Hughes & Kettner Black Spirit 200-200-Watt Head

I wanted to write a quick review on this after receiving it today and trying it out. I had seen another review that claimed the Ultra channel was sheer noise and unusable.I believe what that customer experienced is taking the RedBox XLR output into a computer *without* selecting a cabinet to model. This also happened to me but was quickly corrected by reading the instructions and selecting a cabinet to model OR alternatively I was also able to use a cabinet modeler in my DAW as well.I also tried the headphone out to the USB interface I have - and that worked fine as well ( all 4 channels)Otherwise the rest of my experience has been great and very much as advertised.The 4 channels provide very instant classic presets that all sound great. You can dial in some reverb or delay if you want it and of course patch in a effect of your own with the effects loop. I felt like the Crunch channel instantly gave an AC/DC vibe while the Lead channel was somewhere in the Van Halen category. The ultra channel really changed dramatically when I tried the different cabinet presets - I can see dialing in different sounds.I also tried out the 2watt 20watt 200 watt switches and those work as advertised as well. It was super neat to set it to 2watts and turn it up (still quite loud). Obviously the 200 watt setting is extreme and I wouldn't recommend high volumes at this level without ear protection - its too much by far - but if you have some kind of concern you wont be heard at a gig (say your leads wont punch through) this should leave no doubt if you have a proper cabinet behind it.I am a hard rock / blues/ metal player and as a baseline this made me happy across the board. I may still plugin some pedals but as a baseline I could see myself getting within the 90th percent of almost any sound I want with this.

Well it didn’t work at all right out of the box. Didn’t even turn on. Maybe H&K should have there products built in Germany instead of China.Hopefully I can get a working one soon as I’ve heard them sounding great.

This head amp with the Hughes & Kettner cabinet amp and Hughes & Kettner FSM 432 MK III MIDI Footswitch Controller is a match made in heaven.

I absolutely love the clean sounds on this amp. Sparkly or spanky and everything in between. The more gain you add, the more the amp starts to show it's ugliness. The ultra channel instantly takes all the mids away and is utter trash. Not to mention the insatiable fizz that removes all clarity and definition. For some reason, removing all the treble brings back the mids somewhat, but not enough to actually sound good. The only reason I'm keeping this amp is that I got a pretty good metal tone from the lead channel with gain at 3 o'clock, boosted, and then boosted further by a ts9 with all the volume and distortion at 9 o'clock. It doesn't take fuzz unsurprisingly. Not very good with pedals in the front end. Aside from the ultra channel being trash, I do like the features of this amp and think that this technology (not sure how it's different from other ss technology) is promising.

Like many of you I've gone through a LOT of amps over the years. Always looking for the perfect blend of sound, features, gigability, and weight. Fender, Mesa, Marshall, Peavey, Orange, PRS.....you name it. They all have their own character/voicing and excel at certain things. I've also tried some of the newer digital offerings from Headrush and Boss, but tbh while the sound was OK I felt the interface was too complex on both of those devices for use on a dark stage.As a weekend warrior gigging in small to medium sized clubs I often find myself making last minute adjustments to suite the venue, and a complex interface is generally the last thing I want to deal with 10 minutes before sound check.Enter the Black Spirit 200. All analog tone, with digital switching capabilities. If you are playing this live the H&K FSM footswitch is an absolute Godsend.The sound: All of the channels are fantastic. I really love the crunch channel set to the edge of breakup with the sag turned up to about 50%. The lead channel is very Marshall like, and the ultra channel is reminiscent of my old Peavey XXX's Ultra channel. Think slightly scooped late 90's to early 2000's nu-metal.The effects are all very good. My only complaint here is that there are no time division settings (dotted eights, etc) on the built in delay, which causes me to keep a Strymon Dig on my board for the one song in our set list that requires it.I've not yet tried the iPad app, but it looks like a way to save the presets that I spent a lot of time tweaking, so I will be taking a look at that soon.Edit: Been using the iPad app for a while now. It's great because I already use an iPad for set list and notes. It gives me another way to control the amp without crouching and squinting. Allows users to save (and even email) your saved settings and patches. Haven't experienced a single bug or crash yet.Mind you I'm still in the honeymoon phase with this amp so please take all of my gushing with a grain of salt. That said, this amp looks like it will easily become my number 1. I'm using it with both an Orange 2x12 loaded with Eminence Swamp Thangs, and also with two PRS 1x12's stacked vertically. It sounds great with both. I've not yet played with the Redbox out straight into our PA (currently just mic'ing the cab with a shure sm-57). One of my goals is to see if I can plug direct into the PA and go cabinet-less (we use IEM's) for those times when I'm feeling especially lazy and don't wanna lug my cabs to a small venue. I will update this review after I've had some time to evaluate the Redbox out capabilities.Edit: After using the Redbox at band rehearsals I can tell you it works pretty good with the clean, crunch, and lead channels. I typically stick with the British 4X12 setting. It does NOT however do a very good job with the Ultra channel. Additionally, while patch switching is immediate using a cabinet, there is about a half second delay using the Redbox, which makes it completely useless for switching patches mid song during a live setting. As such I'll be sticking to micing my cabs for live use.Overall a fantastic amp. It's light, small, and looks great on a dark stage. Better yet, it sounds fantastic. Has a ton of features like bluetooth connectivity to connect your phone/mp3 player to the aux in, Redbox, silent recording, and a nice iPad app.My only concern with this amp is durability. Because there are a LOT of features, there's a lot to go wrong. I've owned a few pieces of H&K gear in the past, and it has all being solidly engineered and built. Hopefully this will be too.If you are on the fence, do not hesitate to buy. Make sure you have enough green for both the amp and the FSM controller, or buy the floor version with the controller built in.