Best Guitar Heads For Metal (2024 Update)

Great sounding clean tones for playing at home, which is why i bought it – my beloved Mustang 1.1 started having issues and I MUST have a great clean tone to relax. Wanted a tube amp and did my research. Decided on the Blackstar. I must say I'm extremely happy with it. The reverb is KILLER to my ear and does a great job at adding shimmer without destroying the tone. No external effects are needed to get a gorgeous clean tone – I use my Zoom G3Xn into the front end to get univibe and compression. The effects loop is very functional. The amp can be very bass heavy, depending on your instrument, but if you run a 10 band EQ (go with MXR) in the loop you amp can achieve any tonal result you want. My best sound comes with everything at 12, with some of the bass rolled off with the MXR EQ – but its just a matter of taste i guess. This amp moves a lot of air when you use the drive channel, and if your not pleased with the amps distortion it does respond really well to distortion pedals. I'm mostly in the clean blues zone but must brag on the amps darker side: it can get very loud and stay rich. I haven't tried any of the direct recording features. The 2 selectable characters of clean that the amp offers thrill me and ,again, the reverb is classy and a bit different from other amps ( I read that is a room reverb). Highly recommended.Tim H.

This amp out of the box sounds fantastic. Crystal clear clean tones and a snarly gain channel that lets you choose between a more American gain tone and a British gain tone. I would say ‘cater for everyone’. But, I received my first amp and within an hour of playing I’d noticed a loud ‘POP’ when changing channels. This pop occurred if a note was being played at the same time as the channel change. (Footswitch and Amp buttons) So, of course I returned the Amp to PMT. they arranged DPD next working day collection for me, completely hassle free. I awaited my next amp, as a direct replacement. A few days later the next Blackstar HT-5R mkii arrived, box fresh like the last. I plugged the amp in, let the tubes warm and away I went. Within minutes of found a great tone again, but the loud ‘POP’ I heard from the first unit was there again on this amp. I tried 4 sockets in the house in case there was any kind of interference/static, but to no avail. Absolutely gutted, I called PMT again. The amp was returned for the second time. Apparently this hasn’t happened to anyone else, I may just be unlucky or the amp may not get along with the electrics in my home. Just check this out as soon as you buy one. I’ve tried two other valve amps on my house since, including a Blackstar Artist 10 AE and an Orange terror with cab, and there’s absolutely zero noise with these. Very important to note here, this is not a slam of PMT, they’ve been absolutely brilliant throughout this whole thing. Customer service is second to none and they are very easy to contact. Used these for a very long time and I will be returning once stores open to try out a new amp.Jack H.

I've bought and sold many amps through my life. They have all had things I've loved about them, and things I've hated about them. Considering my experience, I had mediocre expectations about this amp. It was between this and a Marshall. After watching countless videos on YouTube, I finally just went for it. I was worried about there only being 2 pre amp tubes. The amount of gain that it has it more than enough to play anything from metal, to chimey sparkling cleans. This thing has exceeded my expectations and I am more than impressed with the sound coming from it. I know a lot of reviews are from brand fan boys trying to validate their purchase, but I am legit happy with this amp. It's versatile and simple to get good times. I don't fiddle for 20 minutes trying to get it to make the sound in my head. It will just do it. The louder you turn it up, the better it sounds.Papa Franku

After a couple years of using different solid state amps I thought it was time to get myself a valve amp. The HT-100 is one of the few 100 watt heads that I came across with headphone, power reduction and USB connection, allowing me to play between silent mode to 11. Having the additional resonance, presence and higher gain channel swayed me to the HT-100 over the HT-50. The reverb is fantastic on either. I wish I had bought one much sooner.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

I have own a Blackstar before and liked it then. But I have always thought it was missing just a little something. But now it is on point. I bought HT Stage Mk II 100 watt head. And I'm more than please with what they have done with it.Right out of the box it only took me about 15 minutes to get all the setting I wanted out of the head. From clean to crunch to metal. This time I fill that all the channels are tighter. I got rid of my Marshall DSL 100 for this head and was the best move ever.Freddie G.

The blue channel is very pantera with no pedals. Noise gate in the effects loop is all it needs. Emulated out sounds great for di recording. During a massive tube shortage this is an awesome back up amp.Mike

Sound: The clean channel is basically a low overdrive channel. Which is fine by me since I never use this amp for clean tones. The number 2 "classic" overdrive is really the best gain you can get for the price. I'm a firm believer in amp over pedals when it comes to distortion and this amp definitely delivers some serious distortion. Very good tribute to the old dime amps. Channel 3 is more suited to the newer "core" sound. It's my low channel for when I want to practice and not blow the windows off but if I turned it up it would rip paint off with the amount of gain. It's not a bad lead channel but the tone will take some time to match up if you tend to switch a lot. All in all, it's not an RH100 but it's not at all a bad amp. Especially for the price. Features: The built in noise gate is crap but it does help. The reverb has a tendency to over saturate and leave this annoying hum if you have it too high. The eq isn't over responsive but it's not dead so you can shape your tone fairly easily. I got around all of these problems by adding an eq turning down the reverb and getting a cheap noise gate and now it's near perfect. Ease of Use: It's a solid state amp so it's literally plug in and play. Finding a tone is fairly easy if you don't mind taking a minute and dialing it in. Footswitches make the world go round… Nuff said… Quality: It seems well made and I take pretty good care of my stuff so it should last a while. Value: This is pretty self explanatory… Manufacturer Support: Never needed it. The Wow Factor: For the price… WOW Overall: I got this in a pinch to go with an old orange cab for my band. Probably the best quick decision I've made in a while.Juan

I have always wanted a Randall Amp but have never had the means or opportunity to purchase one until now. There are pros and cons to this amp but the props most definitely outweigh the cons. Pros Amp's 3 channels make it very easy to switch between genres of music Clean channel is very crisp and other channels have enough "punch" to knock your socks off Buttons are well organized for ease of use and user functionality Built in bass boost and mid scoop make this amp unique Cons The only problem i have found is that it sometimes requires a noise gate in the effects loop as playing at higher gain settings sometimes causes it to hum. Though this is a solid state i feel as if it competes well with higher end tube amps. Overall this is amp is definitely worth the money.Nathaniel

Overall: I run this into a Bugera ts1x12 with a WGS veteran 30 @16ohm and a Joyo vintage overdive in front. Very surprising how versatile the tone knob is with the different tone stack switches. Despite what people say this amp can do clean. You have to turn the volume up high and use the gain as a volume. It even says this in the manual. I have a Bugera G5 that does cleans very well so I don't worry about that. Before I even turned it on I swapped out the 2 12ax7 preamp tubes for a pair of matching Tung-sol 12ax7s so I can't speak to the sound of the stock ruby tubes. I am using a dean VX with guitarheads hexbuckers and a ephiphone strat with hsh pickups (guitarheads z-buckers and a no name dual rail single coil in the middle). It is a 1w amp so don't expect it to sound as loud as a bigger amp. I play about half way on the volume knob and that is plenty loud for my apartment and it has plenty of low end chunk at that volume. The overdrive just gives it a little sizzle but you don't really need it. For the money there is no better small tube head for metal or rock. The Bugera G5 retubed with Tung-sol pre and JJ power tube comes close but this is just thicker sounding distortion. I will never sell it.David

I bought it on impulse during Black Friday and I'm so glad I did. I had been looking to get a tube amp and at the price this thing went for it was a no brainer. But price aside this amp sounds great. I was looking for a high gain metal amp and this fit the bill. I only have combo amps which means I do not have a speaker cab to hook this too but I used the midi out and hooked it to my PC using an audio interface. The high gain sounds are tight, clear and perfect for modern heavy rock/metal. I do plan to get a speaker cab for it, however for recording rock/metal it is so easy to use and I personally love using a real amp to record with instead of a software plug in to emulate the high gain sound. It's also small enough to sit on my PC desk.Supergoat94

I picked this amp up hoping it would be a nice quieter tube-amp option. Randall is known for high-gain, and even at just 1 watt, this amp has gain for days. In fact, that was one of my knocks against it, i had a hard time dialing in a nice clean sound. The breakup happens very early in the pre-amp stage, so if you're looking for anything resembling a clean tone, this amp doesn't excel there. It would be great for the metal player that can't crank up a 30, 50, or 100 watt tube amp in their apartment, but you need high-gain tones. Overall, i wasn't as impressed with this amp as i am with the Positive Grid Spark 40. Two different beasts, but the Spark 40 has way more value to me in this product range.Tanner's Favorite Things

This thing is a sleeper amp, not only for it's sounds but the versatility. I tried a few Katana combos and while pretty good, their cabinet and speaker are their weakest link. Put this through a good cabinet though and it's fantastic! I setup all the midi controlling with my Helix and run it 4 cable method x2 (I don't know how else to describe it…) with my 6505+ so I get the best of all of them. It was a major pain to figure that all out at first, but once I got rolling it all came together. I love my 6505+, but I can do things with this and the Helix I can never do with that. Does it sound as good? No, but it's not far off either. Us tone snobs will hear it, but the average audience member won't. They'll just know they liked how it sounded. I find I get more out of it every time I plug it into the Tone Studio software and do deep edits. Once you get all that set to your liking you don't really need it anymore and can just use this like any other amp with knobs. One of the most important things is the feel is there when you play. I don't really notice much difference compared to my 6505+. It's really cool to be able to switch directly between this, my 6505+ and amp models by changing a snapshot on the Helix. The power amp in is an excellent way to drive the Helix through a cab too!Matt

I wanted something lighter than my Mesa Boogie rigs- cabs, combos and heads. Mark V 90 and 35. They are the gold Standard. I love them. Nothing is better sonically. But the Katana Head Mk2 comes pretty close, has it's own sweet sounds, has really professional grade Boss effects built and is so well designed and usable and configurable. But it's so light and portable and has Boss build quality and sound and I'm tired of the fragility of tubes and the utter heft of the big Mesa heads. But I took a risk and bought a DV Mark 208 Jazz cabinet. It's also incredibly compact and wonderful quality. They are a marriage made in heaven. Forget the "jazz" – it has an amazing tone and volume. It's range is higher and lower than my Mesa cabs and can even handle bass and at 300W can take anything you might throw at it plus being so sensitive, efficient and such a detailed gorgeous sound. It's size is a perfect match for the Kat Head. Finally you must get both the GA-FC and the XSonic AirStepKat and use both. Together they open up all of the features of this great head. It's easy to hang off eg volume pedals from the GA. The Airstep enables a killer smartphone app to tune and configure and observe the head while you are playing. It enables access to multiple versions of effects hands-free. The combination of devices is super compact and incredibly full and beautiful sounding. The cleans are to die for while the modeling is unbelievably accurate and sensitive. It feels like a tube amp when you are teeaking the settings for each channel. Get them all. You cannot go wrong… you can even double it all up for a stereo rig. All for very modest coin.Damian

I purchased this amp because i don't play live anymore and all my other amps are 100 amp heads. I use this with a quad speaker cabinet. I wanted a practice amp and it was between using the Peavey 6505 MH or this one. The Peavey was always out of stock everywhere, so I decided to purchase this one and just purchase the Peavey down the road. I have always used tube amps so solid state wasn't a purchase I have made before. After learning how to program this amp with 6 different settings, I was so impressed the Peavey is a for-thought now. This amp at .5 watts is almost as loud as a Marshall I have set at 25% of 100 amp watts. IT has incredible tone and is almost as good as a Kemper I own. It's ability to also module several different pedals from delays, to reverb , chorus, etc is a standalone benefit for the money. Purchasing these pedals (which is in itself quite expensive) places you well over the price of this amp. It was a great purchase and I would recommend to all to use live or for me, as a practice amp. And Boss has always made durable and solid products over the years. If i could give it 9 starts I would!! And of course AMS, has always delivered solid products and free shipping to boot, you cant go wrong.STEVEAUX

I’ve been using the same solid state mg30cfx since I started playing. I purchased this along with the Marshall 1×12 speaker cabinet. This amp makes playing so much more enjoyable and I’ve finally found the tones I’ve been missing over the years. It’s great for in the house at the .1 watt setting. At full 1 watt it definitely makes my neighbors hate me. The foot switch and effects loop is definitely a plus for me. I’d recommend it to anybodyTim

I bought this amp as a practice amp to keep in a house that I'm remodeling. I'm running through an old early 2000's marshall MG 4 x 12 cab that I had laying around. I love the high gain channel…its got that great marshall dirt from the 80's type sound. The normal channels can get you that ZZ Top type of blues overdrive if that's what your after. I'm not crazy about the clean sounds, but nobody really buys a marshall for cleans anyways. The digital reverb is pretty decent as well. It's really nice to have the effects loop as well. Overall, a great little amp!Kevin

This is my second Orange after having a OR15 a few years ago. The sound was good but I couldn't get it to clean up enough. This Rockerverb has a clean channel so that soled that. The MKIII is supposed to be brighter than the previous version but it needs to be dimed to be Shiney. Distortion sounds great
One star deduction for no footswitch.Rodd Wilson

So, I don't shred, I am not anywhere close to being a metal guy or a classic rock guy which orange amps are known for. I play alt rock/shoe gaze and I took a big leap of faith on this amp. Never heard it live before and really just based my ideas off of reviews online. This amp is beyond what the reviews show and sound like. It literally took me about 15 minutes to dial in an amazing sound. It adapted to my pedals perfectly and I have't even started playing the the FX loop option. I don't have cheap pedals so the amp really has to have a pure clean sound for them to shine like they need too and this amp not only did that but made my pedals sound better than even I expected them too. It's heavy and it's expensive but I will never look back and wonder if I made the right decision. It is more than I could have hoped for. I am running it through a vox 2X12 with green backs for a cabinet. Great sounds and great amp!!!!John

The Dual Terror has all of the positive features of the Tiny Terror while improving on some of the weaknesses of its smaller counterpart. The DT sports 30 watts of class A tube power in contrast to the TT's 15. This provides more clean headroom for the user as compared to the tube breakup at relatively low volume that often occurred when playing the TT. Fortunately, the Dual Terror has variable wattage for those who like the early breakup or want arena crunch at bedroom volume. The DT may be run at either 30 or 15 watts via the "full power/half power/standby" switch on the front. The user can also drop the wattage even further via a switch on the back panel. The switch allows the user to power down two of the four EL84 power tubes. This allows the amp to be run at 7.5 watts when in the "half-power" setting. This versatility makes the Dual Terror an excellent choice for stage, studio, and anything in between. The amp gurus at Orange also added a second channel to increase the DT's versatility. The new "Fat" channel truly lives up to its name. This channel has all the sweet British tone of the Tiny Terror channel only warmer and fuller. It is a great addition to an already great sounding amp. The only downside to the two-channel operation of the DT is deciding which of the channels to use as clean and which for dirty as both have their own unique voice and sound great both clean and overdriven. The operation is incredibly simple, three knobs per channel, nothing fancy just gain, volume, and tone. Orange proves that you don't need a million knobs and switches to get great tone, just a well-crafted valve amp. Anyone in the market for great tube tone in a smaller package that won't kill your wallet should get their hands on one of these amps as soon as possible. Plug it in, turn it up, and let yours ears feast on some of the best Class A valve tone on the market today…Stanton H.

Bought my Dual Terror used without a case a few years back. Went without one for a long time because these cases were going for over $100, and I wasn't willing to spend that much on a simple cover. Just recently, wear and tear and constant gigging finally caught up with me, and a jack screw came off, along with a switch breaking off clean. Knew I had to buckle down and finally get a case. Luckily this one came at more than half the price. Fits perfectly, extra pocket is great for cables, and actually makes it easier to lug around. Thanks!noizewerm

I wanted to give it 3,5 stars, because 3 seems a bit harsh and 4 is too much. The overdrive channel is great! Excellent and defined sounds from moderate overdrive to modern metal and postrock stuff. The clean sounds from the clean channel are beautiful, but I never use 'clean' sounds. I want my cleans dirty! I was expecting the amp to break up much sooner in the 1 watt mode than it does. I have to turn the volume almost all the way up to have the natural overdrive I want but then it is way too loud. I 'm sure no P.A.-guy will allow me to turn up the amp this much on stage, so unfortunately I will again be stuck with an overdrive pedal 🙁Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

Bought this as an Open Box item in Mint Condition, and all though the boxes were torn and tattered, the Amp Head was in perfect shape. Not sure why someone had to return the head, but the foot pedal was crushed a little, so there may have been some damage at one point. Anyway, the Thrasher 120W is working just fine, and I'm very pleased with the sounds I'm getting with different pedal configurations. Someone said it was hard to dial in the sound they wanted, but it took me very little time to dial in some great tones. It is a versatile amp that can range from a rich clean tone, to an ear blowing distorted Monster. I've been playing a long time, and I'm kicking my self for never getting a Stack like this! My Fender Blues Deville 212 is going to be cold and lonely for a while, because I can dial in the tones I've always been looking for with this Thrasher and a few pedals.Hubie

As a guy that’s owned almost every high gain head and still owns a Fortin Cali, a KSR Gemini, Diezel Herbert MK3, a Monomyth Skeleton Key, a Omega Granophyre and a Ultra Lead it holds its own. Does it sound better than those? No I wouldn’t say that but it really isn’t a bad sounding amp and is real close to the satan in terms of tone. My biggest complaint would be it’s made in China and you can definitely tell the quality difference when it’s cracked open. Not a bad amp for the money thoughJason Quick

Overall: Bias your amp as soon as you get it otherwise the amp is underwhelming out of the box. Set the bias correctly even and the amp sounds the best. The stock ruby tubes are actually pretty good out of the box, I did swap the stock tubes for Tung-sols and it definitely gave alot more sound to the amp that i perfered. (You can mix and match the power tubes to different types than just the stock 6l6, i find the 6l6 the best for this amp, but el34 are good as well depending on what flavor you want)I use this amp primarily for studio use and it kills 5150 type of amps in versatility. You can get a plethora of different sounds. This amp does not need a overdrive but it can handle boosts and or overdrives very well. My favorite feature is the gain shaping options to really dial in the distortion character and the boost function is great for adding in a little more saturation focused on the higher mids.The clean channel is not over looked and delivers the goods.This amp isn't for everyone some perfer 5150 sounds, this gives you a hot rodded Marshall sounds met with Mesa type sounds and it's own 5150 type of sounds (but not exactly close but in the ballpark of 5150 style amps).After putting in the work with a tube swap and a bias, this amp is a monster and has plenty of gain necessary especially when it's biased even.This amp is assembled in China, but don't let that steer you away from it.. (Although my footswitch that came with the amp however came defective with a short in the cable where it meets the houseing and would not function without disconnecting the signal from the amp. I didn't want to return the whole amp after falling for its sounds compared to other amps i have had in my studio. I contacted zZounds customer service and they were able to reimburse me with a gift certificate to replace the defective footswitch, that's awesome customer service.)I will say this amp isn't made for everyone, especially if you perfer straight forward classic 5150 sounds (you may perfer the Randall Diavlo that costs less than this) If you want a Fortin Natas this amp is the closest you'll get to it with a little over 1/4th of the cost. I may contact Mike Fortin in the future in the interests of modding it personally to get it closer to the Natas in terms of transformers/chokes etc., till then this monster of an amp delivers the goods in terms of heavy music live or in the studio. Definitely made for someone who wants go have the options to tweak their sound and tone. I have yet to have a problem with the amp, my band mates are very impressed with quality of the sound when used at rehearsals compared to their 6505 and mesa rectifier they are used to hearing, and both my guitarists want one for themselves for live applications. Couldn't be happier with an amplifier.Casey

I'm running this through a 1×12 Bugera cab (which to my ear is a pretty neutral speaker, but sounds great). Unless your band plays way too loud this amp should give you enough volume for gigging (even at 25 watts through an 8 ohm speaker). Takes pedals well – all of my drive pedals sound great. The MV50 reacts like my tube amps with a boost pedal in front (Fulltone & Xotic). I really like the attenuator, and at home I play at 1/100 power with the volume at about noon. While this amp has a lot of clean headroom you will start to get some hair when you push it, but in a good way. It's the kind of sound where you can play clean by picking lightly but if you hit it hard you'll hear that you're on the edge of breakup. Not surprising for a Vox, this is not a mid-scooped Fender clean. Mids are present, but not pushed. It is a warm clean, not sterile or spikey at all to my ear. I've been playing this primarily with a Boss Fender reverb pedal and the tone really is glorious. I don't feel like I'm missing anything from my tube amps. Not a thing. I wish I'd had this thing years ago when I was throwing my back out moving 60lb tube amps to and from gigs. What I don't like. The unit feels very solid, seems like a quality piece of gear, but the mini chicken head knobs on the front feel cheap (a minor complaint). Mainly I don't like how much they have crammed on the back panel. You've got tiny switches for power, flat/deep, eco (shuts it off after 15 min. of non-use) and the attenuator, as well as headphone/line out & speaker out. Once you get a speaker cable plugged in it feels very cramped. I'd much rather that the power switch was on the front. Lastly, I wish I could get 50 watts @ 8 ohms, just for the headroom. This is giggable for me at 25 watts into 8 ohms & still gives you good headroom, but YMMV. I primarily use single coils. With hot humbuckers I don't know if you'd run out of clean headroom or not. With all 50 watts you'd be fine, I'm sure.NE Guy

First – let me say that this is a good, tiny pedal-platform amp, if that's what you're looking for. It has a very good base clean tone and it takes pedals well. I think most players looking to downsize would find this usable. If all you need is a good clean tone – for jazz, say – take a listen to one of these. I find the 4 ohm thing a bummer. I don't own any 4 ohm cabs, and after thinking about jumping through hoops to get all 50w available to me, I decided it wasn't worth it. This amp sounds really good, but at the very least for clean headroom, anyone looking for a pedal platform usually wants to control where the edge of breakup is, or have it totally clean. Beyond that, there's just too much crammed onto the (very small) back of the amp. Tiny switches plus the speaker out jack just mean it's hard to find the on/off switch, etc. Put the power switch on the front so I don't have to hunt for it. After having the MV50 a while I decided to try a DV Mark Micro 50 – and I like it better than the Vox. It's more versatile with 3 band EQ, and I have a full 50w to play with. Overall I prefer the DV Mark – I just feel it suits my clean & light OD tones better than the Vox. But if I had to gig with the Vox I'd be OK with it. Having said that, several months ago I came across a great deal on a Blues Cube Hot EL84 (more Vox-ish tone than the standard) and frankly, it blows the other two away. It's a combo, of course. So I'm keeping the DV Mark as a backup. The Vox has gone. Anyone looking to downsize should give one of these a listen. There is good to great tone in there, depending on your needs. Again – the 4 ohm load to get 50w is a bummer. But not everyone needs that much power. The small box is pretty cute and a cool conversation starter – but for practical purposes something slightly larger would've been a better idea, IMO.Mr. Joe

I got this to play at gigs and fill in to gaps for 60s and 70s classic rock numbers. It sounded great mic's with just enough stage sound for sustain. I especially liked the foot switch layout to flip between clean and dirty numbers when covering Stones, Bowie, Mott The Hoople, Doobie Bros and stuff, but needed help with a pedal with early metal sounds. Still, found it a very flexible amp overall. About eight months in it got a hissing sound and was useless as a mic'd amp through the PA. It was still under warranty, and – long story short – they repaired the hiss by replacing some circuit components, but after a few weeks it came back. The is the one time I wished I got the replacement warranty. I ended up giving it away to a friend who tinkers in electronics. Do and internet search and you'll see this amp has a long history of hiss and other noise problems that are hard to isolate. That said, I know of some players who liked this amp very much and it never let them down, so I'm not hating on Fender. I like the Fender sound and own a very reliable 65' Twin two Blues Deluxe Issues. If you really must have this amp, I'd recommend getting the full replacement warranty.RJ

Just purchased this beautiful blond amp. The clean channel is perfect. Decent gain. Reverb is adequate. Highly recommend purchasing the amp head and the 2X12 cab because you get two Clesetion Vintage 30's vise the single Eminence in the combo. Sound great out of the box even before the tubes are burned in and the speakers broken in. I'll say this again, the clean channel is perfect, Les Paul, Strat, Tele, ES 195 with P90's and effects never sounded better. Gives this bad boy a test drive, you wont be disappointed. If you have never used a tube amp, 22 watts is quite a bit of power compared to solid state, possibly two to three time the power. Yes! this amp can get quite loud. Perfect for small gigs. Highly portable and easy to move and transport.Karl

I was skeptical of trying this 5 watt head out, but it really does perform. With the ISF and EQ, you can really dial in the sound you are looking for, it may take some time…but it is there. How loud is this thing? I'm running it through my Mesa 2×12 cab and I rarely put it past halfway on the volume. Perhaps the most shocking thing to me about this head is how well the low notes sound, especially when palm muting. The clean channel isn't to be overlooked, it sounds amazing, and the Reverb does as well. If you are into playing virtually any genre of Metal, I'd highly recommend this 5 watt amp. I'm actually thinking of selling my 50 watt EVH head because this thing surpassed my expectations.Craig

I am a gear hog and I love trying out amps and pedals. I am a big fan of Blackstar, especially my HT-50. I've been pondering getting the Metal head for some time, but the larger version was just too much for home studio use (my intended purpose) – when I saw the price on these, I went for it and I love it. The flexibility and range of the EQ is generous and lets you dial in precise tones. Working the gain and volume together offers such a spectrum of sounds and feels (crystal clean to super metal), and when you add in the OD select, you have a real powerhouse of options. My only concern was, how much could a 1 watt amp really push? Not to be worried! I played this through both a Marshall 1960A and a Blackstar HTV412 and it sounded great. You are not going to be able to rock an arena (maybe a 20 seat arena!) but for practice, home studio, or small gig purposes, it is plenty enough. Besides, it's metal, it's Blackstar and it's cute! Wait, can you say it's cute 'and' metal? If you are considering getting one, get it before they are gone, gone, gone.egwanaboy

Perfect for metal all any kind of music, Brutal,nice crispy tube sound on both channel( clean and overdrive). Five star product and excellent value and price.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

The tone cant be bettered even at any volume level bedroom or stage fender clean to anything you can imagen the Shadows SRV to Mega Death To Dream Theatre it is thereReviewed by Andertons Music Co.

I've owned many different amps in the 25 years I've played guitar.. Marshall JCM2000 tube amps; Blackstar HT-5; Bogner Alchemist and quite a few solid state amps. Really love the spectrum of tones this thing has…super heavy crunch distortion…smooth blues tones.. subtle rock crunch tones..clean balanced cleans…all with very defined notes…just a fantastic ampbbruno123

It's a fantastic little thing , soundwice it's better and more useful than the bigbrother . I have owned one mark V before and I was not impressed , but this little thing makes more impact on me than the first Mesa I have owned . But the first one made me happy this one takes me over the topp happy !!!!dangtree

Now this is a great, small amp that is lightweight, easy to transport, and has TONS of needed features and tones. I can take it anywhere, plug into any 8 ohm cab, or mixer and have my presets loaded and ready to go in minutes. The only downside I find is with the blue backlit lighting glaring in my eyes, compounded with no lines or demarcations on the knobs makes it very difficult and time consuming to make any quick changes; which is why I must have a small flashlight handy. Outside of that, I think H&K has made a great stride in amp design with this model.alimik0

Watched all the YouTube videos from the guys that are endorsed by H&K but hardly any actual purchasers so I was skeptical. Embarrassed to say I have been playing guitar for almost 50 years, all kinds of music, owned probably 100 amps. I needed something to grab and go to last minute fill in gigs but could use in my studio as well. Ordered the Spirit 200 and a H&K TM212 cab, very portable (ProAudioStar were great as usual, sorry.. off topic) I used it direct in the studio and was amazed at the tube feel from the Red Box out using clean and crunch sounds. The metal "Ultra" sounds not so much… took me a bit to figure out it was better to close-mic the heavier sounds. Then they sounded amazing… at 2 watts !! Played it for 6 hours the first day I got it.Lastly, I was worried about the live sound. Would it cut through the band and what would running out direct into the board while using the cab on stage sound like. Played it at 200 watts… at 11:00 on the dial it would peal the paint off the walls and it kept the overdrive sound and effects as they were at bedroom volume. That has never worked with any setup I have owned before, you always had to adjust for live shows. Took about an hour for the TM212 cab to loosen up and then the open E or drop D where like a punch in the face. And… after 2 hours the head was cool (temp wise)Tube snobs will have a tough time with this one, I can't imagine lugging a 70lb AC30 or Marshall half stack around any more. Could go on about the sag control, 8 cabinet emulators, and foot switch but I only have 3500 characters left.Nucci1960

Versatile and powerful great for recording love the built in red box terrific feature. So many options from crystal clean to molten metal something for everyone in this rig. Patience is a must when dialing in tones once you get the hang of how the controls operate sky is the limit.ni_768819

This amp is great. Ton of headroom and the tone is outstanding. I originally was looking for a tube amp for the 3 channels and the warm tone you get from tubes. I seen this one and thought, it’s Randall so it’s got to be good. I’ve played through several Randall’s over the years and I have to say this thing rocks. The tone is great and plenty of gain. Don’t be fooled though it’s not a gain monster but it offers more than enough for hard heavy metal. This thing is loud, I haven’t had to put it above 4 when we play. The included 4 button footswitch is basic but well built. I haven’t experienced any of the noise associated with button channel switching. This unit however does not have reverb. Not a problem for me but a heads up for those that use built in reverb and not some form of processing. I would definitely buy this again.Justin

Best ss i ever tried, don't let the 'ss' fools you! This amp has so much power! Great lows! And mids, i don't even use a single pedal! Pure amp sound!, way better than a lot of tube amps and for half the price!Krloz

I have been playing guitar for over 20 years and I can tell you that this amp rocks!! If you want crisp cleans,it will handle it. If you want nice vintage overdriven tones, it does it. If you want high gain, look no further because this amp will blow your mind!! Dimebag Darrell's amp on steroids!! Pushing 2 custom Randall 412 cabs with Eminence Swamp Thangs and Legend GB128's in X pattern (400 watts each) to their absolute limits. For the amount of gain this thing produces it keeps a clear signal and is pretty quiet compared to some amps in its watt range and thanks to the onboard noise gate its whisper quiet! I can't say enough about this amp.Killersnetwork

I was really surprised at how good this amp sounds. Years ago I tried Line 6 and was not at all happy with the tone; but this is another story. It does take me awhile to dial in a specific classic rock tone, but when I do, it sounds better than any other amp that I've tried. I have tried the Marshall Code, Blackstar id Core, Vox Valvetronix, Boss Katana; as well as some all tube amps. The only other amp that is a close 2nd is the Fender Mustang GTX; also a great amp. The Spider V is fairly easy to operate. It offers lots of choices for amp models and cabinets. I like that it has variations of a mic'd cabinet. The parametric eq is a plus. I haven't played around too much with the effects yet, so I can't comment on that. The only negative thing I could say is that when you're editing a preset and want to hear how it sounds before you save it, you only have a short time before it goes back to the Home Screen. This really is a small price to pay for the quality of the amp and all the versatility it has. I like the App too. Musicians Friend got me a great on this as well; and their agent is following up making sure that I'm satisfied. The funny thing is that I came across this by accident. I placed an order for a Peavey amp that was on back order. I called Peavey multiple times, but they never returned my call. I also emailed them, but they didn't respond to that either. As far as I'm concerned, Peavey doesn't have any customer support.crrkr

Been playing about a year, so my review is from the perspective of a complete newbie. The things I like- Lots of presets, mobile app functions, computer interface, and loads of user created effects available. Nice and loud, but no real basis of comparison to say if clarity is better or worse than other comparable amps. Don't likes- The micro-usb interface. I had to get an adapter and it's just not as good a connection as nearly anything else would be. IMHO, micro-usb is far too flimsy. Connecting to PC is far more problematic than just using the spider mobile app. It's probably a little more complicated than it should be for a beginner, but it's feature rich for the money.Nic T

I had a Line 6 120w amp for years that I regrettably sold a while ago and was looking for another amp. I looked at all the amp reviews I could find and decided that the new Katana was the way to go. I got the Katana home and absolutely loved it but the second day I had it it started a really loud buzzing that I couldn't stop. It probably was an easy fix but the fact is the amp was way too powerful for my purposes and their software wasn't compatible with the new Catalina OS. I returned and started looking again. I saw the 60w Spider V and the price was excellent so I made an on the spot decision to buy another Line 6 and I'm really glad I did. The tones this amp can get are incredible. There are so many amp models and cabs that you can dial in pretty much any tone you want from a crispy snapback country clean to the most vicious heavy metal and everything in between. You can use the presets as they are or you can use them as a baseline and tweak to your own liking or you can start from scratch and build your own rig from the ground up. The controls are intuitive and easy to use but there are some features where you'd have to be a professional to really know how to use or even care to use. The software and the mobile app are so easy to use and give you all the options at your fingertips. The amp comes with a lot of presets that I find are completely useless but there are a lot that are excellent as I already talked about. There are only four empty slots for your own custom presets and I wish there were more but if you use the mobile app you can have your own tone library on there. I bought the FBV3 foot controller so that gives me a lot of flexibility to have various effects. One of the limitations is the lack of good effects though. There's enough that if you work at it you can get a decent sound but there could be some better ones. Overall I would recommend the amp. Don't listen to the naysayers or the amp snobs, it's a quality amp and extremely versatile.Just Plain Joe

Great sounding clean tones for playing at home, which is why i bought it – my beloved Mustang 1.1 started having issues and I MUST have a great clean tone to relax. Wanted a tube amp and did my research. Decided on the Blackstar. I must say I'm extremely happy with it. The reverb is KILLER to my ear and does a great job at adding shimmer without destroying the tone. No external effects are needed to get a gorgeous clean tone – I use my Zoom G3Xn into the front end to get univibe and compression. The effects loop is very functional. The amp can be very bass heavy, depending on your instrument, but if you run a 10 band EQ (go with MXR) in the loop you amp can achieve any tonal result you want. My best sound comes with everything at 12, with some of the bass rolled off with the MXR EQ – but its just a matter of taste i guess. This amp moves a lot of air when you use the drive channel, and if your not pleased with the amps distortion it does respond really well to distortion pedals. I'm mostly in the clean blues zone but must brag on the amps darker side: it can get very loud and stay rich. I haven't tried any of the direct recording features. The 2 selectable characters of clean that the amp offers thrill me and ,again, the reverb is classy and a bit different from other amps ( I read that is a room reverb). Highly recommended.Tim H.

This amp out of the box sounds fantastic. Crystal clear clean tones and a snarly gain channel that lets you choose between a more American gain tone and a British gain tone. I would say ‘cater for everyone’. But, I received my first amp and within an hour of playing I’d noticed a loud ‘POP’ when changing channels. This pop occurred if a note was being played at the same time as the channel change. (Footswitch and Amp buttons) So, of course I returned the Amp to PMT. they arranged DPD next working day collection for me, completely hassle free. I awaited my next amp, as a direct replacement. A few days later the next Blackstar HT-5R mkii arrived, box fresh like the last. I plugged the amp in, let the tubes warm and away I went. Within minutes of found a great tone again, but the loud ‘POP’ I heard from the first unit was there again on this amp. I tried 4 sockets in the house in case there was any kind of interference/static, but to no avail. Absolutely gutted, I called PMT again. The amp was returned for the second time. Apparently this hasn’t happened to anyone else, I may just be unlucky or the amp may not get along with the electrics in my home. Just check this out as soon as you buy one. I’ve tried two other valve amps on my house since, including a Blackstar Artist 10 AE and an Orange terror with cab, and there’s absolutely zero noise with these. Very important to note here, this is not a slam of PMT, they’ve been absolutely brilliant throughout this whole thing. Customer service is second to none and they are very easy to contact. Used these for a very long time and I will be returning once stores open to try out a new amp.Jack H.

Great amplifier, especially for the money. First of all it is an amazing pedal platform amp with nice bass and mid response. Everything I've run into it sounds really good, and it's near breakup gain is gain on 10 and boost off. It is most like a JTM45, it has a lot more bass and more active tone controls than later Marshall amplifiers like the JCM900 I previously owned. It doesn't overdrive too much on its own, but if you push it with a booster, it does pretty well. It is loud, even in the low power setting, and to really get it to drive, you need to push the power amp. It also doesn't seem to have as much drive as I remember from trying a 50 watt version, but that may have been the guitar more than the amp. Great value, I would recommend it to anyone looking for what I just described. If you want something that sounds like a Super Lead, Super Bass, or JCM800, this is not the right thing to buy. If you want a great pedal platform or early Marshall sound, you can't beat it.Craig

I've had My Marshall Origin for about 6 months and I've been pleasantly surprised. I've been a Les Paul/Marshall guy for 40 years and I have the hearing loss to prove it but this Marshall has it all. This versatile 20 watt head is the perfect combination of versatility and guts.This Amp is perfect for pedals as it great grand daddies were, I use an J Rockett Archer Ikon Klon clone, An OCD a Tone City King of Blues and an original Electro harmonics LPB-1 booster. I can go from crystal clear bell like tones to Ace's plexi grind to the verge of jCM 800 tones or straight in crank the Gain and get that sweet traditional Marshall tone and attack. Unlike the Marshalls of old the EQ section greatly influences the color of this Head and along with the tilt control which replaces the need to jump channels from the Hi and Lo inputs its all there. The addition of the switchable effects loop is a huge plus as is the gain/Boost control which gives you that little extra edge for leads. Running the amp on full and using your guitars volume and tone controls gives you a lot of versatility as well. The adjustable power out put feature is nice for quiet practice but I prefer to use my Bugera PS-1 attenuator and keep my amp volume on 10, just a personal preference. A suggestion, I've used this head with 1×12 and 2×12 cabinets an it sounds good but when i finally plugged it into a 4×12 this amp took on a whole new personality. The 4×12 let this amp breathe and with the EH LPB-1 driving the front end and a little reverb I had ACE's Kiss alive tone dead on by using the gain boost and a little color from various pedals the tone possibilities a vast. All in all this amp would be a great deal at twice the price, marshall once again did it right.Miggs

Got the 6L6 5150 Black Stealth last fall…it is incredible but there was something about this EL34 after watching several demos and deciding it needed to be home with its 6L6 Brother. The EL34 cleans are crystal like and pristine! Channel 2 has that grit, warmth, clarity yet buttery rock goodness! Channel 3 is excellent to round out and take the lead. This amp has been great in inspiration, performance and recording. It was more than I hoped for even with the positive reviews and demos. It is easy to dial in a sweet tone. In fact, I have done so blindly and it just makes each note resonate and stand out. I have it running through a JCM 1960 A cab. Together, they RAWK! Another awesome thing about this amp is the headphone jack for late night practice and you can get sweet tones without shaking the house unlike other amps of this nature. It is a must!The Muniz Music Machine

The green (clean) channel on this amp through the 2×12 cabinet is absolutely incredibly. Expressive, responsive, articulate, and full of character. I recently tried out a Divided by 13 LDW amp and was blown away by the clean tone. I had always considered myself a Fender/6V6 person until that point. That amp was already sold, was twice the price, and is impossible to come across. This amp is the only one I could find that has both the EL34s and 12AX7s, and has that same unique clean tone that's somewhere between a Marshall and Fender in all the right ways. I could do without the red channel entirely, and would prefer to have separate eq controls for the green and blue channels, but easy enough to compensate with a tone knob.Faisal