Crunch and ultra are great too but a bit harder to dial in - IMO - but that's probably also because they're less my type of sounds.
I need to spend much more time with it, I'm yet to explore the presets and preset management apps.
The included boost with a different voicing per channel is awesome.
I bought the FSM foot-switch too which I think is a must to take full advantage of the amp.

Negative points : the push buttons feel a bit flimsy and the buzzing sounds when turning off and on ( and intermittently after being turned off ? ) are not confidence inspiring.

lysander

Having now gone through the presets ( from the remote control iPad app ), I have to say this amp sounds insane.
I’m still not sure about the ultra channel, maybe I’m not the target audience, and I haven’t spent much time with it.
But the three others simply make the best tones I’ve played out of an amp at any volume, all while playing at bedroom levels ( through FRFR with the red box out ).
The embedded impulse responses are great.
I couldn’t stop playing it.

I saw seen some comments before along the lines of “H&K have trouble selling their tube amps why would any one buy an expensive solid state amp from them” - talk about missing the point !
I’ve never gotten better sounds of any tube amps I’ve played or possessed, including some older H&K amps, and this has the added ability to sound the same at any volume.
Add to that the midi preset recall and very useable effects and I think it’s hard to beat.

Compared with amp sims, to me also sounds and feels better than all those I’ve tried,
( which includes Helix as well as most software ones but not the axe fx iii ).

I do worry about the longevity of the iPad app, they should open source the protocol really.
But it’s just an added convenience rather than
something essential.