THIN AND HARSH SOUND OF THE HT-40 ON OVERDRIVE CHANNEL

Discussion - HT Venue amplifiers. Inspiration from Studio to Stage.
zibolt
Posts: 45
Joined: Sat Jul 02, 2011 12:00 am

Sat Jul 02, 2011 2:51 am

Hi Everyone - it is my first post. This week I have bought combo blackstar ht-40. I am happy with clean sound but overdrive channel sounds completely harsh , thin , piercing ears. Treble and midle knobs are useless - too much high tones piercing ears. What can I do with that? Could You give me any advice how to do with that. Thank You for help. Lech.

KKND
Posts: 770
Joined: Sat May 01, 2010 12:00 am
Location: Oman

Sat Jul 02, 2011 9:26 am

Hey man. Out of experience.....change the pre amp tubes to a known brand, different tubes for different dudes, but apparently JJ, GT and TungSol 12 AX7's do improve tone dramatically.

Give the new tubs some time before making further changes, how long you ask? Depends on how often do u play, but at least 1 month, by that time the speakers would start to sound better. The power amp tubes should be next, they are nasty and swapping them to JJ EL34L or TungSol EL34 will make a huge difference in the harshness and thinnes department!

After two months or so, if you still dont like the tone go for a speaker swap!

Thats all the upgrades you should worry about, these amps are kick ass, give them some time and they will give back.

Cheers,

zibolt
Posts: 45
Joined: Sat Jul 02, 2011 12:00 am

Sat Jul 02, 2011 9:55 am

KKND wrote:Hey man. Out of experience.....change the pre amp tubes to a known brand, different tubes for different dudes, but apparently JJ, GT and TungSol 12 AX7's do improve tone dramatically.

Give the new tubs some time before making further changes, how long you ask? Depends on how often do u play, but at least 1 month, by that time the speakers would start to sound better. The power amp tubes should be next, they are nasty and swapping them to JJ EL34L or TungSol EL34 will make a huge difference in the harshness and thinnes department!

After two months or so, if you still dont like the tone go for a speaker swap!

Thats all the upgrades you should worry about, these amps are kick ass, give them some time and they will give back.

Cheers,
Thank You for answer. I will try what You have proposed. I have no experience about swapping tubes. I had in the past some valve-tube amps but never swapped tubes on them. It is true that just swapping tubes can so dramatically improve the sound of the amp and eliminating harsness ind thin sound? What speakers would You recomend to swap? Thank You once again for help and advice

KKND
Posts: 770
Joined: Sat May 01, 2010 12:00 am
Location: Oman

Sat Jul 02, 2011 10:10 am

Changing the pre amp tubes is as easy as changing a light bulb BUT it may void your warranty.check with your dealer!

The power amp tubes requires biasing, if you have no experience, get an authorized dealer to do it, cause even though you change it successfully and later something goes wrong, warranty is void.....my case.

Speakers are subjective depends on what you play and what you like, the 40 goes well with Vintage 30, G12-T75 kina speakers and some Eminence too, I swapped my stage 60 to WGS Veteran 30s.... AWESOME!

Tubes really makes your amp come to life.....trust me (us)!

zibolt
Posts: 45
Joined: Sat Jul 02, 2011 12:00 am

Sat Jul 02, 2011 10:24 am

KKND wrote:Changing the pre amp tubes is as easy as changing a light bulb BUT it may void your warranty.check with your dealer!

The power amp tubes requires biasing, if you have no experience, get an authorized dealer to do it, cause even though you change it successfully and later something goes wrong, warranty is void.....my case.

Speakers are subjective depends on what you play and what you like, the 40 goes well with Vintage 30, G12-T75 kina speakers and some Eminence too, I swapped my stage 60 to WGS Veteran 30s.... AWESOME!

Tubes really makes your amp come to life.....trust me (us)!
Do not be nagry with me but I do not know what biasing it is. What is it biasing and can I do it on my own? Thanks

KKND
Posts: 770
Joined: Sat May 01, 2010 12:00 am
Location: Oman

Sat Jul 02, 2011 12:39 pm

Dude, no one will be angry with you Image. Biasing is adjusting the amount of voltage that passes through the power tubes. you can do it your self, but it has associated risks due to the high voltage running through them.

There is couple of threads on that topic regarding the bias adjustments on the Club 40. again, i advice you get a tech to do it if available. In my case the only authorized tech is 4 hours drive, once i mingled my amp my self and I screwed it up....... :|

zibolt
Posts: 45
Joined: Sat Jul 02, 2011 12:00 am

Sat Jul 02, 2011 12:55 pm

KKND wrote:Dude, no one will be angry with you Image. Biasing is adjusting the amount of voltage that passes through the power tubes. you can do it your self, but it has associated risks due to the high voltage running through them.

There is couple of threads on that topic regarding the bias adjustments on the Club 40. again, i advice you get a tech to do it if available. In my case the only authorized tech is 4 hours drive, once i mingled my amp my self and I screwed it up....... :|
Thank You. I am still wondering that swapping tubes chenges sound and has got so big influence on it. Why They sell amps with so cheap and bad tubes which create so crapy and bad sound? It would be better fot them to sell their products with good tubes to get the best sound. Strange. Once again thank You for Your help and time You gave me.

KKND
Posts: 770
Joined: Sat May 01, 2010 12:00 am
Location: Oman

Sat Jul 02, 2011 12:57 pm

You are welcome.

All the members collectively agree on what you said, all of us woul have been happier to pay a little bit extra more and get better tubes, but I think that was a business decision that BS made with TAD.....well that is why we have this forum.

Enjoy!

zibolt
Posts: 45
Joined: Sat Jul 02, 2011 12:00 am

Sat Jul 02, 2011 1:03 pm

Do I have to do biassing if wanting just replace pre amp tubes?

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majikmojo
Posts: 1329
Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2011 1:00 am
Location: hollywood florida

Sat Jul 02, 2011 1:37 pm

zibolt - no adjustments for the preamp tubes - just plug and play - if you do it yourself check the pins on the new tubes and make sure they are
straight and not crooked - buy a little pin straighter if you have to

take note of KK's advice - we are all pretty much in agreement with his thoughts

i would also leave the bias adjustment on the power tubes to a trained tech with a scope not just a meter

its a good amp for the $$$ once you dial it in a little bit ;)

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