Topic: anyone here know anything about the quality of Harmon Kardon equipment?

[bucky katt]

i finally found a replacement for my 20+ year old sony 5cd changer, a Harmon Kardon FL8380 5 disc machine. i got it for 20 dollars from a local guy on Criagslist. this thing still has the plastic stuff on the front panels, it even smells like a new player (god i love that new electronics smell, almost as good as a new saddle or a tack shop)  how durable are their electronics?

[myhondas]

HK was always considered very good equip around here.

[Gordon]

I think it depends a lot on when it was made.  I know Harmon Kardon was a high-end company back in the day, and they may still be, but the past ten years or so I've seen their name on a lot of cheap stuff, too.   

[Rocking-M]

i finally found a replacement for my 20+ year old sony 5cd changer, a Harmon Kardon FL8380 5 disc machine. i got it for 20 dollars from a local guy on Criagslist. this thing still has the plastic stuff on the front panels, it even smells like a new player (god i love that new electronics smell, almost as good as a new saddle or a tack shop)  how durable are their electronics?

can you find another one? 

[ColinMc]

My mom's 2003 BMW 330xi had a Harmon Kardon system and it was fan-freaken-tastic lol...but that's about my only experience with that stuff...

[bmarshall]

to the nesty of my knowledge, they're good, but not great. Like most AV companies, they have their high-line equipment and their price point equipment.

[BobbyR]

HK was a high end brand at in it's time. In recent times almost all of these units are made in a handful of plants so it should be fine. None better than the other.

[bucky katt]

well, it doesnt seem to like cd-r's much. every time i turn it on and a different one wont work, different position on the carousel each time. pre recorded work perfectly. the cd-r's worked perfectly in the old sony

[BLUE71TURBO]

Here ya go KAT ............http://www99.epinions.com/reviews/483751_Harman_Kardon_FL8380_5_Disc_CD_Changer

[bucky katt]

dirty laser was all it was
popped the top off cleaned it with glasses cleaner and put it all back together. the cd-r's arent as reflective as pre-recorded cd's so a lens thats a little dirty wont work with the cd-r's but will with pre-recorded

[Rocking-M]

dirty laser was all it was
popped the top off cleaned it with glasses cleaner and put it all back together. the cd-r's arent as reflective as pre-recorded cd's so a lens thats a little dirty wont work with the cd-r's but will with pre-recorded

sounds like the problem with my sony. How do I clean it?

[bucky katt]

i took the top cover off and i could see the laser under a shield but with space to get at it. i sprayed a little optical cleaning spray on a q-tip and wiped it down then went over it again with a dry one. sounds like new again. by the way, what in hell is hdcd? this player has it.

[BobbyR]

i took the top cover off and i could see the laser under a shield but with space to get at it. i sprayed a little optical cleaning spray on a q-tip and wiped it down then went over it again with a dry one. sounds like new again. by the way, what in hell is hdcd? this player has it.

It is a digital encoding process that is meant to bring back the warmth of the old analog recordings. Microsoft owns the patent.

[Duke McDukiedook]

Huh, I thought that when the CD came out in the 80's that digital was billed as perfect sound forever?  

Didn't know they had to improve on it at all if it is perfect sound. 

[mick750F]

dirty laser was all it was
popped the top off cleaned it with glasses cleaner and put it all back together. the cd-r's arent as reflective as pre-recorded cd's so a lens thats a little dirty wont work with the cd-r's but will with pre-recorded

sounds like the problem with my sony. How do I clean it?

  You can get a CD cleaning disc that you play just like a CD. It's not really much more than a CD with a brush on it but they do work if the lens isn't overly crapped up. Other than that if you can see/find the lens then you can clean it with a Q-tip and some rubbing alcohol. Possibly vodka if it's an emergency. 

Mike

[BobbyR]

Huh, I thought that when the CD came out in the 80's that digital was billed as perfect sound forever?  

Didn't know they had to improve on it at all if it is perfect sound. 

It does and it does not. When they compressed the audio to make CDs they needed to define a frequency range, so they picked the average frequency range of Human hearing. On a Vinyl record or a tape it captures all of the frequencies. The acuity of your hearing will cause the sound to decay slowly, and that will happen to people on an individual.

The CD compression cuts off the higher and lower frequencies very abruptly which people can hear on very good equipment. The HDCD is supposed to extend that range along with smoothing out the sound a bit. CDs tend to be very "bright" sounding. 

[mick750F]

   The quality of the DAC...digital audio converter...that you are using makes a big difference in the sound reproduced as well. I had a lot of trouble listening to CDs until I got a Class "A" amp with a built in DAC. It allows me to bypass the on board DAC in the player. The sound is much more acceptable to me but nothing beats good old vinyl.

   There are players with high end DACs in them but for the most part they are out of my price range.

Mike

[Duke McDukiedook]

Huh, I thought that when the CD came out in the 80's that digital was billed as perfect sound forever?  

Didn't know they had to improve on it at all if it is perfect sound. 

It does and it does not. When they compressed the audio to make CDs they needed to define a frequency range, so they picked the average frequency range of Human hearing. On a Vinyl record or a tape it captures all of the frequencies. The acuity of your hearing will cause the sound to decay slowly, and that will happen to people on an individual.

The CD compression cuts off the higher and lower frequencies very abruptly which people can hear on very good equipment. The HDCD is supposed to extend that range along with smoothing out the sound a bit. CDs tend to be very "bright" sounding. 

I know, I was just being facetious.

Supposedly DVD Audio and SACD are supposedly pretty close to master material.
Never had a chance to listen to either yet, too hooked on vinyl lately.

[mick750F]

   Yeah Dukie...I thought I caught what you were throwing down. I have a few DVD audio discs and they're pretty damn good. I don't have any SACDs but I've listened to them and they are a step above regular CDs but to me not worth the extra cost. I'd rather spend that money on a remastered vinyl disc.

Mike

[BobbyR]

   Yeah Dukie...I thought I caught what you were throwing down. I have a few DVD audio discs and they're pretty damn good. I don't have any SACDs but I've listened to them and they are a step above regular CDs but to me not worth the extra cost. I'd rather spend that money on a remastered vinyl disc.

Mike

I hate to break it to you fellas but there is vinyl and then there is audiophile vinyl. Back in the day when I worked in an Audio boutique they only used records that were certified to be among the first 25 pressed in each run. They cost big bucks. It was worth it since they were selling $400 1968 Dollar amps. For reference a good solid yearly salary was $10,000 and a fully loaded Mustang was stickered $3k and the Premium gas for it was 55 cents a gallon. 

[Rocking-M]

speaking of vinyl. I just got Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon on heavy vinyl. Man vinyl sounds good.

[mick750F]

   Yeah Dukie...I thought I caught what you were throwing down. I have a few DVD audio discs and they're pretty damn good. I don't have any SACDs but I've listened to them and they are a step above regular CDs but to me not worth the extra cost. I'd rather spend that money on a remastered vinyl disc.

Mike

I hate to break it to you fellas but there is vinyl and then there is audiophile vinyl. Back in the day when I worked in an Audio boutique they only used records that were certified to be among the first 25 pressed in each run. They cost big bucks. It was worth it since they were selling $400 1968 Dollar amps. For reference a good solid yearly salary was $10,000 and a fully loaded Mustang was stickered $3k and the Premium gas for it was 55 cents a gallon. 

 
   Not breaking anything to me Bobby. Notice that I mentioned remastered vinyl when talking about SACDs. You can't get just anything new on remastered vinyl but there's a lot of quality music available. I don't know if the newly remastered albums are up to snuff compared to the albums you mention but they're pretty damn sweet sounding. That being said, regular out of the bin vinyl is much more pleasing to my ear than just about any CD I've ever listened to.

   Oh, and premium for 55¢ in '68? Wasn't it more like 35¢? 

Mike

Mike

[BobbyR]

   Yeah Dukie...I thought I caught what you were throwing down. I have a few DVD audio discs and they're pretty damn good. I don't have any SACDs but I've listened to them and they are a step above regular CDs but to me not worth the extra cost. I'd rather spend that money on a remastered vinyl disc.

Mike

I hate to break it to you fellas but there is vinyl and then there is audiophile vinyl. Back in the day when I worked in an Audio boutique they only used records that were certified to be among the first 25 pressed in each run. They cost big bucks. It was worth it since they were selling $400 1968 Dollar amps. For reference a good solid yearly salary was $10,000 and a fully loaded Mustang was stickered $3k and the Premium gas for it was 55 cents a gallon. 

 
   Not breaking anything to me Bobby. Notice that I mentioned remastered vinyl when talking about SACDs. You can't get just anything new on remastered vinyl but there's a lot of quality music available. I don't know if the newly remastered albums are up to snuff compared to the albums you mention but they're pretty damn sweet sounding. That being said, regular out of the bin vinyl is much more pleasing to my ear than just about any CD I've ever listened to.

   Oh, and premium for 55¢ in '68? Wasn't it more like 35¢? 

Mike

Mike

Mike, whatever sounds good to you is all that is important. The 55 cents was for NY Sunoco 260.

[SteveD CB500F]

My '98 Jag had the optional "Premier" sound system. It was Harmon Kardon and (Jag would have it) was designed specifically for the interior of the car.

9 speakers in 1998 was the real deal!

It sounded awesome.

The V8 sounded pretty awesome too  

[754]

Back in I think 75, my buddy bought a pair of Sansui amps, they were around 1200 USD reatail.... X 2..!!.. they actually cost more than abrand new CB 750 back then...

 He musta saved his nickels and dimes....!