Clearance Blackstar HT Series HT-5R Tube Guitar Combo Amp

I have a number of both tube and solid state guitar amps. My tube amps go from 85w with spring reverb and tube tremelo down to a 15w with spring reverb. My solid state amps are so called modeling amps with all of the bells and whistles from 100w down to 3w. I actually bought the HT-5R as a "bedroom" amp. But, I found it to be so much more. It is rather lightweight considering all you get and there is much more. Unbelievably, I can turn on power and without taking it out of standby, I can get full use all of the functionality of the amp from both the clean and crunch channels with NO compromise into my headphones. But, I never thought I could get so much sound out of a 5w amp and it has a 12" speaker. It is perfect for a pedal platform. I am so glad Blackstar included the clean/crunch pedal (without charging you extra for it). With a mere press of the floor pedal, you can go from playing easy listening clean to hair raising distortion. Every POT has a function and is a benefit to the amp. In my 45 years of playing everything from '70's hard rock to bright ballad like cleans, this amp just goes along to please and can meet the needs from the novice to the professional. Now all of my other amps sit and collect dust all the while I use the HT-5R. While I am a Fender, Mesa/Boogie and Marshall fan, Blackstar has carved a nice niche and has become my day-to-day go to amp.

Well. This amp souds amazing. The best thing about my review is that I got It at very good price. Thanks G.C. for putting at that price.

Headphone jack!

Bought the Blackstar 5HTC, which is the same amp as the 5HTR just without reverb. The tone is absolutely fantastic for the overdrive channel. It gets a huge amount of distortion, suitable for even heavier metal tones. The ISF knob is no mere gimmick. Its supposed to shape tone from a crunchy American sound to a woody British sound. Its a neat feature that surprisingly works just as advertised. Amp has plenty of options. Has an emulated speaker output that can be used for cabinets or headphones. Its a great option for practicing without making tons of noise, because my Lord is this thing LOUD. I was worried the 1 watt tube combos wouldn't be loud enough. I was wrong. 5 watts tube power is obscenely loud for bedroom playing, I haven't even had the volume knob past 2. There's also an effects loop output on the back which is great for OD pedals. The clean channel has greatly disappointed me. It has a very abrasive and clangy tone, no amount of tweaking bass/mid/treble or ISF has alleviated this issue. Also there isnt dedicated bass/mid/treble knobs for clean channel, its shares overdrive knobs which is another problem. I just cant find a tone that sounds good for most of the clean songs I play, which is a bummer considering the reputation and price of this amp. The OD tone is king though. It really is the best sounding thing Ive played on for classic rock like Zeppelin or Hendrix. It is sufficient for most but not all metal. Pantera or Lamb of God levels of crunch were not quite attainable for me. Still needed a distortion pedal to get that, which is a slight grievance with the amp.

Wow. Blackstar pulls through with this little 5 watt amp that can get really loud on the gain channel! I think this must be one of the best new tube amps out there. It has all the features a modern player needs (headphone out, emulated out, ext. cab out, fx loop). Plus, I like the "british/american" knob on the gain channel. You can really get any tone you need. Add a pedal board and a cabinet, and I bet you can take this amp anywhere and play anything. Clean headroom is great on the clean channel too. The only thing you'll need to do is balance out the clean volume and the gain volume, because the gain channel is much, much louder. Other than that, a super solid amp, a modern day Fender Champ for any guitarist of any style. Five stars. Bravo Blackstar!

I purchased a few weeks ago, so far I really enjoy it it's great on its own it's great with pedals, there's a very nice clean sound and you can also make it as nasty as you want very happy with it