Harmon Kardon 3600 avr

[imnofool]

I am receiving a used Harmon Kardon 3600 from ebay this friday 7-2-21. I have an issue or two though. I called the tech person at Harmon Kardon and this person was 'new' and had to get into a conference with his other associates with: 1. The Harmon Kardon 3600 has 7.1 channel surround sound with 85 watts per channel rated at 8 ohms. My chane towers are rated 300 watts and 6 ohms. I asked if I could still use the HK 3600 hooked up with my Class D audio amp (165 watts per channel) using the L-R preouts for the towers from the preouts on the back of HK 3600....... and his (their) answer was yes but only at from 40 to 60% of volume as the sound would distort at higher volume.....True or no?

2. The ez mic that goes with the calibration was NOT included with my HK 3600 purchase so I would have to calibrate by ear (which is ok I guess but I've never tried this before). I have used the audyssey calibration system on the marantz sr 5014 I had for a limited time and am familiar with that.

My real question is can I use my old mic from the arc calibration I still have from my 2year old (Now a dead brick) anthem 520 mrx avr. I really don't think I should have to buy another microphone for calibrating and could easily use an adapter if needed for a possible plug in issue. But I asked the HK. tech and he said it would NOT work. He did NOT ask his people on this issue though. I feel I might not got the correct answer here. What do you think? I have to attend an emergency situation all of a sudden and will be back later but thanks for anyone's advice.

 

[lovinthehd]

First, I'd not concentrate on the wattage ratings of the speakers, the max wattage is more a melting point than anything useful. Sensitivity of the speaker is a better indicator of amp use. I can't imagine why you couldn't use any external amp you want as long as the HK unit has pre-outs (and the output level of the avr and sensitivity of the amp are compatible). Not even sure how they would calculate "40-60%" of volume particularly. I generally find calling customer service at audio companies (especially a conglomerate like Samsung/HK) yields poor information, sort of like asking a best buy sales associate a technical question.

The mic for your older avr has its own calibration file, how closely that resembles that expected by a different avr or setup software....hard to know. I'd have asked in the first place if it was part of the sale of an avr as to what original accessories are on hand if I wanted to use that feature.....but how about looking for a used mic on fleabay?
Maybe @M Code who is very familiar with those HK units can advise....

 

[imnofool]

lovinthehd---- I am collecting this info on the sensitivity of this clas d audio amp but they are not open now so I will have to wait till tomorrow.

But the tech person at Harmon Karmon said all would be ok with my present amp rated 165 watts per channel when paired with the A5Rx-5c Chane towers via preouts ( L+R.) on the HK. 3600 The towers worked fine with my anthem mrx 520 and had no issues using the separate class d audio amplifier.

I will try to reach out to M Code for some extra advice. But I do believe you did give me the most important advise ---I must use the specific ez mic that is specific to the harmon kardon brand. I DID NOT realize the specific calibration file was in the microphone. I did find a used e mic on e-bay and will probably purchase it.

 

[lovinthehd]

lovinthehd---- I am collecting this info on the sensitivity of this clas d audio amp but they are not open now so I will have to wait till tomorrow.

But the tech person at Harmon Karmon said all would be ok with my present amp rated 165 watts per channel when paired with the A5Rx-5c Chane towers via preouts ( L+R.) on the HK. 3600 The towers worked fine with my anthem mrx 520 and had no issues using the separate class d audio amplifier.

I will try to reach out to M Code for some extra advice. But I do believe you did give me the most important advise ---I must use the specific ez mic that is specific to the harmon kardon brand. I DID NOT realize the specific calibration file was in the microphone. I did find a used e mic on e-bay and will probably purchase it.

The calibration file for the mic is simply baked into each avr, not the mic itself (measurement mics may come with an uploadable correction file but wouldn't be what the avr expects). I doubt you could even get let alone implement the various correction files in any case.

So the comment was more about the 3600's capability in some way for the 40-60% thing? Customer service guy probably in over his head in any case....

 

[imnofool]

I am going to correct both of you on a point. In the case of me speaking to a salesperson I did not. I phoned the main headquarters of Harmon Kardon and spoke to a TECHNICAL SUPPORT agent who I felt was new on the job as he frequently paused the conversation with him stopping to converse with his associates on this abd 3 other problems. I would never ask a typical sales person for this advice as most do not know much as I have found out.

Now it appears that perhaps I might still be able to use my old anthem mic after all.....

I still doubt this but I am not in the know on this issue.....

One states no it will not work while the latter a very qualified maybe.....I will try further and thank you both or just might buy the ez mic I found on ebay and get this over with.

 

[lovinthehd]

Both of me? I just have poor experience in making calls to audio brand companies even when transferred to a "technical" guy rather than the basic customer service rep. You may have better experience, as they say YMMV, but the answer about volume nor his "conferring" with others is very confidence inspiring. I'd just try your Anthem mic and see what the results are before buying the EZ mic, altho the EZ mic is the tool for the job.....unless they just happened to use the same mic/calibration file setup....good luck!

 

[imnofool]

Thank you for your common sensed answer....this is exactly what I will do...if it works great and if not well I buy the replacement or just try to calibrate by ear.....this should not be too difficult it'll take some experimentation. Also your correct I got involved with a long phone call and started to 'multitask' with this thread....just say in' but thanks for advice here.

 

[lovinthehd]

FWIW some food for thought along these lines

Measurement Mic Shootout (EMM-6, WM-61A, RS 33-2055...

I just received my EMM-6 calibrated from Cross Spectrum Labs. This should be used as the reference in this comparison to see how the other microphones measure up. The following meters and microphones were measured. Dayton Audio EMM-6 calibrated by Cross-Spectrum Labs from 5hz-25khz...

www.avsforum.com

Can you use any microphone for receiver calibration?

I bought an amp/receiver second hand and it never came with the calibration microphone. I was wondering if it was possible to use any old mic for surround sound calibration (ie one from a headset) or if I should get a specialised pioneer microphone to calibrate it with. A mic's a mic right? Or...

www.avsforum.com

 

[imnofool]

Thanks and will read up.

 

[Pedro Alvarado]

Thanks and will read up.

you're still using that old thing ha jk
i have the same one
i didn't like the ezset/eq results how did yours go
it has been a good ole box but i really need to upgrade
all i use it the optical for audio and still works well

 

[imnofool]

I did not buy the mic after all and just used my android phone with a free app (from Google) for the meter reading(s). It worked and was easy and I did get the desired results with just using my ears....

Now as to why I purchased this old 3600 H. Kardon avr was primarily for the 'harmon kardon sound' these units put out. I had 2 of them for many years and find 'the HK sound' hard to beat at a decent price point. The closest I came (to my ear) was anthem, nad, marantz, and arcam. As far as the video aspect the HK 3600 does what it does and is definitely not up to today's specs but still works well. I plan on using this H.Kardon until a year or so when when the newer technology gets a bit more perfected...