Harman Kardon HK 3475? any good? (1 Viewer)

[Rich Moorehead]

hello. ive looked at pretty much every stereo receiver in the past few days and i think i have decided on this one. the main selling points are the high power and the subwoofer output, and a great price. also harman kardon makes decent products, so ive heard. so what does everyone think of this product? any response will be greatly appreciated because i cant find anything about this product anywhere else.

 

[David Guill]

It is a fine piece of equipment. It has a soft mellow sound to it, not brittle like Sony or Yamaha

 

[Rich Moorehead]

thanks alot, anyone else?

 

[JohnSer]

I have a hk 3470, which is the prior years model. I have been happy with it so far. Purchased it refurb from HarmanAudio. For pure stereo listening, many say to forget the two channel receivers, and go for an integrated amp.

JohnS

 

[Rich Moorehead]

then what could i get that would be better for stereo listening around the same price that has a sub output?

 

[Angelo.M]

A few thoughts...

You don't need a dedicated subwoofer out in order to use a subwoofer, provided your sub accepts speaker wire input. So, you can use a stereo receiver like Onkyo's TX511--which has gotten good notices here and elsewhere--with a sub.

I don't think you'll realize a large difference between the (at present, limited) options that exist for 2-channel stereo receivers. Basically, H/K, Denon, Onkyo and Marantz pieces will all be relatively comparable in performance, if not in features.

As far as the integrated amp is concerned, that might be worth looking into. If you don't need a tuner, then an integrated might provide you with additional power, which could be very useful. Marantz, Yamaha, NAD and Rotel all make integrated amps (as do many other companies; these are just a few that get frequent press here). The Marantz PM7000 is a very nice piece, and worth your investigation. Haven't played with the Rotel or NAD integrateds.

 

[JohnSer]

Rich, I was only stating what is usually posted in threads on this very subject. Searching the forum might provide additional details. I am not certain, but suspect new integrated amps would be a higher cost than the receivers you are considering. You might be able to find a good used bargain, though. For myself, the FM is required, since it is used in one of my kids rooms.

The subout is nice, but as mentioned above, not required for many plate subamps. On the 3470 I have, there is not an adjustable crossover on the receiver. So suspect that the mains run full range, and sub out is a summed L + R, with probably a fairly high low pass, say around 200Hz. I haven't tested it, so only an assumption. If so, mating your main speakers to sub, is basicly set by your mains low end rolloff, and adjusting the plate amp crossover to match.

One feature I did like, but not 100% sure I will ever use, is Pre-out / Main-in jacks. It would allow the receiver to be used as a surround channel amp.

JohnS

 

[KyleGS]

I really like mine. I'm using it as a stereo pre-amp now. I upgraded to a 200x2 Yammie amp and the difference was not all that dramatic. This speaks well for the amp section in the H/K. It sure beats the stereo performance of my HT receiver. It does have a very mellow (not warm) sound.