Blackstar Amps HT-5TH Limited Edition 2x10" Combo Amplifier

So far I've enjoyed this amp a lot. Sometimes I wish I would have got the HT-5R with the 12" speaker instead of the 2x10" speakers, but this is still a great home studio amp. The only real complaint I have is that the upholstery on the back side above the speaker has a crack running vertically through the whole panel. I'm OK buying something that's been refurbished/blemished if it is labelled so, but this was advertised as new and it's hard to believe that Blackstar QA didn't see this before shipping it out. Still this is a minor cosmetic complaint on the back side of the unit I never have to look at.The clean channel is really simple with just he volume and tone knob. I get most of the sounds I want, but it would be nice to have a bass, middle, and treble knob instead of the tone for more control if they ever reissue this series. I get nice cleans and crunch with my strat in any position. My LP pretty much clips no matter what with the bridge humbucker (Seymour Duncan Invader), but the neck has a ton of headroom.The overdrive channel varies from a warm, fuzzy OD to a dirty OD at higher settings. It has a gain, volume, bass, middle, treble, and ISF knobs. The ISF is the tech that Blackstar has on the HT series amps intended to give an American to British tonal range. It sounds nice and isn't as gimmicky I thought it was going to be. It is nice that they include the footswitch for clean/OD changing. Not all companies do that and they can be another $50+ sometimes. I keep a Pro Co RAT between the guitar and the amp for more options. I can comfortably play many genres on this amp given the options between channels and pedals and my two guitars.It also has a reverb in form of one knob that applies to both channels. It doesn't sound like a spring reverb, but more of a pure digital reverb. I'm not a complete analog snob, and this sounds nice and it really does all I need it to. I have another amp I play in chain with an ABY switch that has an analog spring reverb if I need that sound.Overall it is a great amp for playing in the house. Even though it is 5W, it can be pretty loud if you were to be living in an apartment. It may be loud enough to gig in a small environment but probably can't fill a room in a larger bar with other instruments. You probably already know this before buying a 5W amp, but just in case you think you can gig a big show with a 5W amp this isn't the one unless you are plugging into a PA, which I've not done but the Blackstar ads for this make it sound like it is viable.

Kller looks, deep bass, just awesome. Won't do metal like it's cousin the Blackstar HT Metal 5 combo amp, but if you can afford two amps, this one shines in its own light.Don't just buy if for its looks, though it looks killer. Great practice amp. Included footswitch is awesome.Do wish it had more tone controls on the clean channel. Single knob. Bummer.But the dirty channel is sweet.