Vintage Harman Kardon Receivers
- Thread starter 5Toes
- Start date
I sure am !:thmbsp: Glad I lucked out when I saw your ad and I would be in your area the next day...150 miles one way.
That was a strange coincedence.
richamor
amateur house husband
I have a Marantz 2235b and an HK integrated. Although they sound different, I'd be hard pressed to say which is "better. Sometimes I prefer one, sometimes the other. If you buy either, you will be getting a nice piece of equipment that should provide years of happy listening.
If you ever sell, the Marantz generally hold value better than the HK. At least for now.
And Sherwood made some fine receivers worthy of consideration.
If you ever sell, the Marantz generally hold value better than the HK. At least for now.
And Sherwood made some fine receivers worthy of consideration.
I am listening through a HK 350i as I type this. I agree with terra1 that Harman Kardon has a "clean and neutral" sound (not unlike the Yamaha "natural sound"), which is either to your tastes or not: others might prefer a more characteristic (?) sound that the Pioneers and Marantz give. I will also agree that HKs are very well-made and easy to maintain. I also think they are currently undervalued (and easy to find in my neck of the woods, anyway): I got my 350i at a Value Village for $10. It was much easier to De-oxit than some others I have done. So why not take your time and see if you can score a cheapie? Then save up for something special later on.
Yes, using an EQ or the tone controls to boost the bass or treble can cause the amplifier to clip at a level that produces much less sound than if you used a "flat" setting. The more you crank up the bass and treble controls, the more of a problem you will have.
Half power? Do you mean turning to volume half way up? If so, you should know that most, if not all amplifiers, reach their maximum rated power well before the volume control is advanced to MAX. This is especially true if you turn up the bass and/or treble controls or use the “loudness” feature.I never knew that, thanks for the insight! But I NEVER play over half power, thats my rule
All things considered, the much lower power provided by the receivers you are considering will probably leave you disappointed.
So are you saying greater than half is max RMS or fewer then half? most of my listening is between 1/4 and 1/3
I did a bunch of work on a 330c recently and really really liked it. I have never heard the 330i or any HK from its time, actually. I now feel the 330c is the best bang for the buck out there in its power range, and it looks sharp too. If you don't want to pay more for the Marantz brand, then don't! Plenty of other options, and you can always wait until you spot one for cheap and try it out then.
Are you talking about the L810 wall-mountable surround speaker? Looks like that's only 88dB, bass reflex.. 75-100wpc might be better, but the 330c would probably do okay with that as long as the room is small-ish. I was running it on DLK 3s (8ohm, 12" woofer, bass reflex, 93db I think?) and it had no trouble powering those, while many 50-watt vintage receivers were not up to the same task.
Are you talking about the L810 wall-mountable surround speaker? Looks like that's only 88dB, bass reflex.. 75-100wpc might be better, but the 330c would probably do okay with that as long as the room is small-ish. I was running it on DLK 3s (8ohm, 12" woofer, bass reflex, 93db I think?) and it had no trouble powering those, while many 50-watt vintage receivers were not up to the same task.
Last edited:
It depends entirely on the input. The volume is just turning down the input by X amount and the exact position doesn't really mean anything about how much power you are using.
Jonesy09
Super Member
I set my daughter up with a H/K 330c and Infinity Beta 20 monitors when she was just a little older than you. I 'tested' the rig for a while before she got it. She almost didn't. Very competent power handling and sweet sound. It's still going strong in her apartment. Unless you have a stadium sized room, or like ear-blistering SPL's, you can't go wrong there.
The baby Yamaha's are nice as well. I've been pushing a CR-620 through some EPI speakers in the dining room. Again, great sound, and I can hear them on the patio clear as day if I want. But really, any of the stuff mentioned in this thread will out-calss cheap mass market stuff from the 80's and 90's, and 00's.
Have fun.
The baby Yamaha's are nice as well. I've been pushing a CR-620 through some EPI speakers in the dining room. Again, great sound, and I can hear them on the patio clear as day if I want. But really, any of the stuff mentioned in this thread will out-calss cheap mass market stuff from the 80's and 90's, and 00's.
Have fun.
Phototone
Super Member
The position you have to set the volume control is not in any way a measure of the power you are using. The volume control just adjusts the INCOMING signal from the tuner, tape, CD or Turntable. If a component produces a strong output, then you will have to turn the amp volume up less to achieve loudness. You could possibly be going into clipping with any receiver with the volume set at 10 o'clock, if your input signal is strong enough.
Sharpstik
Stuck in the 70's
I've wondered about this. Even a 2 db gain is bad via the output levels, even if ALL the tonal controls are set to neutral ? (except for the 580 hz- I cut that one out)
To the op..I've had the 330C and the 2220B. Go for the Marantz.
Last edited:
A boost of 3 decibles will essentially double the power drawn at that frequency in relation to the other frequencies. So, a gain of two decibles will not quite double the power drain and shouldn't be too drastic a situation at normal levels.
It's when one cranks up the extremes on the eq (The "smiley-face" syndrome)that problems set in. When you boost around 10 db, you increase the draw on the power amp by a power of ten. Considering that our ears respond to bass (and treble) less efficiently than they do to mid-range frequencies, many people tend to crank these extremes to the max. That WILL drain an amp, particularly a low powered one, even when the "normal" listening levels are quite modest.
It's when one cranks up the extremes on the eq (The "smiley-face" syndrome)that problems set in. When you boost around 10 db, you increase the draw on the power amp by a power of ten. Considering that our ears respond to bass (and treble) less efficiently than they do to mid-range frequencies, many people tend to crank these extremes to the max. That WILL drain an amp, particularly a low powered one, even when the "normal" listening levels are quite modest.