Tried the HT5RH at practice

ecc83

ICBM said:

ecc83 said:

The Five is also a bit of a misnamed amp. Yes, it does clip at jeeeust 5W but, as I said before it will get louder and dirtier.

Not misnamed at all - that's the only correct way of rating a guitar amp by output power. Modern amp companies with Class D amps claiming output power higher than the power consumption please take note...

I did say "a bit "! I totally agree with you but the 5 will beat the pants off most EL84 five waters because of the PP FB design. The rating is also "better than honest" because all the amps are tested at a MEASURED 230V mains input. Can ALL the other mnfctrs say that?

Amplifier companies have ALWAYS pimped the power of their products! I well remember DIN watts, Peak watts, Music Power and "Total IHF Peak Music Power" which multiplied a most ICE stereo radio to a blistering 100 watts!

And of course "rms" watts is just as silly. Just remembered! (old, 1/2 blind, pilled up) One of my last jobs was to test a couple of 100W amps for power delivery for 10% THD. If they wanted to, B's could easily market them as the "HT-120"! (for those that won't know, 10% distortion is really not at all bad. You would probably call it "mild crunch")

Dave.

thomasross20

I think one custom built is enough! 
Attraction of the atma is the versatility, low power modes, size and ultra light weight.

thomasross20

Tried the emulated out with headphones. I regret to say it sounded pants - much much better through the cab. Honestly, that NL212 cab is amazing..

To do this I left the amp in standby, as instructed, then put the headphones in. However when taking them out, the jack remained in the socket by mistake and then I tried to play through the cab and got nothing! I had to power on and off again.

My guitars all sound SO much better through the amp. Just tried my suhr and it's like "woah!"

thomasross20

Funny thing... we all said it was one of the best practices the other day when I used the HT5RH, though nobody said it was due to the amp But I knew it was... there was a new energy in the room - it was absolutely rocking - I noticed a huge difference. However, our drummer said he never noticed any difference lol.

Blackstar do rate their amps fairly - no wonder the 5W one I tried at practice sounded huge. 

thomasross20

Been checking out these amps I'm going to try tomorrow in more detail: 

The Marshall's (DSL15 & mini jubilee) definitely are less dark and more middy/trebly than Blackstar. I think I prefer the Blackstar sound - will see..

Rectoverb 25 head - think it's out of the running as I keep reading it is NO good at low home volumes. Mark V:25 is better but I already know that's not the one for me. The 10W mode is just too loud and I'm not going be buying an attenuator any time soon. HT5 sounds great at low volume, other amps have low power modes and my MJW will have power scaling - so no need! I find the Mark V:25 crunch to be too dark and distorted - not like a real crunch. Watch this, I'll probably buy it

Friedman Dirty Shirley - I never realised it's only single channel. Probably not for me then! I also find these amps pretty expensive. 

HT20 - going to check the sound difference to the HT5 and how well the master volume works. Doubt I'll get it though as will probably go for this HT5 in trade!

Atma: low power modes (1, 5 and 18W so louder for a gig, too), small, light, 3 channels (no reverb but not a total deal-breaker). No standby switch so it pops at power on and off. Sounds great in some demos, just ok in others - will see. I'd rather the controls has proper names rather than just some letters! Just checked the website but doesn't show as in stock - hopefully it's there tomorrow. 

Will pass on the Lionheart 5W (why when I would have the HT5?) and any Orange heads, which I find "fizzy." Also pass on Suhr Badger's as tried one before but wasn't wowed (not enough gain and quite large). 


Check this out - I think the Blackstar is a better buy by a country mile (given the massssive price difference): 


Another cool comparison video: 

--> Unfortunately the Atma doesn't sound the best there on the lower gain settings (Friedman does)!

thomasross20

Unfortunately the only one I clearly can't try is a Brunetti Pleximan grrr!!

monquixote

Have you looked at the TubeMeister?

thomasross20

Ah, that was another one - if it's in stock, I'll have a play... 

I really wish I could try a Pleximan. I've got a hankering for one - that and the Atma are pretty high on my list, I must say..

thomasross20

50W would cover any gig, 5W I have my doubts if it'd be ok at home volume. At least I know if I like the sound of the Atma when I try tomorrow, it goes down to 1W!

Deadman

Looking forward to hearing what you think, Thomas. This is my favourite thread at the moment as although I'm very happy with my ID30 TVP I'm sorely tempted to go back to valves for the house.

thomasross20

@Deadman what amps in my list are you interested in?

Deadman

The Jubilee but it's just so damn expensive. I really want to know if it's that much better than the HT5. 

timmysoft

thomasross20 said:

Been checking out these amps I'm going to try tomorrow in more detail: 

The Marshall's (DSL15 & mini jubilee) definitely are less dark and more middy/trebly than Blackstar. I think I prefer the Blackstar sound - will see..

Rectoverb 25 head - think it's out of the running as I keep reading it is NO good at low home volumes. Mark V:25 is better but I already know that's not the one for me. The 10W mode is just too loud and I'm not going be buying an attenuator any time soon. HT5 sounds great at low volume, other amps have low power modes and my MJW will have power scaling - so no need! I find the Mark V:25 crunch to be too dark and distorted - not like a real crunch. Watch this, I'll probably buy it

Friedman Dirty Shirley - I never realised it's only single channel. Probably not for me then! I also find these amps pretty expensive. 

HT20 - going to check the sound difference to the HT5 and how well the master volume works. Doubt I'll get it though as will probably go for this HT5 in trade!

Atma: low power modes (1, 5 and 18W so louder for a gig, too), small, light, 3 channels (no reverb but not a total deal-breaker). No standby switch so it pops at power on and off. Sounds great in some demos, just ok in others - will see. I'd rather the controls has proper names rather than just some letters! Just checked the website but doesn't show as in stock - hopefully it's there tomorrow. 

Will pass on the Lionheart 5W (why when I would have the HT5?) and any Orange heads, which I find "fizzy." Also pass on Suhr Badger's as tried one before but wasn't wowed (not enough gain and quite large). 


Check this out - I think the Blackstar is a better buy by a country mile (given the massssive price difference): 


Another cool comparison video: 

--> Unfortunately the Atma doesn't sound the best there on the lower gain settings (Friedman does)!

To me in that Mesa vs blackstar video the Mesa wins just on the quality and depth to the tone. Although it was somebody eq'ing a Mesa to sound like a blackstar impersonating a Mesa. The Mesa sound is definitely with the graphic on and bolder mids.

videos are interesting and I often watch them to learn about specs of an amp, but I'd never buy off the back of one of these tone vids.

thomasross20

Me neither - same for guitars - must try! 
I also think the Boogie slightly edged it but given it's about 100x the price of the Blackstar...

I've been reading about the Jubilee and DSL amps. Apparently the DSL can get Jubilee tones plus loads more and is the more versatile (and cheaper) amp. 

dindude

thomasross20 said:

I've been reading about the Jubilee and DSL amps. Apparently the DSL can get Jubilee tones plus loads more and is the more versatile (and cheaper) amp. 

I take it you read that from Marshall themselves. I had a DSL back in my gigging days and I shudder when I think of the tone now. Horrible amp. That was the 40 watt though, not sure about the others.

I'm no big Marshall fan though, although I could handle a Jubillee I reckon.

thomasross20

TBH it was reading a cross-section of comments across multiple different forums!

ICBM

thomasross20 said:

I've been reading about the Jubilee and DSL amps. Apparently the DSL can get Jubilee tones plus loads more and is the more versatile (and cheaper) amp.

If that's true then they've downgraded the new Jubilees... although to be fair, the new DSLs are an improvement over the old ones.

I'd still be surprised though, because there is a fundamental difference in the way the two amps work - the Jubilee uses diode clipping, and the DSL doesn't.

monquixote

Your mileage may vary but I've never been able to get any sound I liked out of a DSL

timmysoft

I've never struggled with DSLs, I think they sound great! I've toured them before and never had issues and they always sounded good every night. 

ecc83

"Atma: low power modes (1, 5 and 18W so louder for a gig, too), small, light, 3 channels (no reverb but not a total deal-breaker). No standby switch so it pops at power on and off. "

The HT-20 of course is sans S/BY switch as well Tim but you just need to yank the guitar lead out of the front jack and the OP valves will quietly shut down. (a feature not found on the HT5 but that does of course have S/By)

Dave.