Does anyone out there have an opinion on HK receivers. I have been reading alot on this site, and a lot of you talk about Yamaha, Denon, and Oynko receivers, but not much talk about Harman Kardon. Any opinions?
Harmon Kardon is an excellent receiver take the time to listen to one with good speakers you will not be disapointed HK has been around for a long time
I looked all over for the right reciever for me a couple years ago. I even bought several before I found what I wanted. I looked at some of the high end HKs, and was sorely disappointed. We went into a theater specific room and listened to several units. The HK when cranked to fairly loud volume (although not even referance levels) it shut down. The salesman told me, "oh that always happens when you crank this unit, no big deal just give it a minute to cool down". I know alot of people will point out the impedance on the speakers, but they were driven to referance on the Pioneer Elite VSX45TXi without load protect, which are supersensative to >8ohm loads unless set to 6 ohm. The VSX45TXi was set to 8 ohm (I checked), and it was ultimately the unit I stuck with. I don't like Onkyo, because IMO they are way too bright. Same with Yamaha. Tough to beat the Onkyo feature set though... I liked my Denon, but it just didn't have the sound I wanted. Marantz was a nice sound, but way underfeatured. IMO the Pioneer Elite units are the best sub-$2000 units out there. Of note, the higher end Pioneer units are pretty sweet units as well.
I have had a Harmon Kardon 7200 for 3 years and it has never "shut off" like you say. It is a great receiver. I use it to power my Onix Rocket speakers and my SVS PB12-Plus/2 Sub.
