The HT-5R has always been a top seller for Blackstar. At five watts, it’s the quintessential low-watt practice amp. And the MkII version ups the ante with revoiced channels and a plethora of player-friendly features borrowed from its higher-watt brethren. The HT-5R MkII’s upgraded clean channel epitomizes the modern boutique tone, while its drive channel serves up a muscular array of distorted textures. And thanks to Blackstar’s patented Infinite Shape Feature, you can dial in everything from inspiring British edge-of-breakup grit to tight and punchy American high gain. You also get an onboard reverb, speaker-emulated output, USB output, effects loop, and more. The HT-5R MkII is an excellent all-rounder for your practice space or studio — it delivers premium tube tone no matter what situation you use it in.

Revoiced channels for top-tier tone

When Blackstar hit the drawing board for their HT-5R MkII, not only did they reference their own amps’ popular tones, but they also wanted to match or beat the tones of electric guitar amplifiers costing up to five times more. Take it from the guitarists at Music Experience: They nailed it. The clean channel has a clarity and note definition that is rare on amps in the MkII’s price range — especially at five watts. Move over to the gain channel, and you’ll take note of how great the sound is throughout the whole range of overdrive. The original HT-5R was an incredibly popular amp. With the MkII, Blackstar beats it.

Patented Infinite Shape Feature

The Blackstar HT-5R MkII is packed with a massive variety of tube tones by virtue of Blackstar’s Infinite Shape Feature (ISF). This exclusive feature shifts the EQ curves of the amplifier’s Bass, Middle, and Treble controls. When turned fully counterclockwise, you’ll lend an American characteristic to your voice with a tight bottom end and aggressive middle. Turned all the way to the right, you’ll enjoy more of a British vibe. Beyond that, four different operating modes can be accessed via a pair of Voice switches, unleashing both vintage and modern voicings for each channel.

Loaded with player-friendly additions

The tone of the HT-5R MkII is well worth the price of admission. But Blackstar knows what players want. And they loaded this already great-sounding all-tube combo with enough features to ensure that it quickly becomes your go-to amp. The revoiced reverb offers more depth and detail than ever before. Nailing cranked tones at appropriate volume levels is easy thanks to the onboard power reduction circuit. Beyond that, the emulated line-out and USB audio output will make you your sound engineer’s best friend.

What Blackstar Says...

Back in 2008 our HT-5 took the world by storm, setting the precedent for low wattage home and studio amps. Now the MkII takes this revered design a step further with incredible performance and game-changing new features from dynamic power reduction to 0.5W and footswitchable voices, to XLR DI out and direct USB recording.

Low Wattage Valve Goodness

Valve amps sound best when cranked. The unique feel, dynamics and natural compression of a valve power stage running hot is widely considered the holy grail of guitar tone. The problem is turning your 100W valve amp up to these volumes is neither practical for yourself, nor your neighbors. Our HT-5R MkII with its low powered push-pull 12BH7 power amp produces the crunch and break-up characteristics of a traditional 100W output stage, at volumes suitable for home practice and recording.

Perfect for Practice & Recording

Alongside providing capture-ready valve tones at any volume, HT-5R MkII comes equipped with a direct USB output for the simplest way to get valve tone into your recordings without the need for an interface. Also included is a fully specified stereo recording output via XLR and jack with selectable cabinet simulation options of 4×12 or 1×12. The best part? These amps have in-built load protection, meaning you can use them without a cabinet connected for silent practice and recording.

Professional Recording Connectivity

USB output has been added for the simplest way to get valve tone into your recordings. Also added is a pro balanced XLR D.I. output, which allows the speaker simulated signal (selectable choice of 4x12 or 1x12) to be connected to external devices for practicing, recording or live use.

Power Reduction

Inspired by our patented Dynamic Power Reduction circuit, simply switch down to 0.5 Watts at the push of a button without any loss of tone. Perfect for driving the 12BH7 power stage hard at lower volumes.

Patented ISF

The patented ISF (Infinite Shape Feature) control is unique to Blackstar Amplification and represents a major step forward in tone shaping flexibility. The ISF control shifts the response of the three control tone stack between, a US type response at one end, and at the other, a UK type response. Importantly, in between the two extremes lie an infinite number of alternative tone choices that would be otherwise unavailable.

Full Tone, Low Volumes

Featuring unique push-pull 12BH7 power amps, HT-5R MkII are designed to create a full sound even at the lowest of volumes, helping to create that sound in your head no matter the environment.

Studio Quality Reverb

Our new studio quality reverb has been referenced against the most revered vintage and modern reverb units, designed to perfectly complement guitar tones.

Two footswitchable channels and voices

HT-5R MkII amps come equipped with two footswichable clean and overdrive voicings. On the clean, choose between a bright and pristine American setting with a solid and tight bass response. Or a classic British setting with looser bass response and a warmer mid range, sensitive to your guitar output and playing dynamics. On the overdrive, choose between a classic hot-rodded setting with medium power amp damping. Or, a more modern setting with a strong mid-emphasised pre-overdrive boost with a looser, more aggressive sound due to reduced power amp damping.

Stunning Looks

The compact cabinet has a 3 degree angle on the front face, top-loader panel and stage-friendly chickenhead knobs giving the HT-5R MkII a stunning boutique style.