BLACKSTAR - HT20R - MKII

From chiming ‘boutique’ cleans, to on the edge crunch, or full-on distortion, HT-20 MkII deliver ‘the sound in your head’


EL84s are at the tonal heart of the HT-20R MkII combo and head. We have used our decades of valve amp design experience to combine the response and character of this classic British valve with a carefully voiced preamp to create wonderfully lush valve tones. From pure boutique cleans, to mild overdrive that cleans up by backing off the guitar volume control, right up to saturated distortion, this amp does it all.

For at home or in the studio the Power Reduction switch takes you down to 2 Watts without any compromise in tone: perfect for driving the EL84 power stage.

Simple and intuitive controls, combined with pro features like our patented ISF control, studio quality reverb, effects loop, XLR D.I. out and USB speaker emulated output, make them perfect for any performance situation – whether you’re in the studio, gigging in front of a small crowd, or playing to thousands.

From chiming ‘boutique’ cleans, to on the edge crunch, or full-on distortion, HT-20 MkII deliver ‘the sound in your head’

ENHANCED CLEANS
The HT-20R MkII has two footswitchable Clean Voices, one with an “American” character and the other with a Class A “British” sound.

Voice 1: Voice 1 clean gives a bright and tight tone with a solid bass response, the tone shaping is positioned early in the gain structure for a refined American tone and response.

Voice 2: Voice 2 gives a highly responsive “chime” with a looser, resonant bottom-end for a British tone that can be pushed into a mid-range overdrive when driven hard.

ENHANCED OVERDRIVES
The two footswitchable Overdrive Voices are characterised by a tone which is high in gain, but avoids any of the detached top-end “fizz” often found in other designs.

Voice 1: This is the Classic “British” Blackstar overdrive. Rich and natural it goes all the way to Super Crunch gain but cleans up beautifully

Voice 2: Inspired by the critically acclaimed HT Venue MkII high gain sounds, this overdrive has additional aggression in the high-end with a tight resonant low-end.

PATENTED ISF (INFINITE SHAPE FEATURE) TONE SHAPING
The conventional three way guitar EQ network, or tone stack (a.k.a. Bass, Middle and Treble), is a key to the characteristic “voice” of traditional guitar amplifiers. Classic amplifier designs have their own versions of this network which leads to their own tonal voicings. The ISF control allows you to infinitely adjust the response of the tone control network between any of the traditional voicings in a way that has never before been possible. In this way you can design your own sound and truly find ‘the sound in your head’.

PROFESSIONAL RECORDING CONNECTIVITY
USB output have 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 emulated signals 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 2 Watts at the push of a button without any loss of tone. Perfect for driving the EL84 power stage hard at lower volumes.

REVERB
Our new studio quality reverb has been designed to perfectly complement guitar tones.

UNIQUE TILT-BACK DESIGN HEAD
The compact cabinet has a 3 degree angle on the front face, top-loader panel and stage-friendly chickenhead knobs giving the HT-20R MkII a stunning boutique style.
The head tilts back slightly to make it easy to dial in your tone.

Specification:

20 Watt combo
2x ECC83 preamp valves
2x EL84 power amp valves
1x12 Blackstar designed speaker
2 Channels
Footswitchable Voices for Clean and Overdrive
Power reduction to 2 Watts
USB audio out
XLR D.I. Out
Newly voiced studio quality reverb
2-button footswitch included