New Harmon/Kardon 3390 sounds better...

TomB

than my old HK740 receiver, but...different. Is that to be expected?

The old receiver (28 years old, 35 wpc) is the only other thing I've ever listened to, and while it sounded fine in its day, I think it was starting to have problems, hence the replacement.

On vinyl, the 3390 sounds better in some ways: seems more precise, and imaging seems much improved: on an old Columbia recording of Dave Brubeck's Take Five, for example, I can really pick out the drums and cymbals, and the upright bass sounds like a musical instrument, and not just a "thump."

In comparison, the CD version of the same recording seems less precise, and a lot louder; I really have to crank the volume when I'm playing vinyl to get to a good listening level.

Is this normal?

Maybe I'm finally hearing vinyl again the way it's supposed to sound, since one reason I retired the old hk740 was that it was sounding "muddy" and imprecise on vinyl. (FYI: I have Polk Monitor 7s, Peerless tweeters, rebuilt crossovers.)

Thanks for any insights.

tonyb

Well, the phono stage in receivers were never of very good quality. I suspect if you go out and even buy a used one for a couple hundies,you'd see a vast improvement in SQ. Maybe that old receiver needed some updating on the inside as most older ones do after decades of use. With solid state gear,sometimes it's a slow decay in SQ over time and your ears adjust to it. Then you get something new and you have the "wow" factor. Those older receivers need some guts re-done to bring them back to their original glory.

TomB

Pardon my rambling original post, but what I really meant to ask was: is it normal for turntable volume (when played through the phono inputs on the HK3390) to be signifcantly lower than volume from the CD player, hooked into the CD inputs?

It wasn't that way on my old HK740, but then, CD players hadn't even been invented when it came out.

The 3390 plays vinyl a lot more quietly in some good ways: much less noise/rumble than the old receiver.

Erik Tracy

TomB wrote: »

Pardon my rambling original post, but what I really meant to ask was: is it normal for turntable volume (when played through the phono inputs on the HK3390) to be signifcantly lower than volume from the CD player, hooked into the CD inputs?

It wasn't that way on my old HK740, but then, CD players hadn't even been invented when it came out.

The 3390 plays vinyl a lot more quietly in some good ways: much less noise/rumble than the old receiver.

I've noticed that too - seems 'normal' across the different rigs I've had my TT hooked into vs CD or DVD or SACD players.

Nothing to worry about though - adjust the volume to suit your preference and don't worry if one is louder than the other at any given volume setting.

TomB

Thanks, Erik.

Since I have essentially zero experience, (as indicated above, this is only the second receiver I've ever owned) I wanted to make sure that this was typical, and that nothing was wrong with the 3390's phono section. (I really didn't think so, as it had been reviewed quite favorably, everywhere I was able to find.)

doctor r

The amplification of a MM phono stage originally was to boost the phono cartridge output level to 1 volt that line level preamp could work with. This was the norm for years (Reel to Reels, Cassettes, ect) for input into a preamp section of the receiver (aside from the phono). CD players output is boosted to between 2 and 3 volts so noticing the CD to be "LOUDER" at the same receiver or preamp volume setting would be expected and unfortunately normal.

Rick