Hughes & Kettner TubeMeister 18 amp

I have the 5 watt version. It has the red box direct out but no effects loop. While I'm mainly a bass player, I like the sound from the unit and I put a tube screamer in front of it for more drive. I've got a cheap Peavey 112 speaker cab to run it through so with a better cab it can only improve the sound. The red box direct out is a lot darker than using a real speaker. It has a good crunch tone and the clean sound is usable, though with mine the clean is at fairly low volume compared to how loud it gets from the boost button and the gain turned up.

Thanks for the replies.
I will check out the Blackstar as well.

Dave, Like I said, there wasn't much between the HK & the BS - even then, the cute blue glow of the HK nearly sealed it!
 
One of the main decision points was definitely the inclusion of an Fx loop. This adds enormous flexibility if you have a medium sized pedal collection, as certain time-based Fx are best off not going in your front end.
 
But to the amp itself - the clean is clean, crisp, and rolls up & down really smoothly with your guitar volume
The OD channel is pretty awesome for 5W - don't be fooled, 5W is LOUD - you could get away with using it live at a pinch, provided you're drummer isn't some sort of animal.
 
Then there's the extra control called Infinite Shape Feature or ISF for short - this does a very passable attempt at morphing from British at one extreme & American at the other, with all sorts of things happening in between.
 
It's very quiet electrically, making it ideal for recording, and the emulated speaker output gives a very good approximation of the actual sound, so you only need a minimum of EQ to get it sitting nicely in any mix.
 
The power option is a bit of surprise - Blackstar have used a 12BH7 in the power amp, which is a dual-triode model, only usually seen in much bigger amps.
The idea is to run it in push-pull mode, so you get brain melting distortion at bedroom levels (well, almost bedroom level!)

I'll look forward to hearing what you think about all 3 Dave.
 
The Mesa is about 2 - 3 time the price of the other 2, at least here in the UK, and that's without any speaker cab(s).
 
Is that them just using their name to inflate the price or is the amp that much better?

Well disregard my last post about going and checking these amps out on Thursday. I got to that point in the road and my car turned left into Sweetwater. I had no control.
 
Anyway, here is how it went on the test between the H&K 18, the Blackstar HT-5RH and the Mesa Boogie TA-15
All heads were played thru a Hughes & Kettner 1x12 closed back cabinet, which has a Celestion Vintage 30 speaker. I played a PRS SE custom.
 
The H&K was first up. set at 5 watts.
The clean channel was bright, warm and made me sit up and go WOW.
I really did not expect that sound. Did not matter how hard I pushed the master or the guitar volume knob.
It always sounded great. With the gain knob turned up it started to break up but still was very clean and
crisp, not muddy at all.
The overdrive channel:
Again I was very surprised at how good it sounded.
Thru all settings on the gain knob any rock rhythms sounded great.
The lead boost button took it to that next level. Sustain and power were there but again it did not feel muddy.
When I switched over to 18watts it was so loud that I couldn't turn it up very much.
I honestly liked the 5 watt sound better, but the 18 watt did not get a fair chance really.
It did not sound bad, just loud as hell..
 
Next, the Blackstar HT-5RH:
This thing did not look like a lunchbox amp head. It was huge!
Clean channel:  It sounded dull and lifeless compared to the H&K.
It has a master volume and 1 tone knob, so very little control on the clean channel.
I was disappointed immediately. Nothing I did could make it sound as good as the H&K.
 
Overdrive Channel: so this is what the Blackstar is supposedly all about.
Maybe I was still stunned by the clean channel, but I was not blown away by the overdrive side.
Yes it was good, and the ISF knob (American vs British sound) made a huge difference in the tone.
The British (Marshall) tone was dark and warm. The American (Fender) tone was a lot brighter.
Both were very good and setting it right in the middle was a nice tonal mix.
The reverb sounded pretty good for an amp reverb.
Crank up the gain and it really wailed, but again, not any better than the H&K to my ears.
 
Next, the Mesa TA-15:
Honestly this one did not get a fair shake at all. Lots of people were coming into the guitar room so it was hard
to play it loud and really hear it over others playing.
What I can say is the switches were so small it was next to impossible for me to see what they said next to them and to even be sure if they were set up, middle or down. (old eyes).
The flexibility of the Mesa was apparent though as you can control the power output of the clean vs the overdrive channels independently.  Also more tone controls for each channel.
The master cut/boost switch on the clean channel eluded me as to how to use it on the sound.
Again this was because of a bazillion people in there.
 
Conclusion:
For my 1st test drive of the 3 amps the H&K came out on top, hands down.
I need to go back again and give the Mesa more attention when I can actually hear it.
I need to see if a 2nd pass on all three of them elicits the same response as today did.
I also am going to try them thru a different cabinet.
The Mesa TA-15 cabinet is open back, 12" V30. So the test will be open vs closed back (today H&K closed).
Will also play a Parker Dragonfly as well.
Trying to play the guitars I play at home.
 
It was a blast.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

ampfixer
The H&K products are excellent based on my experience. I won't look at Boogie even though they are really popular and I have no Blackstar experience so, no opinion. H&K even made a solid state amp I liked, it was called a Tour Reverb.

Good to know ampfixer. Thx for input.
I had never heard of them before a couple weeks so when I saw them at Gear Fest at Sweetwater.
The blue glow is a real eye catcher. The sound today was a real ear catcher.

One of the guitar players on our Churches sound stage was playing a little 15w Blues Jr. on Sunday and I could hear the drummer just fine over his amp.

Not sure he would have had enough room for a row of 5-6 Marshall stacks.

Check out Jet City Amplification (Mike Soldano is one of the owners).
I recently got a JCA20H and was blown away with the build quality and sound quality (great price didn't hurt).
 

oh yea, demo'd thru a closed back mesa cab with a vintage 30, most of my rig is single closed back 1x12's, so i was familiar with this sound..
 
 
i think the ta-15 thru a 2x12 would be that much better, choice thru a 4x12.
 
but i'm thinking of an amp like this more as a recording tool....
 
you could gig at 25 watts for sure
 

drawback of the ta-15, is that it does not have the loop...
 
 
that said, the sound is just meaty, girthy, organic and 3d compared to the other ones, at least the way i heard it...
 
so, if it's a 'recording' tool, it's kinda like having a few real choice amps: vox ac, fender bandmaster, boogie, other...
whereas the blackstar sounded like a 'blackstar', and the h&K pretty much the same.
which is fine if you like those sounds...
 
 
if i were going to buy a 'gigging' amp, that could also do studio work, right now, i'd go for a Transatlantic TA-30.
 
loop, gigging watts, lightweight, but double the cost.