# New Blackstar HT Metal Amp Combo/Head series (5w and 60w)



## mindwalker (Apr 9, 2013)

This just in

Musikmesse 2013: Blackstar rolls out Metal Amps range | MusicRadar

What do you guys think ? Seems like the HT series but with some new extreme gain and tone controls


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## mindwalker (Apr 9, 2013)

Forgot to mention that they're outing also 1w and 100w versions


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## guitarfishbay (Apr 9, 2013)

Very interesting.

I think this might end up being what I think a lot of people wanted the original HT series to be.

FWIW I liked the HT series, but I prefer the Ironheart in that price range for high gain. I've extensively tried them out side by side too. In my band I use an Ironheart 120h into a TT412 and my bandmate uses a HT100 into a 1960a. The HT has a lot more tones in it (and a much more versatile clean channel), but since I only use a clean, high gain rhythm and a high gain lead with this band the Ironheart wins out for me. The reverb is much nicer on the HT series though, I'm not really a fan of the Ironheart reverb. 

I own other amps though, for other styles. If I only could own one amp in that price bracket the EL34 HT would be more appealing. I've also owned a HT60 2x12 combo and a HT1R combo in the past, and enjoyed both but ultimately my tastes changed 

I hope it will sound good, I've heard a few good reports regarding the pedal.

Secretly I was hoping for a Series Two though... I absolutely love my Blackstar Series One 104EL34 for classic rock and British oldschool metal, but I do wish that there wasn't shared EQ.


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## Quitty (Apr 9, 2013)

Damn, wish i was still in the amp game.
The HT series was pure win, IMO. Always loved the tone Blackstar was going for with these.

If it's metal-oriented and nearly as versatile as the HT amps already out, this could be epic.


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## Wizard of Ozz (Apr 9, 2013)

I'll withhold judgement until I hear one. Sounds like a good concept though.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Apr 9, 2013)

Hoping these sound better than the current HT amps.


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## cwhitey2 (Apr 9, 2013)

I liked the current ht series. I almost bought one myself....but I compared it to a dual rec at the time, and the, dual did it for me.

Ill be keeping an eye on these, especially the low watters.


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## CptMcKay (Apr 10, 2013)

That 5 watter will be hard to pass up, if it sounds decent and the price is right...


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## JPhoenix19 (Apr 10, 2013)

This is *very* relevant to my interests...

Resonance/Presence controls? Where do I sign up to try one!


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## Capelo (Apr 10, 2013)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> Hoping these sound better than the current HT amps.



^+1 I own a HT-1R and while it isn't a terrible amp I probably would be better off with a MicroCube. The distortion isn't great and the lack of EQ seriously limits the tones available. Great amps for crunchy tones though.


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## edsped (Apr 10, 2013)

HT-1 sounds and feels WAY better than a MicroCube, IMO.


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## Electric Wizard (Apr 10, 2013)

Quitty said:


> Damn, wish i was still in the amp game.
> The HT series was pure win, IMO. Always loved the tone Blackstar was going for with these.


This! I know that some people had reservations about the HT series, but I absolutely adored my HT-5. I don't think I'll be in the position to be using a regular amp any time soon, but I can't wait to hear some clips of the new 5 watt model.


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## Quitty (Apr 10, 2013)

I think there might have been a major differences inside the HT series of amps...
If the HT-Dual is the HT-5's preamp in a box then the HT-5 has some majorly kick-ass distortion.
In the HT-20 i tried the distortion was spot-on, but just a tiny bit lacking in gain.


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## mindwalker (Apr 11, 2013)

I have a normal HT-5R and while the distortion isn't massive it's pretty good already. Granted.. low chord riffage isn't very tight but with a TS9 and a compressor in front it gets better. It's still no agent of destruction but for a 1x12 and 5 watts it's pretty good for some good rock n rool, and prog metal, fusion tones

still kinda curious about these new models though..

PS: I don't run the gain on my HT-5 on max anyway... I find it gets fizzy if I do


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## Rizzo (Apr 11, 2013)

Feels interesting...


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## Zado (Apr 11, 2013)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> Hoping these sound better than the current HT amps.


HT amps don't sound bad to me,but the higain tones are way to compress and unnatural.This new series might hit the spot


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## Zado (Apr 11, 2013)

Musikmesse 2013 - 029 - Blackstar amps - YouTube


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Apr 11, 2013)

From the little riffing he did, it actually sounded pretty damn good.


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## viesczy (Apr 11, 2013)

Quitty said:


> If it's metal-oriented and nearly as versatile as the HT amps already out, this could be epic.



Quoted for truth!

Can.Not.Wait!

Derek


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## sakeido (Apr 15, 2013)

I always time my gear aquisitions wrong. I just picked up a Blackstar HT Club 40 combo, now they have these? 

I might just be crazy but I thought the club 40 sounded better than the soloist 60... wonder how these will sound.


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## Sam MJ (Apr 15, 2013)

It'll be interesting to see how these compare to the new Randall Diavlo heads


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## Mordacain (Apr 15, 2013)

sakeido said:


> I always time my gear aquisitions wrong. I just picked up a Blackstar HT Club 40 combo, now they have these?
> 
> I might just be crazy but I thought the club 40 sounded better than the soloist 60... wonder how these will sound.



I LOVED my HT40...was actually my favorite amp out of the HT line. I've owned all of them save for the HT60s. 

My runner up was the HT5. If they just added an additional gain stage and possibly some extra EQ options for the power section to the HT line then they'd be pretty amazing.


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## sakeido (Apr 15, 2013)

Mordacain said:


> I LOVED my HT40...was actually my favorite amp out of the HT line. I've owned all of them save for the HT60s.
> 
> My runner up was the HT5. If they just added an additional gain stage and possibly some extra EQ options for the power section to the HT line then they'd be pretty amazing.



I just noticed the new HT Metal combo is a 2x12" so that is too big for me. phew, angsty GAS bullet dodged 

One feature I wish these had was ISF per channel.. to the left slays for rhythms, to the right is a very tasty lead tone. Would be great to get both out of the amp and be able to footswitch between them


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Apr 15, 2013)

Anyone got to try these at Messe? I really wanna know if they're good or not.


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## mindwalker (Apr 16, 2013)

This seems to be a demo of the 100 watt version at the messe... although with the background noise you can't really tell so much. Sounds good I guess... although maybe not too different from the current HT models ?
I'm waiting for a more thorough demo


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## danresn (Apr 16, 2013)

I love everything Blackstar does. This is very very interesting.


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## Zado (Apr 16, 2013)

Musikmesse 2013 Blackstar - YouTube!

well I'm not feeling tits,but I guess it has potential.

I'm a bit worried this could be just a HTmetal pedal put together as an amp


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## Stijnson (Apr 16, 2013)

My thoughts exactly Zado! It seems like a very logical form of progress in that sense too. The HT-dual pedal is basically what drives the normal HT series, now they just replaced the pre-amp with the ht-metal pedal and boom, ht-metal amp series. 
Besides, I always found it misleading that they advertise these series as all tube, I'm pretty sure it has some SS components in it, most notably in the pre-amp stage, which would make it a hybrid of some sort. But maybe someone could enlighten me a bit more on that matter?

Lets say you want to throw an OD in front of it to tighten things up, would it actually work like on a real, all tube amp? I mean throwing an OD on the lead channel of a SS doesnt seem like the best idea, right?


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## Quitty (Apr 16, 2013)

Stijnson said:


> Besides, I always found it misleading that they advertise these series as all tube, I'm pretty sure it has some SS components in it, most notably in the pre-amp stage, which would make it a hybrid of some sort. But maybe someone could enlighten me a bit more on that matter?
> 
> Lets say you want to throw an OD in front of it to tighten things up, would it actually work like on a real, all tube amp? I mean throwing an OD on the lead channel of a SS doesnt seem like the best idea, right?



Well, you seem like a reasonable dude. And you like boosting amps, right? Maybe, with a tubescreamer? 
Classic, right?
Would you mind explaining to me what's the difference between putting the bloody diode in the amp, or out the amp, in a box? 

Really though, the HT series has SS components, just like 90% of production amplifiers. There's a very vague distinction between amps that clip their diodes and ones that don't, but your best bet of clipping an internal SS component, even if it wasn't meant to be clipped, is putting a boost in front of your amp.

If it sounds good, it's good. That's pretty much the bottom line


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## Mordacain (Apr 16, 2013)

Quitty said:


> Well, you seem like a reasonable dude. And you like boosting amps, right? Maybe, with a tubescreamer?
> Classic, right?
> Would you mind explaining to me what's the difference between putting the bloody diode in the amp, or out the amp, in a box?
> 
> ...



This is correct. Having SS components in the signal path does not make it a hybrid amp. I hybrid either has a solid-state preamp with a tube poweramp or a solid-state poweramp with a tube preamp.

Dual Rectifier have the option for silicon diode rectification or tube rectification. Using the diode does not negate the fact it is a tube head. 

For that matter, almost all of the small tube amps have solid-state rectifiers and have for years.

With regards to the HT5, the clipping comes from the preamp tube. You can see this from the schematics, but the easiest test is to try different preamp tubes. The gain structure is quite noticeably affected running different tubes, which tells you that the clipping and the harmonic content it brings out comes from the preamp tube. The diode is just the primary input driver, which actually makes for much cleaner input stage in such a small design (as the original HT5 was / is). Something to remember is that all of the HT models were derived from the HT5 design and essentially use the same preamp (some models with tweaks to the tonestack(s) and gain structure.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jul 17, 2013)




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## Wookieslayer (Jul 17, 2013)

Sounds awesome, too much gain at times but the definition seems there...


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## ExDementia (Jul 17, 2013)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


>


 Then never dial in a real modern metal tone in their vids. Part of the reason why I don't like their demos, it just doesn't apply to me as much.


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## JPMike (Jul 17, 2013)

I can't stand Chappers, just can't.


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## ExDementia (Jul 17, 2013)

JPMike said:


> I can't stand Chappers, just can't.


Yeah, the guy is annoying as hell. Captain is pretty funny, though.


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## Allealex (Jul 17, 2013)

I think it is really really muddy, i'm really disappointed


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## Despised_0515 (Jul 17, 2013)




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## ExDementia (Jul 17, 2013)

Allealex said:


> I think it is really really muddy, i'm really disappointed


Always take anything Chappers does with a huge grain of salt. He manages to make really good amps sound pretty crappy, somehow.


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## Wookieslayer (Jul 17, 2013)

The standard tuned stuff sounded nice, albeit too much gain.


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## mindwalker (Jul 18, 2013)

not convinced by Chapper's video... it sounds a bit harsh. I think I would still need to play this amp myself! I own the "normal" HT-5 and with a TS9 it seems to sound better to my ears (for metal of course).

But it's true, most of Chappers' videos sound similar. But that is due to the player, the choice of material and the recording settings. You could say that most of Ola's videos also sound similar...

No way to truly tell how it sounds on your hands till you try for yourself


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## 1b4n3z (Jul 18, 2013)

Since I never get anything like the tone in review videos out of my Blackstars, I suppose this one needs a test drive in person. (Got an HT-5R and still have an HT-1)

Edit: And the videos of earlier HT's have sounded GOOD, this one isn't very appealing to begin with


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jul 18, 2013)

mindwalker said:


> But it's true, most of Chappers' videos sound similar. But that is due to the player, the choice of material and the recording settings. You could say that most of Ola's videos also sound similar...



But Ola's videos don't sound like a fizzy, muddy mess. I've never liked any tones they've gotten with the Andertons demos.


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## Sleazy_D (Jul 19, 2013)

JPMike said:


> I can't stand Chappers, just can't.



agreed. Chuck Fappers


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## Mordacain (Jul 25, 2013)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> But Ola's videos don't sound like a fizzy, muddy mess. I've never liked any tones they've gotten with the Andertons demos.



Well, neither Chappers nor Lee play modern metal, so that's really the reason why.

Ever notice they both just run the gain maxed out? That's because they're both oldschool and play lower gain Marshall / Fender designs themselves most of the time.

I don't mind Chappers, since he's closer to the way I play and I think the Andertons' videos overall are pretty good representations of what the amps sound like provided you play like either of them.

That being said, their videos are pretty useless to someone that is predominately a modern metal player.


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## glytch5 (Jul 2, 2014)

These Ht amps must have a ton of clipping diodes and solid state stuff. I mean even the HT metal 100 only has TWO preamp tubes... even a JCM 800 has 3, and that thing is loaded with clipping diodes. These amps have tons of gain but no gain stage tubes. I think for that they are over priced, but probably very reliable. The HT 5 has one power tube, and one preamp tube. They call these all tube heads but idk, seems fishy. they do sound okay but should be cheaper I think. I was originally going to get an HT metal 100.


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## Quitty (Jul 2, 2014)

glytch5 said:


> These Ht amps must have a ton of clipping diodes and solid state stuff. I mean even the HT metal 100 only has TWO preamp tubes... even a JCM 800 has 3, and that thing is loaded with clipping diodes. These amps have tons of gain but no gain stage tubes. I think for that they are over priced, but probably very reliable. The HT 5 has one power tube, and one preamp tube. They call these all tube heads but idk, seems fishy. they do sound okay but should be cheaper I think. I was originally going to get an HT metal 100.



So many kinds of no.


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