I was interested in the Blackstar after watching and reviews on Youtube, seeing as they were universally positive.
It is very easy to see why within a very short period of time using the Amped 3. The three channels are all excellent and being able to store presets to each as well as the manual mode is great. The reverb is ok, not amazing but decent. Being able to run pedals from the two 9v centre neg outputs is really useful tho to keep power management more organised.
The switchable valve type works really well and is fun to experiment between channels and the switchable power stage takes you from very manageable bedroom level to very loud very quickly.
The OD channel is quite saturated at 100% gain with a boost switch that gives a nice bump to volume as well as pushing the front of the amp as you would expect a boost to. Just flick a switch to post and you get a volume boost. The distortion is always tight tho even at low volume, very precise with no fizz.
Overall, really high quality sound performance with incredible flexibility.