Opinions on Harman kardon HK 990 integrated amp

geppy1

Does anyone have any experience with the HK 990 integrated amp?? Say compared to MF A 3.2 or Yamaha A-S 1000 or even against Rotel or NAD seperates? Thanks

mhardy6647

http://www.hifihaven.org/forum/solid-state-gear/26449-who-knew-this-would-sound-so-good-harman-kardon-hk990

smglbrth

I've wondered how good these were as well. Good luck finding one, don't seem to be too many out there. I've read they had some issues reliability-wise but sound dang good. But..., being a "mid-fi" brand being a high dollar item I think it ran into the "you can do much better for the money than that brand name" crap...

msg

I had one for a brief time in 2014, but had to send it back due to shipping damage - faceplate got smashed up.

First impression was that it was noticeably clean, impactful and authoritative in preliminary testing, and especially so when compared to the lower, moderately similar HK 3490. I didn't have enough experience under my belt at the time to be able to speak to any other music quality characteristics, but it was a beautiful piece. Except for the faceplate and buttons -- cheap plastic and buttons felt cheap, along with the volume knob.

Very heavy. Nice looking. Stoobid remote about as long as a hockey stick.
IIRC, it even offers bass management, a feature not available on the HK 3490.

If I could find one cheap, I'd consider it again if I needed a lifestyle piece. It punched some Monitor 10's nicely.

Unfortunately no experience with the other equipment you mentioned. Depending on the price, I'd be looking at other pieces as well, if the 990 is still selling between $600 - $1000 used.

msg

Oh, and it gets hot, too, so you'd have to make sure it's well ventilated.

geppy1

Went to listen this morning It got sold last Friday

msg

dislike. what was the asking price?

geppy1

$800 which was pushing it for me.