harman/kardon high current amplifier?

asking you

Active Member
Hi guys,is anyone here have owned a harman kardon high current amplifier before?have a seller offer me a hk-6800 about USD$290,is it really worth it?its running at 120watts.or should i choose another amplifier?what is high current actually?
 
Hi guys,is anyone here have owned a harman kardon high current amplifier before?have a seller offer me a hk-6800 about USD$290,is it really worth it?its running at 120watts.or should i choose another amplifier?what is high current actually?

I quoted you just so you'd see the flag/tag.

High current enables an amplifier to have better dynamic range. They call this the amp's 'headroom'. Dynamic range is peak sounds in the music; soft passages transitioning to loud passages. An example would be The William Tell Overture...when the canon blast goes off. A high current amp will make the recording sound more like a real canon. High current is also necessary to drive difficult loads like electrostatic speakers.

We're not supposed to speculate on money value in this forum.

I'd rather have an older HK 730 receiver.
 
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I've never been real impressed with that series from Harman, although I will say the "high current" designs do seem to give lower distortion at high volumes. My favorite piece of Harman equipment is my sweet sounding Citation 21 pre-amp, I run it with a Rotel 960BX, and I've run it with a few other power amps and it is just a little jewel of a pre-amp, I'd rather go with the Harman separates than their integrated amps. And personally, I wouldn't give more than $200 for that amp if you really like it, myself I might be a buyer at $100.
 
Excellent we are trying to help but the OP started this thread in March 2016 and might have been using that HK or something else for a year and a half. Maybe we ping him @asking you, and see if he will drop by and give us an update.
 
Excellent we are trying to help but the OP started this thread in March 2016 and might have been using that HK or something else for a year and a half. Maybe we ping him @asking you, and see if he will drop by and give us an update.

Only a year-n-half? This one is still warm compared to the number 5-6 year old threads I've seen resurrected of late. LOL.
 
Hi guys,is anyone here have owned a harman kardon high current amplifier before?have a seller offer me a hk-6800 about USD$290,is it really worth it?its running at 120watts.or should i choose another amplifier?what is high current actually?
 
I feel they’re quite good well-made if you can find it HK signature series 1.5 it is as good as any amp 5 to 10 times it cost the designers involved In that series now have their own companies and sell for thousands of dollars
 
That would probably be a nice performer, but a restored, amp from the early mid-70's would be my choice. Manuals for the model you posted are online and explain what high-current design involves; its not just a marketing term.
The older, true twin-power amps with the frequency response from <4Hz to 160,000Hz can't be beat. They are well built, more powerful than their wpc rating would indicate and sound superb. I've go a 40 year old A402 integrated amp that (at 40wpc) sounds way better than most newer amps rated at 100 watts or more.
 
That would probably be a nice performer, but a restored, amp from the early mid-70's would be my choice. Manuals for the model you posted are online and explain what high-current design involves; its not just a marketing term.
The older, true twin-power amps with the frequency response from <4Hz to 160,000Hz can't be beat. They are well built, more powerful than their wpc rating would indicate and sound superb. I've go a 40 year old A402 integrated amp that (at 40wpc) sounds way better than most newer amps rated at 100 watts or more.

Excellent, we have another one that has been enjoying the Kool-Aid we have all been drinking. Although the twin powered HKs of the mid-late 70s are very nice, even the pipsqueak single transformered 330 models, the 6800 mentioned has a good bit of the HK technology that came along after these units were designed and built. I understand your desire to have a nice restored earlier unit but this 6800 might just sound better. It has high current, high slew rate and probably low TIM something that wasn't discussed when that A402 was around. That A402 is nice and it is great that you have a nice one. It should sound better than a lot of gear but in 1991 all gear hadn't quite gone to junk except the highendoverthetopexpensivestuff. I'd have to hear these two to pick a winner but the numbers on the 6800 look good. Remember one of the best sounding receivers the Luxman R-117 is from the same era as this 6800 so everything hadn't become crap, yet.

Oh welcome to AK, That A402 would be a keeper, they are nice.
 
Excellent we are trying to help but the OP started this thread in March 2016 and might have been using that HK or something else for a year and a half. Maybe we ping him @asking you, and see if he will drop by and give us an update.
Thanks for the mention,the 6800 price in my country are quite high, so later i change to a adcom gfa 545 amp plus a hafler dh 101 preamp,but later change to denon high end preamplifier, honestly,this setup were still better.
 
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Thanks for the mention,the 6800 in my are are quite high, so later i change to a adcom gfa 545 amp plus a hafler dh 101 preamp,but later change to denon high end preamplifier, honestly,this setup were still better.
Seems a true AKer trying different gear hoping to upgrade the rig along the way. Glad you got gear that keeps getting better.
 
Only 4 years later, but all depends on the condition. The 6800 is better than the 6900. Doesn't run as hot and doesn't use the toroidal transformer. Despite what you read below, the older HK's like the 930 and 730 "twin", have no bass and flat treble compared to the 6800 (which has at least twice the power). The Citation series is a completely different beast. Is it worth $300 or so? Depends on where your values lie and sound needs and if you know someone who can "restore" it if needed. I have several HK pieces. The nicest sounding is the 680i. It really sparkles. No great power, but really alive sound.
 
I still have the HK 6800 in my workshop and play it loud. It rocks well. I use a pair of vintage Dynaco A25, and a rega apollo cdp or dac. It is a fun system to blast while I work.
 
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