HK Discussion

[AcuDefTechGuy]

My first choice is, of course, Denon.

But my second choice has always been Harman Kardon.

I love the way they look. Yes, the blue lights and volume knob.

I actually prefer the looks of HK over Denon and everyone else.

I owned the HK-247, and I really liked it a lot!

It's just that HK is usually behind Denon, Onkyo, & Yamaha when it comes to keeping up new technology. For example, they only recently released receivers with TrueHD, DTS-HD MA, and HDMI 1.3. HK does not have a BD player, pre-pro, amp, preamp or integrated amp, etc.

If HK had everything that Denon has in terms of component selections plus all those Mark Levinson stuffs (trickle down, of course), I would put HK as my number ONE.

 

[Alex2507]

The beauty of H/K is that they malfunction, get refurbed and can then be had for not very much money. That sends the watts/$ ratio through the roof (in the USA).
The warranty on the refurbs is equal to the ones on their new units. Their quadruple variable cross over is also ideal for the guys that are running a Frankenstein speaker set up.
(Until their Paradigm or Def Tech speakers arrive).

Snobs!

I have an AVR 430.
The E-Z EQ set thing is a truly retched device. The only thing it does right is tell you how far away your speakers are and that's great if you can't use a tape measure. It has my friend's 635 mains set to Large and the center is crossed over at 140Hz. The channel adjustments have a 6dB swing.
I calibrate my other friends 235 with an RS SPL meter and enter the x-over settings at 80Hz and 100Hz for the surrounds as per manufacturer spec's.

 

[yettitheman]

The beauty of H/K is that they malfunction, get refurbed and can then be had for not very much money. That sends the watts/$ ratio through the roof (in the USA).
The warranty on the refurbs is equal to the ones on their new units. Their quadruple variable cross over is also ideal for the guys that are running a Frankenstein speaker set up.
(Until their Paradigm or Def Tech speakers arrive).

Snobs!

I have an AVR 430.
The E-Z EQ set thing is a truly retched device. The only thing it does right is tell you how far away your speakers are and that's great if you can't use a tape measure. It has my friend's 635 mains set to Large and the center is crossed over at 140Hz. The channel adjustments have a 6dB swing.
I calibrate my other friends 235 with an RS SPL meter and enter the x-over settings at 80Hz and 100Hz for the surrounds as per manufacturer spec's.

My speakers shoot tape measures out like lazars.....

 

[Deezer]

I've own an AVR 630 for 5 yrs and have had no problems with it.I would keep it longer but it has no hdmi hook-up and no new HD audio.I will agree,I love the looks of that model,two-tone black/silver,blue-leds and that cool blue knob.I was running a sony sat. and sub combo up untill last month when I upgraded to a psb system consisting of 6t up front 9c center and 2b as surrounds.Got the upgrade bug and looking to get a differant receiver.This time around I don't think I'm going with an H/K receiver do to their lack of options/features compared with the other brands (Den./Yam./Onk./Pio.)Also looking for more power this time around.I believe the Onkyo 875 is rated @128 watts x 7 all channels driven at 8 ohms.Rated 140watts per single channel driven.

 

[Bugbitten]

I was with my son when he purchased an HK354. I was inpressed with the GUI, sound, appearance and price.

Unfortunately after 2 weeks he started having video dropouts and video loss.

He will probably return it and rebuy after the bugs are worked out.

I have been reading the a lot of the newer models have the same issues.

I hope that this all gets worked out soon!

 

[yettitheman]

I was with my son when he purchased an HK354. I was inpressed with the GUI, sound, appearance and price.

Unfortunately after 2 weeks he started having video dropouts and video loss.

He will probably return it and rebuy after the bugs are worked out.

I have been reading the a lot of the newer models have the same issues.

I hope that this all gets worked out soon!

It would appear that H/K's China QC isn't that great....