h/k Citation Receiver

eThink

Well-Known Member
This is a very rare harman/kardon Citation Receiver.

It is from the mid 1970s. I do not recall ever seeing an advertisement for this receiver.

From the outside, the design is similar to the h/k 730 and 430 receiver of the mid-to-late 1970s.

From the inside, the design is "traditional" h/k citation "twin power", using twin power transformers. This design approach is also called "dual mono amplifiers".

It appear that the amplifier design is related to the Citation amplifiers (Citation 16 and 19) of the mid to late 1970s.

Power output is estimated to be between 100 and 150 wpc/RMS @ 8 ohms.

This unit was actually made in the USA!

Additional picture will follow.
 
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Front View

Looks similar to the h/k 730 receiver, especially the tuning dial graphics.

The function selections for tuning and sound normally implemented using push buttons are actually integrated with their related knobs.
 
Top View

The linear tuning dial and pointer are repeated at the top of the unit to allow for easier viewing.

Note the function button at the lower right hand corner. They are "touch sensitive" and select phono1 phono2, AM, FM and AUX.
 
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Inside View

Note the h/k "twin power" dual mono amps.

This unit is truly built "like at tank".

This unit is heavy! It weighs at least 80lbs.
 
Back View

Pretty standard back here.

There are a few items to note.

There is a jack to support "4 Channel Output".

This unit also can support upto 3 sets of speakers and permits the use of two different type of speaker connectors.
 
HK receiver

eThink you don't have this receiver do you? Sweet sold HK in the 70's do not recall this receiver would love to have it.
 
80 lbs.?!?! You sure about that? That's awful heavy for a 100-150 watt receiver!

It sure would be nice to find the specs on that receiver. If it sounds as good as the twin power x30 and + quad receivers, I WANT one.


Helix
 
I`ve got one HK Citation receiver. I`ve buy it at 1978, I have import it from HK directly because I live in Chile, here in south america you know??
I`ve he original service manual if anobody needs it.

The serial number is 237-0429. It soud much better than the Acurus A250 amplifier with Carver CT-17 and the Marantz 2325.

Today I`m using my HK citation with a JBL HP580 speakers and a Carver DTL 200 MK2 CD player. I which to conect it a NAD 542 CD player. What do you think??

Answerd me!!!
 
I was a draftsman at H/K in the mid to late 70's and I was part of the design team for the Citation Receiver and other products. It was designed by the same team that designed the Citation 16, 17, 18, and 19. It was a twin-powered design like the h/k 430/730 but that is where the similarity ended. The Citation Receiver was the ULTIMATE TOTL limited edition receiver in the line and it incorporated the best of everything.

Manitoulin has one in his collection and I think it's one of his favorites.
Joe, any comments?

A photo and spec's from the original Citation Receiver brochure are below.
HK_Cit-Rcvr_Photo.jpg

HK_Cit-Rcvr_Specs.jpg

Click on this link for complete Citation Receiver Brochure (Note: Large pdf file and smaller individual jpg's.)
 
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Before I start babbling like an idiot, let me just say "ME WANT, ME WANT, ME WANT, ME WANT... ... ..."
 
Dang! I was sitting here content with my HK730 and 795i, blissfully ignorant of the Citation receiver. Now I've seen her naked and everything, and still can't have her. It will haunt my dreams!
 
ZR1Brian said:
I was a draftsman at H/K in the mid to late 70's and I was part of the design team for the Citation Receiver and other products. It was designed by the same team that designed the Citation 16, 17, 18, and 19. It was a twin-powered design like the h/k 430/730 but that is where the similarity ended. The Citation Receiver was the ULTIMATE TOTL limited edition receiver in the line and it incorporated the best of everything.

Manitoulin has one in his collection and I think it's one of his favorites.
Joe, any comments?

A photo and spec's from the original Citation Receiver brochure are below.
HK_Cit-Rcvr_Photo.jpg

HK_Cit-Rcvr_Specs.jpg

Click on this link for complete Citation Receiver Brochure (Note: Large pdf file and smaller individual jpg's.)

ABSOLUTELY AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Methinks that vintagestereo has decided on his next conquest!

Or, does the 85wpc disqualify it as a "monster"? I would have to say that monster is not really the right description. But, man who cares? This is TOTL no matter how you look at it.

Were these hand assembled?

Jim
 
It was a limited edition and I am not sure how many were made. I know, not many and I never saw one in a store anywhere at the time.

The Citation Receiver, just like ALL the Citiation products (Citation 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 16a, 16s, 17, 17s, 18, and 19) at that time were ALL hand assembled at the Plainview, NY, Good OLD USA factory and design headquarters. The x30 series where an excellent product but they were produced off-shore to h/k requirements.
 
Jim H B said:
Methinks that vintagestereo has decided on his next conquest!

Or, does the 85wpc disqualify it as a "monster"? I would have to say that monster is not really the right description. But, man who cares? This is TOTL no matter how you look at it.

Were these hand assembled?

Jim

I collect TOTL, just just "Monsters". If I could find a Citation Receiver, I would certainly get it. It is the TOTL h/k.
 
Joe's (Manitoulin's) response, a bit long..

Thanks Brian for reviving this thread. :thmbsp: I intended to do so one day, just never seemed to get around to it.

To clear up one issue, the original pics in this post are of a user modded unit. None came with the speaker outs set-up as shown in the pic. IMHO, it was done rather poorly by whoever did it. It could have been done better by using the area above the spkr two out connectors, if it was deemed absolutely necessary at all. I always used gold plated pins for my spkr cables, so never had any problems with the factory connectors.

I always thought the Citation Receiver was perfectly designed for a niche customer that wanted an all-in-one unit, with quite good specs and also exclusivity.

Orion states a 1977 MSRP of $1150, almost three times the $400 MSRP of the 730..

I think the THD spec is misleading as at 75W, I was unable to measure any THD when my original unit was tested in 1981 when I was in the Army. We used an unbelievably expensive test rig used for a classified radio system that could measure down to .005% THD. I think h/k was forced to put the o/p power as high as possible due to the start of the receiver wars. When originally released, h/k did not issue any power specs for the unit. A very radical concept, especially considering the price. I remember trying to sell it to a few customers who balked at buying a receiver that had no specs, especially at the price it listed. At the time, I asked the Cdn h/k distributor, who was not able to get any specs from h/k when the Citation Receiver was first released. Didn't matter, one listen was enough for the lucky few who bought one.

The Citation Receiver is one monster of a unit. It weighs a ton. It has all the features anyone could ask for, including midrange controls and a mpx filter. I especially like how the designers used, for want of a better term, coaxial controls. For example, the bass control has the low filter ganged together. It made for one of the cleanest large receivers I have ever seen. The tuning dial shares the style of the 730, 430 family, which is one of the most attractive of ant analog tuner I have seen. Because of its large size, it will not fit in a normal rack. You pretty well have to make your own, with quite strong support. The top has a rosewood inlay, which I think was a classy way to bridge the transition from fully enclosed units to the later units that came W/O wood cases. The 1 - 10 scale visible from the top was really a good feature. It was copied to on the later 230E. G0 figure, for the top to the bottom.

The only real negative to the unit is the touch controls, that followed from the ST-7 turntable. When first turned on, when selecting a function, there is a pretty good "snap", as opposed to a "thump" sent out to the speakers. I got in the habit of turning the unit on with the spkr selector set to off, then running up and down the functions, before turning on the spkrs. After that, when changing functions, it was noise free until used the next time.

Soundwise, the Citation Receiver is a true performer. The only way I can describe it is by saying it is quite a full sound, especially compared to the 730. It is not that there is anything wrong with the Citation Receiver's sound, quite the opposite, in fact, but it does have its own character. It really sounds best with vinyl. The interesting thing about the Citation Receiver is that it sounds louder that the actual watts out indicate. I find that I can run it with less SPL than my Citation 17s / Citation 19 set-up with the same results. Can't say why, it just is... :scratch2: I still have a portable SPL meter that I verified this anomaly.

The one I have now is actually my second one, the ex-wife would not allow me to pick-up my 1st one :worried:
 
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