HK receivers?

danger boy · May 2005

I've never really paid much attention to HK receivers. while they look very nice and have tons of features.. does anyone here have an experience with them?

reason i'm asking is OneCall is having a two day sale on a Harman Kardon AVR435 for about $544 and while i'd like to go seperates... i can't get a pre amp with the features i want for that price. this HK would be for mostly HT movies. i'm thinking it would get me thru till i could find the pre amp in my price range.

I have looked at the now discontinued Outlaw 950.. but i have heard it might have some problems.. problems which the 990 addresses.

anyway let me know on HK receivers in general. the One Call sale is only today and tomorrow.

I want to know the good, bad and the ugly on HK.

Dennis Gardner · May 2005

Good... Amps, sound nearly as good as seperates.

Bad... Processing delays, dropouts when switching digital formats

Ugly...Just a personal choice but who could call HK ugly? They are truly classy and very different than all the other look-alikes.

For processing and switching, I would look to Denon. If separates are what you really want save like crazy and look into Rotel, or Newcastle, or Outlaw.

I have run my HK 7200 for 2 years now and love it for HT. Its amps are truly good enough that I don't long for separate amps, and I love the looks of it. It even got me by for 2 channel until I got a tube pre and separate amps.

bobman1235 · May 2005

That sounds like a fantastic price on the 435. It's almost worth buying it and if you don't like it eBay it for a profit, or at least your money back.

I love my HK, personally, although I haven't had much gear to compare it to. All the research I did told me their amps were some of the best in the business when it comes to receivers. I've had mine going on a year now and no complaints from me.

danger boy · May 2005

i have plenty of amps.. so that wouldn't be the reason to get this HK. it would be a big upgrade my 6 yr old Marantz. so much has improved in 6 years it's amazing. It's less than what I paid for the Marantz 6 years ago..with tons more features.

don't you love technology advancements?

2+2 · May 2005

While I enjoy my HK, I will warn you that the sound is "warmer" than most other gear...depending on your sound preferences, you may or may not like. I am playing around with a Marantz 8400 now and it is not as warm as the 230...

aaharvel · May 2005

i love my 235. best piece of equipment i've ever owned.

Early B. · May 2005

Love my HK 525. I'm using it as a pre/pro. Awesome sound. Better than Denon 3803, IMO. Buy it.

markmarc · May 2005

I have owned all sorts of HK equipment (10+) over the years including the classic 680i receiver and now an AVR 75. I can tell you that they can handle just about anything you throw at it. You may want to visit HK's eBay store. It's all refurb stuff with full warranties at terrific prices.

marker · May 2005

I have a HK 3480 2 channel stereo receiver on a pair of RT2000i, and I think they work very well together. A good match for the HK's signature sound to go with the tri-lam tweeters in the Polks.

aaharvel · May 2005

"the tri-lam tweeters in the Polks"

YES! that's what those tweeters were called. My front trio has the new silk tweeter- the rti4's and csi3.

I was wondering what the tweets in my four f/x300i's were- i think they're the same 3/4" ones in the rt15i. Regardless, I'm still in shock at how similar the silk and the tri's sound- it's practically seamless.

Neutral Polks + Warm H/K + Neutral Adcom = great sound!

marker · May 2005

Doesn't the fx300i have a 3/4" tweeter? I think there was also a bookshelf in that series even smaller than the RT25i that also had a 3/4" tweeter. Can anyone verify this? Not sure if they were also tri-lams too or not.

On a personal note, the tri-lams are still my favorite tweeters in the last three series of RTi speakers.

aaharvel · May 2005

yeah the fx300i's have the 3/4" trilaminate tweeter- same tweeter as the RT15i.

ND13 · May 2005

That's an incredible price for that receiver. Make sure that it's not a refurb. Even if it is, the refurbs are usually just as reliable if not more than the NIB's because they have gone through alot of testing to make sure they are in good working order and depending on the manufacturer a warranty is usually included. I've owned several HK pieces over the years and have had nothing but great service from them all. I'm currently using a HK3380 for 2-channel and it does a tremendous job for the money and has pre outs if I ever need more power, which soon will be true. If I were in the market for an HT receiver, at the price you've just quoted, the HK would be hard to top. Good luck in your quest.

woodyjacobs · June 2005

fx300is and rt15i had a 3/4" silk dome, not a tri-lam (the tri-lam is silver, the silk dome is black).

Now another question...any idea what tweeter the atrium 45 has? They are silver 3/4'" jobs that sound like a tri-lam but the spec sheet on the site says they are a silk.

woodyjacobs · June 2005

And sorry about the derail danger.

Give the HK's a try, I have had a few and generally think they are great. My only complaints were the aforementioned drop-outs when switching modes and the fact that the HK AVRs run super-hot, much hotter than any other brand I've used (strangely their stereo receivers, even the new ones, don't). So give it plenty of breathing room.

aaharvel · June 2005

"fx300is and rt15i had a 3/4" silk dome, not a tri-lam "

sweet. no wonder they blend with my rti-4's and csi3 so well.
silk tweeter family all

danger boy · June 2005

no problemo woody
it's all good.

TheReaper · June 2005

With my room acoustics and an hk avr630, I would say the hk doesn't have the best sounding highs.

An annoying characteristic of the hk avr630 was it's mode switching. When watching a DD5.1 movie on cable, I would switch it to Dolby EX. A commersial would come on in DD2.0, and the HK would switch back to Dolby Digital. When the movies comes back (DD5.1), the hk would stay in Dolby Digital mode. And to add insult to injury, Dolby EX preceeds Dolby Digital in the mode switching, so I would have to cycle back around through all the Dolby modes to get Dolby EX again.

HBombToo · June 2005

I have ran an h/k 520 as a pre/pro for a few years now. I am pleased with the performance for HT, DTS, DD and Multi Chnl using the preamps and allowing the Denon 2900 handle bass management.

The only piece of equipment that has sparked my imagination is the Linn SC Unidisk.

http://www.linn.co.uk/spec_sound/product_display.cfm?productID=193&activeNavBar=products&activeSubNavBar=source

This unit will probably replace my h/k sometime here in the future but until then I remain satisfied with the SQ and processing capability of this product.

HBomb

Ron-P · June 2005

Did HK fix that clicking sound that occured whenever the volume was changed? The one I owned did this and it drove me nuts.

HBombToo · June 2005

Originally posted by Ron-P
Did HK fix that clicking sound that occured whenever the volume was changed? The one I owned did this and it drove me nuts.

Ron I recall when I just joined the forum that you had much problems with h/k. I guess I got in at the right time because I never had issues with the unit I have now. There was an issue with the model prior to the 520 where clocking between 5.1 and 2 channel would fail causing a horrible noise but they were aware of that and geve me the 520.

HBomb

BSmart · June 2005

I have owned an AVR 500 for about 4 1/2 years. I just replaced i with a Marantz SR 8500. I would completely agree with "2+2" in that the HK does indeed sound "warmer" than the Marantz. I really like my HK. However, I did have to go through the first two units I bought as both of them failed almost immediately. I think HK has that fixed from what I have seen in other forums. The delay in digital input is sort of a drag. However, I would still give HK a thumbs up as this receiver sounds great and was pretty easy to set up. Compared to the Marantz, the remote is also very functional. No problems with lack of power, either.

Marantz SR8500
Polk RT200p fronts
Polk CS 400 center
Polk 8500 in-wall rears
Sony DVP-975S

danger boy · June 2005

HK warmer than Marantz? wow.... i never heard of that.. i wouldn't really be that interested in HK if that's the case.

lomic · June 2005

Since I have my Denon hooked up for 6-ch direct, I just watch movies in the same mode I listen to SACD, which completely eliminates the audio delay on the HK. Personally I think it sounds better too.

Dennis Gardner · June 2005

Originally posted by lomic
Since I have my Denon hooked up for 6-ch direct, I just watch movies in the same mode I listen to SACD, which completely eliminates the audio delay on the HK. Personally I think it sounds better too.

That is a good work around the delay issue since the Denon has better DACs. I've tried that on a few lesser DVD players and the HKs decoders sound better.

Still not as good as my 2 channel separate DAC.

HK receivers?

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