NAD...

Fortheloveofguitar

HT20 worst of the bunch, truly dreadful sounding amp. Box of wasps right there 

 Bought one blind as a backup and sounded that poor that I wouldn't even use one if I had too. 

Theres a thread on it here that i started with many agreeing 

Very surprised you went with that but hey we're all different and you must have shit in your ears

ThePrettyDamned

Fortheloveofguitar said:

HT20 worst of the bunch, truly dreadful sounding amp. Box of wasps right there 

 Bought one blind as a backup and sounded that poor that I wouldn't even use one if I had too. 

Theres a thread on it here that i started with many agreeing 

Very surprised you went with that but hey we're all different and you must have shit in your ears

It's odd, I disagree! I liked them well enough, but it lacked the high end for me - not enough wasps! But it does go to show how different we all are. I've heard loads of bands gigging blackstars and loads gigging drri amps and I've heard both sound great and both sound pants. I liked the ht range but it did not like fuzz pedals - they went weird and squishy into the clean channel, not a problem if you don't use fuzz though. 

Tommy, nice one for really listening with your ears. I thought you'd like the blackstar range the best, and given the home requirements the ht20 is perfect. 

musteatbrain

thomasross20 said:

Hold on - so just to be clear... which bits are not valve that you might expect to be? 

You did say I liked the Blackstar sound but until recently I'd only played the ID260 so I didn't know myself. But I definitely like the Blackstar sound. Maybe hybrid is the way to go. 

Maybe a stellar clean amp with some great pedals instead?

dindude

Fortheloveofguitar said:

HT20 worst of the bunch, truly dreadful sounding amp. Box of wasps right there 

 Bought one blind as a backup and sounded that poor that I wouldn't even use one if I had too. 

Theres a thread on it here that i started with many agreeing 

Very surprised you went with that but hey we're all different and you must have shit in your ears

I think this is technically known as pissing on someone's chips.

Like @theprettydamned my experience of the HT's is not one of fizz, more one of being overly warm, and way too compressed and gainy for me. Just not enough liveliness and dynamics.

Fair play to @thomassross for using his ears to make his own choice rather than perceived wisdom or price tag.

ICBM

musteatbrain said:

Maybe a stellar clean amp with some great pedals instead?

Interestingly, that gives *less* of a valve overdrive sound than the Blackstar, which is actually more equivalent to a boost into a master volume valve amp.

fretmeister

My local rehearsal place has the HT100 and I really enjoying using it. 

Cracking amp range I reckon. Not for everyone of course, but I like them.

Deadman

It's all in the ears. Job done.

thomasross20

Yep, definitely each to their own! 
Funny - relatively expensive guitars and mid-priced amps - you can't say I'm just going for the price tag!

I'm not Atma bashing (honest!) but one thing I missed out.. the controls crackled quite a bit down at 0 which I thought was  tad disappointing - and not just one, either. While I'm at it, I think the EQ on the HT5 is slightly more responsive than that of the HT20. 

Anyway thanks guys
@Fortheloveofguitar what amps do  you like?

@Deadman if you try an HT, I'd be interested to hear what your thoughts on it are! 

Wazmeister

There is nothing better than trying amps in store, in person. Ive had many a happy, and sometimes overwhelming, hour in Coda...

Sometimes, and I guess it comes with confidence, your ears DO reveal things that your head likes (and YouTube and forum debates don't) ! I had a £2000 budget this year, and walked out with a Blues Cube... Go figure.

Congrats Tommy. Enjoy your new journey...

longi

Enjoy your new HT20! I think it's worth the extra money if only for the clean channel - the reverb is also very nice on it. It's an amp I'll probably revisit at some point too. 

Teetonetal

My ht 40 has benifitted dramatically from a wgs vintage 30. The clean channel in particular. 

The stock speakers in this range are garbage IMO. 

ICBM

Teetonetal said:

My ht 40 has benifitted dramatically from a wgs vintage 30. The clean channel in particular. 

The stock speakers in this range are garbage IMO. 

I've been saying this for years… it really baffles me why a company cripples the sound of their amps so badly by fitting cheap speakers. I can only assume it's down to the modern mail order sales system - where headline price is the deciding factor, and you don't get to actually hear the amp first.

Because in a traditional shop environment where you're comparing two amps, the amp with the decent speaker (eg a V30) will blow away the amp with the poor speaker (eg a Rocket 50, as in the HT-20) even if the amp with the poor speaker is actually better-sounding and twice as powerful.

A while back I was testing an HT-40, and to eliminate the speaker as the cause of the problem (an odd buzz, which turned out to be a valve) I quickly ran it through an extension cab which happened to have a Classic Lead 80 in it… the difference was *enormous* - far more depth and clarity, and noticeably more volume.

Blackstar also seem to have a very particular sound in mind - dark, midrangy and tight - and even when they use a better speaker (eg the V30) in their more premium amps, it's still the wrong choice! To be fair, the V30 has become a default 'premium' speaker to the point that I think many companies are scared to choose anything else, but putting them in an amp like the Artisan just seems counterproductive to me, when Greenbacks or G12H-30s are much more suited to the type of sound that amp is designed for - and the extra power rating of the V30 is unnecessary, so it can't be that.

To be fair, their new in-house 'Blackbird' speakers are actually not bad, although they still don't quite sound as good as the better Celestions - and they're using the Celestion V-type in the new Artist series.

thomasross20

Thanks, guys. 
Note I bought the head version. 
--> Cab might be something I look into but  doubt it for now. 

thomasross20

I'm going to need a lowdown on speaker types now lol
The quest never ends

ICBM

thomasross20 said:

I'm going to need a lowdown on speaker types now lol

Not unless you want to increase the weight of your cab you don't .

thomasross20

Only way I'd get a "fab" speaker is if it goes into a 1x12. Any more than 14kg and I'm out lol. 
But then maybe a 1x12 sounds a bit one-dimensional for a gig? Or not. I don't know!

Sassafras

Hopefully, you'll enjoy your MJW even more than the Blackstar.

thomasross20

What amps do you play, Sassafras?

thomasross20

Just noticed several stores do this amp for £400 and I paid £430 - think I'll let it slide given I was there for 3 hours demoing amps..

I note Fender does an ABY pedal - I could technically use that and run two heads, one through each speaker.. And use the ABY pedal to control the channel for both amps!  Very cool...!!

Sassafras

Now I don't play out anymore, I've only got little tiny amps.
A Blackheart Killer Ant and a Little Giant that were moddded by Rat Valve Amps.
A ZVex Nano Head which I absolutely love. A similar tiny amp I bought from @juansolo and a Tech 21 Trademark combo which is very useful, a huge variety of sounds.
I've also got an old Princeton Reverb that sadly lives in France