评论
休斯& Kettner黑灵200 1 x12“200瓦组合放大器评论
200 w, 4-channel 1 x 12“模拟吉他放大器,与精神音频发生器、模拟DI输出,蓝牙,和百变龙音箱扬声器
体验真正的活力管语气,与声波通用性越来越多,但休斯& Kettner黑灵200组合。这amp创建交付所有标志性的吉他音调过去60年,多亏了黑人精神200组合的精神音频发生器。其电路允许这吉他组合音箱开关组件和动态电路布局重现的语气,感觉,和响应的史上最著名的放大器。,比几乎任何其他放大器连接和设置选项可用,休斯& Kettner黑人精神200组合是理想的任何球员寻找所有的音调。
顾客评论
客户增加了媒体
\nBackground behind buying this was over C19 our rehearsal room was shut so we needed to bring all kit home, im using a blackstar series 1 with a 4x12 and g majour 2. its big heavy and wires everywhere when gigging, but in a living room it was just too much. So i purchased this little beast as a spacesaving option, thinking as is DIs via the redbox on the back for the emulated output that goes into pa id just use it as a backup worst case when we go back to work.
\n
\nWhat a great suprise. the sound is awsome, its loud as in 4x12 via a marshall loud but very very clear not muddy at all and certainly not a fizzy distortion as one review said. It sounds like a valve amp.
\n
\nTo get the real feel you need it switched to 200w on the back albeit the 2w is great for night time one your own type practice and 20w does it great for you average jam.
\n
\nThe presets are fun but as i tend only to use 6 different sounds live ive started programming new ones in via the iPad.
\n
\nThe IPad you really need by the way. As you can set which midi channel each sound goes to and you need a midi pedal or the amp cant channel switch. Its just like programming a bit of rack kit but way easier as the app is visual and simple.
\n
\nWith this amp to get full use from it Ive used my old ADA mp1 midi controller.
\n
\nOne of the key things i both love and hate on this amp is you can make a budget guitar sound like a premium model, shocked how my 90s blazer sounds as good if not better than my Custom shop SL2H via all the clean settings this is a first.
\n
\nThe redbox is awsome. The plan is to pop this amp on a stand and use it as my guitar monitor and di it FOH as i do with the blackstar when the Academy tour starts up. Save alot of hogging gear and saves 2u of space in my rack that now will only accommodate a line 6 wireless, korg tuner and a dunlop rack wah.
\n
\nThe built in effects are perfect for 99% of my playing and are very good. The chorus is analog sounding, the delay works great also. I dont use reverb at all as its the engineers job but the reverb on this amp is great also for practice.
\n
\nother built in effects a superb also if you like flangers\/ phasers \/ tremlo etc it does it great.
\n
\nThe main feature of this amp is its size and versitility. Gone are the days of 3 amps on stage micd up and 3 way switches!", "sir_rating": "5.0", "sir_name": "mark lawson", "sir_whereareyou": "England", "sir_background": "Guitarist\/ Keys for Metallistic currently, session player\/ advert\/ computer game\/ jingle writer, former guitarist for SIN and guitar tutor at Yamaha Music School.", "sir_keepanonymous": "0" }, { "id": 6460, "store_items_review_id": 283428, "media_type": "image", "thumbnail": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-160__wm-__q-60__hmac-d1034938128c2f28f51b26c7ab381b980d85ea65\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMjAwOTEyMDY0MjI3LXBocDJqcmJvNy5qcGVn", "media_path": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-1080__wm-__q-60__hmac-de7f1f35eb916adb3dd3c53a65ab07db97da0d03\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMjAwOTEyMDY0MjI3LXBocDJqcmJvNy5qcGVn", "sir_title": "hughes & kettner Black Spirit 200 combo review", "sir_comments": "wow, only thing i can say about this is blown away by this little but LOUD amp (but only of you want it to be)! Over the years ive had loads of amps from Jcm800s to rack gear and this thing just does it for me. Im very happy.
\n
\nBackground behind buying this was over C19 our rehearsal room was shut so we needed to bring all kit home, im using a blackstar series 1 with a 4x12 and g majour 2. its big heavy and wires everywhere when gigging, but in a living room it was just too much. So i purchased this little beast as a spacesaving option, thinking as is DIs via the redbox on the back for the emulated output that goes into pa id just use it as a backup worst case when we go back to work.
\n
\nWhat a great suprise. the sound is awsome, its loud as in 4x12 via a marshall loud but very very clear not muddy at all and certainly not a fizzy distortion as one review said. It sounds like a valve amp.
\n
\nTo get the real feel you need it switched to 200w on the back albeit the 2w is great for night time one your own type practice and 20w does it great for you average jam.
\n
\nThe presets are fun but as i tend only to use 6 different sounds live ive started programming new ones in via the iPad.
\n
\nThe IPad you really need by the way. As you can set which midi channel each sound goes to and you need a midi pedal or the amp cant channel switch. Its just like programming a bit of rack kit but way easier as the app is visual and simple.
\n
\nWith this amp to get full use from it Ive used my old ADA mp1 midi controller.
\n
\nOne of the key things i both love and hate on this amp is you can make a budget guitar sound like a premium model, shocked how my 90s blazer sounds as good if not better than my Custom shop SL2H via all the clean settings this is a first.
\n
\nThe redbox is awsome. The plan is to pop this amp on a stand and use it as my guitar monitor and di it FOH as i do with the blackstar when the Academy tour starts up. Save alot of hogging gear and saves 2u of space in my rack that now will only accommodate a line 6 wireless, korg tuner and a dunlop rack wah.
\n
\nThe built in effects are perfect for 99% of my playing and are very good. The chorus is analog sounding, the delay works great also. I dont use reverb at all as its the engineers job but the reverb on this amp is great also for practice.
\n
\nother built in effects a superb also if you like flangers\/ phasers \/ tremlo etc it does it great.
\n
\nThe main feature of this amp is its size and versitility. Gone are the days of 3 amps on stage micd up and 3 way switches!", "sir_rating": "5.0", "sir_name": "mark lawson", "sir_whereareyou": "England", "sir_background": "Guitarist\/ Keys for Metallistic currently, session player\/ advert\/ computer game\/ jingle writer, former guitarist for SIN and guitar tutor at Yamaha Music School.", "sir_keepanonymous": "0" }, { "id": 6461, "store_items_review_id": 283428, "media_type": "image", "thumbnail": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-160__wm-__q-60__hmac-af7ec89b508f095512423d748d7a9ad20e64f7b5\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMjAwOTEyMDY0MjUwLXBocGdkcXljdy5qcGVn", "media_path": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-1080__wm-__q-60__hmac-a6e71af056109442da304710437268a92ffda8c7\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMjAwOTEyMDY0MjUwLXBocGdkcXljdy5qcGVn", "sir_title": "hughes & kettner Black Spirit 200 combo review", "sir_comments": "wow, only thing i can say about this is blown away by this little but LOUD amp (but only of you want it to be)! Over the years ive had loads of amps from Jcm800s to rack gear and this thing just does it for me. Im very happy.
\n
\nBackground behind buying this was over C19 our rehearsal room was shut so we needed to bring all kit home, im using a blackstar series 1 with a 4x12 and g majour 2. its big heavy and wires everywhere when gigging, but in a living room it was just too much. So i purchased this little beast as a spacesaving option, thinking as is DIs via the redbox on the back for the emulated output that goes into pa id just use it as a backup worst case when we go back to work.
\n
\nWhat a great suprise. the sound is awsome, its loud as in 4x12 via a marshall loud but very very clear not muddy at all and certainly not a fizzy distortion as one review said. It sounds like a valve amp.
\n
\nTo get the real feel you need it switched to 200w on the back albeit the 2w is great for night time one your own type practice and 20w does it great for you average jam.
\n
\nThe presets are fun but as i tend only to use 6 different sounds live ive started programming new ones in via the iPad.
\n
\nThe IPad you really need by the way. As you can set which midi channel each sound goes to and you need a midi pedal or the amp cant channel switch. Its just like programming a bit of rack kit but way easier as the app is visual and simple.
\n
\nWith this amp to get full use from it Ive used my old ADA mp1 midi controller.
\n
\nOne of the key things i both love and hate on this amp is you can make a budget guitar sound like a premium model, shocked how my 90s blazer sounds as good if not better than my Custom shop SL2H via all the clean settings this is a first.
\n
\nThe redbox is awsome. The plan is to pop this amp on a stand and use it as my guitar monitor and di it FOH as i do with the blackstar when the Academy tour starts up. Save alot of hogging gear and saves 2u of space in my rack that now will only accommodate a line 6 wireless, korg tuner and a dunlop rack wah.
\n
\nThe built in effects are perfect for 99% of my playing and are very good. The chorus is analog sounding, the delay works great also. I dont use reverb at all as its the engineers job but the reverb on this amp is great also for practice.
\n
\nother built in effects a superb also if you like flangers\/ phasers \/ tremlo etc it does it great.
\n
\nThe main feature of this amp is its size and versitility. Gone are the days of 3 amps on stage micd up and 3 way switches!", "sir_rating": "5.0", "sir_name": "mark lawson", "sir_whereareyou": "England", "sir_background": "Guitarist\/ Keys for Metallistic currently, session player\/ advert\/ computer game\/ jingle writer, former guitarist for SIN and guitar tutor at Yamaha Music School.", "sir_keepanonymous": "0" }, { "id": 720, "store_items_review_id": 252967, "media_type": "image", "thumbnail": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-160__wm-__q-60__hmac-ffa4a5ba9fca2eb08da4cc62c3bbb867b651d0cb\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMTkxMjA0MjIwMjIxLXBocDNpNHV4bS5qcGVn", "media_path": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-1080__wm-__q-60__hmac-c6d3e7e77a934a51ae81c4c29bf9eb681b1ea8db\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMTkxMjA0MjIwMjIxLXBocDNpNHV4bS5qcGVn", "sir_title": "You were the chosen one! You were supposed to destroy the legions of fizzy solid state amps, not join them!", "sir_comments": "Ooof, this was rough. I wanted so badly to fall in love with this thing. I watched all the YouTube demos. Read all the (3?) reviews in guitar publications. Picked apart the tone as best as I could over my Audio-Technica headphones and through my audio interface. Read the specs back and front. Read the handful of user reviews out there. I really thought I had a good handle on what I was getting, and that the tone would be at best, nothing short of fantastic, and at worst, pretty decent, and make me forget all about tube and digital modeling amps alike.
\n
\nFirst, some background, in case any of this also applies to you \u2013 heres what I was looking for in a guitar amp:
\n
\n- low maintenance (Ive always hated both the cost and time involved in changing out tubes every year or two, and just how fragile they are in general)
\n- versatile enough without the options paralysis of modern modeling amps (I play stuff that ranges from clean fingerpicking, to funk, to rock crunch, to prog metal, and I needed something that would cover it all)
\n- sound as good as a boutique tube amp (hopefully)
\n- to be able to find my tone once, and then use that same tone for practicing at home, recording, and performing \u2013\u00a0I didnt want to spend all this time crafting an amazing in-room practice tone, only to have to recreate it from scratch in a DAW plugin, or a digital modeling amp box like a Kemper, or with mic selection and placement in my terrible sounding room
\n- sound good at low volumes for bedroom practice, but also be able to be cranked for a small gig
\n- some great-sounding built-in effects so I wouldnt have to 100% rely on assembling a comically long chain of pedals
\n
\nImagine my delight when I came across this brand new-ish Hughes & Kettner line \u2013\u00a0an analog, solid state amp that (supposedly) can emulate tube amps without digital processing! And it has a DI out with their Red Box cabinet sims! It has power attenuation! It has built-in reverb, delay, and other effects! Its relatively light for a combo at 34 lbs!
\n
\nThere are a few things I like: the low gain cleans out of this thing are okay! The reverb and delay are also quite nice, and very usable. I really like the resonance control \u2013\u00a0this is the way to take advantage of the Black Spirit 200 Combos unique cabinet design. It makes this little amp sound almost impossibly huge, without increasing the volume. Its pretty impressive. The versatility of preset storage and switching is also pretty great, and I really like the idea of a built-in boost. The noise gate is pretty solid. The control panel and knobs are mostly really nice and lovely to work with, and I really like how preset management works.
\n
\nUnfortunately, the break-up on this amp, when playing through it with my PRS CE 24 Semi-hollow, on every single channel (including Clean) sounds *exactly* like a \"classic \/ old school\" solid state amp \u2013 fizzy, harsh, unmusical, buzzsaw, ice pick-y \u2013 you name it. Definitely not the groundbreaking tube emulation it claimed to have. Its so bad that I thought the Cabinet switch on the back accidentally got flipped to \"Fullrange Cab\" from \"Guitar Cab\" somehow, but nope \u2013\u00a0out of the box it has a really thick sticker around that switch preventing it from changing to \"Fullrange Cab\" unless you remove it first. I pored through the manual and tried just about every tweak I could think of to address it \u2013\u00a0only dropping Presence down to near 0 managed to get rid of some of the harsh fizz, but then the tone lost its, you know, presence. I also tried boosting the highs on the EQ to compensate for it, but then the tone became harsh in a different way. It only gets worse the more gain you add, and as you go up to the higher gain channels (Crunch, Lead, and Ultra). Engaging the boost only exacerbates this problem further. It does have focus and bite (especially if sagging is set low), but the way it saturates just sounds godawful to my ears. It reminds me of an old $400 Ibanez solid-state amp I used to play through in my old rehearsal space when all the good tube amps were taken. Except that, you know, this thing is over $1400. (This was all the in-room sound btw \u2013\u00a0I never tried the DI \/ cab sim signal into my audio interface.) The amp is noisy as hell with the boost engaged on higher gain settings. Its also, way, WAY too loud for bedroom practice \u2013\u00a0the 200W default is just, wall shakingly loud with the Master volume barely engaged. Great for gigging, bad for home studio practice. The 20W attenuation setting is only slightly less loud than that \u2013 I wasnt able to get the Master volume past 8 oclock (starting from 7). The 2W setting is only slightly less loud than that \u2013 I wasnt able to get the Master volume much past 9 oclock.
\n
\nFinally, there were a few red flags, even just from opening the box. The manufacturers box the amp shipped in says the amp is \"Designed and engineered in Germany. Made in China\", which actually seriously took me by surprise. Normally I dont care if an electronics product is made in China \u2013 in 2019, thats just where much of the worlds modern electronics manufacturing expertise is. But as far as I knew, Hughes & Kettner only manufactured amps out of their German headquarters. This may very well be their first foray into overseas OEM contracting (at least as far as I know). Its one thing for, say, Boss \/ Roland to get an overseas factory to make guitar amps for them at scale \u2013 they have decades of experience at it, know how to work with them on quality control, and get consistent, excellent results for really large shipments. I dont think Hughes & Kettner does, based on my experience with this amp. The build quality is just straight up bizarre \u2013 the control panel down to the bottom of the speaker grill are all quite nice looking and well done. Then you get to the ports at the bottom of the cabinet, which are made with just the shoddiest pieces of wood and the roughest finish I have ever seen on a guitar amp, including Fenders dirt cheap entry level amps. Ive attached a few pics to this review so you can see what I mean. Like... who approved this? I have a feeling not even Hughes & Kettner realize what their OEM partner is shipping out, because I kinda doubt theyd be happy with this level of quality control. The knobs also seem to vary wildly from each other in sensitivity \u2013 some turn smoothly, others (like the gain knob on mine) stick like crazy when you try to turn them. Also concerning is that this amp makes some odd, intermittent electrical clicking noises... while turned off (but plugged in). While running, it always smelled a bit too much like burning rubber \/ plastic, and it never really went away the more I used it. The cherry on top \u2013\u00a0the included manual is not for the Black Spirit 200 Combo. Its for the Black Spirit 200 Head. To be fair, this is pretty minor, especially since the controls are exactly the same between the two, but it just feels really sloppy, especially at this price point.
\n
\nThats really the problem here \u2013 the price point. If this amp were $500, Id be willing to cut it some slack and give it another star. But almost anything else you can get at this price will sound better than the Black Spirit 200. (Even the Boss Katana Mk II 100W sounds better IMO, and I dont really like that amp either!) I still want to believe that analog solid state amps can sound as good as tube amps and better than even the Kempers and Axe FXes of the modeling world, when given enough love and engineering, but this aint it. So, next on my list: the Quilter MicroPro Mach 2 (please be good lol).
\n
\nAll in all, my experience with the Black Spirit 200 Combo was the polar opposite of my experience with my old Egnater Tweaker 40 1x12 (RIP) \u2013 where nothing I tweaked on that amp could make it sound bad, nothing I tweaked on this amp could make it sound good.", "sir_rating": "1.5", "sir_name": "", "sir_whereareyou": "NYC", "sir_background": "", "sir_keepanonymous": "0" }, { "id": 721, "store_items_review_id": 252967, "media_type": "image", "thumbnail": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-160__wm-__q-60__hmac-39470d57a169bc059086952e2f043a80338592d7\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMTkxMjA0MjIwMjMwLXBocDNwdm4yZS5qcGVn", "media_path": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-1080__wm-__q-60__hmac-236bb20eba03798514b777a6162669820d28ca9d\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMTkxMjA0MjIwMjMwLXBocDNwdm4yZS5qcGVn", "sir_title": "You were the chosen one! You were supposed to destroy the legions of fizzy solid state amps, not join them!", "sir_comments": "Ooof, this was rough. I wanted so badly to fall in love with this thing. I watched all the YouTube demos. Read all the (3?) reviews in guitar publications. Picked apart the tone as best as I could over my Audio-Technica headphones and through my audio interface. Read the specs back and front. Read the handful of user reviews out there. I really thought I had a good handle on what I was getting, and that the tone would be at best, nothing short of fantastic, and at worst, pretty decent, and make me forget all about tube and digital modeling amps alike.
\n
\nFirst, some background, in case any of this also applies to you \u2013 heres what I was looking for in a guitar amp:
\n
\n- low maintenance (Ive always hated both the cost and time involved in changing out tubes every year or two, and just how fragile they are in general)
\n- versatile enough without the options paralysis of modern modeling amps (I play stuff that ranges from clean fingerpicking, to funk, to rock crunch, to prog metal, and I needed something that would cover it all)
\n- sound as good as a boutique tube amp (hopefully)
\n- to be able to find my tone once, and then use that same tone for practicing at home, recording, and performing \u2013\u00a0I didnt want to spend all this time crafting an amazing in-room practice tone, only to have to recreate it from scratch in a DAW plugin, or a digital modeling amp box like a Kemper, or with mic selection and placement in my terrible sounding room
\n- sound good at low volumes for bedroom practice, but also be able to be cranked for a small gig
\n- some great-sounding built-in effects so I wouldnt have to 100% rely on assembling a comically long chain of pedals
\n
\nImagine my delight when I came across this brand new-ish Hughes & Kettner line \u2013\u00a0an analog, solid state amp that (supposedly) can emulate tube amps without digital processing! And it has a DI out with their Red Box cabinet sims! It has power attenuation! It has built-in reverb, delay, and other effects! Its relatively light for a combo at 34 lbs!
\n
\nThere are a few things I like: the low gain cleans out of this thing are okay! The reverb and delay are also quite nice, and very usable. I really like the resonance control \u2013\u00a0this is the way to take advantage of the Black Spirit 200 Combos unique cabinet design. It makes this little amp sound almost impossibly huge, without increasing the volume. Its pretty impressive. The versatility of preset storage and switching is also pretty great, and I really like the idea of a built-in boost. The noise gate is pretty solid. The control panel and knobs are mostly really nice and lovely to work with, and I really like how preset management works.
\n
\nUnfortunately, the break-up on this amp, when playing through it with my PRS CE 24 Semi-hollow, on every single channel (including Clean) sounds *exactly* like a \"classic \/ old school\" solid state amp \u2013 fizzy, harsh, unmusical, buzzsaw, ice pick-y \u2013 you name it. Definitely not the groundbreaking tube emulation it claimed to have. Its so bad that I thought the Cabinet switch on the back accidentally got flipped to \"Fullrange Cab\" from \"Guitar Cab\" somehow, but nope \u2013\u00a0out of the box it has a really thick sticker around that switch preventing it from changing to \"Fullrange Cab\" unless you remove it first. I pored through the manual and tried just about every tweak I could think of to address it \u2013\u00a0only dropping Presence down to near 0 managed to get rid of some of the harsh fizz, but then the tone lost its, you know, presence. I also tried boosting the highs on the EQ to compensate for it, but then the tone became harsh in a different way. It only gets worse the more gain you add, and as you go up to the higher gain channels (Crunch, Lead, and Ultra). Engaging the boost only exacerbates this problem further. It does have focus and bite (especially if sagging is set low), but the way it saturates just sounds godawful to my ears. It reminds me of an old $400 Ibanez solid-state amp I used to play through in my old rehearsal space when all the good tube amps were taken. Except that, you know, this thing is over $1400. (This was all the in-room sound btw \u2013\u00a0I never tried the DI \/ cab sim signal into my audio interface.) The amp is noisy as hell with the boost engaged on higher gain settings. Its also, way, WAY too loud for bedroom practice \u2013\u00a0the 200W default is just, wall shakingly loud with the Master volume barely engaged. Great for gigging, bad for home studio practice. The 20W attenuation setting is only slightly less loud than that \u2013 I wasnt able to get the Master volume past 8 oclock (starting from 7). The 2W setting is only slightly less loud than that \u2013 I wasnt able to get the Master volume much past 9 oclock.
\n
\nFinally, there were a few red flags, even just from opening the box. The manufacturers box the amp shipped in says the amp is \"Designed and engineered in Germany. Made in China\", which actually seriously took me by surprise. Normally I dont care if an electronics product is made in China \u2013 in 2019, thats just where much of the worlds modern electronics manufacturing expertise is. But as far as I knew, Hughes & Kettner only manufactured amps out of their German headquarters. This may very well be their first foray into overseas OEM contracting (at least as far as I know). Its one thing for, say, Boss \/ Roland to get an overseas factory to make guitar amps for them at scale \u2013 they have decades of experience at it, know how to work with them on quality control, and get consistent, excellent results for really large shipments. I dont think Hughes & Kettner does, based on my experience with this amp. The build quality is just straight up bizarre \u2013 the control panel down to the bottom of the speaker grill are all quite nice looking and well done. Then you get to the ports at the bottom of the cabinet, which are made with just the shoddiest pieces of wood and the roughest finish I have ever seen on a guitar amp, including Fenders dirt cheap entry level amps. Ive attached a few pics to this review so you can see what I mean. Like... who approved this? I have a feeling not even Hughes & Kettner realize what their OEM partner is shipping out, because I kinda doubt theyd be happy with this level of quality control. The knobs also seem to vary wildly from each other in sensitivity \u2013 some turn smoothly, others (like the gain knob on mine) stick like crazy when you try to turn them. Also concerning is that this amp makes some odd, intermittent electrical clicking noises... while turned off (but plugged in). While running, it always smelled a bit too much like burning rubber \/ plastic, and it never really went away the more I used it. The cherry on top \u2013\u00a0the included manual is not for the Black Spirit 200 Combo. Its for the Black Spirit 200 Head. To be fair, this is pretty minor, especially since the controls are exactly the same between the two, but it just feels really sloppy, especially at this price point.
\n
\nThats really the problem here \u2013 the price point. If this amp were $500, Id be willing to cut it some slack and give it another star. But almost anything else you can get at this price will sound better than the Black Spirit 200. (Even the Boss Katana Mk II 100W sounds better IMO, and I dont really like that amp either!) I still want to believe that analog solid state amps can sound as good as tube amps and better than even the Kempers and Axe FXes of the modeling world, when given enough love and engineering, but this aint it. So, next on my list: the Quilter MicroPro Mach 2 (please be good lol).
\n
\nAll in all, my experience with the Black Spirit 200 Combo was the polar opposite of my experience with my old Egnater Tweaker 40 1x12 (RIP) \u2013 where nothing I tweaked on that amp could make it sound bad, nothing I tweaked on this amp could make it sound good.", "sir_rating": "1.5", "sir_name": "", "sir_whereareyou": "NYC", "sir_background": "", "sir_keepanonymous": "0" }, { "id": 722, "store_items_review_id": 252967, "media_type": "image", "thumbnail": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-160__wm-__q-60__hmac-79fe5f2db659a5890e1d7f022a21f0cdc80a4cc9\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMTkxMjA0MjIwMjQwLXBocHFyaXBrYS5qcGVn", "media_path": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-1080__wm-__q-60__hmac-63fbfabef6db54187eb1dbc82c3f96bd8cb054f5\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMTkxMjA0MjIwMjQwLXBocHFyaXBrYS5qcGVn", "sir_title": "You were the chosen one! You were supposed to destroy the legions of fizzy solid state amps, not join them!", "sir_comments": "Ooof, this was rough. I wanted so badly to fall in love with this thing. I watched all the YouTube demos. Read all the (3?) reviews in guitar publications. Picked apart the tone as best as I could over my Audio-Technica headphones and through my audio interface. Read the specs back and front. Read the handful of user reviews out there. I really thought I had a good handle on what I was getting, and that the tone would be at best, nothing short of fantastic, and at worst, pretty decent, and make me forget all about tube and digital modeling amps alike.
\n
\nFirst, some background, in case any of this also applies to you \u2013 heres what I was looking for in a guitar amp:
\n
\n- low maintenance (Ive always hated both the cost and time involved in changing out tubes every year or two, and just how fragile they are in general)
\n- versatile enough without the options paralysis of modern modeling amps (I play stuff that ranges from clean fingerpicking, to funk, to rock crunch, to prog metal, and I needed something that would cover it all)
\n- sound as good as a boutique tube amp (hopefully)
\n- to be able to find my tone once, and then use that same tone for practicing at home, recording, and performing \u2013\u00a0I didnt want to spend all this time crafting an amazing in-room practice tone, only to have to recreate it from scratch in a DAW plugin, or a digital modeling amp box like a Kemper, or with mic selection and placement in my terrible sounding room
\n- sound good at low volumes for bedroom practice, but also be able to be cranked for a small gig
\n- some great-sounding built-in effects so I wouldnt have to 100% rely on assembling a comically long chain of pedals
\n
\nImagine my delight when I came across this brand new-ish Hughes & Kettner line \u2013\u00a0an analog, solid state amp that (supposedly) can emulate tube amps without digital processing! And it has a DI out with their Red Box cabinet sims! It has power attenuation! It has built-in reverb, delay, and other effects! Its relatively light for a combo at 34 lbs!
\n
\nThere are a few things I like: the low gain cleans out of this thing are okay! The reverb and delay are also quite nice, and very usable. I really like the resonance control \u2013\u00a0this is the way to take advantage of the Black Spirit 200 Combos unique cabinet design. It makes this little amp sound almost impossibly huge, without increasing the volume. Its pretty impressive. The versatility of preset storage and switching is also pretty great, and I really like the idea of a built-in boost. The noise gate is pretty solid. The control panel and knobs are mostly really nice and lovely to work with, and I really like how preset management works.
\n
\nUnfortunately, the break-up on this amp, when playing through it with my PRS CE 24 Semi-hollow, on every single channel (including Clean) sounds *exactly* like a \"classic \/ old school\" solid state amp \u2013 fizzy, harsh, unmusical, buzzsaw, ice pick-y \u2013 you name it. Definitely not the groundbreaking tube emulation it claimed to have. Its so bad that I thought the Cabinet switch on the back accidentally got flipped to \"Fullrange Cab\" from \"Guitar Cab\" somehow, but nope \u2013\u00a0out of the box it has a really thick sticker around that switch preventing it from changing to \"Fullrange Cab\" unless you remove it first. I pored through the manual and tried just about every tweak I could think of to address it \u2013\u00a0only dropping Presence down to near 0 managed to get rid of some of the harsh fizz, but then the tone lost its, you know, presence. I also tried boosting the highs on the EQ to compensate for it, but then the tone became harsh in a different way. It only gets worse the more gain you add, and as you go up to the higher gain channels (Crunch, Lead, and Ultra). Engaging the boost only exacerbates this problem further. It does have focus and bite (especially if sagging is set low), but the way it saturates just sounds godawful to my ears. It reminds me of an old $400 Ibanez solid-state amp I used to play through in my old rehearsal space when all the good tube amps were taken. Except that, you know, this thing is over $1400. (This was all the in-room sound btw \u2013\u00a0I never tried the DI \/ cab sim signal into my audio interface.) The amp is noisy as hell with the boost engaged on higher gain settings. Its also, way, WAY too loud for bedroom practice \u2013\u00a0the 200W default is just, wall shakingly loud with the Master volume barely engaged. Great for gigging, bad for home studio practice. The 20W attenuation setting is only slightly less loud than that \u2013 I wasnt able to get the Master volume past 8 oclock (starting from 7). The 2W setting is only slightly less loud than that \u2013 I wasnt able to get the Master volume much past 9 oclock.
\n
\nFinally, there were a few red flags, even just from opening the box. The manufacturers box the amp shipped in says the amp is \"Designed and engineered in Germany. Made in China\", which actually seriously took me by surprise. Normally I dont care if an electronics product is made in China \u2013 in 2019, thats just where much of the worlds modern electronics manufacturing expertise is. But as far as I knew, Hughes & Kettner only manufactured amps out of their German headquarters. This may very well be their first foray into overseas OEM contracting (at least as far as I know). Its one thing for, say, Boss \/ Roland to get an overseas factory to make guitar amps for them at scale \u2013 they have decades of experience at it, know how to work with them on quality control, and get consistent, excellent results for really large shipments. I dont think Hughes & Kettner does, based on my experience with this amp. The build quality is just straight up bizarre \u2013 the control panel down to the bottom of the speaker grill are all quite nice looking and well done. Then you get to the ports at the bottom of the cabinet, which are made with just the shoddiest pieces of wood and the roughest finish I have ever seen on a guitar amp, including Fenders dirt cheap entry level amps. Ive attached a few pics to this review so you can see what I mean. Like... who approved this? I have a feeling not even Hughes & Kettner realize what their OEM partner is shipping out, because I kinda doubt theyd be happy with this level of quality control. The knobs also seem to vary wildly from each other in sensitivity \u2013 some turn smoothly, others (like the gain knob on mine) stick like crazy when you try to turn them. Also concerning is that this amp makes some odd, intermittent electrical clicking noises... while turned off (but plugged in). While running, it always smelled a bit too much like burning rubber \/ plastic, and it never really went away the more I used it. The cherry on top \u2013\u00a0the included manual is not for the Black Spirit 200 Combo. Its for the Black Spirit 200 Head. To be fair, this is pretty minor, especially since the controls are exactly the same between the two, but it just feels really sloppy, especially at this price point.
\n
\nThats really the problem here \u2013 the price point. If this amp were $500, Id be willing to cut it some slack and give it another star. But almost anything else you can get at this price will sound better than the Black Spirit 200. (Even the Boss Katana Mk II 100W sounds better IMO, and I dont really like that amp either!) I still want to believe that analog solid state amps can sound as good as tube amps and better than even the Kempers and Axe FXes of the modeling world, when given enough love and engineering, but this aint it. So, next on my list: the Quilter MicroPro Mach 2 (please be good lol).
\n
\nAll in all, my experience with the Black Spirit 200 Combo was the polar opposite of my experience with my old Egnater Tweaker 40 1x12 (RIP) \u2013 where nothing I tweaked on that amp could make it sound bad, nothing I tweaked on this amp could make it sound good.", "sir_rating": "1.5", "sir_name": "", "sir_whereareyou": "NYC", "sir_background": "", "sir_keepanonymous": "0" }, { "id": 723, "store_items_review_id": 252967, "media_type": "image", "thumbnail": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-160__wm-__q-60__hmac-a1cda0b4574d2f38b9dc54955a0d724c4f4ebd7c\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMTkxMjA0MjIwNDI3LXBocGxtaW52ei5qcGVn", "media_path": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-1080__wm-__q-60__hmac-ebc73228b87139cd04ba0b4dbd48c2c23e53de90\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMTkxMjA0MjIwNDI3LXBocGxtaW52ei5qcGVn", "sir_title": "You were the chosen one! You were supposed to destroy the legions of fizzy solid state amps, not join them!", "sir_comments": "Ooof, this was rough. I wanted so badly to fall in love with this thing. I watched all the YouTube demos. Read all the (3?) reviews in guitar publications. Picked apart the tone as best as I could over my Audio-Technica headphones and through my audio interface. Read the specs back and front. Read the handful of user reviews out there. I really thought I had a good handle on what I was getting, and that the tone would be at best, nothing short of fantastic, and at worst, pretty decent, and make me forget all about tube and digital modeling amps alike.
\n
\nFirst, some background, in case any of this also applies to you \u2013 heres what I was looking for in a guitar amp:
\n
\n- low maintenance (Ive always hated both the cost and time involved in changing out tubes every year or two, and just how fragile they are in general)
\n- versatile enough without the options paralysis of modern modeling amps (I play stuff that ranges from clean fingerpicking, to funk, to rock crunch, to prog metal, and I needed something that would cover it all)
\n- sound as good as a boutique tube amp (hopefully)
\n- to be able to find my tone once, and then use that same tone for practicing at home, recording, and performing \u2013\u00a0I didnt want to spend all this time crafting an amazing in-room practice tone, only to have to recreate it from scratch in a DAW plugin, or a digital modeling amp box like a Kemper, or with mic selection and placement in my terrible sounding room
\n- sound good at low volumes for bedroom practice, but also be able to be cranked for a small gig
\n- some great-sounding built-in effects so I wouldnt have to 100% rely on assembling a comically long chain of pedals
\n
\nImagine my delight when I came across this brand new-ish Hughes & Kettner line \u2013\u00a0an analog, solid state amp that (supposedly) can emulate tube amps without digital processing! And it has a DI out with their Red Box cabinet sims! It has power attenuation! It has built-in reverb, delay, and other effects! Its relatively light for a combo at 34 lbs!
\n
\nThere are a few things I like: the low gain cleans out of this thing are okay! The reverb and delay are also quite nice, and very usable. I really like the resonance control \u2013\u00a0this is the way to take advantage of the Black Spirit 200 Combos unique cabinet design. It makes this little amp sound almost impossibly huge, without increasing the volume. Its pretty impressive. The versatility of preset storage and switching is also pretty great, and I really like the idea of a built-in boost. The noise gate is pretty solid. The control panel and knobs are mostly really nice and lovely to work with, and I really like how preset management works.
\n
\nUnfortunately, the break-up on this amp, when playing through it with my PRS CE 24 Semi-hollow, on every single channel (including Clean) sounds *exactly* like a \"classic \/ old school\" solid state amp \u2013 fizzy, harsh, unmusical, buzzsaw, ice pick-y \u2013 you name it. Definitely not the groundbreaking tube emulation it claimed to have. Its so bad that I thought the Cabinet switch on the back accidentally got flipped to \"Fullrange Cab\" from \"Guitar Cab\" somehow, but nope \u2013\u00a0out of the box it has a really thick sticker around that switch preventing it from changing to \"Fullrange Cab\" unless you remove it first. I pored through the manual and tried just about every tweak I could think of to address it \u2013\u00a0only dropping Presence down to near 0 managed to get rid of some of the harsh fizz, but then the tone lost its, you know, presence. I also tried boosting the highs on the EQ to compensate for it, but then the tone became harsh in a different way. It only gets worse the more gain you add, and as you go up to the higher gain channels (Crunch, Lead, and Ultra). Engaging the boost only exacerbates this problem further. It does have focus and bite (especially if sagging is set low), but the way it saturates just sounds godawful to my ears. It reminds me of an old $400 Ibanez solid-state amp I used to play through in my old rehearsal space when all the good tube amps were taken. Except that, you know, this thing is over $1400. (This was all the in-room sound btw \u2013\u00a0I never tried the DI \/ cab sim signal into my audio interface.) The amp is noisy as hell with the boost engaged on higher gain settings. Its also, way, WAY too loud for bedroom practice \u2013\u00a0the 200W default is just, wall shakingly loud with the Master volume barely engaged. Great for gigging, bad for home studio practice. The 20W attenuation setting is only slightly less loud than that \u2013 I wasnt able to get the Master volume past 8 oclock (starting from 7). The 2W setting is only slightly less loud than that \u2013 I wasnt able to get the Master volume much past 9 oclock.
\n
\nFinally, there were a few red flags, even just from opening the box. The manufacturers box the amp shipped in says the amp is \"Designed and engineered in Germany. Made in China\", which actually seriously took me by surprise. Normally I dont care if an electronics product is made in China \u2013 in 2019, thats just where much of the worlds modern electronics manufacturing expertise is. But as far as I knew, Hughes & Kettner only manufactured amps out of their German headquarters. This may very well be their first foray into overseas OEM contracting (at least as far as I know). Its one thing for, say, Boss \/ Roland to get an overseas factory to make guitar amps for them at scale \u2013 they have decades of experience at it, know how to work with them on quality control, and get consistent, excellent results for really large shipments. I dont think Hughes & Kettner does, based on my experience with this amp. The build quality is just straight up bizarre \u2013 the control panel down to the bottom of the speaker grill are all quite nice looking and well done. Then you get to the ports at the bottom of the cabinet, which are made with just the shoddiest pieces of wood and the roughest finish I have ever seen on a guitar amp, including Fenders dirt cheap entry level amps. Ive attached a few pics to this review so you can see what I mean. Like... who approved this? I have a feeling not even Hughes & Kettner realize what their OEM partner is shipping out, because I kinda doubt theyd be happy with this level of quality control. The knobs also seem to vary wildly from each other in sensitivity \u2013 some turn smoothly, others (like the gain knob on mine) stick like crazy when you try to turn them. Also concerning is that this amp makes some odd, intermittent electrical clicking noises... while turned off (but plugged in). While running, it always smelled a bit too much like burning rubber \/ plastic, and it never really went away the more I used it. The cherry on top \u2013\u00a0the included manual is not for the Black Spirit 200 Combo. Its for the Black Spirit 200 Head. To be fair, this is pretty minor, especially since the controls are exactly the same between the two, but it just feels really sloppy, especially at this price point.
\n
\nThats really the problem here \u2013 the price point. If this amp were $500, Id be willing to cut it some slack and give it another star. But almost anything else you can get at this price will sound better than the Black Spirit 200. (Even the Boss Katana Mk II 100W sounds better IMO, and I dont really like that amp either!) I still want to believe that analog solid state amps can sound as good as tube amps and better than even the Kempers and Axe FXes of the modeling world, when given enough love and engineering, but this aint it. So, next on my list: the Quilter MicroPro Mach 2 (please be good lol).
\n
\nAll in all, my experience with the Black Spirit 200 Combo was the polar opposite of my experience with my old Egnater Tweaker 40 1x12 (RIP) \u2013 where nothing I tweaked on that amp could make it sound bad, nothing I tweaked on this amp could make it sound good.", "sir_rating": "1.5", "sir_name": "", "sir_whereareyou": "NYC", "sir_background": "", "sir_keepanonymous": "0" }, { "id": 724, "store_items_review_id": 252967, "media_type": "image", "thumbnail": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-160__wm-__q-60__hmac-dff9dae6e2333ba7d1c502b242419525bfff14af\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMTkxMjA0MjIwNDM0LXBocGV3cjlhMC5qcGVn", "media_path": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-1080__wm-__q-60__hmac-7238f4155b771c48c0f7904b49bbd05d3e9a58f6\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMTkxMjA0MjIwNDM0LXBocGV3cjlhMC5qcGVn", "sir_title": "You were the chosen one! You were supposed to destroy the legions of fizzy solid state amps, not join them!", "sir_comments": "Ooof, this was rough. I wanted so badly to fall in love with this thing. I watched all the YouTube demos. Read all the (3?) reviews in guitar publications. Picked apart the tone as best as I could over my Audio-Technica headphones and through my audio interface. Read the specs back and front. Read the handful of user reviews out there. I really thought I had a good handle on what I was getting, and that the tone would be at best, nothing short of fantastic, and at worst, pretty decent, and make me forget all about tube and digital modeling amps alike.
\n
\nFirst, some background, in case any of this also applies to you \u2013 heres what I was looking for in a guitar amp:
\n
\n- low maintenance (Ive always hated both the cost and time involved in changing out tubes every year or two, and just how fragile they are in general)
\n- versatile enough without the options paralysis of modern modeling amps (I play stuff that ranges from clean fingerpicking, to funk, to rock crunch, to prog metal, and I needed something that would cover it all)
\n- sound as good as a boutique tube amp (hopefully)
\n- to be able to find my tone once, and then use that same tone for practicing at home, recording, and performing \u2013\u00a0I didnt want to spend all this time crafting an amazing in-room practice tone, only to have to recreate it from scratch in a DAW plugin, or a digital modeling amp box like a Kemper, or with mic selection and placement in my terrible sounding room
\n- sound good at low volumes for bedroom practice, but also be able to be cranked for a small gig
\n- some great-sounding built-in effects so I wouldnt have to 100% rely on assembling a comically long chain of pedals
\n
\nImagine my delight when I came across this brand new-ish Hughes & Kettner line \u2013\u00a0an analog, solid state amp that (supposedly) can emulate tube amps without digital processing! And it has a DI out with their Red Box cabinet sims! It has power attenuation! It has built-in reverb, delay, and other effects! Its relatively light for a combo at 34 lbs!
\n
\nThere are a few things I like: the low gain cleans out of this thing are okay! The reverb and delay are also quite nice, and very usable. I really like the resonance control \u2013\u00a0this is the way to take advantage of the Black Spirit 200 Combos unique cabinet design. It makes this little amp sound almost impossibly huge, without increasing the volume. Its pretty impressive. The versatility of preset storage and switching is also pretty great, and I really like the idea of a built-in boost. The noise gate is pretty solid. The control panel and knobs are mostly really nice and lovely to work with, and I really like how preset management works.
\n
\nUnfortunately, the break-up on this amp, when playing through it with my PRS CE 24 Semi-hollow, on every single channel (including Clean) sounds *exactly* like a \"classic \/ old school\" solid state amp \u2013 fizzy, harsh, unmusical, buzzsaw, ice pick-y \u2013 you name it. Definitely not the groundbreaking tube emulation it claimed to have. Its so bad that I thought the Cabinet switch on the back accidentally got flipped to \"Fullrange Cab\" from \"Guitar Cab\" somehow, but nope \u2013\u00a0out of the box it has a really thick sticker around that switch preventing it from changing to \"Fullrange Cab\" unless you remove it first. I pored through the manual and tried just about every tweak I could think of to address it \u2013\u00a0only dropping Presence down to near 0 managed to get rid of some of the harsh fizz, but then the tone lost its, you know, presence. I also tried boosting the highs on the EQ to compensate for it, but then the tone became harsh in a different way. It only gets worse the more gain you add, and as you go up to the higher gain channels (Crunch, Lead, and Ultra). Engaging the boost only exacerbates this problem further. It does have focus and bite (especially if sagging is set low), but the way it saturates just sounds godawful to my ears. It reminds me of an old $400 Ibanez solid-state amp I used to play through in my old rehearsal space when all the good tube amps were taken. Except that, you know, this thing is over $1400. (This was all the in-room sound btw \u2013\u00a0I never tried the DI \/ cab sim signal into my audio interface.) The amp is noisy as hell with the boost engaged on higher gain settings. Its also, way, WAY too loud for bedroom practice \u2013\u00a0the 200W default is just, wall shakingly loud with the Master volume barely engaged. Great for gigging, bad for home studio practice. The 20W attenuation setting is only slightly less loud than that \u2013 I wasnt able to get the Master volume past 8 oclock (starting from 7). The 2W setting is only slightly less loud than that \u2013 I wasnt able to get the Master volume much past 9 oclock.
\n
\nFinally, there were a few red flags, even just from opening the box. The manufacturers box the amp shipped in says the amp is \"Designed and engineered in Germany. Made in China\", which actually seriously took me by surprise. Normally I dont care if an electronics product is made in China \u2013 in 2019, thats just where much of the worlds modern electronics manufacturing expertise is. But as far as I knew, Hughes & Kettner only manufactured amps out of their German headquarters. This may very well be their first foray into overseas OEM contracting (at least as far as I know). Its one thing for, say, Boss \/ Roland to get an overseas factory to make guitar amps for them at scale \u2013 they have decades of experience at it, know how to work with them on quality control, and get consistent, excellent results for really large shipments. I dont think Hughes & Kettner does, based on my experience with this amp. The build quality is just straight up bizarre \u2013 the control panel down to the bottom of the speaker grill are all quite nice looking and well done. Then you get to the ports at the bottom of the cabinet, which are made with just the shoddiest pieces of wood and the roughest finish I have ever seen on a guitar amp, including Fenders dirt cheap entry level amps. Ive attached a few pics to this review so you can see what I mean. Like... who approved this? I have a feeling not even Hughes & Kettner realize what their OEM partner is shipping out, because I kinda doubt theyd be happy with this level of quality control. The knobs also seem to vary wildly from each other in sensitivity \u2013 some turn smoothly, others (like the gain knob on mine) stick like crazy when you try to turn them. Also concerning is that this amp makes some odd, intermittent electrical clicking noises... while turned off (but plugged in). While running, it always smelled a bit too much like burning rubber \/ plastic, and it never really went away the more I used it. The cherry on top \u2013\u00a0the included manual is not for the Black Spirit 200 Combo. Its for the Black Spirit 200 Head. To be fair, this is pretty minor, especially since the controls are exactly the same between the two, but it just feels really sloppy, especially at this price point.
\n
\nThats really the problem here \u2013 the price point. If this amp were $500, Id be willing to cut it some slack and give it another star. But almost anything else you can get at this price will sound better than the Black Spirit 200. (Even the Boss Katana Mk II 100W sounds better IMO, and I dont really like that amp either!) I still want to believe that analog solid state amps can sound as good as tube amps and better than even the Kempers and Axe FXes of the modeling world, when given enough love and engineering, but this aint it. So, next on my list: the Quilter MicroPro Mach 2 (please be good lol).
\n
\nAll in all, my experience with the Black Spirit 200 Combo was the polar opposite of my experience with my old Egnater Tweaker 40 1x12 (RIP) \u2013 where nothing I tweaked on that amp could make it sound bad, nothing I tweaked on this amp could make it sound good.", "sir_rating": "1.5", "sir_name": "", "sir_whereareyou": "NYC", "sir_background": "", "sir_keepanonymous": "0" } ]" review-count="8">
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休斯的问题& Kettner黑人精神200 1 x12“200瓦……?
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最高额定评论
页面1的1
休斯& kettner黑灵200组合审查
哇,我只能说这是被这个小但大声amp(但只有你想要的)!多年来我已经加载的安培Jcm800s齿条传动,这个东西是否适合我。我非常高兴。
背景后面购买这是我们彩排在C19房间关闭,所以我们需要把所有的装备带回家,我使用一个blackstar系列1和4 x12和g majour 2。大重和电线到处都当记过处分,但在一个客厅就太多了。所以我买了这个小野兽spacesaving选项,思维是通过redbox DI的背面的模拟输出进入pa id只使用它作为一个备份最坏情况当我们回去工作了。
一个巨大的惊喜。声音太牛,通过马歇尔在4 x12大声吵但非常清楚不泥泞,当然不是一个碳酸扭曲一个评论说。这听起来像一个阀门amp。
得到真正的感觉你需要切换到200 w背面尽管2 w的晚上时间你自己的实践和20 w型是否适合你平均果酱。
预设是有趣的,但因为我只能使用6个不同的声音我编程开始新的生活在通过iPad。
IPad您真正需要的。可以设置通道的midi每个声音去和你需要一个midi踏板或amp不能切换频道。就像编程一点架装备,但更容易的应用是视觉和简单的方式。
这个音箱从中得到充分利用我使用我的旧ADA mp1 midi控制器。
的一个关键的东西我都爱和恨在这个放大器是你能做出的预算吉他听起来像一个溢价模型,90年代震惊我的夹克听起来好如果不是比我的定制店SL2H通过所有清洁设置这是头一遭。
redbox太牛。这个计划是流行amp站和使用它作为我的吉他监视和di它呸我与blackstar当奥斯卡之旅开始了。节省很多占用齿轮和节省2 u的空间在我的架,现在只能容纳一行6无线,korg调谐器和一个邓洛普架哇。
内置的效果是完美的99%我的玩,非常好。合唱是模拟声音,延误工作也大。我不使用混响的工程师工作,但这个音箱的混响是伟大的实践。
其他建在一个极好的影响也如果你喜欢镶边/ phasers tremlo等它好了。
这个音箱的主要特征是它的大小和versitility。的日子一去不复返了3安培在舞台上麦克风,3路开关!
\nBackground behind buying this was over C19 our rehearsal room was shut so we needed to bring all kit home, im using a blackstar series 1 with a 4x12 and g majour 2. its big heavy and wires everywhere when gigging, but in a living room it was just too much. So i purchased this little beast as a spacesaving option, thinking as is DIs via the redbox on the back for the emulated output that goes into pa id just use it as a backup worst case when we go back to work.
\n
\nWhat a great suprise. the sound is awsome, its loud as in 4x12 via a marshall loud but very very clear not muddy at all and certainly not a fizzy distortion as one review said. It sounds like a valve amp.
\n
\nTo get the real feel you need it switched to 200w on the back albeit the 2w is great for night time one your own type practice and 20w does it great for you average jam.
\n
\nThe presets are fun but as i tend only to use 6 different sounds live ive started programming new ones in via the iPad.
\n
\nThe IPad you really need by the way. As you can set which midi channel each sound goes to and you need a midi pedal or the amp cant channel switch. Its just like programming a bit of rack kit but way easier as the app is visual and simple.
\n
\nWith this amp to get full use from it Ive used my old ADA mp1 midi controller.
\n
\nOne of the key things i both love and hate on this amp is you can make a budget guitar sound like a premium model, shocked how my 90s blazer sounds as good if not better than my Custom shop SL2H via all the clean settings this is a first.
\n
\nThe redbox is awsome. The plan is to pop this amp on a stand and use it as my guitar monitor and di it FOH as i do with the blackstar when the Academy tour starts up. Save alot of hogging gear and saves 2u of space in my rack that now will only accommodate a line 6 wireless, korg tuner and a dunlop rack wah.
\n
\nThe built in effects are perfect for 99% of my playing and are very good. The chorus is analog sounding, the delay works great also. I dont use reverb at all as its the engineers job but the reverb on this amp is great also for practice.
\n
\nother built in effects a superb also if you like flangers\/ phasers \/ tremlo etc it does it great.
\n
\nThe main feature of this amp is its size and versitility. Gone are the days of 3 amps on stage micd up and 3 way switches!", "sir_rating": "5.0", "sir_name": "mark lawson", "sir_whereareyou": "England", "sir_background": "Guitarist\/ Keys for Metallistic currently, session player\/ advert\/ computer game\/ jingle writer, former guitarist for SIN and guitar tutor at Yamaha Music School.", "sir_keepanonymous": "0" }, { "id": 6460, "store_items_review_id": 283428, "media_type": "image", "thumbnail": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-160__wm-__q-60__hmac-d1034938128c2f28f51b26c7ab381b980d85ea65\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMjAwOTEyMDY0MjI3LXBocDJqcmJvNy5qcGVn", "media_path": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-1080__wm-__q-60__hmac-de7f1f35eb916adb3dd3c53a65ab07db97da0d03\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMjAwOTEyMDY0MjI3LXBocDJqcmJvNy5qcGVn", "sir_title": "hughes & kettner Black Spirit 200 combo review", "sir_comments": "wow, only thing i can say about this is blown away by this little but LOUD amp (but only of you want it to be)! Over the years ive had loads of amps from Jcm800s to rack gear and this thing just does it for me. Im very happy.
\n
\nBackground behind buying this was over C19 our rehearsal room was shut so we needed to bring all kit home, im using a blackstar series 1 with a 4x12 and g majour 2. its big heavy and wires everywhere when gigging, but in a living room it was just too much. So i purchased this little beast as a spacesaving option, thinking as is DIs via the redbox on the back for the emulated output that goes into pa id just use it as a backup worst case when we go back to work.
\n
\nWhat a great suprise. the sound is awsome, its loud as in 4x12 via a marshall loud but very very clear not muddy at all and certainly not a fizzy distortion as one review said. It sounds like a valve amp.
\n
\nTo get the real feel you need it switched to 200w on the back albeit the 2w is great for night time one your own type practice and 20w does it great for you average jam.
\n
\nThe presets are fun but as i tend only to use 6 different sounds live ive started programming new ones in via the iPad.
\n
\nThe IPad you really need by the way. As you can set which midi channel each sound goes to and you need a midi pedal or the amp cant channel switch. Its just like programming a bit of rack kit but way easier as the app is visual and simple.
\n
\nWith this amp to get full use from it Ive used my old ADA mp1 midi controller.
\n
\nOne of the key things i both love and hate on this amp is you can make a budget guitar sound like a premium model, shocked how my 90s blazer sounds as good if not better than my Custom shop SL2H via all the clean settings this is a first.
\n
\nThe redbox is awsome. The plan is to pop this amp on a stand and use it as my guitar monitor and di it FOH as i do with the blackstar when the Academy tour starts up. Save alot of hogging gear and saves 2u of space in my rack that now will only accommodate a line 6 wireless, korg tuner and a dunlop rack wah.
\n
\nThe built in effects are perfect for 99% of my playing and are very good. The chorus is analog sounding, the delay works great also. I dont use reverb at all as its the engineers job but the reverb on this amp is great also for practice.
\n
\nother built in effects a superb also if you like flangers\/ phasers \/ tremlo etc it does it great.
\n
\nThe main feature of this amp is its size and versitility. Gone are the days of 3 amps on stage micd up and 3 way switches!", "sir_rating": "5.0", "sir_name": "mark lawson", "sir_whereareyou": "England", "sir_background": "Guitarist\/ Keys for Metallistic currently, session player\/ advert\/ computer game\/ jingle writer, former guitarist for SIN and guitar tutor at Yamaha Music School.", "sir_keepanonymous": "0" }, { "id": 6461, "store_items_review_id": 283428, "media_type": "image", "thumbnail": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-160__wm-__q-60__hmac-af7ec89b508f095512423d748d7a9ad20e64f7b5\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMjAwOTEyMDY0MjUwLXBocGdkcXljdy5qcGVn", "media_path": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-1080__wm-__q-60__hmac-a6e71af056109442da304710437268a92ffda8c7\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMjAwOTEyMDY0MjUwLXBocGdkcXljdy5qcGVn", "sir_title": "hughes & kettner Black Spirit 200 combo review", "sir_comments": "wow, only thing i can say about this is blown away by this little but LOUD amp (but only of you want it to be)! Over the years ive had loads of amps from Jcm800s to rack gear and this thing just does it for me. Im very happy.
\n
\nBackground behind buying this was over C19 our rehearsal room was shut so we needed to bring all kit home, im using a blackstar series 1 with a 4x12 and g majour 2. its big heavy and wires everywhere when gigging, but in a living room it was just too much. So i purchased this little beast as a spacesaving option, thinking as is DIs via the redbox on the back for the emulated output that goes into pa id just use it as a backup worst case when we go back to work.
\n
\nWhat a great suprise. the sound is awsome, its loud as in 4x12 via a marshall loud but very very clear not muddy at all and certainly not a fizzy distortion as one review said. It sounds like a valve amp.
\n
\nTo get the real feel you need it switched to 200w on the back albeit the 2w is great for night time one your own type practice and 20w does it great for you average jam.
\n
\nThe presets are fun but as i tend only to use 6 different sounds live ive started programming new ones in via the iPad.
\n
\nThe IPad you really need by the way. As you can set which midi channel each sound goes to and you need a midi pedal or the amp cant channel switch. Its just like programming a bit of rack kit but way easier as the app is visual and simple.
\n
\nWith this amp to get full use from it Ive used my old ADA mp1 midi controller.
\n
\nOne of the key things i both love and hate on this amp is you can make a budget guitar sound like a premium model, shocked how my 90s blazer sounds as good if not better than my Custom shop SL2H via all the clean settings this is a first.
\n
\nThe redbox is awsome. The plan is to pop this amp on a stand and use it as my guitar monitor and di it FOH as i do with the blackstar when the Academy tour starts up. Save alot of hogging gear and saves 2u of space in my rack that now will only accommodate a line 6 wireless, korg tuner and a dunlop rack wah.
\n
\nThe built in effects are perfect for 99% of my playing and are very good. The chorus is analog sounding, the delay works great also. I dont use reverb at all as its the engineers job but the reverb on this amp is great also for practice.
\n
\nother built in effects a superb also if you like flangers\/ phasers \/ tremlo etc it does it great.
\n
\nThe main feature of this amp is its size and versitility. Gone are the days of 3 amps on stage micd up and 3 way switches!", "sir_rating": "5.0", "sir_name": "mark lawson", "sir_whereareyou": "England", "sir_background": "Guitarist\/ Keys for Metallistic currently, session player\/ advert\/ computer game\/ jingle writer, former guitarist for SIN and guitar tutor at Yamaha Music School.", "sir_keepanonymous": "0" }, { "id": 720, "store_items_review_id": 252967, "media_type": "image", "thumbnail": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-160__wm-__q-60__hmac-ffa4a5ba9fca2eb08da4cc62c3bbb867b651d0cb\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMTkxMjA0MjIwMjIxLXBocDNpNHV4bS5qcGVn", "media_path": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-1080__wm-__q-60__hmac-c6d3e7e77a934a51ae81c4c29bf9eb681b1ea8db\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMTkxMjA0MjIwMjIxLXBocDNpNHV4bS5qcGVn", "sir_title": "You were the chosen one! You were supposed to destroy the legions of fizzy solid state amps, not join them!", "sir_comments": "Ooof, this was rough. I wanted so badly to fall in love with this thing. I watched all the YouTube demos. Read all the (3?) reviews in guitar publications. Picked apart the tone as best as I could over my Audio-Technica headphones and through my audio interface. Read the specs back and front. Read the handful of user reviews out there. I really thought I had a good handle on what I was getting, and that the tone would be at best, nothing short of fantastic, and at worst, pretty decent, and make me forget all about tube and digital modeling amps alike.
\n
\nFirst, some background, in case any of this also applies to you \u2013 heres what I was looking for in a guitar amp:
\n
\n- low maintenance (Ive always hated both the cost and time involved in changing out tubes every year or two, and just how fragile they are in general)
\n- versatile enough without the options paralysis of modern modeling amps (I play stuff that ranges from clean fingerpicking, to funk, to rock crunch, to prog metal, and I needed something that would cover it all)
\n- sound as good as a boutique tube amp (hopefully)
\n- to be able to find my tone once, and then use that same tone for practicing at home, recording, and performing \u2013\u00a0I didnt want to spend all this time crafting an amazing in-room practice tone, only to have to recreate it from scratch in a DAW plugin, or a digital modeling amp box like a Kemper, or with mic selection and placement in my terrible sounding room
\n- sound good at low volumes for bedroom practice, but also be able to be cranked for a small gig
\n- some great-sounding built-in effects so I wouldnt have to 100% rely on assembling a comically long chain of pedals
\n
\nImagine my delight when I came across this brand new-ish Hughes & Kettner line \u2013\u00a0an analog, solid state amp that (supposedly) can emulate tube amps without digital processing! And it has a DI out with their Red Box cabinet sims! It has power attenuation! It has built-in reverb, delay, and other effects! Its relatively light for a combo at 34 lbs!
\n
\nThere are a few things I like: the low gain cleans out of this thing are okay! The reverb and delay are also quite nice, and very usable. I really like the resonance control \u2013\u00a0this is the way to take advantage of the Black Spirit 200 Combos unique cabinet design. It makes this little amp sound almost impossibly huge, without increasing the volume. Its pretty impressive. The versatility of preset storage and switching is also pretty great, and I really like the idea of a built-in boost. The noise gate is pretty solid. The control panel and knobs are mostly really nice and lovely to work with, and I really like how preset management works.
\n
\nUnfortunately, the break-up on this amp, when playing through it with my PRS CE 24 Semi-hollow, on every single channel (including Clean) sounds *exactly* like a \"classic \/ old school\" solid state amp \u2013 fizzy, harsh, unmusical, buzzsaw, ice pick-y \u2013 you name it. Definitely not the groundbreaking tube emulation it claimed to have. Its so bad that I thought the Cabinet switch on the back accidentally got flipped to \"Fullrange Cab\" from \"Guitar Cab\" somehow, but nope \u2013\u00a0out of the box it has a really thick sticker around that switch preventing it from changing to \"Fullrange Cab\" unless you remove it first. I pored through the manual and tried just about every tweak I could think of to address it \u2013\u00a0only dropping Presence down to near 0 managed to get rid of some of the harsh fizz, but then the tone lost its, you know, presence. I also tried boosting the highs on the EQ to compensate for it, but then the tone became harsh in a different way. It only gets worse the more gain you add, and as you go up to the higher gain channels (Crunch, Lead, and Ultra). Engaging the boost only exacerbates this problem further. It does have focus and bite (especially if sagging is set low), but the way it saturates just sounds godawful to my ears. It reminds me of an old $400 Ibanez solid-state amp I used to play through in my old rehearsal space when all the good tube amps were taken. Except that, you know, this thing is over $1400. (This was all the in-room sound btw \u2013\u00a0I never tried the DI \/ cab sim signal into my audio interface.) The amp is noisy as hell with the boost engaged on higher gain settings. Its also, way, WAY too loud for bedroom practice \u2013\u00a0the 200W default is just, wall shakingly loud with the Master volume barely engaged. Great for gigging, bad for home studio practice. The 20W attenuation setting is only slightly less loud than that \u2013 I wasnt able to get the Master volume past 8 oclock (starting from 7). The 2W setting is only slightly less loud than that \u2013 I wasnt able to get the Master volume much past 9 oclock.
\n
\nFinally, there were a few red flags, even just from opening the box. The manufacturers box the amp shipped in says the amp is \"Designed and engineered in Germany. Made in China\", which actually seriously took me by surprise. Normally I dont care if an electronics product is made in China \u2013 in 2019, thats just where much of the worlds modern electronics manufacturing expertise is. But as far as I knew, Hughes & Kettner only manufactured amps out of their German headquarters. This may very well be their first foray into overseas OEM contracting (at least as far as I know). Its one thing for, say, Boss \/ Roland to get an overseas factory to make guitar amps for them at scale \u2013 they have decades of experience at it, know how to work with them on quality control, and get consistent, excellent results for really large shipments. I dont think Hughes & Kettner does, based on my experience with this amp. The build quality is just straight up bizarre \u2013 the control panel down to the bottom of the speaker grill are all quite nice looking and well done. Then you get to the ports at the bottom of the cabinet, which are made with just the shoddiest pieces of wood and the roughest finish I have ever seen on a guitar amp, including Fenders dirt cheap entry level amps. Ive attached a few pics to this review so you can see what I mean. Like... who approved this? I have a feeling not even Hughes & Kettner realize what their OEM partner is shipping out, because I kinda doubt theyd be happy with this level of quality control. The knobs also seem to vary wildly from each other in sensitivity \u2013 some turn smoothly, others (like the gain knob on mine) stick like crazy when you try to turn them. Also concerning is that this amp makes some odd, intermittent electrical clicking noises... while turned off (but plugged in). While running, it always smelled a bit too much like burning rubber \/ plastic, and it never really went away the more I used it. The cherry on top \u2013\u00a0the included manual is not for the Black Spirit 200 Combo. Its for the Black Spirit 200 Head. To be fair, this is pretty minor, especially since the controls are exactly the same between the two, but it just feels really sloppy, especially at this price point.
\n
\nThats really the problem here \u2013 the price point. If this amp were $500, Id be willing to cut it some slack and give it another star. But almost anything else you can get at this price will sound better than the Black Spirit 200. (Even the Boss Katana Mk II 100W sounds better IMO, and I dont really like that amp either!) I still want to believe that analog solid state amps can sound as good as tube amps and better than even the Kempers and Axe FXes of the modeling world, when given enough love and engineering, but this aint it. So, next on my list: the Quilter MicroPro Mach 2 (please be good lol).
\n
\nAll in all, my experience with the Black Spirit 200 Combo was the polar opposite of my experience with my old Egnater Tweaker 40 1x12 (RIP) \u2013 where nothing I tweaked on that amp could make it sound bad, nothing I tweaked on this amp could make it sound good.", "sir_rating": "1.5", "sir_name": "", "sir_whereareyou": "NYC", "sir_background": "", "sir_keepanonymous": "0" }, { "id": 721, "store_items_review_id": 252967, "media_type": "image", "thumbnail": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-160__wm-__q-60__hmac-39470d57a169bc059086952e2f043a80338592d7\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMTkxMjA0MjIwMjMwLXBocDNwdm4yZS5qcGVn", "media_path": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-1080__wm-__q-60__hmac-236bb20eba03798514b777a6162669820d28ca9d\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMTkxMjA0MjIwMjMwLXBocDNwdm4yZS5qcGVn", "sir_title": "You were the chosen one! You were supposed to destroy the legions of fizzy solid state amps, not join them!", "sir_comments": "Ooof, this was rough. I wanted so badly to fall in love with this thing. I watched all the YouTube demos. Read all the (3?) reviews in guitar publications. Picked apart the tone as best as I could over my Audio-Technica headphones and through my audio interface. Read the specs back and front. Read the handful of user reviews out there. I really thought I had a good handle on what I was getting, and that the tone would be at best, nothing short of fantastic, and at worst, pretty decent, and make me forget all about tube and digital modeling amps alike.
\n
\nFirst, some background, in case any of this also applies to you \u2013 heres what I was looking for in a guitar amp:
\n
\n- low maintenance (Ive always hated both the cost and time involved in changing out tubes every year or two, and just how fragile they are in general)
\n- versatile enough without the options paralysis of modern modeling amps (I play stuff that ranges from clean fingerpicking, to funk, to rock crunch, to prog metal, and I needed something that would cover it all)
\n- sound as good as a boutique tube amp (hopefully)
\n- to be able to find my tone once, and then use that same tone for practicing at home, recording, and performing \u2013\u00a0I didnt want to spend all this time crafting an amazing in-room practice tone, only to have to recreate it from scratch in a DAW plugin, or a digital modeling amp box like a Kemper, or with mic selection and placement in my terrible sounding room
\n- sound good at low volumes for bedroom practice, but also be able to be cranked for a small gig
\n- some great-sounding built-in effects so I wouldnt have to 100% rely on assembling a comically long chain of pedals
\n
\nImagine my delight when I came across this brand new-ish Hughes & Kettner line \u2013\u00a0an analog, solid state amp that (supposedly) can emulate tube amps without digital processing! And it has a DI out with their Red Box cabinet sims! It has power attenuation! It has built-in reverb, delay, and other effects! Its relatively light for a combo at 34 lbs!
\n
\nThere are a few things I like: the low gain cleans out of this thing are okay! The reverb and delay are also quite nice, and very usable. I really like the resonance control \u2013\u00a0this is the way to take advantage of the Black Spirit 200 Combos unique cabinet design. It makes this little amp sound almost impossibly huge, without increasing the volume. Its pretty impressive. The versatility of preset storage and switching is also pretty great, and I really like the idea of a built-in boost. The noise gate is pretty solid. The control panel and knobs are mostly really nice and lovely to work with, and I really like how preset management works.
\n
\nUnfortunately, the break-up on this amp, when playing through it with my PRS CE 24 Semi-hollow, on every single channel (including Clean) sounds *exactly* like a \"classic \/ old school\" solid state amp \u2013 fizzy, harsh, unmusical, buzzsaw, ice pick-y \u2013 you name it. Definitely not the groundbreaking tube emulation it claimed to have. Its so bad that I thought the Cabinet switch on the back accidentally got flipped to \"Fullrange Cab\" from \"Guitar Cab\" somehow, but nope \u2013\u00a0out of the box it has a really thick sticker around that switch preventing it from changing to \"Fullrange Cab\" unless you remove it first. I pored through the manual and tried just about every tweak I could think of to address it \u2013\u00a0only dropping Presence down to near 0 managed to get rid of some of the harsh fizz, but then the tone lost its, you know, presence. I also tried boosting the highs on the EQ to compensate for it, but then the tone became harsh in a different way. It only gets worse the more gain you add, and as you go up to the higher gain channels (Crunch, Lead, and Ultra). Engaging the boost only exacerbates this problem further. It does have focus and bite (especially if sagging is set low), but the way it saturates just sounds godawful to my ears. It reminds me of an old $400 Ibanez solid-state amp I used to play through in my old rehearsal space when all the good tube amps were taken. Except that, you know, this thing is over $1400. (This was all the in-room sound btw \u2013\u00a0I never tried the DI \/ cab sim signal into my audio interface.) The amp is noisy as hell with the boost engaged on higher gain settings. Its also, way, WAY too loud for bedroom practice \u2013\u00a0the 200W default is just, wall shakingly loud with the Master volume barely engaged. Great for gigging, bad for home studio practice. The 20W attenuation setting is only slightly less loud than that \u2013 I wasnt able to get the Master volume past 8 oclock (starting from 7). The 2W setting is only slightly less loud than that \u2013 I wasnt able to get the Master volume much past 9 oclock.
\n
\nFinally, there were a few red flags, even just from opening the box. The manufacturers box the amp shipped in says the amp is \"Designed and engineered in Germany. Made in China\", which actually seriously took me by surprise. Normally I dont care if an electronics product is made in China \u2013 in 2019, thats just where much of the worlds modern electronics manufacturing expertise is. But as far as I knew, Hughes & Kettner only manufactured amps out of their German headquarters. This may very well be their first foray into overseas OEM contracting (at least as far as I know). Its one thing for, say, Boss \/ Roland to get an overseas factory to make guitar amps for them at scale \u2013 they have decades of experience at it, know how to work with them on quality control, and get consistent, excellent results for really large shipments. I dont think Hughes & Kettner does, based on my experience with this amp. The build quality is just straight up bizarre \u2013 the control panel down to the bottom of the speaker grill are all quite nice looking and well done. Then you get to the ports at the bottom of the cabinet, which are made with just the shoddiest pieces of wood and the roughest finish I have ever seen on a guitar amp, including Fenders dirt cheap entry level amps. Ive attached a few pics to this review so you can see what I mean. Like... who approved this? I have a feeling not even Hughes & Kettner realize what their OEM partner is shipping out, because I kinda doubt theyd be happy with this level of quality control. The knobs also seem to vary wildly from each other in sensitivity \u2013 some turn smoothly, others (like the gain knob on mine) stick like crazy when you try to turn them. Also concerning is that this amp makes some odd, intermittent electrical clicking noises... while turned off (but plugged in). While running, it always smelled a bit too much like burning rubber \/ plastic, and it never really went away the more I used it. The cherry on top \u2013\u00a0the included manual is not for the Black Spirit 200 Combo. Its for the Black Spirit 200 Head. To be fair, this is pretty minor, especially since the controls are exactly the same between the two, but it just feels really sloppy, especially at this price point.
\n
\nThats really the problem here \u2013 the price point. If this amp were $500, Id be willing to cut it some slack and give it another star. But almost anything else you can get at this price will sound better than the Black Spirit 200. (Even the Boss Katana Mk II 100W sounds better IMO, and I dont really like that amp either!) I still want to believe that analog solid state amps can sound as good as tube amps and better than even the Kempers and Axe FXes of the modeling world, when given enough love and engineering, but this aint it. So, next on my list: the Quilter MicroPro Mach 2 (please be good lol).
\n
\nAll in all, my experience with the Black Spirit 200 Combo was the polar opposite of my experience with my old Egnater Tweaker 40 1x12 (RIP) \u2013 where nothing I tweaked on that amp could make it sound bad, nothing I tweaked on this amp could make it sound good.", "sir_rating": "1.5", "sir_name": "", "sir_whereareyou": "NYC", "sir_background": "", "sir_keepanonymous": "0" }, { "id": 722, "store_items_review_id": 252967, "media_type": "image", "thumbnail": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-160__wm-__q-60__hmac-79fe5f2db659a5890e1d7f022a21f0cdc80a4cc9\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMTkxMjA0MjIwMjQwLXBocHFyaXBrYS5qcGVn", "media_path": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-1080__wm-__q-60__hmac-63fbfabef6db54187eb1dbc82c3f96bd8cb054f5\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMTkxMjA0MjIwMjQwLXBocHFyaXBrYS5qcGVn", "sir_title": "You were the chosen one! You were supposed to destroy the legions of fizzy solid state amps, not join them!", "sir_comments": "Ooof, this was rough. I wanted so badly to fall in love with this thing. I watched all the YouTube demos. Read all the (3?) reviews in guitar publications. Picked apart the tone as best as I could over my Audio-Technica headphones and through my audio interface. Read the specs back and front. Read the handful of user reviews out there. I really thought I had a good handle on what I was getting, and that the tone would be at best, nothing short of fantastic, and at worst, pretty decent, and make me forget all about tube and digital modeling amps alike.
\n
\nFirst, some background, in case any of this also applies to you \u2013 heres what I was looking for in a guitar amp:
\n
\n- low maintenance (Ive always hated both the cost and time involved in changing out tubes every year or two, and just how fragile they are in general)
\n- versatile enough without the options paralysis of modern modeling amps (I play stuff that ranges from clean fingerpicking, to funk, to rock crunch, to prog metal, and I needed something that would cover it all)
\n- sound as good as a boutique tube amp (hopefully)
\n- to be able to find my tone once, and then use that same tone for practicing at home, recording, and performing \u2013\u00a0I didnt want to spend all this time crafting an amazing in-room practice tone, only to have to recreate it from scratch in a DAW plugin, or a digital modeling amp box like a Kemper, or with mic selection and placement in my terrible sounding room
\n- sound good at low volumes for bedroom practice, but also be able to be cranked for a small gig
\n- some great-sounding built-in effects so I wouldnt have to 100% rely on assembling a comically long chain of pedals
\n
\nImagine my delight when I came across this brand new-ish Hughes & Kettner line \u2013\u00a0an analog, solid state amp that (supposedly) can emulate tube amps without digital processing! And it has a DI out with their Red Box cabinet sims! It has power attenuation! It has built-in reverb, delay, and other effects! Its relatively light for a combo at 34 lbs!
\n
\nThere are a few things I like: the low gain cleans out of this thing are okay! The reverb and delay are also quite nice, and very usable. I really like the resonance control \u2013\u00a0this is the way to take advantage of the Black Spirit 200 Combos unique cabinet design. It makes this little amp sound almost impossibly huge, without increasing the volume. Its pretty impressive. The versatility of preset storage and switching is also pretty great, and I really like the idea of a built-in boost. The noise gate is pretty solid. The control panel and knobs are mostly really nice and lovely to work with, and I really like how preset management works.
\n
\nUnfortunately, the break-up on this amp, when playing through it with my PRS CE 24 Semi-hollow, on every single channel (including Clean) sounds *exactly* like a \"classic \/ old school\" solid state amp \u2013 fizzy, harsh, unmusical, buzzsaw, ice pick-y \u2013 you name it. Definitely not the groundbreaking tube emulation it claimed to have. Its so bad that I thought the Cabinet switch on the back accidentally got flipped to \"Fullrange Cab\" from \"Guitar Cab\" somehow, but nope \u2013\u00a0out of the box it has a really thick sticker around that switch preventing it from changing to \"Fullrange Cab\" unless you remove it first. I pored through the manual and tried just about every tweak I could think of to address it \u2013\u00a0only dropping Presence down to near 0 managed to get rid of some of the harsh fizz, but then the tone lost its, you know, presence. I also tried boosting the highs on the EQ to compensate for it, but then the tone became harsh in a different way. It only gets worse the more gain you add, and as you go up to the higher gain channels (Crunch, Lead, and Ultra). Engaging the boost only exacerbates this problem further. It does have focus and bite (especially if sagging is set low), but the way it saturates just sounds godawful to my ears. It reminds me of an old $400 Ibanez solid-state amp I used to play through in my old rehearsal space when all the good tube amps were taken. Except that, you know, this thing is over $1400. (This was all the in-room sound btw \u2013\u00a0I never tried the DI \/ cab sim signal into my audio interface.) The amp is noisy as hell with the boost engaged on higher gain settings. Its also, way, WAY too loud for bedroom practice \u2013\u00a0the 200W default is just, wall shakingly loud with the Master volume barely engaged. Great for gigging, bad for home studio practice. The 20W attenuation setting is only slightly less loud than that \u2013 I wasnt able to get the Master volume past 8 oclock (starting from 7). The 2W setting is only slightly less loud than that \u2013 I wasnt able to get the Master volume much past 9 oclock.
\n
\nFinally, there were a few red flags, even just from opening the box. The manufacturers box the amp shipped in says the amp is \"Designed and engineered in Germany. Made in China\", which actually seriously took me by surprise. Normally I dont care if an electronics product is made in China \u2013 in 2019, thats just where much of the worlds modern electronics manufacturing expertise is. But as far as I knew, Hughes & Kettner only manufactured amps out of their German headquarters. This may very well be their first foray into overseas OEM contracting (at least as far as I know). Its one thing for, say, Boss \/ Roland to get an overseas factory to make guitar amps for them at scale \u2013 they have decades of experience at it, know how to work with them on quality control, and get consistent, excellent results for really large shipments. I dont think Hughes & Kettner does, based on my experience with this amp. The build quality is just straight up bizarre \u2013 the control panel down to the bottom of the speaker grill are all quite nice looking and well done. Then you get to the ports at the bottom of the cabinet, which are made with just the shoddiest pieces of wood and the roughest finish I have ever seen on a guitar amp, including Fenders dirt cheap entry level amps. Ive attached a few pics to this review so you can see what I mean. Like... who approved this? I have a feeling not even Hughes & Kettner realize what their OEM partner is shipping out, because I kinda doubt theyd be happy with this level of quality control. The knobs also seem to vary wildly from each other in sensitivity \u2013 some turn smoothly, others (like the gain knob on mine) stick like crazy when you try to turn them. Also concerning is that this amp makes some odd, intermittent electrical clicking noises... while turned off (but plugged in). While running, it always smelled a bit too much like burning rubber \/ plastic, and it never really went away the more I used it. The cherry on top \u2013\u00a0the included manual is not for the Black Spirit 200 Combo. Its for the Black Spirit 200 Head. To be fair, this is pretty minor, especially since the controls are exactly the same between the two, but it just feels really sloppy, especially at this price point.
\n
\nThats really the problem here \u2013 the price point. If this amp were $500, Id be willing to cut it some slack and give it another star. But almost anything else you can get at this price will sound better than the Black Spirit 200. (Even the Boss Katana Mk II 100W sounds better IMO, and I dont really like that amp either!) I still want to believe that analog solid state amps can sound as good as tube amps and better than even the Kempers and Axe FXes of the modeling world, when given enough love and engineering, but this aint it. So, next on my list: the Quilter MicroPro Mach 2 (please be good lol).
\n
\nAll in all, my experience with the Black Spirit 200 Combo was the polar opposite of my experience with my old Egnater Tweaker 40 1x12 (RIP) \u2013 where nothing I tweaked on that amp could make it sound bad, nothing I tweaked on this amp could make it sound good.", "sir_rating": "1.5", "sir_name": "", "sir_whereareyou": "NYC", "sir_background": "", "sir_keepanonymous": "0" }, { "id": 723, "store_items_review_id": 252967, "media_type": "image", "thumbnail": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-160__wm-__q-60__hmac-a1cda0b4574d2f38b9dc54955a0d724c4f4ebd7c\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMTkxMjA0MjIwNDI3LXBocGxtaW52ei5qcGVn", "media_path": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-1080__wm-__q-60__hmac-ebc73228b87139cd04ba0b4dbd48c2c23e53de90\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMTkxMjA0MjIwNDI3LXBocGxtaW52ei5qcGVn", "sir_title": "You were the chosen one! You were supposed to destroy the legions of fizzy solid state amps, not join them!", "sir_comments": "Ooof, this was rough. I wanted so badly to fall in love with this thing. I watched all the YouTube demos. Read all the (3?) reviews in guitar publications. Picked apart the tone as best as I could over my Audio-Technica headphones and through my audio interface. Read the specs back and front. Read the handful of user reviews out there. I really thought I had a good handle on what I was getting, and that the tone would be at best, nothing short of fantastic, and at worst, pretty decent, and make me forget all about tube and digital modeling amps alike.
\n
\nFirst, some background, in case any of this also applies to you \u2013 heres what I was looking for in a guitar amp:
\n
\n- low maintenance (Ive always hated both the cost and time involved in changing out tubes every year or two, and just how fragile they are in general)
\n- versatile enough without the options paralysis of modern modeling amps (I play stuff that ranges from clean fingerpicking, to funk, to rock crunch, to prog metal, and I needed something that would cover it all)
\n- sound as good as a boutique tube amp (hopefully)
\n- to be able to find my tone once, and then use that same tone for practicing at home, recording, and performing \u2013\u00a0I didnt want to spend all this time crafting an amazing in-room practice tone, only to have to recreate it from scratch in a DAW plugin, or a digital modeling amp box like a Kemper, or with mic selection and placement in my terrible sounding room
\n- sound good at low volumes for bedroom practice, but also be able to be cranked for a small gig
\n- some great-sounding built-in effects so I wouldnt have to 100% rely on assembling a comically long chain of pedals
\n
\nImagine my delight when I came across this brand new-ish Hughes & Kettner line \u2013\u00a0an analog, solid state amp that (supposedly) can emulate tube amps without digital processing! And it has a DI out with their Red Box cabinet sims! It has power attenuation! It has built-in reverb, delay, and other effects! Its relatively light for a combo at 34 lbs!
\n
\nThere are a few things I like: the low gain cleans out of this thing are okay! The reverb and delay are also quite nice, and very usable. I really like the resonance control \u2013\u00a0this is the way to take advantage of the Black Spirit 200 Combos unique cabinet design. It makes this little amp sound almost impossibly huge, without increasing the volume. Its pretty impressive. The versatility of preset storage and switching is also pretty great, and I really like the idea of a built-in boost. The noise gate is pretty solid. The control panel and knobs are mostly really nice and lovely to work with, and I really like how preset management works.
\n
\nUnfortunately, the break-up on this amp, when playing through it with my PRS CE 24 Semi-hollow, on every single channel (including Clean) sounds *exactly* like a \"classic \/ old school\" solid state amp \u2013 fizzy, harsh, unmusical, buzzsaw, ice pick-y \u2013 you name it. Definitely not the groundbreaking tube emulation it claimed to have. Its so bad that I thought the Cabinet switch on the back accidentally got flipped to \"Fullrange Cab\" from \"Guitar Cab\" somehow, but nope \u2013\u00a0out of the box it has a really thick sticker around that switch preventing it from changing to \"Fullrange Cab\" unless you remove it first. I pored through the manual and tried just about every tweak I could think of to address it \u2013\u00a0only dropping Presence down to near 0 managed to get rid of some of the harsh fizz, but then the tone lost its, you know, presence. I also tried boosting the highs on the EQ to compensate for it, but then the tone became harsh in a different way. It only gets worse the more gain you add, and as you go up to the higher gain channels (Crunch, Lead, and Ultra). Engaging the boost only exacerbates this problem further. It does have focus and bite (especially if sagging is set low), but the way it saturates just sounds godawful to my ears. It reminds me of an old $400 Ibanez solid-state amp I used to play through in my old rehearsal space when all the good tube amps were taken. Except that, you know, this thing is over $1400. (This was all the in-room sound btw \u2013\u00a0I never tried the DI \/ cab sim signal into my audio interface.) The amp is noisy as hell with the boost engaged on higher gain settings. Its also, way, WAY too loud for bedroom practice \u2013\u00a0the 200W default is just, wall shakingly loud with the Master volume barely engaged. Great for gigging, bad for home studio practice. The 20W attenuation setting is only slightly less loud than that \u2013 I wasnt able to get the Master volume past 8 oclock (starting from 7). The 2W setting is only slightly less loud than that \u2013 I wasnt able to get the Master volume much past 9 oclock.
\n
\nFinally, there were a few red flags, even just from opening the box. The manufacturers box the amp shipped in says the amp is \"Designed and engineered in Germany. Made in China\", which actually seriously took me by surprise. Normally I dont care if an electronics product is made in China \u2013 in 2019, thats just where much of the worlds modern electronics manufacturing expertise is. But as far as I knew, Hughes & Kettner only manufactured amps out of their German headquarters. This may very well be their first foray into overseas OEM contracting (at least as far as I know). Its one thing for, say, Boss \/ Roland to get an overseas factory to make guitar amps for them at scale \u2013 they have decades of experience at it, know how to work with them on quality control, and get consistent, excellent results for really large shipments. I dont think Hughes & Kettner does, based on my experience with this amp. The build quality is just straight up bizarre \u2013 the control panel down to the bottom of the speaker grill are all quite nice looking and well done. Then you get to the ports at the bottom of the cabinet, which are made with just the shoddiest pieces of wood and the roughest finish I have ever seen on a guitar amp, including Fenders dirt cheap entry level amps. Ive attached a few pics to this review so you can see what I mean. Like... who approved this? I have a feeling not even Hughes & Kettner realize what their OEM partner is shipping out, because I kinda doubt theyd be happy with this level of quality control. The knobs also seem to vary wildly from each other in sensitivity \u2013 some turn smoothly, others (like the gain knob on mine) stick like crazy when you try to turn them. Also concerning is that this amp makes some odd, intermittent electrical clicking noises... while turned off (but plugged in). While running, it always smelled a bit too much like burning rubber \/ plastic, and it never really went away the more I used it. The cherry on top \u2013\u00a0the included manual is not for the Black Spirit 200 Combo. Its for the Black Spirit 200 Head. To be fair, this is pretty minor, especially since the controls are exactly the same between the two, but it just feels really sloppy, especially at this price point.
\n
\nThats really the problem here \u2013 the price point. If this amp were $500, Id be willing to cut it some slack and give it another star. But almost anything else you can get at this price will sound better than the Black Spirit 200. (Even the Boss Katana Mk II 100W sounds better IMO, and I dont really like that amp either!) I still want to believe that analog solid state amps can sound as good as tube amps and better than even the Kempers and Axe FXes of the modeling world, when given enough love and engineering, but this aint it. So, next on my list: the Quilter MicroPro Mach 2 (please be good lol).
\n
\nAll in all, my experience with the Black Spirit 200 Combo was the polar opposite of my experience with my old Egnater Tweaker 40 1x12 (RIP) \u2013 where nothing I tweaked on that amp could make it sound bad, nothing I tweaked on this amp could make it sound good.", "sir_rating": "1.5", "sir_name": "", "sir_whereareyou": "NYC", "sir_background": "", "sir_keepanonymous": "0" }, { "id": 724, "store_items_review_id": 252967, "media_type": "image", "thumbnail": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-160__wm-__q-60__hmac-dff9dae6e2333ba7d1c502b242419525bfff14af\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMTkxMjA0MjIwNDM0LXBocGV3cjlhMC5qcGVn", "media_path": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-1080__wm-__q-60__hmac-7238f4155b771c48c0f7904b49bbd05d3e9a58f6\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMTkxMjA0MjIwNDM0LXBocGV3cjlhMC5qcGVn", "sir_title": "You were the chosen one! You were supposed to destroy the legions of fizzy solid state amps, not join them!", "sir_comments": "Ooof, this was rough. I wanted so badly to fall in love with this thing. I watched all the YouTube demos. Read all the (3?) reviews in guitar publications. Picked apart the tone as best as I could over my Audio-Technica headphones and through my audio interface. Read the specs back and front. Read the handful of user reviews out there. I really thought I had a good handle on what I was getting, and that the tone would be at best, nothing short of fantastic, and at worst, pretty decent, and make me forget all about tube and digital modeling amps alike.
\n
\nFirst, some background, in case any of this also applies to you \u2013 heres what I was looking for in a guitar amp:
\n
\n- low maintenance (Ive always hated both the cost and time involved in changing out tubes every year or two, and just how fragile they are in general)
\n- versatile enough without the options paralysis of modern modeling amps (I play stuff that ranges from clean fingerpicking, to funk, to rock crunch, to prog metal, and I needed something that would cover it all)
\n- sound as good as a boutique tube amp (hopefully)
\n- to be able to find my tone once, and then use that same tone for practicing at home, recording, and performing \u2013\u00a0I didnt want to spend all this time crafting an amazing in-room practice tone, only to have to recreate it from scratch in a DAW plugin, or a digital modeling amp box like a Kemper, or with mic selection and placement in my terrible sounding room
\n- sound good at low volumes for bedroom practice, but also be able to be cranked for a small gig
\n- some great-sounding built-in effects so I wouldnt have to 100% rely on assembling a comically long chain of pedals
\n
\nImagine my delight when I came across this brand new-ish Hughes & Kettner line \u2013\u00a0an analog, solid state amp that (supposedly) can emulate tube amps without digital processing! And it has a DI out with their Red Box cabinet sims! It has power attenuation! It has built-in reverb, delay, and other effects! Its relatively light for a combo at 34 lbs!
\n
\nThere are a few things I like: the low gain cleans out of this thing are okay! The reverb and delay are also quite nice, and very usable. I really like the resonance control \u2013\u00a0this is the way to take advantage of the Black Spirit 200 Combos unique cabinet design. It makes this little amp sound almost impossibly huge, without increasing the volume. Its pretty impressive. The versatility of preset storage and switching is also pretty great, and I really like the idea of a built-in boost. The noise gate is pretty solid. The control panel and knobs are mostly really nice and lovely to work with, and I really like how preset management works.
\n
\nUnfortunately, the break-up on this amp, when playing through it with my PRS CE 24 Semi-hollow, on every single channel (including Clean) sounds *exactly* like a \"classic \/ old school\" solid state amp \u2013 fizzy, harsh, unmusical, buzzsaw, ice pick-y \u2013 you name it. Definitely not the groundbreaking tube emulation it claimed to have. Its so bad that I thought the Cabinet switch on the back accidentally got flipped to \"Fullrange Cab\" from \"Guitar Cab\" somehow, but nope \u2013\u00a0out of the box it has a really thick sticker around that switch preventing it from changing to \"Fullrange Cab\" unless you remove it first. I pored through the manual and tried just about every tweak I could think of to address it \u2013\u00a0only dropping Presence down to near 0 managed to get rid of some of the harsh fizz, but then the tone lost its, you know, presence. I also tried boosting the highs on the EQ to compensate for it, but then the tone became harsh in a different way. It only gets worse the more gain you add, and as you go up to the higher gain channels (Crunch, Lead, and Ultra). Engaging the boost only exacerbates this problem further. It does have focus and bite (especially if sagging is set low), but the way it saturates just sounds godawful to my ears. It reminds me of an old $400 Ibanez solid-state amp I used to play through in my old rehearsal space when all the good tube amps were taken. Except that, you know, this thing is over $1400. (This was all the in-room sound btw \u2013\u00a0I never tried the DI \/ cab sim signal into my audio interface.) The amp is noisy as hell with the boost engaged on higher gain settings. Its also, way, WAY too loud for bedroom practice \u2013\u00a0the 200W default is just, wall shakingly loud with the Master volume barely engaged. Great for gigging, bad for home studio practice. The 20W attenuation setting is only slightly less loud than that \u2013 I wasnt able to get the Master volume past 8 oclock (starting from 7). The 2W setting is only slightly less loud than that \u2013 I wasnt able to get the Master volume much past 9 oclock.
\n
\nFinally, there were a few red flags, even just from opening the box. The manufacturers box the amp shipped in says the amp is \"Designed and engineered in Germany. Made in China\", which actually seriously took me by surprise. Normally I dont care if an electronics product is made in China \u2013 in 2019, thats just where much of the worlds modern electronics manufacturing expertise is. But as far as I knew, Hughes & Kettner only manufactured amps out of their German headquarters. This may very well be their first foray into overseas OEM contracting (at least as far as I know). Its one thing for, say, Boss \/ Roland to get an overseas factory to make guitar amps for them at scale \u2013 they have decades of experience at it, know how to work with them on quality control, and get consistent, excellent results for really large shipments. I dont think Hughes & Kettner does, based on my experience with this amp. The build quality is just straight up bizarre \u2013 the control panel down to the bottom of the speaker grill are all quite nice looking and well done. Then you get to the ports at the bottom of the cabinet, which are made with just the shoddiest pieces of wood and the roughest finish I have ever seen on a guitar amp, including Fenders dirt cheap entry level amps. Ive attached a few pics to this review so you can see what I mean. Like... who approved this? I have a feeling not even Hughes & Kettner realize what their OEM partner is shipping out, because I kinda doubt theyd be happy with this level of quality control. The knobs also seem to vary wildly from each other in sensitivity \u2013 some turn smoothly, others (like the gain knob on mine) stick like crazy when you try to turn them. Also concerning is that this amp makes some odd, intermittent electrical clicking noises... while turned off (but plugged in). While running, it always smelled a bit too much like burning rubber \/ plastic, and it never really went away the more I used it. The cherry on top \u2013\u00a0the included manual is not for the Black Spirit 200 Combo. Its for the Black Spirit 200 Head. To be fair, this is pretty minor, especially since the controls are exactly the same between the two, but it just feels really sloppy, especially at this price point.
\n
\nThats really the problem here \u2013 the price point. If this amp were $500, Id be willing to cut it some slack and give it another star. But almost anything else you can get at this price will sound better than the Black Spirit 200. (Even the Boss Katana Mk II 100W sounds better IMO, and I dont really like that amp either!) I still want to believe that analog solid state amps can sound as good as tube amps and better than even the Kempers and Axe FXes of the modeling world, when given enough love and engineering, but this aint it. So, next on my list: the Quilter MicroPro Mach 2 (please be good lol).
\n
\nAll in all, my experience with the Black Spirit 200 Combo was the polar opposite of my experience with my old Egnater Tweaker 40 1x12 (RIP) \u2013 where nothing I tweaked on that amp could make it sound bad, nothing I tweaked on this amp could make it sound good.", "sir_rating": "1.5", "sir_name": "", "sir_whereareyou": "NYC", "sir_background": "", "sir_keepanonymous": "0" } ]" :for-review="283428">
不是很快乐
目前我在维修在保修期内持续了大约一个月之后体积会死完全即使灯和权力。我可以让它工作的唯一途径就是关机,回来。
忘记联系h&k支持他们没有回应。
我想再试着如果它回来维修或更换是否可以设置一些令人满意的音调
但我认为我不会介意他们给我退款(不太可能)因为钱有很多其他的选择
所以对我来说有点不满意,我觉得我的受害者,中国制造质量所提到的以前的文章。
PS希望h&k注意之前他们的声誉,客户服务也受损
你是被选中的!你应该破坏大量的碳酸固体安培,不加入他们!
Ooof,这是粗糙。我迫切地想要爱上这个东西。我看着所有的YouTube演示。阅读(3)评论在吉他的出版物。拆分的语气尽我所能在我Audio-Technica耳机和通过我的音频接口。阅读规格面前。阅读用户评论的不多。我真的认为我有一个很好的处理我的语气是在最好的情况下,神奇的,在最坏的情况下,相当不错,让我忘掉管和数字建模安培。
首先,一些背景知识,以防任何这也适用于你,这就是我一直在寻找在吉他放大器:
低维护(我一直讨厌的成本和时间参与改变管每一到两年,和多么脆弱)
——通用足够没有现代建模选项瘫痪的安培(我玩的东西范围从清洁fingerpicking,恐慌,摇滚紧缩,掠夺的金属,和我需要将覆盖所有的东西)
——听起来一样好精品管amp(希望)
——能够找到我的语气,然后使用相同的基调在家练习,记录,和表演,我不想花时间制作一个了不起的客房练习语调,只有从头重新创建它的寒鸦插件,或数字建模amp盒像Kemper,或与麦克风的选择和放置在我听起来可怕的房间
——在卧室低卷练习,听起来不错,但还可以调小演出
——有些演员“内置的影响所以我不会有100%依赖于组装滑稽踏板的长链
想象我高兴当我遇到这个品牌的最新休斯& Kettner行吧——一个模拟,固态放大器,(据说)可以模拟管放大器没有数字处理!它有一个迪与红盒子内阁辛姆斯!它力量衰减!它有内置混响、延迟和其他影响!是相对较轻的一个组合在34磅!
有一些我喜欢的东西:它的低增益进行清理是好的!混响和延迟也相当不错,很有用的。我真的很喜欢共振控制——这是利用黑色200年内阁组合独特的设计精神。这几乎让这个小音箱听起来无比巨大,不增加体积。很让人印象深刻。预设存储的多功能性和转换也很好,我很喜欢一个内置的提振。噪声门很坚实。控制面板旋钮大多是非常好的和可爱,我很喜欢预设管理是如何工作的。
这个音箱的分拆,不幸的是,在通过它与我的PRS CE 24 Semi-hollow,每一个频道(包括清洁)声音准确地* *像“经典/旧学校”固态amp -碳酸,苛刻,不合拍,钢刀,冰pick-y等等。绝对不是开创性的管模拟宣称。它是如此糟糕,我认为开关箱背面不小心翻了“Fullrange出租车”“吉他出租车”,但不——它有一个很厚的贴纸,防止改变转向“Fullrange出租车”,除非你先删除它。我研读手册,我能想到的几乎所有调整试图解决这个问题,只有存在下降到接近0设法摆脱一些严厉的饮料,然后失去了语气,你知道,存在。我也试着提高情商上的高点来弥补,但语气变得严厉的方式不同。它只会变得更糟获得您添加越多,当你去更高的获得渠道(紧缩、铅和超)。只参与推动进一步加剧了这个问题。它确实有重点和咬(特别是如果下垂设置低),但它浸透只是听起来godawful我的耳朵。它让我想起了一个老的400美元Ibanez说固态放大器我用来打在我的旧的排练空间当所有的好管安培。除此之外,你知道,这是超过1400美元。 (This was all the in-room sound btw – I never tried the DI / cab sim signal into my audio interface.) The amp is noisy as hell with the boost engaged on higher gain settings. It's also, way, WAY too loud for bedroom practice – the 200W default is just, wall shakingly loud with the Master volume barely engaged. Great for gigging, bad for home studio practice. The 20W attenuation setting is only slightly less loud than that – I wasn't able to get the Master volume past 8 o'clock (starting from 7). The 2W setting is only slightly less loud than that – I wasn't able to get the Master volume much past 9 o'clock.
最后,有几个红色的旗帜,甚至只是打开盒子。制造商的盒子说,amp的amp运”在德国设计和改造。中国制造”,这实际上严重出乎我的意料。通常我不在乎如果电子产品是中国制造的——2019年,这是世界上大部分的现代电子制造技术。但据我所知,休斯& Kettner只制造安培的德国总部。这很可能是他们首次涉足海外OEM合同(至少据我所知)。是一回事,说,老板/罗兰获得海外工厂使吉他安培规模——他们有几十年的经验,知道如何与他们一起工作在质量控制上,并获得一致的、优秀的业绩很大发货。我不认为休斯& Kettner,根据我的经验这amp。构建质量只是直奇怪——控制面板的底部扬声器烧烤都是相当漂亮,做得好。然后你到达港口底部的内阁,仅仅是用劣质的木头和大致完成我所见过的吉他音箱,包括芬达的污垢便宜的入门级安培。我附上一些图片这篇评论,这样你就能明白我的意思。 Like... who approved this? I have a feeling not even Hughes & Kettner realize what their OEM partner is shipping out, because I kinda doubt they'd be happy with this level of quality control. The knobs also seem to vary wildly from each other in sensitivity – some turn smoothly, others (like the gain knob on mine) stick like crazy when you try to turn them. Also concerning is that this amp makes some odd, intermittent electrical clicking noises... while turned off (but plugged in). While running, it always smelled a bit too much like burning rubber / plastic, and it never really went away the more I used it. The cherry on top – the included manual is not for the Black Spirit 200 Combo. It's for the Black Spirit 200 Head. To be fair, this is pretty minor, especially since the controls are exactly the same between the two, but it just feels really sloppy, especially at this price point.
这是这里的问题——价格点。如果这个放大器是500美元,我愿意放它一马,给它另一个明星。但几乎任何你可以按这个价格将于200年声音比黑色的精神。(甚至老板刀Mk II 100 w听起来更好的国际海事组织,我真的不喜欢,amp !)我仍然愿意相信模拟固态听起来那么好管安培甚至比kemper和斧头的外汇建模世界,当给予足够的爱和工程,但这不是它。所以,我的名单上的下一个:奎尔特MicroPro 2马赫(请好lol)。
总的来说,我的经验与黑人精神200年组合是截然相反的我的经验和我的旧Egnater玩意儿40 1 x12 (RIP)——我调整,amp可能让这听起来有点糟糕,我调整在这个音箱可以让它听起来不错。
\nBackground behind buying this was over C19 our rehearsal room was shut so we needed to bring all kit home, im using a blackstar series 1 with a 4x12 and g majour 2. its big heavy and wires everywhere when gigging, but in a living room it was just too much. So i purchased this little beast as a spacesaving option, thinking as is DIs via the redbox on the back for the emulated output that goes into pa id just use it as a backup worst case when we go back to work.
\n
\nWhat a great suprise. the sound is awsome, its loud as in 4x12 via a marshall loud but very very clear not muddy at all and certainly not a fizzy distortion as one review said. It sounds like a valve amp.
\n
\nTo get the real feel you need it switched to 200w on the back albeit the 2w is great for night time one your own type practice and 20w does it great for you average jam.
\n
\nThe presets are fun but as i tend only to use 6 different sounds live ive started programming new ones in via the iPad.
\n
\nThe IPad you really need by the way. As you can set which midi channel each sound goes to and you need a midi pedal or the amp cant channel switch. Its just like programming a bit of rack kit but way easier as the app is visual and simple.
\n
\nWith this amp to get full use from it Ive used my old ADA mp1 midi controller.
\n
\nOne of the key things i both love and hate on this amp is you can make a budget guitar sound like a premium model, shocked how my 90s blazer sounds as good if not better than my Custom shop SL2H via all the clean settings this is a first.
\n
\nThe redbox is awsome. The plan is to pop this amp on a stand and use it as my guitar monitor and di it FOH as i do with the blackstar when the Academy tour starts up. Save alot of hogging gear and saves 2u of space in my rack that now will only accommodate a line 6 wireless, korg tuner and a dunlop rack wah.
\n
\nThe built in effects are perfect for 99% of my playing and are very good. The chorus is analog sounding, the delay works great also. I dont use reverb at all as its the engineers job but the reverb on this amp is great also for practice.
\n
\nother built in effects a superb also if you like flangers\/ phasers \/ tremlo etc it does it great.
\n
\nThe main feature of this amp is its size and versitility. Gone are the days of 3 amps on stage micd up and 3 way switches!", "sir_rating": "5.0", "sir_name": "mark lawson", "sir_whereareyou": "England", "sir_background": "Guitarist\/ Keys for Metallistic currently, session player\/ advert\/ computer game\/ jingle writer, former guitarist for SIN and guitar tutor at Yamaha Music School.", "sir_keepanonymous": "0" }, { "id": 6460, "store_items_review_id": 283428, "media_type": "image", "thumbnail": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-160__wm-__q-60__hmac-d1034938128c2f28f51b26c7ab381b980d85ea65\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMjAwOTEyMDY0MjI3LXBocDJqcmJvNy5qcGVn", "media_path": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-1080__wm-__q-60__hmac-de7f1f35eb916adb3dd3c53a65ab07db97da0d03\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMjAwOTEyMDY0MjI3LXBocDJqcmJvNy5qcGVn", "sir_title": "hughes & kettner Black Spirit 200 combo review", "sir_comments": "wow, only thing i can say about this is blown away by this little but LOUD amp (but only of you want it to be)! Over the years ive had loads of amps from Jcm800s to rack gear and this thing just does it for me. Im very happy.
\n
\nBackground behind buying this was over C19 our rehearsal room was shut so we needed to bring all kit home, im using a blackstar series 1 with a 4x12 and g majour 2. its big heavy and wires everywhere when gigging, but in a living room it was just too much. So i purchased this little beast as a spacesaving option, thinking as is DIs via the redbox on the back for the emulated output that goes into pa id just use it as a backup worst case when we go back to work.
\n
\nWhat a great suprise. the sound is awsome, its loud as in 4x12 via a marshall loud but very very clear not muddy at all and certainly not a fizzy distortion as one review said. It sounds like a valve amp.
\n
\nTo get the real feel you need it switched to 200w on the back albeit the 2w is great for night time one your own type practice and 20w does it great for you average jam.
\n
\nThe presets are fun but as i tend only to use 6 different sounds live ive started programming new ones in via the iPad.
\n
\nThe IPad you really need by the way. As you can set which midi channel each sound goes to and you need a midi pedal or the amp cant channel switch. Its just like programming a bit of rack kit but way easier as the app is visual and simple.
\n
\nWith this amp to get full use from it Ive used my old ADA mp1 midi controller.
\n
\nOne of the key things i both love and hate on this amp is you can make a budget guitar sound like a premium model, shocked how my 90s blazer sounds as good if not better than my Custom shop SL2H via all the clean settings this is a first.
\n
\nThe redbox is awsome. The plan is to pop this amp on a stand and use it as my guitar monitor and di it FOH as i do with the blackstar when the Academy tour starts up. Save alot of hogging gear and saves 2u of space in my rack that now will only accommodate a line 6 wireless, korg tuner and a dunlop rack wah.
\n
\nThe built in effects are perfect for 99% of my playing and are very good. The chorus is analog sounding, the delay works great also. I dont use reverb at all as its the engineers job but the reverb on this amp is great also for practice.
\n
\nother built in effects a superb also if you like flangers\/ phasers \/ tremlo etc it does it great.
\n
\nThe main feature of this amp is its size and versitility. Gone are the days of 3 amps on stage micd up and 3 way switches!", "sir_rating": "5.0", "sir_name": "mark lawson", "sir_whereareyou": "England", "sir_background": "Guitarist\/ Keys for Metallistic currently, session player\/ advert\/ computer game\/ jingle writer, former guitarist for SIN and guitar tutor at Yamaha Music School.", "sir_keepanonymous": "0" }, { "id": 6461, "store_items_review_id": 283428, "media_type": "image", "thumbnail": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-160__wm-__q-60__hmac-af7ec89b508f095512423d748d7a9ad20e64f7b5\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMjAwOTEyMDY0MjUwLXBocGdkcXljdy5qcGVn", "media_path": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-1080__wm-__q-60__hmac-a6e71af056109442da304710437268a92ffda8c7\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMjAwOTEyMDY0MjUwLXBocGdkcXljdy5qcGVn", "sir_title": "hughes & kettner Black Spirit 200 combo review", "sir_comments": "wow, only thing i can say about this is blown away by this little but LOUD amp (but only of you want it to be)! Over the years ive had loads of amps from Jcm800s to rack gear and this thing just does it for me. Im very happy.
\n
\nBackground behind buying this was over C19 our rehearsal room was shut so we needed to bring all kit home, im using a blackstar series 1 with a 4x12 and g majour 2. its big heavy and wires everywhere when gigging, but in a living room it was just too much. So i purchased this little beast as a spacesaving option, thinking as is DIs via the redbox on the back for the emulated output that goes into pa id just use it as a backup worst case when we go back to work.
\n
\nWhat a great suprise. the sound is awsome, its loud as in 4x12 via a marshall loud but very very clear not muddy at all and certainly not a fizzy distortion as one review said. It sounds like a valve amp.
\n
\nTo get the real feel you need it switched to 200w on the back albeit the 2w is great for night time one your own type practice and 20w does it great for you average jam.
\n
\nThe presets are fun but as i tend only to use 6 different sounds live ive started programming new ones in via the iPad.
\n
\nThe IPad you really need by the way. As you can set which midi channel each sound goes to and you need a midi pedal or the amp cant channel switch. Its just like programming a bit of rack kit but way easier as the app is visual and simple.
\n
\nWith this amp to get full use from it Ive used my old ADA mp1 midi controller.
\n
\nOne of the key things i both love and hate on this amp is you can make a budget guitar sound like a premium model, shocked how my 90s blazer sounds as good if not better than my Custom shop SL2H via all the clean settings this is a first.
\n
\nThe redbox is awsome. The plan is to pop this amp on a stand and use it as my guitar monitor and di it FOH as i do with the blackstar when the Academy tour starts up. Save alot of hogging gear and saves 2u of space in my rack that now will only accommodate a line 6 wireless, korg tuner and a dunlop rack wah.
\n
\nThe built in effects are perfect for 99% of my playing and are very good. The chorus is analog sounding, the delay works great also. I dont use reverb at all as its the engineers job but the reverb on this amp is great also for practice.
\n
\nother built in effects a superb also if you like flangers\/ phasers \/ tremlo etc it does it great.
\n
\nThe main feature of this amp is its size and versitility. Gone are the days of 3 amps on stage micd up and 3 way switches!", "sir_rating": "5.0", "sir_name": "mark lawson", "sir_whereareyou": "England", "sir_background": "Guitarist\/ Keys for Metallistic currently, session player\/ advert\/ computer game\/ jingle writer, former guitarist for SIN and guitar tutor at Yamaha Music School.", "sir_keepanonymous": "0" }, { "id": 720, "store_items_review_id": 252967, "media_type": "image", "thumbnail": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-160__wm-__q-60__hmac-ffa4a5ba9fca2eb08da4cc62c3bbb867b651d0cb\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMTkxMjA0MjIwMjIxLXBocDNpNHV4bS5qcGVn", "media_path": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-1080__wm-__q-60__hmac-c6d3e7e77a934a51ae81c4c29bf9eb681b1ea8db\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMTkxMjA0MjIwMjIxLXBocDNpNHV4bS5qcGVn", "sir_title": "You were the chosen one! You were supposed to destroy the legions of fizzy solid state amps, not join them!", "sir_comments": "Ooof, this was rough. I wanted so badly to fall in love with this thing. I watched all the YouTube demos. Read all the (3?) reviews in guitar publications. Picked apart the tone as best as I could over my Audio-Technica headphones and through my audio interface. Read the specs back and front. Read the handful of user reviews out there. I really thought I had a good handle on what I was getting, and that the tone would be at best, nothing short of fantastic, and at worst, pretty decent, and make me forget all about tube and digital modeling amps alike.
\n
\nFirst, some background, in case any of this also applies to you \u2013 heres what I was looking for in a guitar amp:
\n
\n- low maintenance (Ive always hated both the cost and time involved in changing out tubes every year or two, and just how fragile they are in general)
\n- versatile enough without the options paralysis of modern modeling amps (I play stuff that ranges from clean fingerpicking, to funk, to rock crunch, to prog metal, and I needed something that would cover it all)
\n- sound as good as a boutique tube amp (hopefully)
\n- to be able to find my tone once, and then use that same tone for practicing at home, recording, and performing \u2013\u00a0I didnt want to spend all this time crafting an amazing in-room practice tone, only to have to recreate it from scratch in a DAW plugin, or a digital modeling amp box like a Kemper, or with mic selection and placement in my terrible sounding room
\n- sound good at low volumes for bedroom practice, but also be able to be cranked for a small gig
\n- some great-sounding built-in effects so I wouldnt have to 100% rely on assembling a comically long chain of pedals
\n
\nImagine my delight when I came across this brand new-ish Hughes & Kettner line \u2013\u00a0an analog, solid state amp that (supposedly) can emulate tube amps without digital processing! And it has a DI out with their Red Box cabinet sims! It has power attenuation! It has built-in reverb, delay, and other effects! Its relatively light for a combo at 34 lbs!
\n
\nThere are a few things I like: the low gain cleans out of this thing are okay! The reverb and delay are also quite nice, and very usable. I really like the resonance control \u2013\u00a0this is the way to take advantage of the Black Spirit 200 Combos unique cabinet design. It makes this little amp sound almost impossibly huge, without increasing the volume. Its pretty impressive. The versatility of preset storage and switching is also pretty great, and I really like the idea of a built-in boost. The noise gate is pretty solid. The control panel and knobs are mostly really nice and lovely to work with, and I really like how preset management works.
\n
\nUnfortunately, the break-up on this amp, when playing through it with my PRS CE 24 Semi-hollow, on every single channel (including Clean) sounds *exactly* like a \"classic \/ old school\" solid state amp \u2013 fizzy, harsh, unmusical, buzzsaw, ice pick-y \u2013 you name it. Definitely not the groundbreaking tube emulation it claimed to have. Its so bad that I thought the Cabinet switch on the back accidentally got flipped to \"Fullrange Cab\" from \"Guitar Cab\" somehow, but nope \u2013\u00a0out of the box it has a really thick sticker around that switch preventing it from changing to \"Fullrange Cab\" unless you remove it first. I pored through the manual and tried just about every tweak I could think of to address it \u2013\u00a0only dropping Presence down to near 0 managed to get rid of some of the harsh fizz, but then the tone lost its, you know, presence. I also tried boosting the highs on the EQ to compensate for it, but then the tone became harsh in a different way. It only gets worse the more gain you add, and as you go up to the higher gain channels (Crunch, Lead, and Ultra). Engaging the boost only exacerbates this problem further. It does have focus and bite (especially if sagging is set low), but the way it saturates just sounds godawful to my ears. It reminds me of an old $400 Ibanez solid-state amp I used to play through in my old rehearsal space when all the good tube amps were taken. Except that, you know, this thing is over $1400. (This was all the in-room sound btw \u2013\u00a0I never tried the DI \/ cab sim signal into my audio interface.) The amp is noisy as hell with the boost engaged on higher gain settings. Its also, way, WAY too loud for bedroom practice \u2013\u00a0the 200W default is just, wall shakingly loud with the Master volume barely engaged. Great for gigging, bad for home studio practice. The 20W attenuation setting is only slightly less loud than that \u2013 I wasnt able to get the Master volume past 8 oclock (starting from 7). The 2W setting is only slightly less loud than that \u2013 I wasnt able to get the Master volume much past 9 oclock.
\n
\nFinally, there were a few red flags, even just from opening the box. The manufacturers box the amp shipped in says the amp is \"Designed and engineered in Germany. Made in China\", which actually seriously took me by surprise. Normally I dont care if an electronics product is made in China \u2013 in 2019, thats just where much of the worlds modern electronics manufacturing expertise is. But as far as I knew, Hughes & Kettner only manufactured amps out of their German headquarters. This may very well be their first foray into overseas OEM contracting (at least as far as I know). Its one thing for, say, Boss \/ Roland to get an overseas factory to make guitar amps for them at scale \u2013 they have decades of experience at it, know how to work with them on quality control, and get consistent, excellent results for really large shipments. I dont think Hughes & Kettner does, based on my experience with this amp. The build quality is just straight up bizarre \u2013 the control panel down to the bottom of the speaker grill are all quite nice looking and well done. Then you get to the ports at the bottom of the cabinet, which are made with just the shoddiest pieces of wood and the roughest finish I have ever seen on a guitar amp, including Fenders dirt cheap entry level amps. Ive attached a few pics to this review so you can see what I mean. Like... who approved this? I have a feeling not even Hughes & Kettner realize what their OEM partner is shipping out, because I kinda doubt theyd be happy with this level of quality control. The knobs also seem to vary wildly from each other in sensitivity \u2013 some turn smoothly, others (like the gain knob on mine) stick like crazy when you try to turn them. Also concerning is that this amp makes some odd, intermittent electrical clicking noises... while turned off (but plugged in). While running, it always smelled a bit too much like burning rubber \/ plastic, and it never really went away the more I used it. The cherry on top \u2013\u00a0the included manual is not for the Black Spirit 200 Combo. Its for the Black Spirit 200 Head. To be fair, this is pretty minor, especially since the controls are exactly the same between the two, but it just feels really sloppy, especially at this price point.
\n
\nThats really the problem here \u2013 the price point. If this amp were $500, Id be willing to cut it some slack and give it another star. But almost anything else you can get at this price will sound better than the Black Spirit 200. (Even the Boss Katana Mk II 100W sounds better IMO, and I dont really like that amp either!) I still want to believe that analog solid state amps can sound as good as tube amps and better than even the Kempers and Axe FXes of the modeling world, when given enough love and engineering, but this aint it. So, next on my list: the Quilter MicroPro Mach 2 (please be good lol).
\n
\nAll in all, my experience with the Black Spirit 200 Combo was the polar opposite of my experience with my old Egnater Tweaker 40 1x12 (RIP) \u2013 where nothing I tweaked on that amp could make it sound bad, nothing I tweaked on this amp could make it sound good.", "sir_rating": "1.5", "sir_name": "", "sir_whereareyou": "NYC", "sir_background": "", "sir_keepanonymous": "0" }, { "id": 721, "store_items_review_id": 252967, "media_type": "image", "thumbnail": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-160__wm-__q-60__hmac-39470d57a169bc059086952e2f043a80338592d7\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMTkxMjA0MjIwMjMwLXBocDNwdm4yZS5qcGVn", "media_path": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-1080__wm-__q-60__hmac-236bb20eba03798514b777a6162669820d28ca9d\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMTkxMjA0MjIwMjMwLXBocDNwdm4yZS5qcGVn", "sir_title": "You were the chosen one! You were supposed to destroy the legions of fizzy solid state amps, not join them!", "sir_comments": "Ooof, this was rough. I wanted so badly to fall in love with this thing. I watched all the YouTube demos. Read all the (3?) reviews in guitar publications. Picked apart the tone as best as I could over my Audio-Technica headphones and through my audio interface. Read the specs back and front. Read the handful of user reviews out there. I really thought I had a good handle on what I was getting, and that the tone would be at best, nothing short of fantastic, and at worst, pretty decent, and make me forget all about tube and digital modeling amps alike.
\n
\nFirst, some background, in case any of this also applies to you \u2013 heres what I was looking for in a guitar amp:
\n
\n- low maintenance (Ive always hated both the cost and time involved in changing out tubes every year or two, and just how fragile they are in general)
\n- versatile enough without the options paralysis of modern modeling amps (I play stuff that ranges from clean fingerpicking, to funk, to rock crunch, to prog metal, and I needed something that would cover it all)
\n- sound as good as a boutique tube amp (hopefully)
\n- to be able to find my tone once, and then use that same tone for practicing at home, recording, and performing \u2013\u00a0I didnt want to spend all this time crafting an amazing in-room practice tone, only to have to recreate it from scratch in a DAW plugin, or a digital modeling amp box like a Kemper, or with mic selection and placement in my terrible sounding room
\n- sound good at low volumes for bedroom practice, but also be able to be cranked for a small gig
\n- some great-sounding built-in effects so I wouldnt have to 100% rely on assembling a comically long chain of pedals
\n
\nImagine my delight when I came across this brand new-ish Hughes & Kettner line \u2013\u00a0an analog, solid state amp that (supposedly) can emulate tube amps without digital processing! And it has a DI out with their Red Box cabinet sims! It has power attenuation! It has built-in reverb, delay, and other effects! Its relatively light for a combo at 34 lbs!
\n
\nThere are a few things I like: the low gain cleans out of this thing are okay! The reverb and delay are also quite nice, and very usable. I really like the resonance control \u2013\u00a0this is the way to take advantage of the Black Spirit 200 Combos unique cabinet design. It makes this little amp sound almost impossibly huge, without increasing the volume. Its pretty impressive. The versatility of preset storage and switching is also pretty great, and I really like the idea of a built-in boost. The noise gate is pretty solid. The control panel and knobs are mostly really nice and lovely to work with, and I really like how preset management works.
\n
\nUnfortunately, the break-up on this amp, when playing through it with my PRS CE 24 Semi-hollow, on every single channel (including Clean) sounds *exactly* like a \"classic \/ old school\" solid state amp \u2013 fizzy, harsh, unmusical, buzzsaw, ice pick-y \u2013 you name it. Definitely not the groundbreaking tube emulation it claimed to have. Its so bad that I thought the Cabinet switch on the back accidentally got flipped to \"Fullrange Cab\" from \"Guitar Cab\" somehow, but nope \u2013\u00a0out of the box it has a really thick sticker around that switch preventing it from changing to \"Fullrange Cab\" unless you remove it first. I pored through the manual and tried just about every tweak I could think of to address it \u2013\u00a0only dropping Presence down to near 0 managed to get rid of some of the harsh fizz, but then the tone lost its, you know, presence. I also tried boosting the highs on the EQ to compensate for it, but then the tone became harsh in a different way. It only gets worse the more gain you add, and as you go up to the higher gain channels (Crunch, Lead, and Ultra). Engaging the boost only exacerbates this problem further. It does have focus and bite (especially if sagging is set low), but the way it saturates just sounds godawful to my ears. It reminds me of an old $400 Ibanez solid-state amp I used to play through in my old rehearsal space when all the good tube amps were taken. Except that, you know, this thing is over $1400. (This was all the in-room sound btw \u2013\u00a0I never tried the DI \/ cab sim signal into my audio interface.) The amp is noisy as hell with the boost engaged on higher gain settings. Its also, way, WAY too loud for bedroom practice \u2013\u00a0the 200W default is just, wall shakingly loud with the Master volume barely engaged. Great for gigging, bad for home studio practice. The 20W attenuation setting is only slightly less loud than that \u2013 I wasnt able to get the Master volume past 8 oclock (starting from 7). The 2W setting is only slightly less loud than that \u2013 I wasnt able to get the Master volume much past 9 oclock.
\n
\nFinally, there were a few red flags, even just from opening the box. The manufacturers box the amp shipped in says the amp is \"Designed and engineered in Germany. Made in China\", which actually seriously took me by surprise. Normally I dont care if an electronics product is made in China \u2013 in 2019, thats just where much of the worlds modern electronics manufacturing expertise is. But as far as I knew, Hughes & Kettner only manufactured amps out of their German headquarters. This may very well be their first foray into overseas OEM contracting (at least as far as I know). Its one thing for, say, Boss \/ Roland to get an overseas factory to make guitar amps for them at scale \u2013 they have decades of experience at it, know how to work with them on quality control, and get consistent, excellent results for really large shipments. I dont think Hughes & Kettner does, based on my experience with this amp. The build quality is just straight up bizarre \u2013 the control panel down to the bottom of the speaker grill are all quite nice looking and well done. Then you get to the ports at the bottom of the cabinet, which are made with just the shoddiest pieces of wood and the roughest finish I have ever seen on a guitar amp, including Fenders dirt cheap entry level amps. Ive attached a few pics to this review so you can see what I mean. Like... who approved this? I have a feeling not even Hughes & Kettner realize what their OEM partner is shipping out, because I kinda doubt theyd be happy with this level of quality control. The knobs also seem to vary wildly from each other in sensitivity \u2013 some turn smoothly, others (like the gain knob on mine) stick like crazy when you try to turn them. Also concerning is that this amp makes some odd, intermittent electrical clicking noises... while turned off (but plugged in). While running, it always smelled a bit too much like burning rubber \/ plastic, and it never really went away the more I used it. The cherry on top \u2013\u00a0the included manual is not for the Black Spirit 200 Combo. Its for the Black Spirit 200 Head. To be fair, this is pretty minor, especially since the controls are exactly the same between the two, but it just feels really sloppy, especially at this price point.
\n
\nThats really the problem here \u2013 the price point. If this amp were $500, Id be willing to cut it some slack and give it another star. But almost anything else you can get at this price will sound better than the Black Spirit 200. (Even the Boss Katana Mk II 100W sounds better IMO, and I dont really like that amp either!) I still want to believe that analog solid state amps can sound as good as tube amps and better than even the Kempers and Axe FXes of the modeling world, when given enough love and engineering, but this aint it. So, next on my list: the Quilter MicroPro Mach 2 (please be good lol).
\n
\nAll in all, my experience with the Black Spirit 200 Combo was the polar opposite of my experience with my old Egnater Tweaker 40 1x12 (RIP) \u2013 where nothing I tweaked on that amp could make it sound bad, nothing I tweaked on this amp could make it sound good.", "sir_rating": "1.5", "sir_name": "", "sir_whereareyou": "NYC", "sir_background": "", "sir_keepanonymous": "0" }, { "id": 722, "store_items_review_id": 252967, "media_type": "image", "thumbnail": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-160__wm-__q-60__hmac-79fe5f2db659a5890e1d7f022a21f0cdc80a4cc9\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMTkxMjA0MjIwMjQwLXBocHFyaXBrYS5qcGVn", "media_path": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-1080__wm-__q-60__hmac-63fbfabef6db54187eb1dbc82c3f96bd8cb054f5\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMTkxMjA0MjIwMjQwLXBocHFyaXBrYS5qcGVn", "sir_title": "You were the chosen one! You were supposed to destroy the legions of fizzy solid state amps, not join them!", "sir_comments": "Ooof, this was rough. I wanted so badly to fall in love with this thing. I watched all the YouTube demos. Read all the (3?) reviews in guitar publications. Picked apart the tone as best as I could over my Audio-Technica headphones and through my audio interface. Read the specs back and front. Read the handful of user reviews out there. I really thought I had a good handle on what I was getting, and that the tone would be at best, nothing short of fantastic, and at worst, pretty decent, and make me forget all about tube and digital modeling amps alike.
\n
\nFirst, some background, in case any of this also applies to you \u2013 heres what I was looking for in a guitar amp:
\n
\n- low maintenance (Ive always hated both the cost and time involved in changing out tubes every year or two, and just how fragile they are in general)
\n- versatile enough without the options paralysis of modern modeling amps (I play stuff that ranges from clean fingerpicking, to funk, to rock crunch, to prog metal, and I needed something that would cover it all)
\n- sound as good as a boutique tube amp (hopefully)
\n- to be able to find my tone once, and then use that same tone for practicing at home, recording, and performing \u2013\u00a0I didnt want to spend all this time crafting an amazing in-room practice tone, only to have to recreate it from scratch in a DAW plugin, or a digital modeling amp box like a Kemper, or with mic selection and placement in my terrible sounding room
\n- sound good at low volumes for bedroom practice, but also be able to be cranked for a small gig
\n- some great-sounding built-in effects so I wouldnt have to 100% rely on assembling a comically long chain of pedals
\n
\nImagine my delight when I came across this brand new-ish Hughes & Kettner line \u2013\u00a0an analog, solid state amp that (supposedly) can emulate tube amps without digital processing! And it has a DI out with their Red Box cabinet sims! It has power attenuation! It has built-in reverb, delay, and other effects! Its relatively light for a combo at 34 lbs!
\n
\nThere are a few things I like: the low gain cleans out of this thing are okay! The reverb and delay are also quite nice, and very usable. I really like the resonance control \u2013\u00a0this is the way to take advantage of the Black Spirit 200 Combos unique cabinet design. It makes this little amp sound almost impossibly huge, without increasing the volume. Its pretty impressive. The versatility of preset storage and switching is also pretty great, and I really like the idea of a built-in boost. The noise gate is pretty solid. The control panel and knobs are mostly really nice and lovely to work with, and I really like how preset management works.
\n
\nUnfortunately, the break-up on this amp, when playing through it with my PRS CE 24 Semi-hollow, on every single channel (including Clean) sounds *exactly* like a \"classic \/ old school\" solid state amp \u2013 fizzy, harsh, unmusical, buzzsaw, ice pick-y \u2013 you name it. Definitely not the groundbreaking tube emulation it claimed to have. Its so bad that I thought the Cabinet switch on the back accidentally got flipped to \"Fullrange Cab\" from \"Guitar Cab\" somehow, but nope \u2013\u00a0out of the box it has a really thick sticker around that switch preventing it from changing to \"Fullrange Cab\" unless you remove it first. I pored through the manual and tried just about every tweak I could think of to address it \u2013\u00a0only dropping Presence down to near 0 managed to get rid of some of the harsh fizz, but then the tone lost its, you know, presence. I also tried boosting the highs on the EQ to compensate for it, but then the tone became harsh in a different way. It only gets worse the more gain you add, and as you go up to the higher gain channels (Crunch, Lead, and Ultra). Engaging the boost only exacerbates this problem further. It does have focus and bite (especially if sagging is set low), but the way it saturates just sounds godawful to my ears. It reminds me of an old $400 Ibanez solid-state amp I used to play through in my old rehearsal space when all the good tube amps were taken. Except that, you know, this thing is over $1400. (This was all the in-room sound btw \u2013\u00a0I never tried the DI \/ cab sim signal into my audio interface.) The amp is noisy as hell with the boost engaged on higher gain settings. Its also, way, WAY too loud for bedroom practice \u2013\u00a0the 200W default is just, wall shakingly loud with the Master volume barely engaged. Great for gigging, bad for home studio practice. The 20W attenuation setting is only slightly less loud than that \u2013 I wasnt able to get the Master volume past 8 oclock (starting from 7). The 2W setting is only slightly less loud than that \u2013 I wasnt able to get the Master volume much past 9 oclock.
\n
\nFinally, there were a few red flags, even just from opening the box. The manufacturers box the amp shipped in says the amp is \"Designed and engineered in Germany. Made in China\", which actually seriously took me by surprise. Normally I dont care if an electronics product is made in China \u2013 in 2019, thats just where much of the worlds modern electronics manufacturing expertise is. But as far as I knew, Hughes & Kettner only manufactured amps out of their German headquarters. This may very well be their first foray into overseas OEM contracting (at least as far as I know). Its one thing for, say, Boss \/ Roland to get an overseas factory to make guitar amps for them at scale \u2013 they have decades of experience at it, know how to work with them on quality control, and get consistent, excellent results for really large shipments. I dont think Hughes & Kettner does, based on my experience with this amp. The build quality is just straight up bizarre \u2013 the control panel down to the bottom of the speaker grill are all quite nice looking and well done. Then you get to the ports at the bottom of the cabinet, which are made with just the shoddiest pieces of wood and the roughest finish I have ever seen on a guitar amp, including Fenders dirt cheap entry level amps. Ive attached a few pics to this review so you can see what I mean. Like... who approved this? I have a feeling not even Hughes & Kettner realize what their OEM partner is shipping out, because I kinda doubt theyd be happy with this level of quality control. The knobs also seem to vary wildly from each other in sensitivity \u2013 some turn smoothly, others (like the gain knob on mine) stick like crazy when you try to turn them. Also concerning is that this amp makes some odd, intermittent electrical clicking noises... while turned off (but plugged in). While running, it always smelled a bit too much like burning rubber \/ plastic, and it never really went away the more I used it. The cherry on top \u2013\u00a0the included manual is not for the Black Spirit 200 Combo. Its for the Black Spirit 200 Head. To be fair, this is pretty minor, especially since the controls are exactly the same between the two, but it just feels really sloppy, especially at this price point.
\n
\nThats really the problem here \u2013 the price point. If this amp were $500, Id be willing to cut it some slack and give it another star. But almost anything else you can get at this price will sound better than the Black Spirit 200. (Even the Boss Katana Mk II 100W sounds better IMO, and I dont really like that amp either!) I still want to believe that analog solid state amps can sound as good as tube amps and better than even the Kempers and Axe FXes of the modeling world, when given enough love and engineering, but this aint it. So, next on my list: the Quilter MicroPro Mach 2 (please be good lol).
\n
\nAll in all, my experience with the Black Spirit 200 Combo was the polar opposite of my experience with my old Egnater Tweaker 40 1x12 (RIP) \u2013 where nothing I tweaked on that amp could make it sound bad, nothing I tweaked on this amp could make it sound good.", "sir_rating": "1.5", "sir_name": "", "sir_whereareyou": "NYC", "sir_background": "", "sir_keepanonymous": "0" }, { "id": 723, "store_items_review_id": 252967, "media_type": "image", "thumbnail": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-160__wm-__q-60__hmac-a1cda0b4574d2f38b9dc54955a0d724c4f4ebd7c\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMTkxMjA0MjIwNDI3LXBocGxtaW52ei5qcGVn", "media_path": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-1080__wm-__q-60__hmac-ebc73228b87139cd04ba0b4dbd48c2c23e53de90\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMTkxMjA0MjIwNDI3LXBocGxtaW52ei5qcGVn", "sir_title": "You were the chosen one! You were supposed to destroy the legions of fizzy solid state amps, not join them!", "sir_comments": "Ooof, this was rough. I wanted so badly to fall in love with this thing. I watched all the YouTube demos. Read all the (3?) reviews in guitar publications. Picked apart the tone as best as I could over my Audio-Technica headphones and through my audio interface. Read the specs back and front. Read the handful of user reviews out there. I really thought I had a good handle on what I was getting, and that the tone would be at best, nothing short of fantastic, and at worst, pretty decent, and make me forget all about tube and digital modeling amps alike.
\n
\nFirst, some background, in case any of this also applies to you \u2013 heres what I was looking for in a guitar amp:
\n
\n- low maintenance (Ive always hated both the cost and time involved in changing out tubes every year or two, and just how fragile they are in general)
\n- versatile enough without the options paralysis of modern modeling amps (I play stuff that ranges from clean fingerpicking, to funk, to rock crunch, to prog metal, and I needed something that would cover it all)
\n- sound as good as a boutique tube amp (hopefully)
\n- to be able to find my tone once, and then use that same tone for practicing at home, recording, and performing \u2013\u00a0I didnt want to spend all this time crafting an amazing in-room practice tone, only to have to recreate it from scratch in a DAW plugin, or a digital modeling amp box like a Kemper, or with mic selection and placement in my terrible sounding room
\n- sound good at low volumes for bedroom practice, but also be able to be cranked for a small gig
\n- some great-sounding built-in effects so I wouldnt have to 100% rely on assembling a comically long chain of pedals
\n
\nImagine my delight when I came across this brand new-ish Hughes & Kettner line \u2013\u00a0an analog, solid state amp that (supposedly) can emulate tube amps without digital processing! And it has a DI out with their Red Box cabinet sims! It has power attenuation! It has built-in reverb, delay, and other effects! Its relatively light for a combo at 34 lbs!
\n
\nThere are a few things I like: the low gain cleans out of this thing are okay! The reverb and delay are also quite nice, and very usable. I really like the resonance control \u2013\u00a0this is the way to take advantage of the Black Spirit 200 Combos unique cabinet design. It makes this little amp sound almost impossibly huge, without increasing the volume. Its pretty impressive. The versatility of preset storage and switching is also pretty great, and I really like the idea of a built-in boost. The noise gate is pretty solid. The control panel and knobs are mostly really nice and lovely to work with, and I really like how preset management works.
\n
\nUnfortunately, the break-up on this amp, when playing through it with my PRS CE 24 Semi-hollow, on every single channel (including Clean) sounds *exactly* like a \"classic \/ old school\" solid state amp \u2013 fizzy, harsh, unmusical, buzzsaw, ice pick-y \u2013 you name it. Definitely not the groundbreaking tube emulation it claimed to have. Its so bad that I thought the Cabinet switch on the back accidentally got flipped to \"Fullrange Cab\" from \"Guitar Cab\" somehow, but nope \u2013\u00a0out of the box it has a really thick sticker around that switch preventing it from changing to \"Fullrange Cab\" unless you remove it first. I pored through the manual and tried just about every tweak I could think of to address it \u2013\u00a0only dropping Presence down to near 0 managed to get rid of some of the harsh fizz, but then the tone lost its, you know, presence. I also tried boosting the highs on the EQ to compensate for it, but then the tone became harsh in a different way. It only gets worse the more gain you add, and as you go up to the higher gain channels (Crunch, Lead, and Ultra). Engaging the boost only exacerbates this problem further. It does have focus and bite (especially if sagging is set low), but the way it saturates just sounds godawful to my ears. It reminds me of an old $400 Ibanez solid-state amp I used to play through in my old rehearsal space when all the good tube amps were taken. Except that, you know, this thing is over $1400. (This was all the in-room sound btw \u2013\u00a0I never tried the DI \/ cab sim signal into my audio interface.) The amp is noisy as hell with the boost engaged on higher gain settings. Its also, way, WAY too loud for bedroom practice \u2013\u00a0the 200W default is just, wall shakingly loud with the Master volume barely engaged. Great for gigging, bad for home studio practice. The 20W attenuation setting is only slightly less loud than that \u2013 I wasnt able to get the Master volume past 8 oclock (starting from 7). The 2W setting is only slightly less loud than that \u2013 I wasnt able to get the Master volume much past 9 oclock.
\n
\nFinally, there were a few red flags, even just from opening the box. The manufacturers box the amp shipped in says the amp is \"Designed and engineered in Germany. Made in China\", which actually seriously took me by surprise. Normally I dont care if an electronics product is made in China \u2013 in 2019, thats just where much of the worlds modern electronics manufacturing expertise is. But as far as I knew, Hughes & Kettner only manufactured amps out of their German headquarters. This may very well be their first foray into overseas OEM contracting (at least as far as I know). Its one thing for, say, Boss \/ Roland to get an overseas factory to make guitar amps for them at scale \u2013 they have decades of experience at it, know how to work with them on quality control, and get consistent, excellent results for really large shipments. I dont think Hughes & Kettner does, based on my experience with this amp. The build quality is just straight up bizarre \u2013 the control panel down to the bottom of the speaker grill are all quite nice looking and well done. Then you get to the ports at the bottom of the cabinet, which are made with just the shoddiest pieces of wood and the roughest finish I have ever seen on a guitar amp, including Fenders dirt cheap entry level amps. Ive attached a few pics to this review so you can see what I mean. Like... who approved this? I have a feeling not even Hughes & Kettner realize what their OEM partner is shipping out, because I kinda doubt theyd be happy with this level of quality control. The knobs also seem to vary wildly from each other in sensitivity \u2013 some turn smoothly, others (like the gain knob on mine) stick like crazy when you try to turn them. Also concerning is that this amp makes some odd, intermittent electrical clicking noises... while turned off (but plugged in). While running, it always smelled a bit too much like burning rubber \/ plastic, and it never really went away the more I used it. The cherry on top \u2013\u00a0the included manual is not for the Black Spirit 200 Combo. Its for the Black Spirit 200 Head. To be fair, this is pretty minor, especially since the controls are exactly the same between the two, but it just feels really sloppy, especially at this price point.
\n
\nThats really the problem here \u2013 the price point. If this amp were $500, Id be willing to cut it some slack and give it another star. But almost anything else you can get at this price will sound better than the Black Spirit 200. (Even the Boss Katana Mk II 100W sounds better IMO, and I dont really like that amp either!) I still want to believe that analog solid state amps can sound as good as tube amps and better than even the Kempers and Axe FXes of the modeling world, when given enough love and engineering, but this aint it. So, next on my list: the Quilter MicroPro Mach 2 (please be good lol).
\n
\nAll in all, my experience with the Black Spirit 200 Combo was the polar opposite of my experience with my old Egnater Tweaker 40 1x12 (RIP) \u2013 where nothing I tweaked on that amp could make it sound bad, nothing I tweaked on this amp could make it sound good.", "sir_rating": "1.5", "sir_name": "", "sir_whereareyou": "NYC", "sir_background": "", "sir_keepanonymous": "0" }, { "id": 724, "store_items_review_id": 252967, "media_type": "image", "thumbnail": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-160__wm-__q-60__hmac-dff9dae6e2333ba7d1c502b242419525bfff14af\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMTkxMjA0MjIwNDM0LXBocGV3cjlhMC5qcGVn", "media_path": "https:\/\/media.sweetwater.com\/api\/i\/w-1080__wm-__q-60__hmac-7238f4155b771c48c0f7904b49bbd05d3e9a58f6\/URL_aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3dlYi11cGxvYWRzLTU1OTAyZmZjLzIwMTkxMjA0MjIwNDM0LXBocGV3cjlhMC5qcGVn", "sir_title": "You were the chosen one! You were supposed to destroy the legions of fizzy solid state amps, not join them!", "sir_comments": "Ooof, this was rough. I wanted so badly to fall in love with this thing. I watched all the YouTube demos. Read all the (3?) reviews in guitar publications. Picked apart the tone as best as I could over my Audio-Technica headphones and through my audio interface. Read the specs back and front. Read the handful of user reviews out there. I really thought I had a good handle on what I was getting, and that the tone would be at best, nothing short of fantastic, and at worst, pretty decent, and make me forget all about tube and digital modeling amps alike.
\n
\nFirst, some background, in case any of this also applies to you \u2013 heres what I was looking for in a guitar amp:
\n
\n- low maintenance (Ive always hated both the cost and time involved in changing out tubes every year or two, and just how fragile they are in general)
\n- versatile enough without the options paralysis of modern modeling amps (I play stuff that ranges from clean fingerpicking, to funk, to rock crunch, to prog metal, and I needed something that would cover it all)
\n- sound as good as a boutique tube amp (hopefully)
\n- to be able to find my tone once, and then use that same tone for practicing at home, recording, and performing \u2013\u00a0I didnt want to spend all this time crafting an amazing in-room practice tone, only to have to recreate it from scratch in a DAW plugin, or a digital modeling amp box like a Kemper, or with mic selection and placement in my terrible sounding room
\n- sound good at low volumes for bedroom practice, but also be able to be cranked for a small gig
\n- some great-sounding built-in effects so I wouldnt have to 100% rely on assembling a comically long chain of pedals
\n
\nImagine my delight when I came across this brand new-ish Hughes & Kettner line \u2013\u00a0an analog, solid state amp that (supposedly) can emulate tube amps without digital processing! And it has a DI out with their Red Box cabinet sims! It has power attenuation! It has built-in reverb, delay, and other effects! Its relatively light for a combo at 34 lbs!
\n
\nThere are a few things I like: the low gain cleans out of this thing are okay! The reverb and delay are also quite nice, and very usable. I really like the resonance control \u2013\u00a0this is the way to take advantage of the Black Spirit 200 Combos unique cabinet design. It makes this little amp sound almost impossibly huge, without increasing the volume. Its pretty impressive. The versatility of preset storage and switching is also pretty great, and I really like the idea of a built-in boost. The noise gate is pretty solid. The control panel and knobs are mostly really nice and lovely to work with, and I really like how preset management works.
\n
\nUnfortunately, the break-up on this amp, when playing through it with my PRS CE 24 Semi-hollow, on every single channel (including Clean) sounds *exactly* like a \"classic \/ old school\" solid state amp \u2013 fizzy, harsh, unmusical, buzzsaw, ice pick-y \u2013 you name it. Definitely not the groundbreaking tube emulation it claimed to have. Its so bad that I thought the Cabinet switch on the back accidentally got flipped to \"Fullrange Cab\" from \"Guitar Cab\" somehow, but nope \u2013\u00a0out of the box it has a really thick sticker around that switch preventing it from changing to \"Fullrange Cab\" unless you remove it first. I pored through the manual and tried just about every tweak I could think of to address it \u2013\u00a0only dropping Presence down to near 0 managed to get rid of some of the harsh fizz, but then the tone lost its, you know, presence. I also tried boosting the highs on the EQ to compensate for it, but then the tone became harsh in a different way. It only gets worse the more gain you add, and as you go up to the higher gain channels (Crunch, Lead, and Ultra). Engaging the boost only exacerbates this problem further. It does have focus and bite (especially if sagging is set low), but the way it saturates just sounds godawful to my ears. It reminds me of an old $400 Ibanez solid-state amp I used to play through in my old rehearsal space when all the good tube amps were taken. Except that, you know, this thing is over $1400. (This was all the in-room sound btw \u2013\u00a0I never tried the DI \/ cab sim signal into my audio interface.) The amp is noisy as hell with the boost engaged on higher gain settings. Its also, way, WAY too loud for bedroom practice \u2013\u00a0the 200W default is just, wall shakingly loud with the Master volume barely engaged. Great for gigging, bad for home studio practice. The 20W attenuation setting is only slightly less loud than that \u2013 I wasnt able to get the Master volume past 8 oclock (starting from 7). The 2W setting is only slightly less loud than that \u2013 I wasnt able to get the Master volume much past 9 oclock.
\n
\nFinally, there were a few red flags, even just from opening the box. The manufacturers box the amp shipped in says the amp is \"Designed and engineered in Germany. Made in China\", which actually seriously took me by surprise. Normally I dont care if an electronics product is made in China \u2013 in 2019, thats just where much of the worlds modern electronics manufacturing expertise is. But as far as I knew, Hughes & Kettner only manufactured amps out of their German headquarters. This may very well be their first foray into overseas OEM contracting (at least as far as I know). Its one thing for, say, Boss \/ Roland to get an overseas factory to make guitar amps for them at scale \u2013 they have decades of experience at it, know how to work with them on quality control, and get consistent, excellent results for really large shipments. I dont think Hughes & Kettner does, based on my experience with this amp. The build quality is just straight up bizarre \u2013 the control panel down to the bottom of the speaker grill are all quite nice looking and well done. Then you get to the ports at the bottom of the cabinet, which are made with just the shoddiest pieces of wood and the roughest finish I have ever seen on a guitar amp, including Fenders dirt cheap entry level amps. Ive attached a few pics to this review so you can see what I mean. Like... who approved this? I have a feeling not even Hughes & Kettner realize what their OEM partner is shipping out, because I kinda doubt theyd be happy with this level of quality control. The knobs also seem to vary wildly from each other in sensitivity \u2013 some turn smoothly, others (like the gain knob on mine) stick like crazy when you try to turn them. Also concerning is that this amp makes some odd, intermittent electrical clicking noises... while turned off (but plugged in). While running, it always smelled a bit too much like burning rubber \/ plastic, and it never really went away the more I used it. The cherry on top \u2013\u00a0the included manual is not for the Black Spirit 200 Combo. Its for the Black Spirit 200 Head. To be fair, this is pretty minor, especially since the controls are exactly the same between the two, but it just feels really sloppy, especially at this price point.
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\nThats really the problem here \u2013 the price point. If this amp were $500, Id be willing to cut it some slack and give it another star. But almost anything else you can get at this price will sound better than the Black Spirit 200. (Even the Boss Katana Mk II 100W sounds better IMO, and I dont really like that amp either!) I still want to believe that analog solid state amps can sound as good as tube amps and better than even the Kempers and Axe FXes of the modeling world, when given enough love and engineering, but this aint it. So, next on my list: the Quilter MicroPro Mach 2 (please be good lol).
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\nAll in all, my experience with the Black Spirit 200 Combo was the polar opposite of my experience with my old Egnater Tweaker 40 1x12 (RIP) \u2013 where nothing I tweaked on that amp could make it sound bad, nothing I tweaked on this amp could make it sound good.", "sir_rating": "1.5", "sir_name": "", "sir_whereareyou": "NYC", "sir_background": "", "sir_keepanonymous": "0" } ]" :for-review="252967">
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