Members SonicExplorer Posted October 11, 2011 Members Share Posted October 11, 2011 Hi Guys, I just ordered a Blackstar HT5 today, hope I like it whet it arrives. LoL Just wanted to share some things from my endeavours: When testing out the HT5 line in the stores, I was going back and forth between heads and combos and old versions and new versions. I spent hours testing and using different guitars, etc. I can honestly say it seemed to me the new versions do NOT sound quite as good. Subtle but not the same. The newer versions DO have some new bells and whistles, but obviously they came at an expense (which is not uncommon for an amp mfr to create a "hit" and then move on to figuring out how to increase profit margin, or to add new features, by cutting in other areas). Or, believe it or not, just changing a circuit board layout (even though on paper the circuit is the same) can effect a change in tone. Use your own ears of course, but what I found was that the new Blackstar 12" speaker does not sound that good for hard rock or metal. It has a little more bottom and top end, but now lacks the interseting midrange grind of the 10" that is so criitcal to hard rock and metal. Vintage guys and clean-players will probably like the 12", but I sure didn't. Also, any notion of more gain being in the new version, which is a rumor I kept running across, is totally false based on what my experience during testing. Lastly, the new "tone" control on the clean channel is not very effective. I am speculating on this one point, but it seemed to me the clean channel's "tone" control was actuall the ISF knob being re-routed to the clean channel. In other words, if you currently own an HT5 and are on the clean channel, tweak the ISF knob back and forth and that is basically how the new "tone" knob on the clean channel acts. Sonic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Nikkro Posted October 11, 2011 Members Share Posted October 11, 2011 Unfortunately There is a difference im lucky i got one of the ht-5's off a Blackstar rep when they where first released and blackstar was a much smaller company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Whirlwind Posted October 11, 2011 Members Share Posted October 11, 2011 awww really? That sucks I was gonna get one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members grunge782 Posted October 11, 2011 Members Share Posted October 11, 2011 Looks like my HT-5 is the better "vintage" HT-5 now. I love how the gear market operates sometimes, the same thing happened for all my lawsuit Danelectro pedals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Nikkro Posted October 11, 2011 Members Share Posted October 11, 2011 awww really? That sucks I was gonna get one. its noticeable but not as is if the new ones sound terrible Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SonicExplorer Posted October 11, 2011 Author Members Share Posted October 11, 2011 its noticeable but not as is if the new ones sound terrible Agreed, not terrible at all. But if you are a tone freak with a good ear, and especially if you plan to record with the amp, the change might be enough to bother you. This could also just be a result of the initial design and it will get tweaked around and improved later, that is not uncommon to occur with amp mfr's. Major props to Blackstar for what they've accomplished so far, let's just hope they keep tone as their top priority and don't turn into what we've seen happen with other amp mfr's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SonicExplorer Posted October 11, 2011 Author Members Share Posted October 11, 2011 Oh, to clarify....the "new" version of the HT5H I'm referring to is the HT5HR - the one with Reverb, tone control on the clean channel, as well as the HT5C and HT5R (combo's respectively). I'm not sure, but it looks like the HT5H version of the head is no longer available, just the reverb version. Anyway, I snagged an HT5H while still in stock, so hopefully it kicks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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