From Harman Kardon to Denon and back again!

lparsons21

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Jul 17, 2009
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I had a Harman Kardon AVR247 and then got the Denon 2113ci. Like lots of things about the Denon, but I miss the tonal qualities that only Harman Kardon has. So a few days ago I took the Denon down and pulled the Harman Kardon AVR247 out of the closet and got everything connected.

There it is!! That sweet Harman Kardon sound! But it is an older model that only does 1080i/p passthrough, so I decided to do some research. I looked at HK's latest and saw that they have changed a lot. A lot lighter that previous models and their power ratings are now the same tricky ones the other mfgs are doing. I wanted one with the older power specs and the heftier power supply. Depending on where you read, it weighs in at either 30 or 40lbs, so it certainly is no lightweight.

Ran across a Harman Kardon AVR3600 factory refurbished with full factory warranty for what I considered a reasonable price. Power out specs are 85w/channel, 20-20Khz, all 7 channels driven. Now some may not find that to be all that powerful, but here's what I noticed years ago. While the model is a few years old, it has all the bells and whistles that I actually use. Decodes the high def sound codecs and also has 7.1 channel analog in/out ports so if I decide to use it in a pre-pro setup, it is ready. Few modern midline AVRs have that any more, reserving it for top of line if they offer it at all.

My HK AVR274 is rated at 50w/Channel, 20-20Khz, all channels driven @0.07% THD and will blow the doors off. Much more powerful sound than the Denon 2113ci which claims 95w/channel.
 
Main thing that keeps me with D&M is Audyssey XT32, I really like this version especially with dual sub eq. I have never had the pleasure of hearing a HK AVR.
 
D&M make good stuff no doubt. And I really don't have strong complaints with my 2113ci.

But there is quite a bit of difference between the end sound from HK and D&M. The term most often heard about HK is 'sweet'. One of the spec numbers, THD, tells the tail about how much extraneous distortion of the input sound is compared to the output and HK's 0.07% is among the very lowest. They are all high current and 4 ohm capable too.
 
I loved Harman Kardon receivers, but they fell behind Denon in technology and I ended up switching to Denon.

Yeah, HK isn't cutting edge when it comes to new things. That's why I went to the Denon 2113ci a few years ago, but I missed the 'fuller', 'sweeter' sound quality that HK is famous for. After a while with the HK3700 I don't miss the extra HDMI port the 2113ci had nor the extra gee-gaws that it has. My little HDMI switch is in the line for the 3 gaming consoles I use on one port of the HK's 4 and that gives me plenty of ports.

I use a Harmony One remote and it is all easily controlled.
 

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