3rdrockblue
New Member
First of all, Hello! Recently joined this forum and this is my first post.
I recently picked up a pair of Polk Monitor 7s and was looking to find a receiver that would go well with those. My listening space is medium sized with carpets, a popcorn ceiling and some couches. As luck would have it, I found a fully functional (see below) HK385i within a week of the purchase of the speakers. Looked around and found not a lot of information on the sound quality or capabilities of the 385i. I am adding my impressions so that it may help someone else.
The 385i: Excellent, clean warm sound! The rated 30 Watts are more than enough to pump deep, sharp, floor-shaking bass notes through high quality, high efficiency speakers such as the Monitor 7s. I don't mean to imply that the sound was bass heavy, but that it put out low notes with authority. The sound is clear across the spectrum and the clarity of the human voice in songs is impressive. The FM tuner is a good analog one. It pulls in more stations than most of the digital tuners I've used, although those were not top end ones. The number of inputs is limited to tape in, tape out, CD and phono. A chromecast audio streaming bob makes up for the lack of digital inputs. The brushed metal aesthetic and square led indicators are very cool. The 385i also drove a pair of Bose 301IIIs in A+B combination with the Polk 7s without breaking a sweat. I found that the Bose's were really not up to par. So those are going to be removed.
All buttons and knobs work. The FM tuner strength indicator and the tape monitor leds all work. One question in my mind is whether the dial, or the tuner needle are supposed to light up - are they? I haven't opened it up, but I am going to do so and at least blow out any old dust and clean out any greasy grime.
Saw an old ad somewhere that the Monitor 7's were packaged with HK330. It looks to me that the 385i and the Monitor 7's are also well matched. Listened to hours of music and I am really enjoying the combination. Classical, jazz instrumental and classic rock on CDs, flacs on my LAN and FM all sound wonderful.
- blue
I recently picked up a pair of Polk Monitor 7s and was looking to find a receiver that would go well with those. My listening space is medium sized with carpets, a popcorn ceiling and some couches. As luck would have it, I found a fully functional (see below) HK385i within a week of the purchase of the speakers. Looked around and found not a lot of information on the sound quality or capabilities of the 385i. I am adding my impressions so that it may help someone else.
The 385i: Excellent, clean warm sound! The rated 30 Watts are more than enough to pump deep, sharp, floor-shaking bass notes through high quality, high efficiency speakers such as the Monitor 7s. I don't mean to imply that the sound was bass heavy, but that it put out low notes with authority. The sound is clear across the spectrum and the clarity of the human voice in songs is impressive. The FM tuner is a good analog one. It pulls in more stations than most of the digital tuners I've used, although those were not top end ones. The number of inputs is limited to tape in, tape out, CD and phono. A chromecast audio streaming bob makes up for the lack of digital inputs. The brushed metal aesthetic and square led indicators are very cool. The 385i also drove a pair of Bose 301IIIs in A+B combination with the Polk 7s without breaking a sweat. I found that the Bose's were really not up to par. So those are going to be removed.
All buttons and knobs work. The FM tuner strength indicator and the tape monitor leds all work. One question in my mind is whether the dial, or the tuner needle are supposed to light up - are they? I haven't opened it up, but I am going to do so and at least blow out any old dust and clean out any greasy grime.
Saw an old ad somewhere that the Monitor 7's were packaged with HK330. It looks to me that the 385i and the Monitor 7's are also well matched. Listened to hours of music and I am really enjoying the combination. Classical, jazz instrumental and classic rock on CDs, flacs on my LAN and FM all sound wonderful.
- blue
