Which A/V receiver for Klipsch Reference Series 7 speakers? (1 Viewer)

[LCSeminole]

Haris, Did you check to see if you could get the Marantz SR-8300. If yes, that would definitely be my selection and a step-up from the SR-7300.

 

[Haris Ellahi]

Sorry, the Marantz SR8300 is currently unavailable here.

 

[parin_patel]

Looking at the product specifications, it seems that the AVR 525 is the North American equivalent to the AVR 5550.

-Parin

 

[Haris Ellahi]

Thanks.

And what about the Harman Kardon AVR 7500? What is the American equivalent?

 

[Haris Ellahi]

By the way, the Harman Kardon AVR 5550 is only 70 watts per channel. Will this be enough to power the Klipsch Reference Series 7 speakers?

 

[parin_patel]

70 WPC should be more than adequate... Harman Kardons are well known for their high current amps and they should have no problem driving the Klipsh Reference series. You can check the Peak SPL Calculator to get a rough estimate of how loud the system should be; by using the approximate distance from speakers, speaker sensitivity (usually >90 dB for Klipsh) and WPC. H/K's are also very conservative in their power ratings and usually deliver more than they're rated for (as seen here)

-Parin

 

[Wayne Ernst]

And what about the Harman Kardon AVR 7500? What is the American equivalent?

Haris, it doesn't look like there's a current U.S. equivalent to the AVR-7500. The closet thing to it was last year's AVR-8000 which featured 5 amplified channels at 110 watts per channel instead of the 100 x 5 as the 7500 has and appears our old AVR-8000 is your AVR-8500 now.

Looking through the International H/K selection, it appears that they currently don't offer and equivalent to our AVR-7200 which has 7 channels x 100 watts. Interesting, very interesting.

 

[Haris Ellahi]

Thanks for all the info.

I am almost sold on the Harman Kardon AVR 5550. It seems that the Denon's 2-Channel playback is not great. Also, Harman Kardons seem to have a smoother sound than Denons.

 

[parin_patel]

Out of the three receivers you've listed, I've listened to both the Denon 3803 and the H/K 525 and in my personal experience you can't go wrong with either of them. However, one thing to consider is that Denon's are considered to be very well matched with Klipsch speakers, and that may give the Denon an advantage. You should take a look at the detailed specs (Denon AVR-3803 and H/K AVR 525), and see if there is anything in the long list of features that may be important for you. For example, the H/K does not have a phono input.

Finally they both have MSRP's of $999 in the US. From the prices you were quoted ($1334 vs $1164), it seems the Denon has the advantage there as well. Hope that helps.

-Parin

 

[Haris Ellahi]

A lot of people on the Klipsch forums like Harman Kardon and prefer them over Denon. Most don't seem to like Denon's 2-Channel playback.

 

[parin_patel]

I was mainly looking at home theater (multi-channel) use and had found both the Denon and the H/K to be excellent at it. The only reason I had given Denon an advantage is that the amps are generally considered to be warm (with H/K being more neutral) which pair up well with the bright Klipsch series. Its too bad you can't listen to them personally before making the choice. But like I said earlier, you won't be disappointed with either one.

-Parin

 

[Haris Ellahi]

Thanks for the feedback. However, on the Klipsch forums, some people found Harman Kardon more warm sounding than Denon. They really like Harman Kardon's high-current amplifiers.

 

[parin_patel]

Btw, another place to get some great user feedback is to look at the Denon and Harmon International sections at the HomeTheaterSpot.com forums.

-Parin

 

[Haris Ellahi]

Thanks.

 

[LCSeminole]

The Denon 3803 would hands down be my pick over the HK. I have Klipsch KLF-20 fronts, KLF-C7 center and RB-5II's as side and rear surrounds. I demoed the Denon 4802 and HK 7200 and found the Denon to be far superior in sound, stereo & home theater, with Klipsch speakers. This is however assuming the Denon 4802 and 3803 are similar being used as a pre/pro. I however have decided to go pre/pro/tuner.

 

[CurtisC]

How does HK keep the high current thing alive? ALL,I say all decent avr's ARE HIGH CURRENT.I am also a long time Klipsch forum member and HK is not my recomendation.HK has reliability issues out the wazoo,and has had for years,although they do sound fine.People have multitudes of problems(I've owned HK) and still rate em' high,I dunno.

 

[Haris Ellahi]

Here are some threads from the Klipsch forum.

http://forums.klipsch.com/idealbb/vi...ng=&sessionID={5619271C-B874-4937-8182-1522B9669991}
http://forums.klipsch.com/idealbb/vi...ng=&sessionID={5619271C-B874-4937-8182-1522B9669991}

 

[Dalton]

Haris,
I had Klipsch reference(3 RC7's actually) running off of a HK AVR 8000 and it is a wonderful match. It smoked the Denon 3802 easily(not really a fair comparison i know). The Denon was a good unit but i thought the HK was warmer sounding and much better for music than the Denon. Both performed well for HT (although the HK got the nod again because the 8000 is in a different class than the 3802). I have also run a Marantz SR7000 and SR7200 with the reference series and Marantz matches up very well with Klipsch also (probably just as well as the HK). I have also run the Rotel 1066/1075 preamp/amp combo with these speakers with good results. I have also had the Onkyo 797 and Yamaha 1300 and while both were good for HT, they were a little too bright on the music end. As you can see i have tried several combinations with these speakers and found Marantz and HK to be the best match(IMO) and Rotel a close second.

Take Care,
Dalton

 

[Haris Ellahi]

Thanks.

I am pretty much sold on the Harman Kardon.

 

[Haris Ellahi]

Okay, I also asked this same question on the Klipsch forums.

http://forums.klipsch.com/idealbb/vi...&topicID=38868