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The TubeMeister's EQ is powerful, offering a range of useable guitar tones from metal to blues.

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Last year, we had the world's first official review of Hughes & Kettner's groundbreaking TubeMeister 18 head.

We concluded that it is small, good value and loud enough to take on small gigs, despite its tiny dimensions. Even better, it has the not inconsiderable benefit of an excellent sounding speaker-simulated direct output: we rated it, and continue to rate it, very highly.

To kick off 2012, we have the even smaller, even cuter five-watt version in head and combo formats. Are they credible downsizing in real-world valve amps, or one sandwich short of a lunchbox?

"The TM5's EQ is very powerful, enabling you to go from bouncy, mid-scooped country-type cleans right through to a smokier, more mid-rich jazzy deal."

The first thing to say about the TubeMeister 5 head is that it's tiny - almost laughably so. In fact most of our staffers assumed it was an elaborate desk toy sent as a Christmas gift! Secondly, and more usefully, the combo and head are exactly the same in terms of electronics.

Unlike the two-channel, three-mode 18-watt head (which strangely now adopts 'big' brother status), the 5 gets a single-channel, dual-mode set-up. Even so, H&K has packed five knobs and one switch onto the tiny control panels for independent gain and volume adjustments and a powerful, albeit passive, three-band EQ section. The push switch kicks in the distortion.

Power them up and it all glows blue in glorious H&K tradition. The standard of external finishing high on all the metalwork of the head enclosure. Accented with quality, extremely positive-feeling metal control knobs, metal jacks and a reassuringly clunky switch, the tiny TMs uphold H&K's well-deserved reputation for high standards.

Behind the blue you'll find a single 12AX7 valve in the preamp section, and one 12BH7 - the same as that used in Blackstar's successful HT-5 - in the power section. The 12BH7 is a dual triode that runs within itself in push-pull (like two separate matched valves would in a bigger amp) to chuck out a whole five watts.

Like the 18-watt version, the TM5 includes a power-soak, though here it's in simpler form. Instead of providing a selection of incremental power reductions down to silent, it's simply the full five watts or silent: on or off.

The latter is particularly useful if you want to record silently via the inbuilt XLR direct output - with the power soak in the off position, you don't even need a speaker connected, meaning it can sit pretty much anywhere you like as long as there's power. There's no effects loop, no reverb and no footswitch, however.

The direct output is a custom, inbuilt version of Hughes & Kettner's well respected Red Box DI - we rate it very highly in the 18-watt incarnation (and indeed as a standalone box), so it'll be very interesting to hear how it compares on the end of the TubeMeister 5's smaller output section.