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The Official Harman Kardon H/K Citation Owners Thread

I also have a Citation 22. I picked up a dead one in April and with the help of AK got it working. I did the recap thing too since that is what you do.

You can read about it here (with parts list subs).

I'm using my Kenwood C2 for a pre but need to make speaker wire adapters for bananas before I can move it into the main room. Tonight seems good as any.

I'm glad a found this thread. Interesting read.
 
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Greg Nal said:
Count me among the HK Citation receiver owners. I bought mine from AK'er Galaxie65, who bought it and sent it to AK'er bktheking for the full restoration. This one has a special place in the rotation, especially during the hot summer months when my tube gear gets benched until the cool days of fall. Supposed to hit 97 this week so she'll be coming back down to the listening room shortly. A beautiful piece of engineering and fantastic restoration. I reached out to bktheking just this evening to see if he can recall the work done, as it is a shame to say "I got it from a guy, who sent it to a guy who restored it". I much prefer to give credit where credit is due. Word on the street is bk is a "go to" guy when it comes to the Cit receiver.

Oh, and I picked up a Citation 15 tuner when I bought a hoard of equipment from an AK'er getting out of the hobby. Haven't done much with it though. Anyone looking for one let me know.
Do you sell the Cit. 15? If not I’m interested.
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My records say I own one, but I have not been able to find it. It must be deep in the pile somewhere. I had another member ask about it a while back who also saw it on this thread, so if I come by it, I will contact them first, you second. I've got some digging to do...
 
Greg Nal said:
My records say I own one, but I have not been able to find it. It must be deep in the pile somewhere. I had another member ask about it a while back who also saw it on this thread, so if I come by it, I will contact them first, you second. I've got some digging to do...
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Cool. Thanks for replying.
 
BTW- I just came across the Citation Owners thread. I own a 16A, 11, 17 & 14.

Is it normal that the volume on a preamp is different than an integrated or receiver? In other words sound is prevalent at level 1 on a receiver or integrated. On a preamp sound
Isn’t heard until 9 o’clock.
 
I recently became owner of a V(5). Reveived parts from Mcshane for a recap last week. Hoped to do the work one the weekend but got sidetracked :(
 
They can't all be Kenwood's so I'll enter the club. The H/K Citation 12. She's all filthy, all original.
aACoIpK.jpg


Y2yi91c.jpg
 
Rmc7400 said:
.....
Is it normal that the volume on a preamp is different than an integrated or receiver? In other words sound is prevalent at level 1 on a receiver or integrated. On a preamp sound
Isn’t heard until 9 o’clock.
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This is totally dependent on voltage levels and gain of various stages. Also, preamp output and power amp sensitivity. It does not necessarily indicate a problem. Some manufacturers will step up the voltage gain so that the uninformed are impressed, thinking that this thing has so much power, all I need to do is barely crack the volume and it blasts loudly.
 
Thank you for the reply Fred. Makes sense. I won’t worry about it and will enjoy the heck out of my system with my new to me Cit. 17.

One more question. When I turn the amp on without a preamp plugged in the amp and speakers are dead quiet. When I plug in a preamp it buzzes. Is this a ground loop problem?
 
Could be. Does the preamp have a headphone out jack? If so, try headphones without connecting to the power amp. You might also try reversing one plug or the other. Also, try connecting only one channel. If the hum starts when the second channel is connected, then it is possibly a loop formed by separation of ground wires someplace.

Another thing that I have recently learned, some cheaper modern cables are not actually shielded. They are only twisted pair and depend on the fact that todays equipment is such low impedance that it doesn't need shielding. If those cables are used with higher impedance equipment, there can be audible hum.
 
Thanks again Fred. I bought some better cables. Didn’t really work. Next I went with your advice and started to unplug components and found the CD players are the culprit. Specifically in the left channel.

Also- did some research on the int input sensitivity of my 17. I use this and a Pioneer SA8500 as my preamps. The 17 is rated at a higher voltage than the 8500. Does this seem right?
 
If the 17 is rated at a higher input voltage, then you will probably need a higher volume setting for the same volume, assuming that the rated output level is the same.

Have no idea what could be causing hum in the CD player. Maybe a bad ground connection in the analog section.
 
I had it restored as soon as I bought it....full recap, output and phono rca’s replaced...(phono only set up)

I have an integrated amp Marantz 1152DC I’ve been using last couple years, hooked it up to that just to test....My B&K amp is being recapped, should be done next week...

I’m restoring a set of Infinity RSII to go with my new (to me) set up...

every 2 or 3 years I change things up...
 
Hey all, new guy here. I found you quite by accident searching for a local repair shop but had no luck with that. I have 3 Citation 24 power amps and a Citation 21 pre amp that I was going to take to the landfill cuz I'm tired of lugging them around. Then I found this group so before they go to the dump I thought I'd see if any in the lower 48 might want these for the cost of shipping only. The last time I hooked them up which has been some time ago, something was amiss with the pre-amp as I got no signal and not having a spare pre-amp couldn't test them beyond that. All 3 amps and the pre amp do (or did) power up and as I recall one of the amps came up with protect circuit light on. I bought 2 of the power amps and the pre amp new in 1988. The other amp I bought as a spare off Ebay. I have the original boxes and owner manuals for the the 3 components I bought new. Cosmetically all are in really good shape.

So if anyone is interested, let me know and I'll drag them out and verify nothing has changed since my last power up. EDIT: Dug em out and they are the same as I remember. Protect light on the middle amp. In case there is a mad rush:rolleyes: for these I'll just handle in the order of replies received. I'm in North Carolina so the closer you are the cheaper shipping would be. The amps are heavy buggers as you know. I'd rather see them in the hands of someone who could fix whatever might not be working or pirate them for parts more than occupying space in a landfill.

If there's a better place for this post let me know but from my brief time navigating the forum this seems like the best spot and it appears Barter Town is for paid subscribers?

Dave

IMG_20200103_111211.jpg IMG_20200103_110433.jpg
 
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You're right, Bartertown is for members. I'm sure the thread will blow up with those interested shortly. If you want something more meaningful, try the auctions for audiokarma forum where people post stuff that is auctioned like ebay for a week or so, and the winner pays the fee directly to audiokarma, and pays you for the packing/shipping. AK, as a non-profit, benefits from the auction, you reach a broader audience for your gear, and its no harder than giving it away for nothing. Not sure as a non-member if you can see that site...There's also craigslist locally or leaving the gear on the curb and making someone's week as they drive by and get gear free! I've never been that lucky but there are plenty of posts on Reddit's vintage audio page or Facebook vintage audio forums for this kind of thing.
 
dak55 said:
Hey all, new guy here. I found you quite by accident searching for a local repair shop but had no luck with that. I have 3 Citation 24 power amps and a Citation 21 pre amp that I was going to take to the landfill cuz I'm tired of lugging them around. Then I found this group so before they go to the dump I thought I'd see if any in the lower 48 might want these for the cost of shipping only. The last time I hooked them up which has been some time ago, something was amiss with the pre-amp as I got no signal and not having a spare pre-amp couldn't test them beyond that. All 3 amps and the pre amp do (or did) power up and as I recall one of the amps came up with protect circuit light on. I bought 2 of the power amps and the pre amp new in 1988. The other amp I bought as a spare off Ebay. I have the original boxes and owner manuals for the the 3 components I bought new. Cosmetically all are in really good shape.

So if anyone is interested, let me know and I'll drag them out and verify nothing has changes since my last power up. In case there is a mad rush:rolleyes: for these I'll just handle in the order of replies received. I'm in North Carolina so the closer you are the cheaper shipping would be. The amps are heavy buggers as you know. I'd rather see them in the hands of someone who could fix whatever might not be working or pirate them for parts more than occupying space in a landfill.

If there's a better place for this post let me know but from my brief time navigating the forum this seems like the best spot and it appears Barter Town is for paid subscribers?

Dave
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Welcome to AK, lots of Dave's here. Yes Bartertown is part of the subscription, a whole whopping $25. It helps keep the lights on and the servers humming and a very dangerous place as some of the best gear is there. I don't know if the Mod's will move this to another place because of the rules. But you did hit the right audience!
 
Whatever you do, DO NOT scrap these units. Even with problems, they are well designed and well worth fixing. Build quality was somewhat below 1960s bulletproof standards.

The protect light not going off is a well documented problem with capacitor C11. That capacitor charges at turn on and if it is leaky, it will never charge enough for the unit to unmute.

The preamp has a relay shorting the output until after an initial timeout.

I already have (2) 24s and (2) 21s in good working order, or I would be interested.
 
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