Moderators Youthman Posted September 15, 2009 Moderators Share Posted September 15, 2009 A friend of mine loves music and has been over many times to hang out listening to music in my theater room. I've turned him onto Klipsch and so he's looking for a super budget friendly 2ch system for the bedroom. He knows little about it so is relying on my advice to help locate him something good, but cheap. I told him since it is in a bedroom, and he will not be using it for HT, I highly recommended Harman Kardon paired up with Klipsch for 2ch listening. I found a Harman Kardon AVR225 for $50. It had sat on CL for a month and had not sold. I texted the guy and offered $30 or 4 bluray movies. He replied $30 and 2 bluray movies in which I replied, $30 or 4 bluray movies, final offer. He said if I picked it up the next day, he would sell it for $30. We drive 1 hr to pick it up and the face was scratched pretty bad (I neglected to ask if there was any cosmetic damage) so we were both surprised but my friend was still ok with that. What do you expect for $30 right? When we unhook it and picked it up, one of the feet falls off of it. I was like uh oh. What next? LOL The guy says he would knock another $5 off for the broken foot. He and I are driving home, not totally sure we made the best decision but for $25, how can you go wrong. We bring it home and hook it up to my RF-83's with no sub. Oh wow. We both sat back and grinned from ear to ear. The sweet sensation of hearing each individual instrument so delecately separated from each other was a treat. I told him for $25, he got one heck of a deal. Once we had it setup in my cabinet, we didn't even see the scratches on the front and the unit didn't even wobble with only three supporting legs. So guess what...now it's got me considering two options: Option 1: Find me a very cheap deal on a used HK to have just for fun. Would be a pain to switch back and forth on occassion but might be worth the effort. Option 2: Sell or trade my Yamaha for a nice HK that has preouts, HDMI, HD audio codecs etc. I love my Yamaha. It does an amazing job at HT and sounds great with 2ch but I still absolutely love the sound of the Harman Kardon over the Yammie for 2ch listening. Why oh why did I have to bring it home to listen to. LOL. Now I'm on the lookout for a sweet deal on a pair of RB series speakers for his bedroom. I hooked my RB-35's up as mains and he really liked the sound of them. His budget is really low ($200 or less) for speakers so it might take awhile but we'll find them. I picked my RB-35's up in mint condition for less than $200 so I know it is possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuzzzer Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 You seem to come across some sweet deals, shouldn't take too long to find something nice for your friend. The HK 3480 2 channel integrated amp I used to have was the best sounding amplification I've ever heard with my setup. Assuming your Yamaha has at least main channel pre-outs, you should be able to pick one up for under $150 and use it whenever you wanted to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 You seem to come across some sweet deals, shouldn't take too long to find something nice for your friend. The HK 3480 2 channel integrated amp I used to have was the best sounding amplification I've ever heard with my setup. Assuming your Yamaha has at least main channel pre-outs, you should be able to pick one up for under $150 and use it whenever you wanted to. I second the HK3480 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 Congrats to your bud. If you look back over the years,except for a bad experience with the hk 7200 I've always suggested HK.The HK's are just a better sounding avr for music,even some semi tone deaf friends can hear the difference.For HT it may not matter but I listen to music mostly,the HK's are a best buy in avr's. I have an Onkyo 805 in my 2nd room,claimed to be something special,NOT,it's just an Onkyo,cold sterile for music(maybe slightly worse than Yamaha).I'll be glad when it's gone,or maybe sent to upgrade the 606 in my garage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted September 15, 2009 Author Moderators Share Posted September 15, 2009 Thx guys. Wuzzer, with the 3480, would I integrate the HK with my Yamaha like shown below? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted September 15, 2009 Author Moderators Share Posted September 15, 2009 I'm trying to think through how this would work with my existing system. Would I need to have a seperate set of speakers in order to listen to the HK? If I wanted to use my RF-83's, would I need to run speaker wire from the Yamaha to the RF-83's for movies and then a separate speaker wires from the HK for 2ch listening and have to switch back and forth manually? Just trying to see how to mesh the two receivers. Another thought...if I use the preouts on the Yammie to the main inputs on the HK, wouldn't the yamaha be sending a "processed" signal? What I'm saying is that amps don't really have "signature sounds" as much as "receivers" do. I'm thinking the HK would get sound qualities from the yamaha that would effect the type of sound that the HK produced. Maybe I'm thinking too much...just need some help thinking this through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuzzzer Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 Thx guys. Wuzzer, with the 3480, would I integrate the HK with my Yamaha like shown below? Yes. Although, I did forget the part about the speaker wires. [:$] You can get a switch box to select between the two receivers. You'd run speaker wires from both the H/K and the Yamaha into the switch box and then a single set of wires to your RF-83s and you can switch between them on the fly. Otherwise a decent set of banana plugs would make swapping wires between the two take only a few seconds. Come to think of it, I'd go the banana plug way. Much cheaper and you don't have to find a place to put another box. For my next suggestion it will depend on whether or not you use your PS3 as a CD player or something else. I'm assuming its your PS3 since I don't see a CD player listed in your sig. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted September 15, 2009 Author Moderators Share Posted September 15, 2009 Thx Wuzzer. Yes, I have banana plugs so that isn't a big deal. My false wall has hinges so the door swings open to allow me access to the RF-83's. I think I would prefer the direct connection approach as opposed to a switchbox. For my next suggestion it will depend on whether or not you use your PS3 as a CD player or something else. I'm assuming its your PS3 since I don't see a CD player listed in your sig. Yup, PS3 is the only player at the present. Not sure how good it is at reproducing sound from CD's. Sounds good to me but that's all I've known. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuzzzer Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 The PS3 now allows simultaneous audio/video outputs through the Multi-Out, HDMI and optical digital since the latest firmware update. You could run the audio outputs from the Multi-Out to the H/K and bypass the Yamaha if you're worried about it coloring the sound. Of course, going that route relies on the DACs in the PS3. Otherwise I don't think that using the Yamaha's pre-outs would mess with the sound that much. HK 3470 just showed up on eBay http://cgi.ebay.com/Harman-kardon-HK-3470-Receiver-with-VMAx_W0QQitemZ270456603018QQcmdZViewItemQQptZReceivers_Tuners?hash=item3ef878418a&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14 3470 model was released before the 3480. You should probably be able to pick it up for about $100. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted September 15, 2009 Author Moderators Share Posted September 15, 2009 Very cool info. I just updated the firmware the other day. Man I love the PS3. [] I found a nice yamaha cd player for $25 today. Might pick that up for my friend...or may keep it for myself. LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted September 15, 2009 Author Moderators Share Posted September 15, 2009 Here are four 3270's local for $150 each. To be honest, I'm looking for super cheap right now. LOL. I wanna deal man, sweet, smoking hot deal! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnA Posted September 16, 2009 Share Posted September 16, 2009 Look for an old Yamaha CA-x00 or CA-x10. I had a CA-800 and drove myLa Scalas with it for a while. It was very nice, very tubey. For a small improvement the Class A switch changed the output from 45 watts (60 tested) to 8 wpc All Class A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted September 17, 2009 Author Moderators Share Posted September 17, 2009 Thx for the info John. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DU73 Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 Very cool info. I just updated the firmware the other day. Man I love the PS3. +1 - lucky i read this thread, as my avr (pre) does not support hdmi, so i am using optical as audio, no more switching ps3 settings from hdmi (tv) to optical.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted September 22, 2009 Author Moderators Share Posted September 22, 2009 +1 - lucky i read this thread, as my avr (pre) does not support hdmi, so i am using optical as audio, no more switching ps3 settings from hdmi (tv) to optical.. Sweet deal. I only have HDMI hooked up currently. Glad it helps you out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.