NAMM 2019: Blackstar claims its new HT-1R and HT-5R MkII are “the perfect studio and practice amps”

NAMM 2019: Blackstar is really hitting NAMM hard this year, their third announcement of the show being MkII versions of the HT-1R and HT-5R.

Both amps are available as heads or combos, and feature push-pull power amps, designed to sound full at low volume levels.

Blackstar has equipped the practice amps with many other MkII features, too, including a “studio-quality” reverb and USB speaker-emulated output.

Also onboard are footswitchable clean and overdrive voices, Blackstar’s ISF control and a 4-16-ohm speaker output.

The HT-5R adds separate gain and volume controls for each channel, a three-band overdrive EQ, 4x12/1x12 voicing switch for the cab-sim out, as well as a power reduction switch, taking the wattage down from 5W to 0.5W.

Valve-wise, both amps feature a single ECC83 preamp valve and 12BH7 power amp valve.

The HT-1R combo boasts an8” speaker - 12” on the HT-5R - while extension cabs are available in both 1x12 and 2x12 formats, packing Celestion Seventy 80s.

Prices are as follows...

• HT-1R MkII £279
• HT-1RH MkII £259
• HT-5R MkII £489
• HT-5RH MkII £449
• HT-112OC MkII £219
• HT-212VOC MkII £349

For more info, visit Blackstar Amps.

The news follows Blackstar’s other NAMM announcements: three Studio 10 tube amps, plus the EL84-fuelled HT-20R head and combo, and there may well be more to come...

––––––––––––––––––––––––––

NAMM 2019 - all the news

The dust is settling, but our ears are still ringing. You'll find all the stories that counted in our massive news hub. Below, enjoy our findings as we regrouped at the end of the show.