2 Channel amp for bookshelf speakers

[Jeff R.]

The HK 3490 will smoke the TX-8255.

 

[Tungsten06GT]

The HK 3490 will smoke the TX-8255.

Oh cool; I think Harman Kardon will be the way to go.. is there a huge difference between the 3390 and the 3490 though?

 

[j_garcia]

Oh cool; I think Harman Kardon will be the way to go.. is there a huge difference between the 3390 and the 3490 though?

Yes, about 40 watts, which in this case is quite a bit more power and I would say it is worth it. Night and day? No, but more power is better The only other thing I saw of note between the two is that the 3490 has a digital input and the 3390 does not.

 

[skers_54]

It looks like those Pioneers may be older perhaps? Can't find them anywhere.

But, what about entry level Yamaha or Onkyo, like the RX-397 or TX-8255? They don't have a sub out so would I just run the speaker wires in parallel to speaker in on the sub?

The HK is more comparable to the Onkyo 8555. It has a sub out but no crossovers. I have the older 8522 and it's really powerful for the price. I powered my Kappa sub with it for a while and I didn't notice much difference between it and my bridged A500 at low/moderate volume music. The difference was more noticable with movies and higher volumes, naturally.

 

[Tungsten06GT]

The HK is more comparable to the Onkyo 8555. It has a sub out but no crossovers. I have the older 8522 and it's really powerful for the price. I powered my Kappa sub with it for a while and I didn't notice much difference between it and my bridged A500 at low/moderate volume music. The difference was more noticable with movies and higher volumes, naturally.

When you say the HK has a sub out but no crossovers, do you mean that there's no way to cut off the mains from playing lower frequencies?

 

[skers_54]

When you say the HK has a sub out but no crossovers, do you mean that there's no way to cut off the mains from playing lower frequencies?

With the Onkyo, yes. You can use a crossover built into a powered sub, but you can't really high pass the mains. With the HK, you can if you have an external crossover. It has both sub outs and pre-out/main-ins, so you can a) add a sub(s) and just run the mains full range or b) use an external crossover between pre-out and main-in to send the lows to the sub(s) and highs to the mains.

It looks like the 3390 drops a few pounds, 40 watts/channel and the digital and iPod inputs. It's $80 cheaper, so if those things aren't important then you can save a bit. They both look very impressive and I don't think you'd be disappointed with either.

 

[Tungsten06GT]

With the Onkyo, yes. You can use a crossover built into a powered sub, but you can't really high pass the mains. With the HK, you can if you have an external crossover. It has both sub outs and pre-out/main-ins, so you can a) add a sub(s) and just run the mains full range or b) use an external crossover between pre-out and main-in to send the lows to the sub(s) and highs to the mains.

It looks like the 3390 drops a few pounds, 40 watts/channel and the digital and iPod inputs. It's $80 cheaper, so if those things aren't important then you can save a bit. They both look very impressive and I don't think you'd be disappointed with either.

If I get the HK and don't use an external crossover, since I'll be using bookshelf speakers, won't they just "not respond" to lower frequencies and setting the sub's crossover to match where they give out be adequite enough? Or will the bookshelf speakers distort in trying to play full range audio?

 

[Jeff R.]

......won't they just "not respond" to lower frequencies .....


I would think that is a matter of what type of speakers you have. The HK will give them plenty of power to perform. How they will sound full range vs crossed is very hard to determine. If it is really important for you to cross over your speakers, you should be able to run the speaker cable through the sub and use the sub to cross over the bokkshelf speakers. I am pretty sure most sub have that capability.

Others on the forum may know more on this.

I use my HK to run my mains on full range and then I just use the sub out to run the sub. I just played with my crossover frequency for the sub to pick up close to where my speakers start to drop off in response.

 

[Tungsten06GT]

Ok cool thanks. I guess I just needed to hear how someone else with a similar receiver set it up with their speakers. I was worried that not crossing over the mains would create too much bass or cause the mains to bottom out trying to play lower frequencies, but apparently it's not much of an issue. I was trying to avoid externally crossing over (maybe cause I'm scared haha) but it's probably not even a problem.

 

[Knucklehead90]

As I stated in an earlier post I use the 3390 with a pair of Emotiva ERM-1 bookshelfs that are self limiting to 80hz and roll off fast after that. My 12" sealed DIY sub is connected to the 3390 via RCA and has an adjustable cutoff knob - I run it at ~90hz. The 3390 - like the 3490 provides full audio signal to the sub - there is no crossover control in the receiver. FWIW I've owned the 3480 in the past which is the same as the 3490 minus the digital inputs and cosmetics. The 3390 is every bit as good as the 3480 was - and looks much better.
My combination is very tough to beat $ for $. It sounds very good.

 

[j_garcia]

If I get the HK and don't use an external crossover, since I'll be using bookshelf speakers, won't they just "not respond" to lower frequencies and setting the sub's crossover to match where they give out be adequite enough? Or will the bookshelf speakers distort in trying to play full range audio?

If you send full range to a speaker that is not capable of handling those frequencies, they DO still try to reproduce it and when they cant, they typically do experience some distortion. Basically, filtering out very low frequencies is a benefit becasue you don't waste power trying to reproduce what is outside the range of the speaker. That is not to say that they won't work, because I run my A/V-1s full range and they do fine. You just have to watch it when you are playing really low stuff as that is where issues will show themselves. Since pretty much all subs have their own x-over, it isn't a problem for the sub.