I have an older Blackstar HT1 head in Bronco tan w 12 inch speaker that sounds amazing but I decided to purchase this one for a few new features and to go with my Marshall 4x12. I really enjoy the various sounds I can come up with, dialing in sounds is also fun. I did replace the tubes with JJ's which took this amp to a new level, $30 add on. The original tubes don't sound bad at all but the JJ's brought the amp to life. TY to my sales rep Noah Berends and Sweetwater for great service.

I was excited to get this little amp because it offered the possibility to play through a small-wattage, small-form-factor, real valve amp, without the need for an audio interface or DAW. I like to play in the kitchen with a set of good quality headphones, with the rest of the family doing their own thing in close proximity. This way I get points for participating in family time, but still get to jam and not bother everyone. Before finding out about the Blackstar, I would lug in my Hughes-Kettner Tubemeister 20, connect it to a Scarlett audio interface, then into my DAW (Studio One on Macbook pro), all so I could hear myself playing through the headphones connected to the minijack on the laptop. The allure of the Blackstar was I could just connect the headphones right into the amp and listen without all the other gear (the HT1 has a speaker emulator built into its headphone jack). Much less hassle setting up and tearing down when the wife wants the kitchen table for its original intended purpose (her sewing machine lol).

Anyway, everything started out well enough...it's a nice looking little head, and I plugged it in, connected my Strat and headphones, and started playing. Good clean tones, nice crunch channel, but when the clean channel was pushed, things went south. This is where my HK really starts to shine, breaking up ever so slightly, giving me those classic Hendrix tones that I lust after. With the Blackstar, there was a very harsh, very noticeable clipping sound that took all the enjoyment out of playing when the clean channel was dimed. It was especially noticeable when playing the low 3 strings of the guitar together...strumming them hard and then letting them ring resulted in a very unpleasant sound. Something you HAVE to do if you want to play Voodoo Child.

Now I should mention that this problem only happens when the amp is set to a very specific range of settings (clean channel, ISF knob all the way down, volume on 10 so I can hear it well enough through headphones, Gain > 7, 'voice' channel set so that the green LED is not lit). Unfortunately, those are the settings I wanted most.

Sweetwater, as usual, were extremely accommodating with my situation. They had a technician contact me directly and we went through a battery of tests to make sure it wasn't a cable or electrical ground issue, or anything else. They eventually sent me a new amp, but this one had the exact same problem. Seems like it is a design problem. So after hearing the very same defect in both amps, I decided to just return them and look for a different amp. I will probably try the Marshall DSL1-H for the same reasons I bought this amp. The Marshall offers almost exactly the same features as the Blackstar, but also has an effects loop. Hopefully that one won't have the same issue, and my search for the perfect "kitchen amp" will be complete.

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Sounds awesome. A little bass heavy on some settings. Bright sounding boost fixed this for me. My only complaint is that it is so loud. I didn't take away any stars for this because it IS an amplifier after all. Just doing it's job you know. I will say the heavy bass is not a problem with the gain at 11-12 and the volume at 3 but like I said ..... that was loud!! Over all for the price I'm very pleased. Tim has always been an attentive sales rep and sweetwater is always awesome to deal with.

A follow up review after i changed the tubes, the amp uses ECC82's and ECC83's. I went with premium tubes which added a 100 buckaroos to overall cost of the amp. The stock tubes in no way sound bad or deficient but the replacements brought out the full potential of my Blackstar HT1RH, super stoked with the extra vibe they provided. I had some time,decided to experiment more with it in a recording situation-Took me a couple tracks before I realized it records out in stereo. The guitar signal is mono but the reverb is stereo, more proof the Blackstar crew thinks it all out beforehand. It's really a 4 channel amp; use a two-button footswitch and you can switch between clean/dirty channels with the two voice switch giving you 2 cleans,2 dirty options. Plus the ISF knob gives up a choice of blends between a Marshall and a Fenderesque voice, with a ton of variance between the two as you adjust that dial.... DAYUM! The reverb is nice to have as it really sounds good, dig it man! An FX loop would put this amp over the top and after playing through it for a couple weeks I realized I am all in for the 20 watt version,which includes an FX loop. We have several top grade tube heads stocked up in the studio, including a 50 watt Marshall and a vintage 1966 Fender Bassman that stand tall in the saddle, but I am convinced the 20 watt head would give them a run for the money, tone wise. My fave amp is the Katana,it kicks out SO many tone options for the money (with a massive choice of Boss pedals plus reverb), but like I predicted, a tube change lifted the Blackstar up to a full 5 Star rating in this price range, especially if you add a few pedals in front of it. The distortion channel is classic hard rock(Les Paul heaven), just pure as can be, but the clean channel has grown on me, especially after using it with an American Telecaster. Blackstar be some bad mofos, they do their stuff right. Suggestion...buy one, be happy.

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Those cats at Blackstar have a real understanding of how to make a small tube amp sound HUGE. Amazing little amp with a stellar clean channel that blew my mind when ran through all sorts of cabinets, everything played with USA-made Les Pauls and Strats. The dirty gain channel provides some serious hard rock mojo and I have a hard time turning this amp off when playing a Gibson Les Paul through it. If you want to know what Blackstar does different to their amps, the option that is just so dynamically cool that adds the mojo, just plug a great guitar into it and start turning the ISF knob right or left by about a 1/4 turn or less. I was stunned at what was happening,especially with a single 10" cab loaded with a Gold Celestion. Wow, that amp was finding EQ space and opening up the pickups on my Les Paul in a way no other amp/cab ever has! Cleans out the mud,enhances the sparkle...use your ears, use that ISF knob and you will be in for some fun. Takes pedals like a dream and using a Boss footswitch I had laying around gave me a clean/dirty 2 channel sound that was near perfect for everything so no need for even a TS pedal. The stock reverb has a sweet spot for me between a quarter and half on the dial, and I had a lot of fun nailing that old tube overdrive sound of classic rock hero's like ZZ Top, Blackfoot, AC/DC, Scorpions, Guns n Roses, and Zep...all from one amp. With a detuned guitar sound via a Digitech Drop pedal, this little amp got serious with a 2-12" cab loaded with Celestions. Godsmack to Pantera to Avenged Sevenfold, done. Any sound you desire- A rockers dream amp,and dayum...this amp get's loud. Strats and the clean channel are a whole nuther area of awesome,too. I wouldn't classify this as a blues amp, but I was able to dial in some very pure modern Texas blues tones that were hair-raisingly sweet, especially with a wah pedal. Again, nice reverb. Work that ISF, work your volume knob on your guitar, and this amp offers responsiveness I just find hard to believe is coming from a single watt, 1 preamp,1 power tube head. The voice switch adds ANOTHER layer of tone mojo, and it ain't no gimmick-try it with various guitars. The HT1RH MK-II is one hella 2-channel amp and I am so very happy I went this route over other options in this class/price point. I know one thing for sure, I will be looking at the bigger and louder offerings from Blackstar first if I have to replace a current amp. I should probably give the amp a 5 rating, this is one amazing piece of gear, but i am gonna wait and see what a tube change will do. If this amp sounds any better, it will put this amp into a legendary status like the Boss Katana. Trust an old dog and a devoted tone-meister, if you need an inexpensive practice amp that will also serve as a studio workhorse, want to have a lot of fun playing guitar,etc. get yerself a Blackstar HT1RH and a decent cab, plug in a fave guitar,become a believer. I did and I am enjoying every bit of it, and with Sweetwater's 2 year warranty, HA...no worries!

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I should start by throwing it out there that I have used every low-wattage tube lunchbox sized amp that is available via Sweetwater and some they don't carry. (some were the combo version) Most I have played extensively and I like a lot of them but I have never been fully satisfied with any of them, yet I really needed a solid go to I could leave at rehearsal room. Decided on giving the HT1RH MKII a whirl, picked up a demo model; it arrived looking new. I plugged in a 2018 Les Paul ran through a wah pedal and Keeley Monterey and actually found an awesome sweet spot using the onboard reverb of the amp. I also gave it a 2 hour romp using a Fender Stratocaster w '57/'62 pups, through a 10" cab, a 2-12", and a 4-10". Heck yeah, that's a lot of fun packed into that little amp! The 2 channel option sold me on the amp being the best one for me, but after playing it a couple days, I really came to appreciate what the Blackstar name means. Good kit, man. It's the ISF knob that makes this amp different, in my opinion. I still haven't made up my mind which I like most for recording, the USB or the simulated out, and since I didn't buy it for that reason I will probably not explore that more. I will say it was flat out amazing using the Celestion 10" cab and an SM57. Glad I got it, will most likely get another for the fun of stereo and option to cart one around when needed. I really appreciate our sales tech, Bob Mondok, for helping us choose this amp. Cranked up, with a good pedal board, this thing is a blast!

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