Harmon Kardon AVR445

[n8384]

Has anyone got or used one of these machines?
spoke to my local hifi specialist and he said he would not recommend them, and suggested yamaha or arcam..

any thoughts on the AVR445?

 

[hoppaz]

Has anyone got or used one of these machines?
spoke to my local hifi specialist and he said he would not recommend them, and suggested yamaha or arcam..

any thoughts on the AVR445?

I have the HK AVR 430 and to me these amps are seriously underated. It blows away my old Denon 3802 in terms or power (even though it is rated at a modest 65w per channel) and dynamics.

Logic 7 is a great surround feature of HK and don't forget HK is part of Lexicon who make some of the best surround processors around.

My AVR 430 software has been upgraded using a computer which is a neat feature of these amps. Also it is a digital amp so power can be transfeered amongst the channels when required (more power goes to three channels for example if you put it in this mode)

Why doesn't the specialist like the HK amp?

 

[alphabet]

Why doesn't the specialist like the HK amp?

Because he wants to push Yamaha and Arcam

I have limited experience of HK's - a friend bought a AVR335 some time ago, but I would suppose that compared to most Denons, Yamahas, Pioneers and Onkyos it would appear that the HK's power is understated as most of the other brands do not specify their power ratings with all channels driven whereas HK is fairly conservative and specify the ratings with all channels driven simultaneously.

Personally I was not really impressed with my friend's HK and we both felt that it did not have the power and drive of the CA(Stereo mode), but then again the HK 335 is rated much lower in quoted power delivery(all channels driven). The sonic signature did not appeal to me either, but that's a personal preference and no reflection on the quality of HK.

We went a step further and did a side-by-side comparison(Stereo mode) with a Yamaha RX-V650, Denon 2805 and a Pioneer VSX1015(other friends kindly supplied them ) and in this case the HK outperformed them in power delivery.

So what I am trying to say? Is CA better than HK and HK better than Denon, Yamaha, Pioneer? Not at all, only that HK's as the others mentioned are quality products, but YOU have to decide which one satisfies your needs and don't base your decision on quoted power ratings

 

[n8384]

Thanks for the replies...
the reason the guy said no to HK's is that he had couple of returns, units that have blown up....
from what research i have done, the HK's are very decent units but not many people stock them..

think i will take the plunge and get one of these...

 

[alphabet]

think i will take the plunge and get one of these...

Rather don't take the plunge! First listen to it and then decide if you like the sound before laying out the money