Where to buy HK635

[SackoHammers]

Need some help from you expert shoppers out there.

Here is the list of authorized dealers:
http://www.harmankardon.com/online_retailers.aspx?Region=USA&Country=US&Language =ENG

If I do a pricegrabber, I can see it as low as $575 shipped, and people talk about getting it for $500.
What about warranty? I want to make sure the little 2 year warranty is honored if I buy it from some place.
Right now, of the vendors on the list, I can get the best pricing from J&R at $600 shipped.

Any input here guys? What about extending the warranty? Any reasonable options here?
At J&R I can buy an extended warranty for like $60 for another two years. This is done by a company called Repair Masters. They claim free shipping. Anyone have any experience with this stuff?

What about getting it serviced? I know there is a circuit city nearby. What if I buy from J&R? What do I have to do if I have a problem with the receiver?

 

[jcPanny]

HK Dealers

You will have a valid warranty if you purchase from any authorized dealer including online sites like J&R and Amazon. With most repairs or problems, you deal with the manufacturer so it isn't necessarily more convenient to buy from a local circuit city.

Extended warranties are not through the manufacturer. CC and BB make major bucks on trying to sell these with every electronics purchase.

If you want a better deal and a valid waranty, check out HK's Harmanaudio store on ebay where they sell refurbished units with the full warranty. For a new receiver from an authorized dealer, J&R sounds like a pretty good deal. Also, I think there might be a AVR-640 model out so the new inventory probably wont last long.

 

[SackoHammers]

Is this the HK online store?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Harman-Kardon-AVR-635-7-1-Home-theater-receiver_W0QQitemZ972 7242870QQcategoryZ67799QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
I guess they outsource the web operations to www.channeladvisor.com.
Probably similar to how Marantz does it with accessories4less.

I will call HK tonight and verify this eBay source and the warranty. My concern is that 2 years is a bit short for this kind of gear. Does HK offer extended warranty or is my only option going with something like J&R offers. Are they worth a damn? IE, is it like pulling teeth to get these companies to do a decent job of honoring these 3rd party warranties?

 

[beam3]

6th Ave.

6ave.com has it for $598 brand new, authorized dealer.

 

[SackoHammers]

Spoke to HK today. The Harmanaudio Ebay store is factory direct and comes with a full 2 year warranty as does a new unit. The only difference is that these are refurbs.

Beam, hate to say it, but when I look on HK's website, there is a list of authorized dealers. 6ave.com is not one of them. Given that they have the same price as some of the authorized dealers listed on HK's website, I'll just go with one of the other vendors. Its not that I have anything against 6ave.com, I haven't done any research and they may be a fine vendor. Its possible I could even call HK again and verify that they are an authorized vendor... but... I'm not going to take the time.... since the price is the same on J&R.

 

[beam3]

Spoke to HK today. The Harmanaudio Ebay store is factory direct and comes with a full 2 year warranty as does a new unit. The only difference is that these are refurbs.

Beam, hate to say it, but when I look on HK's website, there is a list of authorized dealers. 6ave.com is not one of them. Given that they have the same price as some of the authorized dealers listed on HK's website, I'll just go with one of the other vendors. Its not that I have anything against 6ave.com, I haven't done any research and they may be a fine vendor. Its possible I could even call HK again and verify that they are an authorized vendor... but... I'm not going to take the time.... since the price is the same on J&R.

Wow, that's odd considering they are a retail store. I'm going to look into this out of curosity.

*EDIT* I checked online, they are authorized....they may just not have retail location near you.

 

[SackoHammers]

Ok... so I went through the trouble.

Yes, I went to 6ave.com's website, did a location finder and located a zip code or two for their retail stores. (Being in TX I've never heard of them, so didn't know they were a chain)

Took those zip codes, went to HK's website, did an authorized dealer locator and found that they are an authorized dealer.

The list I was looking at was just a short list of online resellers, about 10 names. I guess it pays to get on that list. hehehe.

The only thing in my area is circuit city and their prices are crazy.

SO, you are vindicated. They are, in fact, an authorized dealer. I'm still going to buy from J&R. hahahaha.

 

[jcPanny]

Extended warranty

My understanding is that the extended warranties you purchase from GE, etc. are covered by that third party and not by the manufacturer. So if you have a problem, you deal with the them and their repair facility and not HK.

The HK 2 year warranty is better than most and most electronics will have a problem show up right away or not at all but it is your money and your piece of mind. Just make sure you get a decent surge protector to protect your A/V gear from power issues.