The Blackstar HT Stage 100H MK III is the flagship head of the HT Venue MK III series, with four EL34 power tubes delivering 100 W through three channels and six voices. It covers stage, rehearsal and studio work, and a front switch drops it to 10 W for smaller rooms and home use. Resonance and Presence controls set the low and high end of the power amp, and three sets of speaker outputs run cabinets from 4 to 16 ohms.

Three Channels, Six Voices

The clean channel switches between an American voice, bright with a firm low end, and a British voice with looser bass and a warmer midrange that breaks up when you push it. The voice switch changes the preamp voicing, EQ, tube gain structure and power amp damping together. OD 1 moves from a classic overdrive to a modern voice with more bass and less power amp damping. OD 2 goes from a hot-rodded classic voice to a modern voice with a mid-focused boost ahead of the gain stage, and its Gain control runs from crunch to saturated lead. Both overdrive channels share Bass, Middle, Treble and Blackstar's patented ISF control, which sweeps the tone stack from an American response with a tight low end to a woodier British response.

Footswitching and Recording

The included FS-15 footswitch toggles between the clean channel and an overdrive channel, and its second button flips the clean voices or chooses between OD 1 and OD 2. The optional FS-14 adds direct access to every channel and voice, a 6 dB boost and reverb on and off. CabRig emulates the power amp, speaker, cabinet, microphone and room, and a rear switch recalls three stored CabRig patches for the balanced XLR output, the stereo line out and headphone jack, and USB-C. Over USB the amp sends four channels to a computer at once: stereo emulated left and right, the preamp signal before reverb and cab emulation, and the dry guitar. Blackstar's Architect software edits CabRig and sets reverb decay separately for the clean and overdrive channels.

Features

• 100 W tube head with 4 x EL34 and 2 x ECC83 tubes
• Three channels and six voices, all footswitchable
• Patented ISF tone control on the overdrive channels
• Resonance and Presence controls
• Power switch for 100 W or 10 W output
• Speaker outputs for 4, 8 and 16 ohm loads
• Digital reverb with a rear Dark (room) and Light (plate) voicing switch
• CabRig speaker emulation with three stored patches, editable in Architect software
• Balanced XLR and stereo line out/headphone outputs that stay live in standby for silent practice
• Effects loop with +4 dBu / -10 dBV level switch
• USB-C audio with 4 channels out and 2 in, using standard drivers
• 5-way footcontroller jack for the optional FS-14 (channels, voices, boost and reverb)
• 2-way footswitch jack with an external switching mode for TRS switchers
• Kensington security slot
• Designed to accept 6L6 power tubes after rebiasing at an approved Blackstar service center

Specifications

• Output power: 100 W RMS
• Tubes: 4 x EL34 (power), 2 x ECC83 (preamp)
• Channels: Clean, OD 1 and OD 2, two voices each
• Clean controls: Select, Volume, Voice, Bass, Treble
• OD 1 and OD 2 controls: Select, Gain, Volume, Voice
• Overdrive EQ: Bass, Middle, Treble, ISF
• Master controls: Reverb, Resonance, Presence, Volume, Power (100 W or 10 W)
• Speaker outputs: 1 x 16 ohm; 1 x 8 ohm or 2 x 16 ohm; 1 x 4 ohm or 2 x 8 ohm
• CabRig outputs: Balanced XLR, stereo TRS line out/headphones
• Effects loop: Send, return, +4 dBu / -10 dBV switch
• Footswitch: FS-15 2-way included, optional FS-14 5-way
• USB: USB-C audio, 4 channels out, 2 channels in
• Weight: 17.8 kg (39.2 lb)
• Dimensions: 591 x 245 x 225 mm (23.3 x 9.6 x 8.9 in)

In the Box

• Blackstar HT Stage 100H MK III head
• FS-15 2-way footswitch
• Mains power cable