Yet another "help, what's a good amp for home use"? Updated: NAD!

boogieman

Time for a new amp, £500ish budget. I play lots of different stuff (badly) but ideally I want sparkly cleans for ambient style with stacked delays, a nice tubey Hendrix/SRV blues tone and a decent classic rock tone (Free, ACDC etc).An FX loop would be nice.

I've got a THR10C but it sounds very lightweight compared to the clout I can get from the Marshall AVT 1x12 combo that I'll be replacing. It doesn't seem to like pedals coupled with humbuckers very much either.

Possible contenders so far, based on reviews and YouTube clips are Laney Lionheart 5 watt or Blackstar HT5R. What else? Strictly home use btw, so it needs to be neighbour friendly volumeswise.

RaymondLin

The new peavy mini heads ticks all the boxes?

Gassage

@boogieman

Charlie Chander has a Cornell ROmany 1 x 10 that is his, but it's in the store.

It's up at 495 but I know he'd take 400 for it.

1/4w to 5w power scaling.

It's a steal.

http://www.guitarexperience.co.uk/amps/cornell-romany-1x10.html

thomasross20

What's good for home levels but ALSO is boutique and killer and valve and light - that's the question.

boogieman

thomasross20;866122" said:

What's good for home levels but ALSO is boutique and killer and valve and light - that's the question.

Yes you're right, except for the light bit. Seeing as how I haven't gigged for over 10 years, it's not likely to leave the house very often.

Jeremiah

thomasross20 said:

What's good for home levels but ALSO is boutique and killer and valve and light - that's the question.

MJW Bantam with power scaling? Not tried one, but it would be on my radar if I had the budget.

randomhandclaps

All advice you get is completely irrelevant until we know how the you are intending to use it.  Whether that's just guitar and amp or a small pedal board etc.  

The Laney Lionheart is a great amp but depending on what you play you are probably going to pedals for certain things.  The Blackstar HT5 delivers gain at lowish volumes (it's really not that quiet by the time it opens up unless you stick an EQ or volume box in the loop) but the clean sound is pretty appalling.

In my opinion you are never going to get that earth shattering feeling of using gain from an 'home friendly' amp so I think you are better off forgetting the concept of amp drive and getting a good clean low wattage amp - by that I mean something that will stay clean up to the volume you wish to use it.  Then putting yourself together a small pedalboard for gains, delay and other fun.  On top of that, dependent on your own personal budget there seem little point in spending out big on an amp that you wouldn't be recording or gigging.  The Blackheart Little Giant and Handsome Devil are two amps worth checking out that fulfil the criteria.  They sound good clean (far better than competitors in the same price bracket), are good pedal platforms and provided you aren't playing at the other end of your 100ft living room then even the 5 Watts of the Little Giant stays clean.  I do also think the Lionheart is a good call although dearer.

boogieman

Good point. I've got a Line6 M13 that I mainly use for echo, reverb and univibe/chorus. The drives are ok on it, but they're a bit fizzy and don't sound that convincing to my ears. I've got a couple of drive pedals to cover that: a Pedalworx Cactus Crunch and a Fulldrive 3.

Not seeing much Blackstar love here, are they really that bad?

randomhandclaps

boogieman said:

Good point. I've got a Line6 M13 that I mainly use for echo, reverb and univibe/chorus. The drives are ok on it, but they're a bit fizzy and don't sound that convincing to my ears. I've got a couple of drive pedals to cover that: a Pedalworx Cactus Crunch and a Fulldrive 3.

Not seeing much Blackstar love here, are they really that bad?

The Blackstars aren't bad at all just firstly they really aren't that quiet and IME virtually every big drive amp I've had has sounded better a lower volumes than the HT-5 needs to be for the drive to be audible.  The clean channel is bland and lacks any form of EQ.  If you like the appeal of the drive from the HT-5 then the 20 Watt Jet Citys do it much better. 

If you could snag one for within your budget (which is possible) I would suggest a Princeton.  A mate has a very similar setup up with an M13 and a few drive pedals to suit.  He still sometimes feels it's too much for home use although I've played it around his at living rooms levels and think it sounds great, plus there's a bit more there if required elsewhere.

Chalky

I've owned two Blackstar HT5 amps and they are fine with a pedal in front and I liked using a looper in the fx loop for home playing. They aren't bad but neither are they very good.

dedekind

Egnater Tweaker 15?

Sassafras

As RHC says, those Blackheart amps are excellent. Great cleans and nice breakup at volume. I've got a Killer Ant and a Little Giant that sound great, especially when they're just on the edge of breakup. Dirt cheap too.

olafgarten

The Laney cub 15 looks pretty good, haven't played one though.

strtdv

I'd get a used Lionheart 5 combo (the head has a much better effects loop but is otherwise much more cheaply made).
Used you should be paying about £350 for one, which leaves about £150 for a good high gain pedal.

boogieman

And the winner is.... a Blackheart Handsome Devil, bought from @Longtallronnie of this parish. Looking forward to giving this a blast. Thanks to everyone who chipped in with the advice btw.