I'm at this moment listening to the new Bria Skonberg album on a pair of mid to late 90's JBL L3's, driven by the HK 3490 receiver. The experience is very good...the system can be described as utterly transparent...skating on the edge of high frequencies being etched, but not quite. It's the effect of very clean glass. Bottom end is ample, but very well controlled. The 3490 specifies a high current design, which would indicate better than adequate damping of low frequency driver motion...something a vented design like the L3 is going to benefit from. I'm not certain I understand the prior criticisms sonically of the 3490. By trade, I'm a recording engineer, with a fair amount of experience at the mastering end of things. This amplifier is doing what a good amplifier should do...provide clean unaltered gain. It possesses great dynamics, and there's no doubt that it's high current design will allow it to skate through the reactive loads that speakers with complex crossovers will present. I would think that the evidently high damping factor of this amplifier compared with the relatively poor control exhibited by many vintage designs will result in the perceived lack of bass. If the low frequency driver isn't snapped back to attention after delivering a fundamental note, the sound will be plummy and over-ripe in the bottom octaves, creating a false impression of more bass. I can't speak to the quality control of these products. I acquired my 3490 used via Craigslist from a fellow for $60! (No, it wasn't hot). It's operated flawlessly for me so far. It's on an open shelf with lots of room for ventilation. I just acquired the L3's yesterday, again off of CL for $80 from a guy that was cleaning out his brothers storage. Anyways, I just wanted to counter the observations about the 3490's sonic attributes. It's a fine amplifier.
