Fry's HK AVR-635

Lowell_M

I was just at Fry's Electronics listening to an HK AVR-635 through some RTi8's for the first time ever. Holy ****! I was blown away. Now I really need to get rid of my JVC and upgrade. I could not believe the imaging and clarity compared to what I have now.

Anyway....The sales guy told me that last week Fry's had the 635 on sale for $500!!! That's less than you can get them for on ebay most of the time. Sure missed out on that one. Bad timing.

How does the RTi8 compare to the older RTi70 in sound? They had some LSi bookshelf speakers, but no towers. First time I've heard LSi's as well. The RTi's sounded quite a bit brighter than the LSi and I actually felt like the midrange on the LSi was a little weak compared to the RTi. Would this be typical of a bookshelf (don't know which LSi they were, was too excited about the 635) compared to a tower speaker?

dagame27

yea the HK sounds good with the rti70's. Another route to go would be to get the avr235 w/ preouts off of ebay, and then get a seperate amp to go along with it. You would be around the same price w/ more power and likely better quality. That is what I am planning to do with my system.

audiobliss

I second that . (^^) Going with a cheaper receiver (or preamp) with preouts and adding an external amplifier will almost always produce better results.

Lowell_M

Sounds Great! What Reciever-Amp combination could you recommend trying to put together for between $500 and $1000? I was thinking that I would buy a refurb'd AVR 635 on e-bay for around $500.

*Seby*-Polk-

yeah !! It's a HUGE step !!! Bye bye JVC and welcome to HK (the model it doesn't matter....all HK receivers sounds GREAT)

Someday i bought one of them !!!!! (Anyway, i enjoy my Yammie )

audiobliss

For a pre, if you're going to go with a receiver, a cheaper HK, Marantz, Yamaha, Denon, would all be about equally as good. However, for $1000, and probably less, you could put together a good preamp and amp combo. I'm not very good and doing such things, but I'll browse audiogon for a minute and see what I can come up with.

audiobliss

B&K PT3 preamp for $295.

Here's a NAD C160 preamp for $320.

Here's a Bryston 1B preamp for $350.

Here's a B&K Pro600 amp for $300 that puts out 250wpc.

Here's a Aragon 4004 MKII amp for $500 that puts out 200wpc.

Here's a nice looking Belles amplifier for $650.

Here's a B&K EX4420 amp that puts out 200wpc for $450.

And lastly Here's a Bryston 3B NRB amp that puts out 150wpc for $500.

I'm not personally recommending any of these, though most of them look like they'd work just fine for you. Mainly, I'm demonstrating that you can put together a pretty killer preamp/amp combo for right around the $1000 mark.

schwarcw

That Bryston 1B and 3B combo would be great! For $800 that's one hell of a system!

Lowell_M

So, say I went with an HK AVR 235 and an amp. It looks like from your recommendations that most of the amps are two channel. So, you would use the two channel amp for your mains and then power the center and rears with the HK?

audiobliss

LOL I'm just so stuck in the 2-channel world, I didn't even think about you powering a HT system. However, that's still ok, 'cause what you said is exactly right. Given the budget you proposed, a HT receiver and a good stereo amp is probably the best way to go, as it'd be harded to find a quality multi-channel amp within your budget. It's probably possible, and if you keep your eyes open and find one for a good deal, I'd get it. But I'd bet it'd be easier to get a good stereo amp now and use the HK to power the other speakers. Perhaps later then you can get another amp to power the rest of the speakers.

dagame27

The other thing to consider when building a home theatre system w/ a reciever as a preamp is starting out with a 3-channel amp. Adcom, Acurus, Parasound(a little harder to find) all make good amps which you could add on to later for the surrounds.

audiobliss

Yep, that's a good point. One I should have thought of. A lot of your dialog will move from one front main, through the center, and to the other main. It'd be real nice to be powering all three speakers with a 3-channel amplifier. That shouldn't change the budget by too much.

Maestro

You better jump on that AVR635 at that price, my friend. You can always add later. For your current set up, the AVR635 will make see the light!

Just do it! As my mom always told me, NEVER PASS UP A BARGAIN!!!

aaharvel

a_mattison wrote:

So, say I went with an HK AVR 235 and an amp. It looks like from your recommendations that most of the amps are two channel. So, you would use the two channel amp for your mains and then power the center and rears with the HK?

no. use the 2ch. amp to power your mains and then get a 3 or 5ch. amp to power your center and surrounds.

I miss mine.

fatchowmein

a_mattison wrote:

Anyway....The sales guy told me that last week Fry's had the 635 on sale for $500!!! That's less than you can get them for on ebay most of the time. Sure missed out on that one. Bad timing.

I think that sales guy lied to you. In Dallas, the Fry's ad's been listing the 635 at $1099 (?) before "savings" for the past few weeks. Everytime I inquiry about it (I'm in the store weekly; sad but true :rolleyes: ), I've been told the sale price is $799.

You can get the 635 at the HK online store refurbished for $698 or new at Amazon for $649.

Yeah, $500 would be a steal but I have yet to see it at Fry's anywhere near that price.

drew spelts

I bet Fatch is right because even with an employee discount at CC It still cost $640 with shipping and everything so for it to cost $500 is rediculous, Like going out of business rediculous. BTW did you ask the salesman if he bought one at that price or perhaps even what he uses for a setup.

Lowell_M

I think you are right. The sales guy said that "We may be able to work something out" and try to sell me a unit at a discount to make me feel better for missing the "big sale". I didn't take the conversation any further though since I really wasn't planning on buying one right there on the spot anyway. I've been watching the Harman Audio refurb's on e-bay and they are going between $490 and $550, so I am going to bid patiently for a while and see how low I can get one for.

Bozwth

I saw the Harman Kardon AVR 635 on sale at Fry's in Dallas for $599. I almost bought it but I found one on sale at Vann's for $629. Without the tax or shipping charges it ended up being less than the one at Fry's after tax. The 635 is still on sale at Vanns.com. Vann's is an authorized HK dealer. I went back to Fry's a couple of days ago and the price is back up to $1099.

AndyGwis

I can confirm what Bozwth said. I called Fry's and it was supposedly $599 the other weekend. I got mine new, no shipping back in January from 6th Avenue for $649. They were great to work with, in case anyone has ever thought of buying from their online store. HK authorized dealer to boot.

I'm starting to play with some carver amps using the HK 635 pre-outs. They make my lowly Monitor 60s sound pretty good in stereo. I've even turned off my sub a time or two and set them to large. I imaging RTis would sound wonderful with such a setup.

Good luck!

fatchowmein

AndyGwis wrote:

I can confirm what Bozwth said. I called Fry's and it was supposedly $599 the other weekend.

Dang! I've checked with my local Fry's everytime they have the 635 on sale. I guess those bozos don't know their own sales ad. Geez! :mad:

starchaser

Tried to get a refurb on ebay for sometime... kept getting outbid and sniperd.

Recently picked up my HK 635 for $599 at Fry's. I saw a post somewhere on the fm and thought i would check it out... 1st store was sold out, 2nd. store still had a few so i bit. Thing is, Fry's didn't even display the 635 on their shelves.

Of course, they had other HK's 240's and such for more $ than the 635 was on sale for. You just had to know to ask for it!!!

If i had not seen the post here i never would have known. So thanks Club Polk!

As said above, make sure your receiver has preouts and get yourself an amp!

Nice links Audio... now i need a pre!

t

Toxis

Don't be afraid to look into older 5ch amps. Rotel and Parasound made some great amps back then. I still like the old Marantz MM-9000. Those can be found for around $500. 150w x 5ch. Worth looking into!

Lowell_M

Toxis, Great thought, thanks! I have wondered about this. So, having up to date pre-processing is important, but there really isn't much to worry about in buying an older amp? thanks, A_mattison