Harley Benton HBAC-20

I am very sorry to give this amp such a negative review, but I really have to – because I have the perception of being mislead (as the product was not what I expected from the site description) and because I really hope that no one will have the problems it gave me + the lack of efficiency by Thomann in solving the problem.

I bought this amp in the beginning of March 2020.

First of all, I spent a lot of time just trying to make it work. Then I discovered the unexplainable "feature" of standby mode which can only be resolved by strongly hitting your strings, which is something I just cannot understand: why the hell does someone need to make a lot of noise to have their gig working? And why, as it's really not an habitual or practical feature, is it not clearly stated in the product description ? (it's not, at all, even after so many reviews criticizing that fact).
But ok, since I understood it, I began to play and it worked well: sound ok, "effects" insignificant for an advanced effect user like me (but anyway, I was not expecting something good on that part), robust material, simple operation... ok.
Then, suddenly, the amp was not leaving standby mode anymore. I did everything you can imagine: tried different sockets, cables, instruments, volumes, etc. Nothing worked. I contacted Thomann support; they asked me to send them the amp, which I did. After a couple of days, they wrote to me saying that it was tested and was working normally, and they were sending it back to me. Keep in mind that I informed them very well about the problem, sent them videos of me trying to making it work, etc.
Guess what? The amp arrived with the same problem: it stays forever in standby mode (green light), never going to operating mode (red light).

I wrote to them, and after a while not answering me (like 2 months, this was in November), I finally lost my patience, wrote a tempestuous e-mail... and suddenly got a bunch of quick answers (in a matter of hours) from them. Yeah, it's always sad to confirm that we need to be unpleasant to get the deserved attention. One of those e-mails said that they were shipping another amp to replace this one. Two days later, I received the new one. Working.

And it worked for a while.
And then...

Yes, the same problem. It lights up, but never turns red. And again, I tried everything: plugged in an exclusive socket, switched cables, instruments, bypassed all the pedals (plugging directly to the amp), etc. Nothing.

Now is the part where I say bad things about Thomann and how they (did not) manage the problem.
I lost a lot of time and patience last time, when I had the same problem, and, in fact, they did not solve it. They gave me a replacement one, which worked for a while, and then had the same problem again, so I have every reason to suppose that it's a general problem for this model. They absolutely did not try to really UNDERSTAND what's going on, just standard test procedures and replacement policies, no real research – nothing "technical" in their technical support.
I know they are going to ask me to send the amp to them, then they will do those dumb procedures again and conclude that everything is working fine and it will be only a loss of time, with no real solution. Maybe, if I sent them unpleasant e-mails again, I would get a new one (the third) – which, again, would work for a while, and then no more. I just don't have anymore time to spend on this (it's been almost two years), so I am really giving up on this and concluding that I spent my money on an illusion – noting that the "standby feature" is still not informed on the product description (and this puts some responsibility on Thomann) – and going for another purchase (obviously not with them).

I will finish this review with this advice: if you are thinking on buying a cheap amp, I really don't recommend this one, and I also don't recommend counting on Thomann's support if you have a real problem.

This amp has one extremely irritating feature: the automatic standby mode...f.i. when you switch it on, you will not immediately have sound...it seems to have a life of its own deciding when to actually let the sound through. After 30 secs you think , "okay, maybe turn up the volume", but that has nothing to do with it...and then, because the volume was turned up, when in its infinite wisdom it has decided to suddenly let the sound through, you get a heart attack and so does your audience because it is so darn LOUD!!!. Totally UNFIT FOR LIVE GIGS !!!
I had this amp for almost 2 years now and everytime when I switch it on, I wonder: "how long until it actually does something??"
A pity, because for the rest it is not too bad. Though I doubt the usable, clean volume exceeds that of a 10 watt amp, because it tends to oversteer.

Bought this combo for personal use, at home, with a nice guitar and microphone.
Balances of volume between both inputs are not equal obliging always to set guitar volume a bit lower.
The sound is quite bright and it has enought power to play and sing in pub without noisy people.
Both Chorus and Reverb work nicely, lacking those controls for micro.
The combo is lighter than I expected, meaning it's easy to transport it anywhere.
Finishings are not awsome when you look at them closely but, from far, it has a nice visual impact.
I am playing with it, regularly, for one year and a half and it maintains the original caracterisitcs.
Concearning the price, sound quality and durability I'd say is a very good buy.

The sound levels begin to distort at about 6/10, greatly limiting how you'll use it. Also, the front panel (control buttons area) is loose and when you try to pull out the XLR or jack the panel kind of wants to come with it. Likewise when inserting a cable, the face depresses in about 2-3cm.

I do like the ability to control where abouts in terms of frequency where "mid" is, that's what attracted me to this amp. It's a good feature to fine tune the sound.

It's also got this weird thing where when you turn it on, it won't play out sound until it feels an active signal, then it changes mode (light turns from green to red) and only then will it output sound. This was not affected by toggling the active/passive switch on the amp, I have to use my finger on instrument cable to complete the circuit whilst using my other hand to toggle the chorus button several times before it will change modes and play. Now that I think about it, it's actually a pretty awful amp.

To be honest, I'm here looking at what could be my replacement amp.

I am new to amps, so I got this one because it was cheap enough to sell on if I didn't like what I got. A good choice for what turned out to be the wrong reasons. I love this amp.

First, the reason it gets four stars rather than five across the board. I found it a little difficult to start off. It goes to a green (standby) light when you turn on and only goes red (let it rip now) when it picks up a signal from the plugged in guitar. Fair enough, but I didn't realise that it needs a hearty strike on the sixth string (it works for me) to get it up to speed, after this it's all systems go. A minor criticism, but it frustrated me until I read a previous customer's review which talked of a strong signal on start up.

The good points- it looks good and better than its price would suggest; it lets you produce sounds that are truly wonderful, I turn up the chorus when I' doing slow slide and it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up; it's GREAT value for money, the nearest I could find elsewhere was more than double the price; and for fans of Spinal Tap, these go to fifteen!
Recommended.