Harman Kardon 330c - what vintage?

[mplsbob]

I know these were made over a number of years. I'm trying to determine the born-on year and wattage for this version. Made in Taiwan. Pics are taken at night and pretty poor, but the seemingly distinguishing characteristic of this version is in the 2nd pic of the side edge - a black vinyl, textured/ribbed wrap over the top of the cover. Any ideas?

[Fletch]

I picked one of those for $25 a few years back. They were made in 1977 or there abouts. I believe the unit is a 2 X 25 watt or 2 X 30 watt. I have it hooked up to some monster JBL LX44's and it has more then enough power. Mine also has the black vinyl ribbed cover. I'll see if I can find the manual. I love mine. Very warm sounding as compared to other units. A very under rated unit.

[mplsbob]

Thanks, Fletch. I really like it, too. Very warm. This is the best SS low-watter I've come across. Optimized to sound nice at low volumes (emphasized bottom), as opposed to other brand's entry levels - stripped down versions of their designed 60-100 watt middle-market models which sound tinny fast. GREAT, cheap intro to vintage sound.

$25 is exactly what I paid for mine a month ago @ thrift. Couldn't test it, but it looked so nice (clean unit, too) that I jumped on it. Zero output when fired up - hit it with Deoxit - good to go. The black vinyl cover gives it a very modern look which I like. Everything about it says modern, save for the tuner faceplate and backlight - these just look rinky-dink compared to the rest of it.

If you have a definitive spec on watts from a manual, I'd appreciate it. Google finds anywhere from 15-40 wpc for this version of the 330c. I suspect 20 wpc.

[Mike Stehr]

I like to know what the differences are between models 330A, 330B, 330C, 330i, and whatever else I missed...

I like the the pre-out/main in feature. Nice for lashing up with a tube pre-amp.

I nursed this ol' HK 330B back to health.......warm kinda tube-like sound. I think the 330B is 17 wpc. Enough to put a pair a LaScala's in full blare mode......

Not as clean sounding as a Pioneer SX-780 I have here, but I think I'll go ahead and recap this ol' HK 330B and see how that fares....

[gearhound]

I own H-K 330A, B, & C receivers....plus a (30wpc) butt-ugly H-K 450 receiver.

All the H-K 330 series receivers are 15wpc.
The 330A & 330B have similar styling and sound.
Styling changed on the 330C and...IMO...so did the sound...even better than the A & B series!?
Styling again changed for the 330i....but I cannot comment on the sound.
However...build quality seems to be NOT as robust as a Marantz or Sansui...I've had to deal with maint. issues on all 4 receivers!?
I especially like the amplifier sections.
Those 15wpc 330's can drive efficient speakers to ungodly sound levels....and sound really nice doing it too!

Steve

[wajobu]

I have always thought that they are very handsome receivers--relaxed styling. I like the "A", but a friend had a "C" in 1978 and he used to bring it into the "studio" at school JUST before the Sony Walkman was released. A great receiver and I have often thought of buying one for my shop (for old time's sake).

[jackfish]

HK330C
First manufactured 1976, last manufactured 1977.
20W min. RMS per ch, both driven into 8 ohms (20Hz - 20kHz with < 0.5% THD)

http://www.harmankardon.com/specific...HK330C&sType=H

http://manuals.harman.com/HK/HOM/Own...ual/330COM.PDF

[Blue Shadow]

Automotive Vinylex does wonders on making the black cover look new.

The back lighted dial and top portion are what I consider a McIntosh-look to the unit. Very nice. A cut above the plain silver of the lower end of some other lines like this Technics: http://www.vintagetechnics.info/receivers/sa200.htm

I have both and the HK looks much better and sounds great.

jackfish thanks for setting folks straight on these units. HK does a have a lot of owner's manuals or specs on their site.

[soundoc03]

I picked a small SS HK amp a couple of years ago at a GW. I think it is called the A-400. Nicely styled in an austere, clean no nonsense kind of way. I have it in storage but thought it was a keeper based on some brief pairing with some vintage KLHs and Advents. Alleged to have the same amp section as the the 330. There was a matching tuner which provides a nice little alternative system to those that favor separates. There is also a higher powered model as well(A-420?) As an aside, these units don't appear to command as much respect on ebay as the HK receivers

[Fletch]

Simply amazing. Hard to imagine that 20w are powering these monster JBLs. I'm seriously considering selling my Sansui 5050 to get another HK. I just prefer their sound.

[Blue Shadow]

20wpc should be a fine with the LX44, the owner's manual says they have a 91dB efficiency. Good combination. The HK sure does sound nice.

[mhardy6647]

[Scorpion8]

HK 330c manufactured 1976-1977
HK 330i manufactured 1982-1985

I've got one of each, and they are superb small receivers.

[Byrdsmaniac]

The July 1977 issue of the Boston Audio Society Speaker has a comparison test of several budget receivers. The Marantz 2275 was used as a point of comparison. Heres' an excerpt about the H/K 330c:

Which Should You Buy?
We did not uncover the perfect receiver, though some units were outstanding in one or two of their three major functions. Putting the ideal aside, most came pretty close to meeting the specifications required for a high-quality playback system. For example, the Marantz 2275 ($650) can actually be out-classed by the Harman/Kardon 330C ($220) driving a 2-Ohm load.

The Harman/Kardon 330C ranks as a best buy. The outstanding feature of the unit is its conservatively rated amplifier. Its power output doubles as the load resistance is decreased from 8 Ohms to 4 Ohms. The Harman/Kardon, the Toshiba, and the Technics SA-5060 did not ring when loaded with an 8-Ohm resistor in parallel with a .1-?F capacitor. (The Marantz 15 and the Son of Ampzilla both rang under identical testing conditions. The latter power amplifier rang more than any of the receivers tested for this report.)

The phono section was matched and then A/B-ed with the Advent's. We could not determine which unit was playing. The H-K's infrasonic filter is slightly better than the Pioneer's but is still far from adequate.

The receiver has a large, plastic FM/AM tuning window, which is easily scratched. The tuner lacks center-channel tuning, but the factory representative told us that it has a "summation" meter. To take full advantage of its performance, first tune for maximum meter deflection, then rotate the antenna for maximum signal strength. In practice, the summation meter worked no better thana signal strength meter, i.e., it pinned on strong signals, rendering it virtually useless with some stations. The unit also sports a tone control contour surpassed only by those of the more expensive Marantz receivers.