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harman/kardon: new vs. old


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I used to have a harman/kardon AVR45 receiver. It had a few various, fairly minor flaws, such as being too loud at minimum volume, having a slight hum through the speakers, clicking when I adjust the volume, etc. I eventually replaced it with a circa-1989 h/k 880 Vxi receiver that I found on eBay.

The old 880 has a significantly different sound. It is much warmer and less harsh. When I had my KG3.5s connected to the AVR45, I had noticed a few oddities such as VERY loud cymbals. I had the bass and treble knobs zeroed, with no DSPs activated. I thought that it was a characteristic of the speakers. With the 880, however, that overly bright sound is totally gone. I didn't think that amps of similar quality sounded appreciably different, but the difference between these two was immediately noticeable.

So, if anyone is looking for a good cheap receiver, try an older harman/kardon. I think they are great. I don't know why h/k changed to the bright sound (sounds better on cheap speakers, perhaps), but I wish they didn't!

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Basically, they are trying to meet a price point. $300 in 1985 was worth a lot more than $300 in 1995. They have also added a bunch a bells and whistles which takes away from the amount spent on the signal path. I have a HK 930, HK 330C and HK 670. The 930 is OK, but the 330C is exceptional (only 25 watts). The jury is still out on the 670 as it has some noise and distortion on one channel. These receivers were all had for under $90 a piece.

vr,

Jeff

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