“When you want the sound and versatility of a big amp but don’t want to deal with more volume than you need”: Blackstar HT Series MK III HT-1R, HT-5R and HT-20RH review
New look, same great tone? The third generation of Blackstar’s compact tube amp series is more than just a makeover – please welcome CabRig speaker emulation to the party
When you want the sound and versatility of a big amp but don’t want to deal with more volume than you need or the hassles of hauling a heavy boat anchor around, Blackstar’s new HT Series MK III amps provide a range of useful options for recording, practice and performance applications of musical styles.
Pros
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Great variety of clean and overdrive tones.
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Standard EQ and ISF voice options.
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Two-channel operation.
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Realistic, organic tones when recording direct.
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Channel/voice footswitch is included.
Cons
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Back panel jacks on the combos awkwardly face downwards.
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LEDs are outrageously bright.
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There will always be a time and a place for big, powerful 100-watt tube amps, but for a vast majority of guitarists today a smaller amp is much more practical for everyday recording, practice and performance applications (in other words pretty much always unless you’re playing at the Megadome Super Stadium, and even then most can do just fine by mic'ing a smaller amp through the PA).
For many years now, the Blackstar HT Series has offered guitarists a compelling variety of small guitar amps of various sizes that are packed with cool features and a plethora of useful tones.
Blackstar’s new HT Series MK III amps bring IR-based CabRig speaker simulation to the party to further expand the usefulness of these amps in the recording studio or when running an output to a venue’s mixing console.
As before with the MK II versions, the MK III HT Series consists of a 1-watt head (HT-1RH) and combo (HT-1R), a 5-watt head (HT-5RH) and combo (HT-5R) and a 20-watt head (HT-20RH) and combo (HT-20R). Each combo has a single speaker – an 8-inch speaker for the HT-1R or a 12-inch speaker for the HT-5RH and HT-20H. Blackstar also offers matching 1x12 and 2x12 extension cabinets.
For this review, we looked at the HT-1RH MK III head, HT-5R MK III combo and HT-20RH MK III head.
The 1-watt, 5-watt and 20-watt models each have different tube complements, which gives each version its own distinctive tonal range and character, although there is an overlapping “Blackstar” personality throughout.
The HT-1 amps have single ECC83 (12AX7) preamp and ECC82 (12AU7) power amp tubes; the HT-5 amps feature an ECC83 preamp and 12BH7 power amp tube; and the HT-20 amps provide a pair of ECC82 preamp and dual EL84 power amp tubes.
The lower gain of the ECC82 preamp tubes in the HT-20 may seem unusual considering that the 12AX7 has become almost ubiquitous for this application, but they actually provide more than ample grit and grind that will keep hard rockers more than satisfied.
The HT MKIII series in full. (Image credit: Blackstar)
The tiny HT-1RH head is best suited for recording applications, but it’s actually quite impressively loud when paired with a 1x12 or 4x12 cabinet.
This micro-size amp is packed with features, including individual clean and overdrive channels, each with two selectable voices that change the tonal character, position of the tone stack, gain and power amp damping characteristics at the flick of a switch.
There’s also built-in reverb with adjustable level, a three-position CabRig preset select switch, 1/8-inch line in and line out/headphone jacks, USB-C audio out and a footswitch jack for the included controller, for switching channels and voices.
The HT-5R and HT-20RH share virtually identical controls and jacks, with the exception of a master volume control included on the HT-20RH.
Front panel controls consist of reverb level, EQ for the overdrive channel (ISF, treble, middle, bass), overdrive volume, overdrive voice switch, overdrive gain, OD select switch, clean tone, clean voice switch and clean volume, plus a low/high power switch that selects 0.5- or 5-watt output power on the HT-5R or 2- or 20-watt output on the HT-20R.
Rear panel jacks include USB-C audio out, ¼-inch footswitch (channel and voice switching), ¼-inch effects loop send and return, +4/-10dBv effects loop level switch, 1/8-inch line in, CabRig 1-3 toggle switch, ¼-inch line out/headphones, XLR balanced CabRig out and two 2x16-/1x8-ohm and one 1x16-ohm speaker outputs.
All three models provide an excellent range of tones from sparkling clean to raunchy hard rock overdrive. The HT-1R’s cleans aren’t quite as refined as those of its bigger brothers, partially because it delivers surprisingly beefy bass, which players who love more punky and aggressive tones may actually prefer.
The HT-1R’s distortion is also more over-the-top, but the EQ section is more limited. The HT-5R provides textures from jazzy clean to bluesy crunch on its clean channel, while the overdrive channel provides a wide range of classic rock wallop.
(Image credit: Blackstar Amplification)
Its volume output is somewhat “polite,” but that’s perfectly fine for players who want to rock out without having the cops show up. The HT-20R is loud enough for small gigs (or bigger gigs with the CabRig connected to a mixer) and it provides a wider range in overall bass and treble, clean headroom and saturation.
Chris is the co-author of Eruption - Conversations with Eddie Van Halen. He is a 40-year music industry veteran who started at Boardwalk Entertainment (Joan Jett, Night Ranger) and Roland US before becoming a guitar journalist in 1991. He has interviewed more than 600 artists, written more than 1,400 product reviews and contributed to Jeff Beck’s Beck 01: Hot Rods and Rock & Roll and Eric Clapton’s Six String Stories.
