Truly, the Little Giant is very well constructed, and it's evident that it's built to last.
I will not go into the details, but it suffices to say that asthetically, the Little Giant is virtually flawless and is the epitome of visual perfectness. You've really got to view it for yourself.
Excellect craftmanship aside, the Blackheart has to sound good to effectively qualify as a great amplifier.
I had my fingers crossed as I plugged the Prestige in.
First test, noise. Most tube amps emit a constant hum. Plainly speaking, you want as little background hum or noise as possible.
And the Blackheart scored in this endeavour, for it was almost silent. It was only until I increased the volume to the higher quarter that the hum became audible.
At 3watts, with the volume up at around half, the Blackheart sounded big and ballsy. The lower ends were amazingly poignant, and the higher ends are very warm and well-rounded. The chords sounded huge, with crystal clear definition of every single note.
It starts breaking up at around 7 o'clock on the volume knob, yielding a very dynamic and pick-sensitive tone.
Naturally, the 5watts mode had a lot more headroom. And when it was very much more touch-sensitive then the 3watts mode. I didn't think it possible, but it sounded even more ballsy then at 3watts. I didn't have the chance to crank it completely last night, but I'll try it that out soon.
I'm probably not doing justice to how the amp sounds with my less that satisfactory description. But of the many tube amps that I've tried, the Blackheart has a very compelling and outstanding voicing, which simpy oozes class and quality.
The treble, middle and bass controls had very a good range to them, without being overly finicky. And throughout the entire session, I didn't encounter any of that tube buzzing/rattling nonsense that I always have with combo tubed amps. That's one of the main reason why I opted for a separate head and cabinet. Lastly, the Blackheart is very pedal-friendly, it worked very well with my Monsterpiece MKII fuzz, among others.
All in all, the experience was surreal, and the tone inspiring. I really couldn't ask for more.
