Blackstar HT-5 vs. Vox AC4TV

[LR Weizel]

Really stuck between these two amps at the moment. I like them for different reasons.

 

I really like the clips of the AC4TV on the Vox site, it sounds really quirky and unique and it sounds like I can get a lot of Bauhaus, Joy Division kind of tones from it. The dirt with humbuckers sounds great too. I like how it gets kinda fuzzy when cranked.

 

The HT-5, I'm not as gone on the main tone, but it has more versatility, and a speaker out which is very useful. It's also a bit more expensive and less portable, though.

 

Given neither are going to be really gigging amps, but both are "just about" okay with a quiet drummer, I guess that's not a huge factor. However the HT-5 probably has more headroom since it's master volume and all that. I intend to use pedals with them.

 

Ideally the AC4 would be great if it had a bit more headroom and took my dirt boxes well. I know it's not meant for high gain, but I was wondering how well it would take a high gain pedal - not boosting it into high gain, but using most of the gain from the pedal itself(Dirty Bomb). I'll also be using some Fuzz with it.

 

I'm also a little concerned the AC4 might be a bit too "bluesy" for me. I'm more a fan of modern music - but I do find myself prefering a lot of vintage tone, if that makes any sense. Nonetheless if I end up playing blues licks all the time that'll get on my nerves a bit. Also, a lot of the clips I've heard are a bit "harsh", now that appeals to me to an extent but if it's too trebley that could be a bother, or if it sounds weak. I heard an AC4TV/AC30 comparison where it sounded like a weak small SS amp almost. On the Vox website, it sounds like a gnarlier AC15. Not sure what to think. Doesn't help most clips mic it from half the room away.

 

Both are great amps and suitable for my needs in different ways. I'll be using them for practice, recording, low volume jam and probably micing it up for small gigs(My Lunchbox works good as a gigging amp if there's no PA, heck I could probably use it AS the PA). Ideally I could get a higher wattage amp, but none really appeal to me, maybe the Tiny Terror but to be honest it does seem a little pricey now for what it does. AC4 has a similar kind of tone and probably sounds better at low volume(don't mind the rolled off highs at 1/4 watt). The other worry with the AC4 is that that 1/4W might still not be quiet enough for apartment jamming. The HT-5 could get dirty at low volumes, but it's not attenuated, when I tried it at the shop it sounded a bit naff at those volumes.

 

Any opinions? Which is louder, which is bigger/heavier(weight) thing like that are helpful. I might not get a chance to try one out in person before I buy, and even then most of the practicality questions will go unanswered, very few music shops allow you to crank stuff here or take it for a spin.

[Willyguitar]

Most people here will say HT-5 probably, but when I tried them both, I preferred the basic sounds of the AC4. I imagine the HT-5 would be much more useful as a recording tool.

[guitarman3001]

having played the HT5 but only heard clips of the vox, I'd go with the HT5. Seems much more versatile and can do the modern dirt as well as the vintage tone, imo. Also has two channels and fx loop. Personally I'd get the head w/matching cab rather than the combo. GC was selling the entire full ministack with both cabs for 499.00 last time I was there. If I had any use for a 5 watt amp, I would have bought it on the spot. Hell, I almost bought it just to have the cabs to use with my other heads.

[LR Weizel]

 

Most people here will say HT-5 probably, but when I tried them both, I preferred the basic sounds of the AC4. I imagine the HT-5 would be much more useful as a recording tool.

 

 

Well, I have most of my sounds sorted with pedals, I want a good base for them. The HT-5 has some nice dirt and you are right, is more useful outright, but I'm not sure it would be in my situation. Voxxy tones are kind of what I'm lacking at the moment.

[Elias Graves]

I have the Vox. It certainly has a unique sound. I love it but I don't think you can make it sound like something it isn't.

I love the overdrive on it with my P90 guitar but not as much with my SG with buckers.

1/4 watt is pretty loud if you crank it to get the overdrive.

To me, the Vox does the Vox thing extremely well. Not at all like a SS amp. In fact, its easily the most dynamic amp I've ever played. Volume and tone knob tweaking have huge impacts as does your pick attack.

I can't quit playing it but it suited what I'm doing perfectly.

As far as modern vs blues sound, I think it will do whatever you want. Just know its gonna sound like a Vox. I've never heard a sweeter OD though.

It does have a speaker out...16 ohms.

 

EG

[LR Weizel]

If I threw something like a Barber Dirty Bomb in front of it, how would it react? If it's that dynamic, surely it'd come off really nice. I like the sounds it does as is.

[Elias Graves]

I'm still shopping for a reverb and drive pedal.

I know very little about pedals so...

The only thing I can go on right now is clips, word of mouth and experience.

As far as experience, the only pedal I've had in front of it is a Boss OD2 (I think). It sounded good to me but I lost some dynamics. The "live" nature of the amp is what I like most about it.

I'm trying to find a drive pedal that will keep the OD sound that's already there, just give me more of it.

Now I'm told the Boss pedal I tried is kind of cheap and a better one would keep the liveliness intact. So I'm gonna have to try some out.

Also told that the amp takes pedals well in general. Whatever that means.

 

One of the neatest tricks this amp has is what I mentioned earlier about your volume and tone knobs come to life.

I love to turn the volume and tone all the way on then control volume with the guitar. When you open the guitar volume all the way, the overdrive is full on. Loud and brash.

Turn the guitar volume down to 5 or so and the sound goes clean again but with a bite to it.

When you turn the amp volume down to 5, then its the opposite. With the guitar volume at 5, its super clean. Turn the guitar to 10 and you get a real smooth overdrive.

Its a fun little amp. I'll probably change the speaker before long. If it has a weakness, the speaker is it.

 

EG

[LR Weizel]

Try an LPB-1 maybe? It'll fatten it up a bit too.

[pixelchemist]

at 1/4 watt the ac4 is still pretty loud (more than loud enough to piss off my wife).. the HT5 on the other hand didn't really have much going on in the crunch department... great cleans, nice with some higher gain stuff but hard to get a good crunch tone that i liked out of it..

 

out of those two amps i would go with the HT-5... but i suggest checking out the egnater rebel20 or 30 a bit more money but so much more amp

[LR Weizel]

I like crunch. For some reason I kind of prefer lower gain amps with dirt to boost them up.

 

If I had the money to get the Egnater I'd probably buy both amps! Egnater only goes down to 1 Watt.

 

Can the AC4 get "crunch" that's at a lower volume? Does it gets loads louder as it gets higher gain? Or does the "volume" mostly only affect gain after a certain point?

[cratz2]

I definitely like bigger amps than either of them, but I've played through both and for what I want out of an amp tone-wise, I wouldn't even consider the Blackheart. The Vox has cleans, the Vox has crunch and the Vox has chime. The Blackstar is a more robust piece, but it seems to be to be either about trying to put out a decent clean or trying to edge into high-ish gain territory at reasonable volume levels.

 

That edge of breakup where the amp is mostly clean, but if you dig in it dirties up a bit... easy as pie with the Vox, severely lacking on the Blackstar.

 

Mike Campbell or Mike Wanchic type slightly crunch. Again, the Vox just DOES it. The Blackstar it seems it forces you to choose either clean or higher gain.

 

 

Again, I don't terribly care for either and I'm not in the market so I'm not the best judge, but based on playing the Vox for maybe an hour or so and the Blackstar for 10 or 15 minutes, I'd go for the Vox without a doubt.

[Head Creeps]

I'm saying HT-5...SOOOOOOO VERSATILE!!!!

[LR Weizel]

I definitely like bigger amps than either of them, but I've played through both and for what I want out of an amp tone-wise, I wouldn't even consider the Blackheart. The Vox has cleans, the Vox has crunch and the Vox has chime. The Blackstar is a more robust piece, but it seems to be to be either about trying to put out a decent clean or trying to edge into high-ish gain territory at reasonable volume levels. That edge of breakup where the amp is mostly clean, but if you dig in it dirties up a bit... easy as pie with the Vox, severely lacking on the Blackstar. Mike Campbell or Mike Wanchic type slightly crunch. Again, the Vox just DOES it. The Blackstar it seems it forces you to choose either clean or higher gain. Again, I don't terribly care for either and I'm not in the market so I'm not the best judge, but based on playing the Vox for maybe an hour or so and the Blackstar for 10 or 15 minutes, I'd go for the Vox without a doubt.

 

I really like the "edge of clean" sound. I often prefer it to clean cleans as it can be prettier sounding. Guess it's a Vox for me. I already have a Dirty Bomb for higher gain. Though I thought the HT-5 did Fendery sounds well on the left of the ISF? Sounded kinda like that to me.

 

How does the AC4 take high gain pedals though?

[Elias Graves]

 

I like crunch. For some reason I kind of prefer lower gain amps with dirt to boost them up. If I had the money to get the Egnater I'd probably buy both amps! Egnater only goes down to 1 Watt. Can the AC4 get "crunch" that's at a lower volume? Does it gets loads louder as it gets higher gain? Or does the "volume" mostly only affect gain after a certain point?

 

 

After about 5 or 6 on the volume, you don't get any louder, just more OD.

 

EG

[cratz2]

 

I really like the "edge of clean" sound. I often prefer it to clean cleans as it can be prettier sounding. Guess it's a Vox for me. I already have a Dirty Bomb for higher gain. Though I thought the HT-5 did Fendery sounds well on the left of the ISF? Sounded kinda like that to me. How does the AC4 take high gain pedals though?

 

 

Don't know. Never plugged a pedal into an AC4. But... for higher gain stuff (which I rarely play these days) I tend to prefer a 12" speaker that has more meat and can move more air.

 

I know they don't want to hurt the sales of their larger more expensive amps, but I wish these companies would build an amp like the AC4, but in a 1x12 cabinet. Just SOOO many more possibilities.

 

I'm guessing that the HT-5 would sound a good bit better with a high gain pedal or with a processor than the AC4.

[Elias Graves]

 

Don't know. Never plugged a pedal into an AC4. But... for higher gain stuff (which I rarely play these days) I tend to prefer a 12" speaker that has more meat and can move more air. I know they don't want to hurt the sales of their larger more expensive amps, but I wish these companies would build an amp like the AC4, but in a 1x12 cabinet. Just SOOO many more possibilities. I'm guessing that the HT-5 would sound a good bit better with a high gain pedal or with a processor than the AC4.

 

 

The head/cab version uses a 12".

 

EG

[cratz2]

 

The head/cab version uses a 12". EG

 

 

Yeah, but I like combos. And I certainly don't need another amp anyway.

 

Specifically, I would have bought a Super Champ XD when they came out if they had a 1x12 version.

[alfsboy]

The HT5 has an emulated speaker out put so you can check its high gain crunch in a shop via headphones .I checked out the cleans through some Blackstar cabs in the shop to check its actual tone values ,then switched to headphones to check out its wilder side in peace and "quiet" .I love it and bought the head to run through phones at home and cabs at studios .I may also get a decent 12' cab at some point for home use .The head /cab set up is easier for an old fart like me to carry ,divides the weight up neatly . I cant comment on the AC 4 but it looks pretty sweet but does it have a headphone out put? .The Champ XD /Pro junior type amps etc doesnt so it was out for me .Fender missed a run on that one ,but there was still the weight question on the larger amps .

[Elias Graves]

No headphone jack on the Vox.

 

EG

[Mahuska]

 

I really like the "edge of clean" sound. I often prefer it to clean cleans as it can be prettier sounding. Guess it's a Vox for me. I already have a Dirty Bomb for higher gain. Though I thought the HT-5 did Fendery sounds well on the left of the ISF? Sounded kinda like that to me. How does the AC4 take high gain pedals though?

 

I guess I should jump in here as I have both amps. The heads go into a 1/12 cab so i must say I haven't tried either combo with 10" speaker.

what pixelchemist said about the HT-5 not finding the crunch tone is somewhat true and why I bought the AC4TV after having the Blackstar awhile.

The HT-5 can get high gain tones at a reasonable volume and good enough cleans for practice or recording. This amp likes either hums or singles.

I got the Vox because I also wanted more chime and that natural tube saturation OD. I took a chance and got what I hoped for. These two amps go great together, but won't be like one another.

I have thrown several high gain pedals at the AC4 and it was OK, but I would use the HT-5 over that given the choice. The Vox doesn't play as well with humbuckers and could only imagine how a 10" speaker would sound with a

hum equipped axe thru a heavy dirt box into the AC4

This is a tough call. One I hope you will be happy with once you made your choice